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]

The Paris Agreement’s objectives related to climate change put aviation under great pressure and environmental inspection. In particular, the aviation industry is committed to achieving a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. A shift to alternative aviation fuels seems imperative. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has identified the production of drop-in sustainable liquid fuels (SAFs) as the most promising strategy, at least short term, to reduce the environmental impact of the sector. Within this review, a critical summary of the current alternative aviation fuels/pathways is presented and a comparative analysis of the dominant technologies is performed considering techno-economic assessment, environmental evaluation, and future projections. The impact of the ‘ReFuelEU Aviation’ initiative on the current dominant policies and market incentives is assessed. Hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), Fischer−Tropsch (FT) synthesis, alcohol-... [more]

The new perspectives of the water−energy nexus, water-for-energy and energy-for-water, emphasize the current and future need to find ways to produce as much energy with as low an amount of water as possible and to obtain as much water with as little energy as possible. In order to promote and implement the concept of sustainable development, the understanding of the dynamic and complex relationship between water and energy is crucial, especially in the context of energy transition. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the recent approaches regarding water and energy and the interlink during implementation, operation and servicing of various water and energy production systems. This endeavor is placed in the context of current energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. A qualitative and quantitative analysis is performed with various literature solutions from water-for-energy and energy-for-water perspectives for a broader view of the impact of implement... [more]

Solar energy utilization for covering and offsetting the heating loads of buildings, is a sustainable way to reduce energy consumption (electricity, gas, etc.) for space heating. As such, a Trombe wall technology is a classic passive solar heating system used in buildings, that can be modified and applied to cold climate regions. This work presents a case study on a Trombe wall’s application in relation to its thermal energy output for space heating purposes at a factory building in central Latvia. The solar radiation and temperature measurements were carried out throughout the months of June to October. The results show that the examined wall has a monthly energy yield of 120 to 290 kWh, suggesting that Trombe wall systems are applicable as a secondary space heating source in cold climate regions such as northern Europe, however, a number of design and structural aspects have to be thoroughly considered.

As tidal current and marine hydro-kinetic energy converters start to be deployed in pre-commercial arrays, it is critical that the design conditions are properly characterised. Turbulence is known to influence fatigue loads and power production, so developers use turbulence models to generate unsteady flows in order to simulate device performance. Most such models construct a synthetic flow field using a combination of measured parameters and theoretical assumptions. The majority in use today are based on atmospheric flow conditions and may have limited applicability in tidal environments. In the present work, we compare key turbulence model assumptions (which are recommended by the tidal turbine standards and are used in design software) to turbulence measurements from two tidal test sites in Scotland and Canada. Here, we show that the two sites have different levels of conformity to theoretical models, with significant variability within nearby locations at the same site. The agreeme... [more]

The present review describes the current achievements in the applications of a planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) method for the diagnostics of liquid films, bubbles, individual droplets, and sprays. Such flows are related with strongly curved interphases, which often results in additional high errors during the PLIF data quantification because of laser light reflection, refraction, and absorption. The present review demonstrates that a two-color PLIF approach and a PLIF modification for regularly structured illumination resolves the reflection- and refraction-caused errors. The latter modification ensures proper phase separation in the measurement cross-section and visualization of the interface dynamics. The former approach provides the accurate evaluation of the local temperature and concentration both in liquid and gaseous phases even in the case of strong variations of the laser sheet intensity. With intensified cameras, the PLIF method is used for multi-parameter diagnostic... [more]

The main goal of this paper is to assess the life cycle environmental impacts of a multifunctional smart window luminescent solar concentrator (SW−LSC) prototype through the application of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies on the topic. The analysis followed a cradle to gate approach, considering the assembly and maintenance phase as well as the end of life, examined separately through a recycling/landfill scenario. A comparison of the impacts of LSC modules with those of some building-integrated photovoltaic technologies was carried out. Results showed that the global warming potential (100 years) for SW−LSC was 5.91 × 103 kg CO2eq and the manufacturing phase had the greatest impact (about 96%). The recycling/landfill scenario results showed the possibility to reduce impacts by an average of 45%. A dominance analysis of SW−LSC components showed that the aluminum frame was the main hotspot (about 60% contribution), follow... [more]

There has been so far no energo-environmental system, whose design is considered energy-wise as well as cleanliness-wise, put in practical use despite the fact that those systems would be of huge potential importance as disaster shelters for casualties and/or infectious disease patients, in particular, those of COVID-19. We have designed the energo-environmental system based on the 2-Dimensional PhotoRecepto-Conversion Scheme (2DPRCS) and Clean Unit System Platform (CUSP) technologies. We have demonstrated the energo-environmental system can be as clean as US 209D class 1000 or better, quite handily, in a couple of minutes. As for the solar-cell-based energy generation part, we have shown that the needed electric power could be generated using our original technology of the 2DPRCS by simulations, as the possible first application of casualties’ and patients’ highly clean rest-space that has monitoring ability of the status of those people including sleep assessment. This energo-environ... [more]

In recent years, new energy power generation has been widely used. As household energy storage will be widely promoted in the future, many households’ energy storage will soon need to be replaced. It is of great significance to study the recycling of household energy storage to reduce environmental pollution and promote the sustainable development of the household energy storage market. However, the lack of research on the design of household energy storage and recovery network from the perspective of manufacturing enterprises hinders the sustainable development of household energy storage. Based on the above, a household energy storage recycling model considering carbon emissions was established in this paper. This model evaluated the recovery status of household energy storage online through a big data platform and proposed three different recovery schemes based on the evaluation results. Through a case study of Sichuan and Chongqing, the overall profit of the household energy storag... [more]

Among so many fault basins around Ordos presenting good geothermal background, Yinchuan Plain is the key development and protection area of the Ecological and Economic Belt along the Yellow River in Ningxia and Yinchuan Metropolitan Area. The study of geothermal resources in this region is of great significance to the sustainable economic development of Yinchuan Plain. Most scholars suggested that Yinchuan Plain geothermal resources are low-to-medium temperature geothermal resources and have high value in terms of development and utilization due to their large reserves, good water quality conditions, and wide distribution. However, there is much controversy over the geothermal mechanism of this region. As an effective means to study geothermal mechanism, geophysical methods can be used to study regional basement uplift and structural distribution characteristics. Based on the discussion of regional geothermal geology background, this paper studies the distribution rules of Moho and Cur... [more]