In this article, we present the possibility of applying the concept of elasticity in the system of sustainable energy development through the use of wood biomass. We used a dual (socio-ecological and economic) approach to sustainable energy development. The research was carried out using the methods of reduction reasoning, scientific observation, and examination of source documents. We identified crisis threats in the context of sustainable energy development. Then, we analyzed the supply of wood biomass in Poland, taking into account its geographical location. As a result, we identified and characterized the causal relationships between the assumptions of the concept of resistance and the sustainable development of energy with the use of wood biomass. We found that the concepts of resilience can be adapted to assessing energy sustainability. This adaptation is based on resilience, flexibility, and strategic ability to revitalize the country. We found that five key threats (extreme wea... [more]

Electrical machines are commonly used in industries and transport and are manufactured with enameled wire coils with polymer insulation. In extreme conditions, as in aeronautics and aerospace, where temperatures exceed 280 °C, the organic insulation deteriorates and it is necessary to find another way to insulate winding wires, in order to ensure a longer life duration of the insulation system and a better operating reliability of electric motors in these environments. Ceramics are more resistant to high temperatures than polymers and the proposed study focuses on the temperature dependence of the dielectric properties of anodized aluminum strips for use in high-temperature electrical machine windings. Different dielectric parameters are measured during thermal constraint. The purpose is to determine the temperature index of the anodized strip and propose a thermal stress life model.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of studies on sustainable development. The majority of research focuses on developed countries and issues that are incompatible with developing nations. This study addresses a gap in the literature by reviewing the research on developed and developing economies, as well as their social and environmental boundaries, under the renewable energy and sustainable development (RESD) nexus. It also explores how RESD may be applied in extreme situations such as population increase, energy supply disruptions, and transportation shortfalls. The fundamental contribution of this paper is to provide detailed debate from the perspective of economic growth hypotheses and their relationship with energy usage and renewable energy solutions for sustainable growth and development.

The growing impact of consumption on the environment has been attracting much attention from academics for the last couple of decades and has caused inquiries into the antecedents of responsible consumption. Previous studies focused on analyzing different antecedents of responsible consumption in various areas and contexts. However, very few studies investigated the antecedents of responsible consumption in the energy sector, and only a few referred to emerging European countries. The aim of the paper is to examine the effect of environmental awareness on responsible energy consumption. Data for this study have been collected using the survey methodology. A total of 1407 households were selected as a sample for the CAWI methods of gathering data. The territory of the study population is Poland. The methodology of research involves several measurement scales of theoretical constructs. The constructs′ reliability coefficients, as well as discriminant and convergent validity indices, show... [more]

Enterprise risk management (ERM) is an important element of an efficient and comprehensive corporate governance system. It represents a combination of activities that minimise the negative impacts of the risk exposures on the company’s value and long-term corporate sustainability. Recently, there has been a growing awareness on the role and importance of the risk management function. Such trends are partly driven by the consequences of the last economic and financial crisis on the one hand, and on the other by legal and regulatory requirements. The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, volatility in the energy markets and increased uncertainty expected in the upcoming period reiterate the importance of timely risk management practices, because organisations with developed risk management systems are more resilient in case of crisis. This paper analyses the organisation and level of development of ERM systems in the ten largest European electric power companies. The compani... [more]

Within the last few decades, the issue of the environmental performance of European financial institutions has become a significant feature of their strategic plans. Financial institutions can contribute through their own activities and investments, and also through their relationship with economic sectors and consumers, in decreasing environmental footprint. The purpose of this research is to investigate the determinants that affect the environmental performance of European financial institutions. Financial markets have been selected as the main research field for this study, as it presents an opportunity for environmental policy and is useful in view of the need for a wider range of policy instruments. Moreover, on a more practical level, financial institutions can interact with the environment in several ways, such as investors, innovators, valuers, powerful stakeholders, and polluters. The study is based on a mixed methodology approach, which integrates: (i) bibliometric analysis b... [more]

The incentive policies of new energy vehicles substantially promoted the development of the electrical vehicles technology and industry in China. However, the environmental impact of the key technology parameters progress on the battery electrical vehicles (BEV) is uncertain, and the BEV matching different lithium-ion power batteries shows different environmental burdens. This study conducts a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a BEV matching four different power batteries of lithium-ion phosphate (LFP), lithium-ion nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM), lithium manganese oxide (LMO), and lithium titanate oxide (LTO) batteries. In addition, the 2025 and 2030 prediction analyses of the batteries production and life cycle BEV are conducted with the specially considered change and progress of the power battery energy density, battery manufacturing energy consumption, electricity structure, battery charge efficiency, and vehicle lightweight level. In addition, sensitivity analyses of power battery ene... [more]

