Taking into account the international policies in the field of environmental protection in the world in general, and in the European Union in particular, the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and primarily of carbon dioxide, has become one of the most important objectives. This can be obtained through various renewable energy sources and non-polluting technologies, such as the mixing of hydrogen and natural gas. Combining hydrogen with natural gas is an emerging trend in the energy industry and represents one of the most important changes in the efforts to achieve extensive decarbonisation. The importance of this article consists of carrying out a techno-economic study based on the simulation of annual consumptions regarding the construction and use of production capacities for hydrogen to be used in mixtures with natural gas in various percentages in the distribution network of an important operator in Romania. In order to obtain relevant results, natural gas was treated as... [more]

Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have become the main energy source for economic development. However, fossil fuels have also been linked to serious environmental impacts. China has recently undergone rapid economic growth, but its development model demands large amounts of energy and causes severe pollution. Therefore, there has been a recent shift toward the development of coordinated strategies to achieve economic growth while minimizing energy consumption and preserving the environment. This study sought to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of the coordination degree between economic growth, energy consumption, and environmental conservation (i.e., the “3E” system) in China, thus establishing a basis to improve coordinated development and minimize regional differences. This study evaluated 30 Chinese provinces using mathematical models. Between 2000 and 2019, the coordinated development level of the components of the 3E system in China increased steadily but remaine... [more]

According to the requirements of carbon-neutral development, this study explores the comparison and new discussion of replacing nitrogen with carbon dioxide in the conventional two-phase microfluid flow. Thus, carbon dioxide application in various fields can be more precise and convenient. This research uses an artificially continuously tapering micro model to mimic the natural rock channel in low permeability formation, where the liquid imbibition process is entirely under surface tension-dominant. The tested capillary number decreased to 8.49 × 10−6, and the thinnest observed liquid film was reduced to 2 μm. The comparison results in two gas groups (nitrogen and carbon dioxide) show that CO2 gas fluid in microscopic porous media would have more tendency to snap off and leave fewer residual bubbles blocked between the constrictions. However, the N2 gas fluid forms smaller isolated gas bubbles after snap-off. By combining the experimental data and numerical output with the theoretical... [more]

New methods for state estimation are required due to the complexity of the topology of transmission and distribution systems, and the predictability in the management of prosumer dispatch. This paper describes a pilot project in Greece that, in accordance with OneNet’s architecture, addresses the challenges of congestion and balancing management that system operators face due to the high penetration of renewable energy sources. The respective data requirements and the IT/OT environment are described, as well as the interconnections among the various modules and functionalities. Available resources of the grid’s flexibility are identified, and the implementation of an integrated monitoring system based on efficient forecasting of volatile generation and demand is addressed. Congestion management and frequency and voltage control are in the center of interest of the demonstrator where, in close collaboration with system operators, respective network models are being developed.

Over the years, cities have undergone transformations that, invariably, overload and even compromise the functioning of an energy matrix dependent on increasingly scarce resources. The high demand for energy has challenged stakeholders to invest in more sustainable alternatives, such as bioenergy, which, in addition, helps to reduce the pressure for finite resources, enable the energy recovery of waste and contribute to the mitigation of carbon emissions. For these improvements to be successful, stakeholders need specific technological strategies, requiring tools, methods and solutions that support the decision-making process. In this perspective, the current work aimed to develop a framework optimizing the evaluation of waste bioenergy projects through the application of algorithms. Therefore, a literature review was carried out to select the algorithms and identify the sectors/areas and stages in which they are applied. These algorithms were then grouped into two sequential phases. T... [more]

In this study, a method for the bacterial disinfection of drinking water in the water storage systems based on the electric potential generated from a piezoelectric wind energy harvester is presented. First, an efficient galloping piezoelectric wind energy harvester is designed by adding curve- shaped attachments to the bluff body of the harvester. The simulated output voltage of the harvester is validated by performing different sets of experiments on an open environment. Later, the output voltage of the harvester is enhanced, using copper oxide nanowires (CuONWs) grown perpendicular to the surface of the center copper wire. The enhanced electric field is able to disinfect the bacterial water in a 25 min time period. The bacterial removal log efficiency of 2.33 is obtained with a supplied rms voltage of 0.1 V from the harvester. The findings of this study will help to provide alternate means to water treatment that are efficient, reliable, and also free from disinfection by-products.

