NAIROBI， Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Consumers in Kenya are bracing for higher electricity tariffs following failed rains in the October-December 2016 season that saw water levels in hydropower generation dams fall considerably.
The tariffs， which rose in December last year， are expected to sustain the upward trend as the Meteorological Department forecasts that dry weather conditions will prevail in most parts of the country in the coming months.
"The average retail tariffs slightly increased in December due to increase in fuel cost charge occasioned by a rise in petrol thermal power in the energy mix by three percent. This was mainly due to low water levels at Sondu-Miriu and Seven Forks dams necessitating running of petrol based thermal power plants to cover the short-fall，" said the Energy Regulatory Commission in a statement Friday.
Kenya in 2015 injected 280 megawatts (MW) of cheaper geothermal energy to the national grid， pushing up installed capacity from 1，765 MW in June 2013 to 2，327 MW in December 2016.
The increase had reduced the country's reliance on expensive diesel generators， shifting the energy mix from 53 percent hydro， 25 percent thermal and 20 percent geothermal in 2013 to 41 percent hydro， 13 percent thermal and 40 percent geothermal in 2016.
The low level of water in hydropower plants has， however， affected generation from the source， prompting increased production from expensive thermal sources.
Last month， households that consumed 200 kilowatt hour (kWh) paid 34 U.S. dollars compared to 31 dollars in December 2012.
Fixed charge for domestic consumers during the month rose to 1.5 dollars from 1.2 dollars while the energy charge per kWh for those consuming above 50 units increased to 0.13 dollars from 0.08 dollars.
Analysts say a rise in electricity tariffs adds burden to consumers and sets them up for higher inflation， which now stands at 6.4 percent.
Already， Kenyans in the capital Nairobi and other urban centers are experiencing water shortages due to falling water levels in dams.
"Life is becoming tougher each day， the cost of transport， food items and education has gone up making things harder for people with large families like us. Last month I paid a bill of 40 dollars from 25 that I normally pay. While I blamed it on my five children who were home for holiday， it is now clear the higher tariffs were the major cause，" banker Emmanuel Makuno， a Nairobi resident， said Friday.
The Ministry of Energy， however， has allayed fears of a rise in power tariffs in the coming months， saying the government is keen on lowering the tariffs.
WASHINGTON Men's Nike Air Max TN Black White UK Sale , Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- An international team has shown that quantum computers can analyze relationships within large sets of data faster than classical computers, for a wider array of data types than previously expected.
The study, published on Friday in American journal Physical Review Letters, proposed a "quantum linear system algorithm" that could conduct quantum computation with application in artificial intelligence (AI) and crunch numbers on problems such as commodities pricing Cheap Men's Air Max TN Shoes Black Red Sale , social networks and chemical structures.
The linear system algorithm, first proposed in 2009, works on a large matrix of data and has kick-started research into quantum forms of machine learning, or artificial intelligence.
"There is a lot of computation involved in analyzing the matrix. When it gets beyond say 10 Air Max 97 Shockproof Coral Light Pink Women's Sale UK ,000 by 10,000 entries, it becomes hard for classical computers," explained Zhao Zhikuan Men's Air Max 97 KPU TPU Black Gold UK , the paper's corresponding author from Singapore University of Technology and Design.
Zhao also said the previous quantum algorithm of this kind can be applied to a very specific type of problem. This is because the number of computational steps goes up rapidly with the number of elements in the matrix: every doubling of the matrix size increases the length of the calculation eight-fold.
Zhao and his colleague in Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, present a new algorithm that is faster than both the classical and the previous quantum versions.
It relies on a technique known as quantum singular value estimation and can cope with data not limited to "sparse" ones as required by the previous versions.
There are limited relationships among the elements in sparse data, but it is often not true of real-world data Men's Nike Air Max 97 Gold Yellow Black , Zhao said.
For example, a trader might be trying to predict the future price of goods. The matrix may capture historical data about price movements over time and data about features that could be influencing these prices, such as exchange rates.
Then the algorithm calculates how strongly each feature is correlated with another by "inverting" the matrix. This information can then be used to extrapolate into the future.
But to show a real quantum advantage over the classical algorithms will need bigger quantum computers.
Zhao estimates that it still need additional three to five years when they can actually use the hardware to do meaningful quantum computation with application in artificial intelligence.
By Xinhua Writers Xia Lin, Huang Hexun
NEW YORK Men's Nike Air Max 97 Ultra Triple Black UK , Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Living and studying in New York, the most diverse city of the United States, college students may have a lot to cope, particularly personal safety. For those at New York University (NYU) Cheap Air Max 97 Undefeated Black UK , it is one of their top priorities aside from finance and accommodation.
"Not long ago, there was a shooting spree at the square in front of our university. Few of us knew about it, because it happened at night. The university sent e-mail to alert us. So, if you go out alone at night Air Max 97 OG Undftd Black Red Nike Shoes , you must ask security staffer to escort you," Chinese student Wang Yun told Xinhua right before a new school year starts in early September.
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