Growing energy demand worldwide and onshore limitations have increased interest in offshore renewable energy exploitation. A combination of offshore renewable energy resources such as wind and wave energy can produce stable power output at a lower cost compared to a single energy source. Consequently, identifying the best locations for constructing combined offshore renewable energy farms is crucial. This paper investigates the technical, economic, social, and environmental aspects of Combined Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Farm (COWWEF) site selection. Past literature was evaluated using a systematic review method to synthesize, criticize, and categorize study regions, dataset characteristics, constraints, evaluation criteria, and methods used for the site selection procedure. The results showed that most studied regions belong to European countries, and numerical model outputs were mainly used in the literature as met-ocean data due to the limited coverage and low spatiotemporal resol... [more]

Considering the excellent environmental properties and heating capability under wide running conditions of the natural fluid CO2, the transcritical CO2 heat pump system has widely been used in the application of water heaters, commercial heating and cooling, electric vehicle thermal management, etc. Since the performance was highly affected by the discharge pressure and heat recovery rate in a transcritical CO2 system, the collaborative optimization of these two parameters was analyzed in detail in this study. The results showed that the optimal value of the system heating COP, which was the ration of heating capacity to power consumption, was better under a higher heat recovery rate and relatively lower discharge pressure, which is why these kinds of operating conditions are highly recommended from the perspective of collaborative optimization. Additionally, the heat recovery rate had a positive effect on the system performance when the discharge pressure was lower than its optimal va... [more]

Today, the increasing amount of waste is a growing ecological and financial problem. Another issue is the need to limit the share of controllable sources powered by fossil fuels. A hybrid generation system (HGS) is proposed to solve both problems. The system consists of renewable energy sources (RES) and a waste gasification system. Contrary to many papers, it is proposed to include syngas storage and use gas turbines as balancing sources. The HGS was modeled, and electricity generation, capacity factors, and efficiencies were calculated. The economic (LCOE and PP) and environmental parameters (CO2 emission and reduction) were analyzed and calculated for different RES capacities. The results show that the proposed HGS covered 45.7−80% of municipal demand. The HGS was characterized by high CO2 emissions, due to the low efficiency of gasification-gas turbine installation and the need to compress syngas. However, the HGS can be environmentally beneficial due to the reduction in waste disp... [more]

Plants of the Lemnaceae family are becoming increasingly popular among researchers. The goal of the study was to characterize trends in scientific research related to the use of aquatic plants from the Lemnaceae family for energy purposes, especially for the production of biogas, bioethanol, and other biofuels. These plants fit perfectly into the concept of a circular economy. This study performed a bibliometric and in-depth content analysis to review the use of plants from the Lemnaceae family for biofuel production. A set of 666 articles published from 2008 to 2022 was identified from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Different analytical scientometric tools (topic mapping and overlay visualization networks) were used to analyze 141 articles; the most influential countries, institutions, authors, journals, and articles were identified. Depth content analysis reveals five research areas: (i) development of duckweed growth and starch accumulation; (ii) development of the pretrea... [more]

To clarify the organic matter (OM) enrichment of the Lishui Sag, the factors influencing the variable abundance of OM in the Lingfeng Formation are studied using organic geochemical data. The source rocks of the Lingfeng Formation have medium−high total organic carbon (TOC) values (0.53−3.56%). The main type of kerogen is II2-III. Compared to the shallow marine subfacies source rocks, the TOC of the delta front subfacies source rocks is higher. The distribution of biomarkers shows that the redox environment of the delta front subfacies source rock is the sub-oxidizing and oxic environment, and the source rock is mainly supplied by terrigenous higher plants; the redox environment of shallow marine subfacies source rocks is a sub-reducing and suboxic environment, and the OM mainly comes from algae. The link between OM input and OM abundance demonstrates that terrigenous OM (TOM) input has a considerable influence on OM abundance. However, there is no obvious relationship between preserva... [more]

Electrical energy substitution is an important way to achieve the optimization of the energy consumption structure as well as to alleviate environmental problems, and it is also an important source of benefits of the integrated energy system. However, there are few works that study the effects of electrical energy substitution on the construction of the integrated energy system (IES) and electrical energy substitution work without incentives carried out in the IES. To this end, this paper proposed a G1 method with constructing consistency matrix to determine the evaluation index weights for the IES with electrical energy substitution. Specifically, we firstly construct the evaluation index system for the IES including electrical energy substitution indicators, low-carbon indicators, technical indicators and economic indicators as well as their secondary indicators. Then, a tri-level evaluation index system of target-criteria-indicator benefits is established based on pertinent standard... [more]

