This paper aims to identify the dynamic capabilities required for electrical energy service providers to transform toward a digital and platform-based business models in the context of the current energy transition. The paper contributes to two fields: Information systems in the domain of platforms ecosystems and digital services innovation through the usage of dynamic capabilities theoretical lens and the field of energy informatics in the domain of digital business models and service innovation. Through the case study approach we investigate the case of Norwegian electrical energy provider TrønderEnergi and how the company is moving toward a fully digital business model and how the company build the dynamic capabilities required for the digitalization era. Through semi-structured interviews, the study managed to identify several activities related to each capability and then classified these activities under three main activities, which are: sensing, seizing, and transforming, and th... [more]

The ground source heat pump heating system is considered as one of the best solutions for the transition towards green heating under the continental climate conditions like Kazakhstan. In this paper, experimental and theoretical investigations were carried out to develop a ground source heat pump-based heating system under the weather conditions in Kazakhstan and to evaluate its thermodynamic performance. The water-to-water heat pump heating system, integrated with a ground source heat exchanger and used refrigerant R134a, was designed to provide hot water to meet the requirements for space heating. The predicted values of the coefficient of performance and the experimental results were found to be in good agreement within 6.2%. The thermodynamic performance of the system was also assessed using various environment-friendly refrigerants, such as R152a, R450A, R513A, R1234yf and R1234ze, as potential replacements for R134a. Although R152a is found to be a good alternative for R134a in t... [more]

The reduction of carbon emissions from the energy industry chain and the coordinated development of the energy supply chain have attracted widespread attention. This paper conducts a systematic review of the existing literature on the energy industry chain and energy supply chain. Based on the analytical results, this paper finds that research gaps exist in the studies of energy consumption structure and resource consumption in energy industry chain. In addition, the studies of coordinated operation mechanisms, risk control and the impact of government policies on the energy supply chain still have some shortcomings. Furthermore, this paper shows that the exploitation and utilization of renewable energy and the sustainable development of the energy industry chain and supply chain have become the major focus of scholars and governments in recent years. Accordingly, this article finally presents the future research prospects and provides managerial insights for policy makers and enterpri... [more]

Today, with the increases in organic fuel prices and growing legislative restrictions aimed at increasing environmental safety and reducing our carbon footprint, the task of increasing thermal power plant efficiency is becoming more and more topical. Transforming combusting fuel thermal energy into electric power more efficiently will allow the reduction of the fuel cost fraction in the cost structure and decrease harmful emissions, especially greenhouse gases, as less fuel will be consumed. There are traditional ways of improving thermal power plant energy efficiency: increasing turbine inlet temperature and utilizing exhaust heat. An alternative way to improve energy efficiency is the use of supercritical CO2 power cycles, which have a number of advantages over traditional ones due to carbon dioxide’s thermophysical properties. In particular, the use of carbon dioxide allows increasing efficiency by reducing compression and friction losses in the wheel spaces of the turbines; in addi... [more]

It is becoming increasingly important to develop effective combustion technologies for low calorific industrial gases (LCIG) because of the rising energy demand and environmental issues caused by the extensive use of fossil fuels. In this review, the prospect of these opportunity fuels in China is discussed. Then, the recent fundamental and engineering studies of LCIG combustion are summarized. Specifically, the differences between LCIG and traditional fuels in the composition and fundamental combustion characteristics are described. The state-of-the-art combustion strategies for burning LCIG are reviewed, including porous media combustion, flameless combustion, oxy-fuel combustion, and dual-fuel combustion. The technical challenges and further development needs for efficient LCIG combustion are also discussed.

One thing that should be considered in environmental considerations and climate change is the transportation sector’s contribution to producing carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, in developing countries such as Iran, due to high tariff support, manufacturers have no incentive to improve the combustion quality of their products. Most likely, significant restrictions on CO2 emissions will be applied in the coming years, and companies whose activities or products are related to high-level greenhouse gas emissions will be affected by these restrictions. Therefore, due to the application of these restrictions, investors are most concerned about the risk associated with the return of purchased shares. Considering these cases, it can be expected that the risk related to carbon emissions will be reflected in the yield level and, thus, the stock price. Therefore, the present study deals with the effect of CO2 gas emissions on the market value, price and stock returns of Iranian automobile companies... [more]

The switched reluctance motor (SRM) benefits from its magnet-free nature, robust construction, low cost, flexible controls, and the ability to operate in harsh environments such as high temperatures and high pressure. It has received increasing attention for all-electric or multi-electric aircraft systems and electric vehicles (EVs) as compared with permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) and other AC motors in some required high reliability and fault tolerance applications. However, the SRM is prone to considerable wind resistance due to the convex pole structure of the rotor during high-speed rotation, high torque ripple, and also vibration noise. Thus, it is currently a trending topic to develop special SRMs, tailored with high reliability and fault tolerance. Recent research demonstrates several promising feasible solutions to reduce torque ripples and enhance torque density and power factors, including changing topology of SRM, using advanced control methods, as well as differe... [more]

