The growing attention towards environmental sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry and increased awareness of the potential for improving energy performance are justified by the fact that the sector is energy intensive. However, the variety of the processes and the lack of data about production and energy consumption make it difficult to calculate Energy Performance Indicators (EnPIs) as much as to list Energy Performance Improvements Actions (EPIAs). This work elaborates data, such as final energy consumption and site characteristics, from 84 mandatory Italian Energy Audits (EAs) to calculate the mean and standard deviation of site-level EnPIs. Additionally, the suggested and implemented EPIAs are analyzed to describe achieved and potential savings. The results show what follows. In the typical pharmaceutical plant, around 70% of energy is used in auxiliary services, and its use is not related to production. For this reason, EnPIs calculated both with respect to mass production... [more]

The ERTMS/ETCS is the newest automatic train protection system. This is a system that supports the driver in driving the train. It is currently being implemented throughout the European Union. This system’s latest specifications also provide additional functions to increase the energy efficiency of train driving in the form of ATO (automatic train operation). These functions of the ETCS will be valuable, provided they operate without failure. To achieve errorless configuration of the ETCS, a methodology for automatic system verification using the IMDS (Integrated Model of Distributed Systems) formalism and the temporal tool Dedan was applied. The main contribution is asynchronous and timed verification, which appropriately models the distributed nature of the ETCS and allows the designer not only to analyze time dependencies but also to define the range of train velocities in which the operational scenario is valid. Additionally, the novelties of the presented verification methodology... [more]

The residential sector is currently responsible for approximately 30% of the final energy consumption and 12% of direct CO2 emissions in Italy, mainly due to the heating and cooling of buildings and the use of domestic hot water. Such figures show a significant potential for reducing non-renewable primary energy utilization to comply with the decarbonization constraints of the European Union. In this context, the purpose of this work is to provide a quantitative assessment of the effect of a different number of actions (eight for energy savings, four for energy efficiency and two for the installation of renewable energy plants) that could be implemented at the national level to reduce the consumption of natural gas in the residential sector. Two typical residential buildings are dynamically simulated using Trnsys®, and the savings from energy, economic and CO2 emissions points of view are evaluated in the different climatic zones of Italy. The most effective action foresees the replace... [more]

Due to the fact that the European Union is striving to achieve its sustainable development goals, in particular goal No. 7, which is to provide users with low-emission, and cheap access to, energy, this article’s aim is to verify whether there is a relationship between R&D expenditure and key energy variables in the EU countries in 2010−2020. Data on R&D expenditures incurred by the EU Member States in the period 2010−2020 were used for the research and were tested using the Autoregressive Distributed Lags Model (ARDL). The study identified a strong positive relationship between total R&D expenditure and the increase in energy consumption from renewable energy sources, and a smaller impact of total R&D expenditure as well as enterprise R&D expenditure on the increase in fossil energy consumption. Also noted was a weak relationship between R&D expenditure and electricity and gas prices for both household and non-household customers. The obtained results prove that in the context of the... [more]

This paper presents the status regarding electric vehicles (EVs) and public charging stations managed by Cluj-Napoca City Hall. The types of charging stations and the quantity of the used energy were stated. The behavior of EV owners in charging their vehicles was also studied. The presented work proposes an extension of the EV charging infrastructure to support current and future EV owners. Simulations were carried out in Simulink to create an overview of the existing infrastructure. The simulation results showed the amount of greenhouse gas (CO2 emissions) reduced by using EVs. An estimated number of kilometers traveled with EVs was calculated by tracking the loads in all public charging stations.

In industrial settings, mechanical systems for clamping workpieces onto machine tools or for lifting and handling ferrous material are often replaced by magnetic clamping systems. For large lifting applications, the most suitable magnetic clamping systems are electromagnetic (EM) and electro-permanent (EP) approaches. Their configurations, direct and induced poles or direct poles only, need to be discussed in order to choose the most appropriate and economical setup for the specific application. In addition, an evaluation of the difference in the energy efficiency between EM and EP systems, which is often not simple, is presented. To achieve this, a hybrid control system for EM or EP systems was developed and, with the help of this prototype, an analysis of these two magnetic systems was carried out to highlight the main differences. The hybrid control system consists of a single control unit that can be used by both systems, and can be achieved by simply changing the type of lifting m... [more]