The depletion of fossil energy reserves has intensified the interest in renewable energy sources, such as solar energy. Solar water heating represents an environmentally clean technology, with an abundant, permanent, renewable energy source that does not pollute or harm the ecosystem. In this context, the objective of the work was to revisit the theme of residential solar heating in relation to the use of flat-plate solar collectors. This study combined bibliometrics techniques and a systematic literature review. The results indicated that by considering the period from 1993 to 2020, we could find several publications revealing that the interest in this subject still remains high and current. Themes related to water heating and ambient cooling showed consistency in the publications, while studies focused on integrating solar thermal energy with other chemical processes, such as distillation or desalination, indicated that significant research is required in this area.

This paper deals with voltage control in a buck DC-DC converter. In fact, dynamic mathematical equations describing the principle behavior of the above system have been derived. Due to the nonlinearity of the established model, a nonlinear control algorithm is adopted. It is based on the sliding mode control approach. To highlight the performance of the latter, a comparative study with four control algorithms is carried out. The validity of the model and the performance of the conceived algorithms are verified in simulation. Both the system and the algorithm controls are implemented in the Matlab/Simulink environment. Extensive results under different operational conditions are presented and discussed.

The carbon emissions of sectors and households enabled by primary inputs have practical significance in reality. Considering the mutual effect between the industrial sector and the household, this paper firstly constructed an environmentally extended semi-closed Ghosh input−output model with an endogenized household sector to analyze the relationship between carbon emissions and the Chinese economy from the supply-side perspective. The structural decomposition analysis and the hypothetical extraction method were remodified to identify the supply-side driving effects of the changes in carbon emissions and investigate the net carbon linkage. The results show that the electricity, gas, and water supply sector was the key sector with the highest carbon emission intensity enabled by primary inputs. The household sector had an above 93% indirect effect of the enabled intensity, with its enabled intensity dropping significantly by more than 55% from 2007 to 2017. The operating surplus and mix... [more]

Biodiesel is an alternative source of fuel for various automotive applications. Because of the increasing demand for energy and the scarcity of fossil fuels, researchers have turned their attention to biodiesel production from various sources in recent years. The production of biofuels from organic materials and waste components allows for the use of these waste resources in transporting resources and people over long distances. As a result, developing sustainable measures for this aspect of life is critical, as knowledge of appropriate fuel sources, corresponding emissions, and health impacts will benefit the environment and public health assessment, which is currently lacking in the literature. This study investigates biodiesel’s composition and production process, in addition to biodiesel emissions and their associated health effects. Based on the existing literature, a detailed analysis of biodiesel production from vegetable oil crops and emissions was undertaken. This study also c... [more]

In order to fulfill the commitment of China to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, all industries have been taking their respective carbon reduction actions. The transportation industry accounts for 11% of CO2 emission of the whole society, and its energy conservation and carbon reduction benefit is of great significance to the national carbon reduction process. New energy vehicles are undoubtedly one of the most important means of carbon emission reduction in the transportation sector. However, electric vehicles still have CO2 emissions, as the fossil fuel use comes from upstream power. To systematically and comprehensively evaluate the CO2 emissions of HEV, PHEV and BEV in the whole process, this study introduces the life-cycle method to research on the past and current situations, and predict future scenarios for ICEV and EV light-duty vehicles at the national and regional levels, by deeply analyzing the generation mix and generating efficiency from the WTT st... [more]

There is a development trend for fuel vehicles to adopt low-carbon emission engines. The sales of cars with low-carbon three-cylinder engines in the Chinese market have declined. Is the life cycle of automotive products with three-cylinder engines entering a recession stage? In order to achieve this research objective, which is to investigate whether assembling a three-cylinder engine affects the life cycle of an automotive product, this paper constructs an ecological theory-based approach to measuring the life cycle of automotive products. First, the logistic model is used to measure the intrinsic growth rate, internal inhibition coefficient, and theoretical upper limit of product sales scale before and after the automotive products are equipped with three-cylinder engines. In the second stage, the Lotka−Volterra model is used to calculate the intrinsic growth rate, internal inhibition coefficient, theoretical upper limit, and symbiosis coefficient of the sales scale of the products b... [more]

The sustainable development of enterprises is based on three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. Sustainable development aims to limit climate change and its negative impact on the natural environment. The main aim of this paper is to assess the impact of selected energy economy factors (government expenditure, environmental taxes, outlays on renewable energy sources, prices of futures contracts for CO2 emissions, outlays on R&D, and the EU Emissions Trading System (ETSEU)) on the sustainable development of the energy sectors in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, and Poland, from 2008 to 2022. We use the correlation coefficients, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Models, and the simultaneous equation. The research results indicate a variation in the direction and strength of the influence of individual economic factors in the studied countries (p < 0.05). The results can support operational and strategic decisions sustaining the sustainable development... [more]