In the contemporary literature on sustainability, one can notice an increasingly frequent use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods instead of classic sustainability indices. The MCDA method should be tailored to the specific sustainability problem and decision situation so that its results are credible and satisfactory for the decision-maker. Therefore, the following research questions arise: (1) which MCDA methods are most often used in sustainability problems, and (2) which methods should be used depending on the characteristics of a particular sustainability decision problem and its assessment. The aim of the article is to scientifically analyse the applicability of various MCDA methods in decision-making problems related to sustainability, sustainable development, and sustainability assessment. In the article, based on the analysis of the literature, a set of features has been developed that determines the possibility of using individual MCDA methods in sustainability... [more]

Flow-induced oscillations widely exist in pipelines, fluid machinery, aerospace, and large-span flexible engineering structures. An inherent energy conversion mechanism can be developed for fluid kinetic energy utilization or acoustic energy harvesting. Fluid-resonant acoustic oscillation is featured by stability, easy operation, and a simple mechanical structure. Acoustic oscillation has high intensity and a mono-frequency, which is beneficial for energy harvesting. A simple cavity with appropriate structural dimensions that can induce fluid-resonant oscillations is set and combined with piezoelectric technology to generate electric power. The energy conversion mechanism is studied numerically and experimentally. The effects of flow velocity on the acoustic frequency, the pressure amplitude, and the output voltage of piezoelectric transducer are analyzed. A stable standing wave acoustic field can be generated in the cavity in a certain range of flow velocity. The results show that the... [more]

There is a growing concern about environmental pollution with digestate, which is produced in significant amounts in the anaerobic digestion process. The inappropriate application of digestate in agriculture may lead to ammonia emission to the atmosphere, nutrients infiltration to groundwater and surface waters eutrophication. There is a great interest in the development of efficient downstream technologies that will help better handle digestate. This study assessed the effect of three different disintegration methods (ozonation, ultrasonication, combination of ozonation and ultrasound) on solids content, nutrient concentration and biodegradability of the liquid fraction of sugar beet pulp digestate. The influence of initial pH (7, 8, 9), ozone dose (0.05−0.45 g O3/g TS), specific ultrasound energy (10,381−51,903 kJ/kg TS) and vibration amplitude (50, 100%) on the performance of digestate liquid fraction treatment was investigated. The highest removal efficiencies of organic substances... [more]

Globally, rising population and rapid urbanisation have resulted in the dual issues of increased electricity demand and waste generation. These exacerbate diverse global problems, ranging from irregular electricity supply and inadequate waste management systems to water/air/soil pollution, climate change, etc. Waste-to-Energy (WtE) approaches have been proposed and developed to address simultaneously these two issues through energy recovery from waste. However, the variety of available waste materials and different WtE technologies make the choice of an appropriate technology challenging for decision-makers. The evaluation of the different WtE technologies in terms of their sustainability could provide a solid comparative base for strategic decision making in the power and waste management domains. This paper presents research conducted using a multidimensional Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) approach to estimate and compare the environmental, economic, and social impacts a... [more]

Pineapples generate large amounts of agricultural wastes during their production. To reduce environmental impacts due to poor handling of these wastes, the underutilised pineapple plant stem (PPS), which has a high starch content, can be explored for its sugar recovery. To achieve this, gelatinisation is a key process in increasing enzymes’ susceptibility. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance glucose recovery from PPS by studying the effects of gelatinisation temperature and time on its functional properties. Afterwards, the fermentable sugar obtained was used for amino acids production by Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051. PPS has a high gelatinisation temperature (To = 111 °C; Tp = 116 °C; Tc = 161 °C) and enthalpy (ΔH = 263.58 J/g). Both temperature and time showed significant effects on its functional properties, affecting enzymatic hydrolysis. Gelatinisation temperature of 100 °C at 15 min resulted in maximum glucose recovery of 56.81 g/L (0.81 g/g hydrolysis yield) with a 3.53-fold i... [more]

The extraction of hydrocarbons is associated with obtaining certain amounts of water, which is heavily contaminated with a wide range of chemical compounds that negatively affect the environment. At present, practically the only method of managing extracted reservoir waters is their injection into absorbing horizons. Large changes in parameters (pH, Eh, temperature, etc.) occurring during the extraction and storage of water, as well as the contact of the injected water with reservoir water and rock, may result in the precipitation of secondary sediments. The complexity of the injected water/native water/deposit rock system and the wide range of possible interactions do not always allow for correct interpretation of the processes and their impact on near-well zone permeability. One of the factors which has a decisive influence on dissolution/precipitation is temperature change. Applying analytical data of water with low (W-1) and high (W-2) mineralization, calculations were carried out... [more]