Nuclear energy is proposed as part of the solution to a net-zero carbon future. However, environmental issues with nuclear energy remain. In this study, a total of 1616 participants from across the U.S. stated their position on the following statements: “Nuclear energy is a clean energy source”, “Nuclear energy may be part of the solution to climate change”, “I am willing to accept the building of new nuclear power stations if it is environmentally friendly and had a zero-carbon footprint”, and “Nuclear power may lead to more pollution and environmental contamination”. Participants were also asked “Do you think nuclear energy is a zero-carbon energy?” Logistic regression was used to determine how concern around climate change and nuclear waste predicted participant responses. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to determine segments of respondents based on their perceptions of nuclear energy and the environment. Nuclear energy was perceived as being zero-carbon (74% agree), but not ne... [more]

The interest in hybrid polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) fuelled by hydrogen in shipping has seen an unprecedented growth in the last years, as it could allow zero-emission navigation. However, technical, safety, and regulatory barriers in PEMFC ship design and operation are hampering the use of such systems on a large scale. While several studies analyse these aspects, a comprehensive and up-to-date overview on hydrogen PEMFCs for shipping is missing. Starting from the survey of past/ongoing projects on FCs in shipping, this paper presents an extensive review on maritime hydrogen PEMFCs, outlining the state of the art and future trends for hydrogen storage and bunkering, powertrain, and regulations. In addition to the need for a clear regulatory framework, future studies should investigate the development of an efficient fuel supply chain and bunkering facilities ashore. As for the onboard power system, health-conscious energy management, low-temperature heat recovery, a... [more]

Energy transformation and environmental quality are now fundamental components of China’s economic development plans, which are being reorganized to ensure the dependability of the energy supply and protect environmental quality. Nonetheless, technical inefficiency is one of the most significant obstacles to achieving these overall objectives. Therefore, utilizing yearly data from 2000 to 2021 and the autoregressive distributed lag model, this article examines the implications of information and communication technology trade openness on China’s energy transformation and environmental quality. The findings indicate that information and communication technology trade openness has a favorable impact on environmental quality as a consequence of its negative impact on carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, the findings indicate that information and communication technology trade openness has a beneficial impact on energy transformation due to its positive impact on renewable energy consumptio... [more]

Biowaste valorization is a means for tackling resource depletion and climate change, which gives rise to environmental benefits and economic growth. One of the most known technological routes to convert biowaste into bioproducts is pyrolysis, which may conduct with and without catalyst application. The purpose of this study was to investigate an early-stage life-cycle assessment (LCA) for catalytic intermediate pyrolysis to valorize rapeseed meal, split over the scenarios using ZSM-5 and zeolite Y catalysts. Four selected environmental impact categories were assessed by IMPACT 2002+ methodology. The results revealed that the ZSM-5 catalytic pyrolysis led to bigger environmental impacts than the pyrolysis utilizing zeolite Y in all compared impact categories except global warming. The scenario that involved zeolite Y had around 20% GHG intensity greater than ZSM-5 pyrolysis. The bulk of GHG emissions mostly involved CO2 and methane generated from electricity consumption, which was provi... [more]

Recently, fuel cell combined heat and power systems (FC-CGSs) for residential applications have received increasing attention. The International Electrotechnical Commission has issued a technical specification (TS 62282-9-101) for environmental impact assessment procedures of FC-CGSs based on the life cycle assessment, which considers global warming during the utilization stage and abiotic depletion during the manufacturing stage. In proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), platinum (Pt) used in the catalyst layer is a major contributor to abiotic depletion, and Pt loading affects power generation performance. In the present study, based on TS 62282-9-101, we evaluated the environmental impact of a 700 W scale PEMFC-CGS considering cathode catalyst degradation. Through Pt dissolution and Ostwald ripening modeling, the electrochemical surface area transition of the Pt catalyst was calculated. As a result of the 10-year evaluation, the daily power generation of the PEMFC-CGS decreas... [more]

One of the most common failures or breakdowns that can occur in high-voltage (HV) equipment is due to partial discharges (PDs). This occurs as a result of inadequate insulation, aging, harsh environmental effects, or manufacturing flaws. PD detection and recognition methods have gained growing attention and have seen great progress in the past decades. Radiometric methods are one of the most investigated detection approaches due to their immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and their capabilities to detect and locate PD activities in different applications such as transformers, cables, etc. Several review articles have been published to classify and categorize these works. Nonetheless, some concepts are missing, and some improvement techniques, such as PD detection at high-frequency (HF) and very high-frequency (VHF), have been overlooked. We present in this paper an exhaustive review study of state-of-the-art PD detection based on radiometric methods at different usable radi... [more]