Water, energy, and food are indispensable for sustainable economic development. Despite nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen, being essential for plant growth and thus food supplies, those present in wastewater are considered an environmental burden. While microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are receiving much interest, combining wastewater treatment with an MFC has emerged as an option for low-cost wastewater treatment. Among others, a constructed wetland (CW) coupled with an MFC (CW-MFC) has the potential to provide a low carbon footprint and low-energy wastewater treatment, as well as nutrient and energy recovery from wastewater. Findings from this review show that the organic and nutrient removal and power generation by the integrated CW-MFC systems are affected by a number of factors including the organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time, system design, plant species, dissolved oxygen, substrate/media type, influent feeding mode, electrode materials and spacing, and externa... [more]

Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is a set of technologies aimed at capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from point-source emitters to either store permanently or use as a feedstock to produce chemicals and fuels. In this paper, the potential benefits of CCUS integration into the energy supply sector are evaluated from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective by comparing two different routes for the CO2 captured from a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC). Both the complete storage of the captured CO2 and its partial utilization to produce dimethyl ether are investigated. Moreover, the assessment is performed considering the region-specific features of two of the largest CO2 emitters in Europe, namely Italy and Poland. Results shows that the complete storage of the captured CO2 reduces Global Warming Potential (GWP) by ~89% in Italy and ~97%, in Poland. On the other hand, the partial utilization of CO2 to produce dimethyl ether leads to a decrease of ~58% in Italy and ~6... [more]

This study presents an analysis of the potential uses of BIM for managing the maintenance and refurbishment of existing housing assets to propose thermal comfort and energy efficiency guidelines for future social housing projects in Brazil. To do so, a case study analysis of a residential development with social−environmental certification in the city of Garanhuns, Pernambuco, Brazil was performed, and a literature review on the use of BIM for residential unit maintenance was conducted. The standard house in the residential development was found to be noncompliant with the Brazilian standard for ventilation openings (NBR 15.220). Therefore, three alternative layouts were created and analyzed to meet the requirements of the standard as well as the needs of the residents. The authors recommend that socio-environmental certifiers use BIM models so that energy performance and other simulations can be carried out. The study also proposes guidelines for BIM implementation in future governmen... [more]

Solar radiation is a reliable energy source that can be used to produce power and cold. Converting solar energy into electricity is attainable through solar chimney power plants. Moreover, solar energy has been utilized to produce cold in adsorption cooling systems. In the adsorption cooling cycle, the adsorption bed releases heat into the environment during the bed cooling phases. This paper introduces a novel hybrid solar chimney power plant integrated with a solar-driven adsorption water chiller. The purpose of the presented system is to enhance the system’s utilization of solar energy by recovering the reactor’s released heat and reusing it to augment the output power. In comparison with conventional solar chimney power plants, the introduced system produces continuous power throughout the day. A mathematical model is developed to evaluate the system’s performance. This model expresses the conservation of energy and mass for every component in the system. The silica gel and water a... [more]

The main objective of this research is to assess the impact of energy certificate ratings (EPCs) on the value per m2 of Portuguese housing sales. Data from 289 Portuguese municipalities between 2014 and 2019, analysed with a fixed effects panel and method of moments quantile regression, were used. EPCs with high energy efficiency ratings (e.g., A+, A, B, and B-) are used as a proxy for dwellings with “green” or “environmentally friendly” certificates. On the other hand, ratings with a low energy efficiency (e.g., C, D, E, and F) are used as a proxy for dwellings with “non-green” or “not environmentally friendly” certificates. The results support that EPCs associated with green housing increase the value per m2 of housing sales, and those associated with non-green housing decrease the sales value. It was also found that municipal GDP, tax/financial incentive policies for energy efficiency, and the number of completed dwellings in new constructions for family housing will increase sales... [more]

Open innovations (OI) are playing an increasingly important role in the innovative development (RI) of SMEs. This has led to a need to analyze the impact of OI on innovative development serving the implementation of the assumptions of sustainable development, the positive effect of which is to reduce the negative impact on the environment thanks to a more rational use of both natural and produced resources (e.g., energy). This development is described in this article as “sustainable innovative development”. Research was conducted on a sample of 800 SMEs in Poland using the quantitative method (questionnaire). The aim of this study was to identify the impact of OI on sustainable innovation development. This goal was achieved through the verification of three research hypotheses. It turns out that SMEs obtain significant benefits by exploring the environment, i.e., by showing a high level of willingness to cooperate with various entities in the environment for sustainable innovative deve... [more]