This paper is related to light pollution and the energy efficiency of outdoor amenity lighting. It concerns the standard design assessment parameters of light pollution, the Upward Light Ratio (ULR) and Upward Flux Ratio (UFR), and the classic energy efficiency parameter—Normalized Power Density (NPD). The motivation for this research was the observation of certain inaccuracies related to the applicability and interpretation of these parameters in practice and the lack of connection between parameters of light pollution and energy efficiency. The multi-variant computer simulations of the exemplary large-area parking lot lighting system were conducted. Over four hundred cases were carefully analyzed. Individual cases differ in the shape of the task area, luminaire arrangements, mounting height, luminous intensity distribution, aiming, and maintenance factor. The results confirmed that the criteria values of ULR and UFR are often overestimated for modern luminaires, which emit luminous f... [more]

The automation strategies currently used in HVAC systems do not control the system temperature variables (supplied air, chilled, and condensation water temperatures) in an optimized way. Normally, these temperatures are fixed in design conditions, or vary according to the weather conditions. However, studies demonstrate that adequate control of these three temperatures can provide significant reductions in the energy consumption of the air conditioner system. Therefore, this work analyzes the benefits of individualized and integrated automation of these three variable temperatures in different tropical and subtropical weather conditions through computer simulation for a typical commercial building. The results of integrated automation show savings in consumption between 5.03% and 19.68% compared to a fixed control, and between 3.22% and 8.21% compared to a weather-based control alone, showing that the integrated strategies are better than both models adopted as market benchmarks.

A high-fidelity analysis is carried out in order to evaluate the effects of blade shape, airfoil cross-section. as well as twist angle distribution on the yielded torque and generated power of a horizontal axis Small-Scale Wind Turbine (SSWT). A computational modeling and an effective design for a small turbine with a blade length of 25 cm subject to a 4 m/s freestream velocity are presented, in which a segregated RANS solver is utilized. Four airfoil profiles are assessed, namely NACA0012, NACA0015, NACA4412, and NACA4415, and two blade shape configurations, rectangular and tapered, are evaluated. The flow around the rotating turbines is investigated along with blade stresses and performance output for each configuration. Subsequently, the impact of various linear and nonlinear twist distributions on SSWT efficiency is also examined. Results show that for the studied operating conditions corresponding to low-speed flows, the rectangular blade configuration outperforms the tapered blad... [more]

The field of energy harvesting is expanding to power various devices, including electric vehicles, with energy derived from their surrounding environments. The unique mechanical and electrical qualities of composite materials make them ideal for energy harvesting applications, and they have shown tremendous promise in this area. Yet additional studies are needed to fully grasp the promise of composite materials for energy harvesting in electric vehicles. This article reviews composite materials used for energy harvesting in electric vehicles, discussing mechanical characteristics, electrical conductivity, thermal stability, and cost-effectiveness. As a bonus, it delves into using composites in piezoelectric, electromagnetic, and thermoelectric energy harvesters. The high strength-to-weight ratio provided by composite materials is a major benefit for energy harvesting. Especially important in electric vehicles, where saving weight means saving money at the pump and driving farther betwe... [more]

Water and energy are the main natural resources, and their rational use is the basis for sustainable development. Therefore, the energy efficiency of water supply networks is one of the priorities for the management system of water utilities. Many methods and indicators can be used to assess the energy efficiency of water distribution networks (WDNs), and their choice should be adapted to the characteristics of a WDN. This paper presents an energy audit of WDNs that are supplied from five reservoirs located above the supply area, to which water is supplied from four underground and surface water intakes. In the analysis of the system operation, a hydrodynamic computer model of the water distribution network was used to estimate the operating parameters that are necessary to determine the energy efficiency indicators. A new method for calibrating the emitter coefficient used for water loss modeling is also proposed. The conducted audit showed that more than 70% of the energy supplied to... [more]

Despite market-oriented reforms, China’s energy sector is subject to energy price distortions, which are believed to be a crucial determinants of energy efficiency in China. This paper investigates the impact of energy price distortions on energy efficiency in China from the perspective of spatial correlation. Using the nonradial directional distance function approach, we first estimate the provincial-level energy efficiency in China. Paying attention to spatial correlation among the provinces of China, in stage two, we identify the determinants of energy efficiency. Our empirical results suggest that price distortions have a significant impact on energy efficiency in China. This impact holds when the cross-region effect is considered, i.e., besides its own energy price distortion, a region’s energy efficiency is also correlated to the adjacent provinces’ energy price distortions. Furthermore, we found that the levels of energy efficiencies in adjacent provinces are highly correlated.... [more]