Green and blue infrastructure has gained importance for energy firms around the globe due to increased focus on addressing emerging challenges raised in the achievement of green innovation (GI) and the protection of the environment. Pollution reduction and green technology are key factors that help to accomplish GI. The aim of the current research was to examine how green and blue infrastructure and green technologies impact and improve energy firms’ business GI in Pakistan. Quantitative methods were used for the collection of data from 475 managers, policymakers, senior employees, owners, and CEOs. Findings demonstrated that green and blue infrastructure and GI were positively linked. The results also showed that pollution reduction played a mediating role between blue infrastructure and GI. Furthermore, findings also revealed that green technology played a moderating role between green and blue infrastructure and GI. Pollution reduction is a crucial factor in developing the GI perfor... [more]

Today’s company has to operate in a turbulent market environment, where the policy of sustainable development is still gaining importance. Therefore, it has been forced to look for a strategic orientation that would allow it to face the growing demands of the changing reality. Each organization must therefore adapt to the changes in the environment. These changes include the need to implement sustainable energy usage practices. This article presents determinants that build such an attitude in a company and thus contribute to the sustainable development of the organization. This article is based on the results of an empirical study conducted in December 2021 on a sample of 690 respondents (later, due to the purpose of the study, the sample was narrowed to 578 working people) using a survey questionnaire. A structural model was estimated using the maximum likelihood method. It allowed us to determine the variables that influence the degree to which companies use energy saving practices,... [more]

In this study, a comparative sizing design for renewable power systems was developed based on HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources) and iHOGA (improved Hybrid Optimization by Genetic Algorithms) simulators. A comparative analysis of the solutions obtained with iHOGA and HOMER simulators for the same hybrid renewable power system (HRPS) is presented in detail. The system contained a new hybrid configuration that used fuel cell (FC) as a green energy source, replacing the polluting diesel generator system, as well as other renewable energy sources, namely, photovoltaic panels, wind turbine, a battery stack, power converters, and electric load. The same case study was carried out for the design of the hybrid system using HOMER and iHOGA simulators to perform a comparative analysis of the solutions obtained for potential investment. The analysis showed a higher share of renewable energy for iHOGA (92%) compared to HOMER (81%), so the first design produced 51.61 kg/year l... [more]

Understanding how the pressure level affects the efficiency of liquid piston gas compression is essential for a greater applicability of the technology in compressed air energy storage. To explore the impacts, compression starting at three different initial pressure levels (1, 2, 3 bar) with a pressure ratio of 2 is performed, and how isothermal compression efficiencies are affected depending on the initial pressures is analyzed. Under the experimental conditions, higher initial pressure leads to lower isothermal efficiency. Air dissolution during the compression is also investigated because the chamber is a pressure-varying and a liquid-containing environment, where the gas solubility changes during the process. Evaluating the dissolution is critical as it affects the energy output when the compressed air is expanded to regenerate the energy. The changes in the air mass and the retrievable volume of the air after expansion are quantified based on Henry’s law. For a compression at high... [more]

Implementing hybrid renewable energy systems in hospitals, as an applicable solution to improve the sustainability of power systems, was studied. Several hybrid renewable configurations with detailed technical and economic information were proposed by HOMER Pro software, and the most cost-effective system was introduced as a combination of PV (350 kW), WT (1 unit, 25 kW), and DG (700 kW), with a total net present cost of USD 3.25 million and cost of energy of USD 0.0543/kWh. To consider all aspects of sustainability for choosing the optimal system, a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approach, considering technical, environmental, economic, and energy security criteria, was applied using the TOPSIS method. According to ISO 21929, the weighting of the criteria was performed depending on how indicators affected the key areas of protection. By using the TOPSIS technique, a system with a larger renewable proportion, more variety, and less reliance on diesel was chosen. Thus, the optimal choic... [more]

Is it really necessary for the more than 200 million tons of municipal waste produced by the EU to end up in landfills? Nowadays, there are many methods for using the raw materials and energy potential of waste in ways that are economical and environmentally acceptable. But first it is necessary to understand what waste is being produced, the possibilities for recycling, and the amount of waste deposited in landfills. Many studies show that, with the ever-increasing standard of living, which is accompanied by increasing consumption as well as increasing waste production, increasing separation of waste is a positive trend. However, it is essential to realize that many materials cannot be recycled indefinitely. Therefore, in our research, we focused on reducing the share of waste that goes into landfill with the goal of zero waste to landfill, so as to increase recycling and the amount of energy obtained from waste. We focused on the analysis of waste production in individual EU states,... [more]