In China, environmental pollution responsibilities are divided according to administrative regions. However, because of the strong externality of environmental pollution, the movement of environmental pollution undoubtedly increases the complexity of pollution governance. To divide the responsibility of environmental pollution governance in each province, we effectively quantify the unequal relationship between environmental pollution costs and economic benefits in each province to understand the mechanism and characteristics of inter-provincial environmental pollution movement. Based on the regional input−output model and an inventory we compiled of sulfur dioxide(SO2) emissions of air pollutants in 2012, we calculate the implied inter-provincial environmental pollution emissions and economic benefits from trade, based on production and consumption (supply-side and demand-side). In addition, the movement relationship is explored, and the cost and economic value-added indexes of air po... [more]

The integrity of oil pipelines has received considerable attention. Pipeline leakage accidents cause environmental pollution and casualties. Analysis of accident data in recent years shows that the harbor oil pipeline is prone to natural disasters such as typhoons. The vulnerability analysis of the pipeline was conducted from three perspectives: typhoon grades, windward angles, and operating conditions. The analytic hierarchy is used to build the vulnerability evaluation index system. The vulnerability evaluation score of the pipeline can be calculated by the semi-quantitative method. The results show that the probability of pipeline vulnerability failure increases with the increase of typhoon level, while the change of wind angle has no obvious effect on the pipeline. The full load of the pipeline has a higher evaluation score than that of the empty load, which means the full load is safer. The vulnerability analysis of oil pipelines can effectively improve the safety of pipeline tran... [more]

New energy technologies are gaining rising importance because of climate change and increasing energy demand, and they show an enormous potential to mitigate environmental issues. With the purpose of maximizing the renewable energy utilization, combined heat and power systems are considered more effective, economical, and ecological. However, renewable energy-based combined heat and power systems are still in the development phase. Hence, this study presents a new methodology to produce combined electricity and heat from wind and solar PV systems to meet the energy demand of small, distributed communities. For this scope, an optimization model is developed to exploit rationally the power generation from renewables and meet the electricity and heating demand of two selected communities. The curtailed energy of solar and wind systems is used to produce heat by a thermal load controller combined with a natural gas boiler. The developed model is also integrated with the grid station for en... [more]

This field study evaluated the building performance of a nearly zero-energy office building near Brussels, Belgium, located in the temperate climatic zone. The building’s thermal comfort and energy parameters were monitored from May 2018 to April 2019. The time-integrated thermal discomfort, primary energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions from the building were then analyzed using the monitored data. The case study evaluated the HVAC system performance with an air-cooled chiller with water cooling coils and a water boiler with water heating coils. The findings indicated an indoor overheating degree of 0.05 °C and an indoor overcooling degree of 0 °C for the observed period. The building’s primary cooling energy use was found to be 37.54 kWhPE/m2.a and primary heating energy use was found to be 46.08 kWhPE/m2.a for the monitored period. The cooling and heating greenhouse gas emissions were 10.14 kg.CO2e/m2.a and 8.34 kg.CO2e/m2.a, respectively. The observed data also indicated that the... [more]

Sustainable construction is a comprehensive process of balancing the natural and built environment by applying sustainable development concepts. The golden triangle in the construction of time, cost, and quality should also assess risks from a sustainable perspective and investigate the environmental dimensions of the project. However, proper risk assessment for green sustainability is challenging, resulting in project management conducted under uncertain conditions. This study proposes a procedure based on Monte Carlo Simulations to improve the assessment of critical risk factors associated with construction activities. The AHP method was applied to rank environmental impact indicators, and the EMV approach was used to calculate the effects of the expected outcomes. The current study shows that air, water, and land pollution, water consumption, and solid waste are the most critical indicators. The results indicate that the equipment breakdown significantly impacted the duration of (an... [more]

In this study, we assessed a lifestyle in which occupants adjust the fittings based on climate, weather, and time, in terms of energy efficiency and thermal conditions. The proposed solution is a Zero Energy House (ZEH) with high thermal performance. The thermal performance of the building envelope can be adjusted by changing the operation of fittings based on the indoor and outdoor environments, as well as air conditioning usage. Many studies have achieved zero energy by increasing the thermal performance of an envelope and using highly efficient energy-saving facilities; however, uniquely, here we focus on occupant behavior to change the building envelope condition. In this paper, numerical analysis was used to investigate the effect of adjusting the fittings on buildings with different thermal performances of the envelope. The analysis demonstrates that, while more research into measures is needed in the summer, the adjustment of fittings and thermal storage properties in the winter... [more]