The aim of this analysis is to identify the possibility of treating eco-innovation in micro and small enterprises as a factor influencing the energy efficiency of the economy. In order to obtain an answer to such a research question, quantitative research was carried out among Polish enterprises from the SME sector (N = 400). Accordingly, the CATI technique was applied. The selection of enterprises was random and took place in the non-returnable drawing process. The criterion for selecting the sample was the size of enterprises, but in order to ensure the possibility of drawing conclusions based on a sufficiently large research sample, its structure (300 micro and 100 small enterprises) assumed the study of small enterprises in a proportion greater than their actual share in the population of enterprises. As a result of this research, the existence of a relationship between the improvement of the company’s competitive position and its activity in the field of eco-innovation implementat... [more]

As the cooling requirement and the energy prices are increasing rapidly across the world, the need to develop highly efficient cooling equipment is rising as well. Adiabatic cooling employs evaporation to pre-cool the air flowing through a closed-loop coil. This study examines various adiabatic evaporative cooling pads in terms of their pre-cooling potential and advantages over currently available technological solutions through isolating three cross-sectional metal cooling pad shapes (W, Z and Z1). The results of the study suggest that the correlation between Δt↓ and RH↑ is somewhat close in all three cases; however, a slightly higher temperature drop is observed when using a W-shaped metal sheet. Pressure drop variability was negligible under current cooling pad configurations and experimental boundary conditions. Further studies focusing on measurement continuity, longevity and boundary conditions’ variability are recommended.

Social capital is currently perceived as one of the basic factors of economic development and economic success of enterprises. However, while there is already much research on social capital in enterprises, there has been little such research in the energy industry. The aim of the publication is to fill the gap in this regard. The basic question that the authors try to answer is whether there is a higher level of capital in energy companies compared to other industries, and if so, what the reasons are for this. Apart from answering this question, the authors present their own method of measuring the level of this capital. The first part of the article presents the results of a study on the level of social capital in Polish energy companies, whereas the second part compares the levels of social capital in energy companies and industrial companies in other sectors. According to the study, energy companies generally have higher levels of social capital than companies in other industries.... [more]

The formula of engaging an energy service company (ESCO) in Poland is not a new form of accounting for investments in improving energy efficiency. The results of our survey confirm that many entities still lack sufficient knowledge about this subject. The research problem this paper is concerned with is the conditions of applying the ESCO formula (a model of investment financing with the participation of a specialised company) to support local government units and enterprises in energy-industry project development. For the purpose of this study, the research questions were formulated to analyse of the following issues: the reasons for interest in the ESCO formula and the sources of knowledge about this solution; activities and other factors that can increase or reduce interest in the ESCO formula; services in terms of ESCO formula implementation; the attractiveness of alternative instruments for financing energy industry projects, the benefits of using the ESCO formula and the influenc... [more]

The energy efficiency gap is known as the difference between optimal level of energy efficiency and the actual level of achieved energy efficiency. Energy management has proven to further close the energy efficiency gap. Energy management may differ depending on whether it concerns a large, energy-intensive company or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are of high interest since they form a large share of the economy today. For SMEs, a lighter form of energy management, in the form of energy efficiency network participation, has proven to deliver sound energy efficiency impact, while for larger, energy-intensive firms, a certified energy management system may be more suitable. However, various barriers inhibit adoption of energy efficiency measures. While there is an array of research on barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in general, research on barriers to, and driving forces for, energy management is rare, one exception being a study of energy-intensive... [more]

This work proposes a methodology to find performance and energy trade-offs for parallel applications running on Heterogeneous Multi-Processing systems with a single instruction-set architecture. These offer flexibility in the form of different core types and voltage and frequency pairings, defining a vast design space to explore. Therefore, for a given application, choosing a configuration that optimizes the performance and energy consumption is not straightforward. Our method proposes novel analytical models for performance and power consumption whose parameters can be fitted using only a few strategically sampled offline measurements. These models are then used to estimate an application’s performance and energy consumption for the whole configuration space. In turn, these offline predictions define the choice of estimated Pareto-optimal configurations of the model, which are used to inform the selection of the configuration that the application should be executed on. The methodology... [more]

The present paper is a review on efficiency issues related to three important sectors of the transportation systems: railways, electrical vehicles, and marine. For the three sectors, the authors, in reference of their knowledge and research area, show the results of a wide literature analysis, in order to highlight which are the measures, in terms of technological solutions and management techniques, which are recently investigated and implemented, for improving the three transportation systems, from the point of view of efficiency. In particular, for the railway transportation sector, a wide analysis is presented, detecting which are the main measures adopted for improving the efficiency, related to the power systems for supplying trains and to the train traffic control, with a focus on the storage system integration. For electric road vehicles the analysis is focused on the plug-in electrical vehicles and on the infrastructure for their recharge, with an emphasis on how these vehicle... [more]

Increased demand for food production, influenced by the constant growth of population, resulted in the agricultural production systems that are more energy and economy intensive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the energetic and economic efficiency of sugar beet and wheat production. Attention was given to the fertilizer usage and its share in energy consumption since it can amount to 50%. Data show that energy input in wheat production was 5.84 MJ·kg−1 and in sugar beet it was 0.93 MJ·kg−1. The highest share of energy input both in wheat and sugar beet was observed for fertilizers, 52.45% and 46.70%, respectively. Economic analysis has shown that wheat production is a low profitable production with a net return of only 20.69 USD·ha−1, in comparison with sugar beet production with a net return of 513.53 USD·ha−1. Costs related to the fertilizer use prevailed in total variable and total production costs. Economic analysis has also shown that the benefit-to-cost ratio was higher in... [more]

The current energy inefficiencies in relocatable temporary camps of the Armed Force troops create logistic challenges associated with fuel supply. The energy needs of these camps are primarily satisfied by diesel engine generators, which imply that a significant amount of fuel needs to be continuously provided to these camps, often built in remote areas. This paper presents an alternative solution, named Smart Hybrid Energy System (SHES), aiming towards significantly reducing the amount of fuel needed and minimizing transportation logistics while meeting camp energy demands. The SHES combines the existing diesel generators with solar power generation, energy storage, and waste heat recovery technologies, all connected to a microgrid, ensuring uninterrupted electricity and hot water supplies. All components are controlled by an energy management system that prioritizes output and switches between different power generators, ensuring operation at optimum efficiencies. The SHES components... [more]

Heat cost allocators (HCAs) have a high market share in existing buildings, which may cause problems, especially with variable heat cost allocation due to wrong readings from HCAs and/or the method used in the heat cost allocation process. That is why we proposed two easily applicable and clear methods, which may be used with two types of HCAs commonly used in the billing practice. The proposed methods were presented on the example of the actual allocation of variable heating costs for a multi-family building located in Poland, and the results of billing were compared with three other methods of variable heating costs allocation. Owing to the proposed methods, higher (K = 0.5260 for schema A, K = 0.4468 for schema B) values of the correlation coefficient between heating costs and the average indoor temperature were obtained than for the methods commonly used in accounting practice. Additionally, the use of the proposed method allows for the elimination of defective indications of heat... [more]

Railway transit forms the backbone of sustainable transportation systems, which are necessary to limit the effects of global warming. In this paper, the authors seek to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in energy consumption between distinct railway vehicle types. Firstly, the energy consumption measurement methods in the railway transportation sector are described and compared to each other in respect to precision and cost. Secondly, the use of energy consumption as a criterion in rolling stock tenders with the associated norm is analysed, particularly with regard to the life-cycle cost of railway vehicles. In the next part real life data on energy consumption of six distinct passenger electrical railway vehicle types is presented and analysed in order to compare the efficiency of different types of rolling stock. The differences in energy efficiency between rolling stock types may be used to improve the procurement process ensuring train operating comp... [more]

Decarbonization is an activity aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate change and global warming. Ensuring macroeconomic stabilization is the basis for ecological action. The question is whether macroeconomic stabilization helps companies, institutions and countries act for decarbonization. This article presents research on the impact of components of macroeconomic stabilization on decarbonization and energy efficiency in the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the European Union from 1990 to 2020. We focus on the following countries, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. The contribution to knowledge is using the pentagon of macroeconomic stabilization to assess macroeconomic stabilization’s impact on decarbonization and energy efficiency. According to the correlation coefficients, the Ordinary Least Squares and the Seemingly Unrelated Regression method, there is a statistically significant impact of components of macroeconomics stabilization on decarbonization... [more]

Optimizing the operating speed curve of trains without adding new energy storage facilities is essential in the energy-saving operation of railways. In this paper, we propose an optimal train speed curve planning method for driving trains more energy efficiently. A refined traction energy evaluation model for induction motor propulsion systems is first presented. The proposed model considers the efficiency of the traction motor at different operating points and the efficiency of the inverter and gearbox. Then, the optimal energy-efficient speed profile problem is transformed into a multistep decision problem and solved using dynamic programming (DP). To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a case study was conducted on an actual subway line. The results obtained indicate that the speed curve produced by the proposed method results in a 20% energy consumption saving compared with the speed curve for actual operations. Furthermore, the results of comparison with a genetic alg... [more]