Services surrounding green buildings are specialised and directed towards the process of design and comprise comprehensive and quantified management in its entirety. Implicitly, consultancies are unable to deliver this service at the standard and pace required in the preliminary stages of design, and not all clients or consultants will require the services to be essential. The main aim is to stabilise the several characteristics prompting one another to optimise design performance against the optimisation algorithms. Green Star is a universal evaluation tool, assessing not only green characteristics but also elements that influence wellbeing and occupant health, such as indoor environment quality. The tools for Green Star rating can be used to measure the green features of a building from the design phase right to the stage of site handover (known as “As-Built”). This paper refers, in the literature review, to the passive and low-energy design methods of a Green Star-rated building at... [more]

Water presents one of the earth resources as a component of environmental change, demanding the research of water use. A nusmber of authors analyzed water use from different perspectives, in different regions, not including the water efficiency index and water productivity in the whole of the EU. The presented contribution is orientated to the evaluation of water resources through the development of efficiency and productivity indexes in EU member states. The research is made by a single analysis of the index in time development, followed by countries’ comparison according to the available data and software support, accessing the sustainability features in water supply that are the three-fold-goals of economic feasibility, social responsibility, and environmental integrity, linked to the purpose of the water use. The results of the contribution show the countries with a positive indexes trend, and countries with a negative indexes trend. Such results can be used for improving measureme... [more]

Compostable packaging is one of the innovative alternatives to conventional packaging. This is also an opportunity in view of the current energy crisis and rising oil prices, firstly, because compostable packaging is produced only from renewable resources, and secondly, it can feed both the composting process and biogas plants. According to the CE principles, it is vital to effectively close product life cycles. Therefore, this paper is aimed at expounding the triggering role of social innovations co-created by stakeholders for improving compostable packaging waste management in accordance with the CE concept. The research procedure consisted of four integrated research phases. A qualitive study was undertaken by conducting 29 in-depth interviews and 3 Social Innovation Labs, engaging 67 bio-packaging market stakeholders, which are national and international companies (e.g., manufacturing, distributing), institutions and other organisations from the social, public and private sectors.... [more]

Global warming is one of the major problems in the developing world, and one of the major causes of global warming is the generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) because of the burning of fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels to meet the energy demand of households and industries is unavoidable. The current commercial and experimental techniques used for capturing and storing CO2 have serious operational and environmental constraints. The amine-based absorption technique for CO2 capture has a low absorption and desorption ratio, and the volatile and corrosive nature of the solvent further complicates the situation. To overcome all of these problems, researchers have used ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as a replacement for commercial amine-based solvents. ILs and deep eutectic solvents are tunable solvents that have a very low vapor pressure, thus making them an ideal medium for CO2 capture. Moreover, most ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents have low toxicity and can... [more]

This study aims to improve existing fossil gas turbine power plants by waste heat recovery. These power plants function with an air simple cycle (ASC) and are implemented where water resources are limited. Modeling and simulation of ASC and two advanced energy conversion systems are performed. They are the gas turbine−air bottoming cycle (GT-ABC) and gas turbine−supercritical carbon dioxide bottoming cycle (GT-sc-CO2BC). The main intent is to assess the benefits of employing sc-CO2 as a working fluid in a closed Brayton bottoming cycle compared to air, based on the energetic and exergetic performance and economic and environmental impact. Analyses of ASC, GT-ABC, and GT-sc-CO2BC are performed for various topping gas turbine powers: large (plant 1); medium (plant 2); and low (plant 3). The results of the energetic and exergetic analyses indicate that there is a significant improvement in the output power (ranging from 22% to 25%); and energy and exergy efficiencies of GT-ABC and GT-sc-C... [more]

In order to reduce the impact of noise on the environment and reduce the dissipation of useless energy of traction motors, this study analyzed the noise of a traction motor by detecting the vibration acceleration of the suspension frame. Field tests were conducted to measure the traction noise and suspension frame vibration in a commercially operational medium- and low-speed maglev train. The tests showed that as the train accelerates, the sound pressure grows overall, but the increase becomes smaller at each test speed. The speed of the maglev train is closely correlated with the vibrations of the suspension frame in lateral/vertical directions. The dominant frequency of traction motor noise is basically consistent with that of suspension frame vibration acceleration, showing that the suspension frame vibration is the main reason for high-frequency noise in the operation of low−medium-speed maglev trains.

The aim of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) concept for packaging in the context of the transition to a Circular Economy (CE) and the corresponding transformation of the energy sector. The functioning of today’s packaging industry is becoming more and more linked to the assumptions of the CE due to the use and recycling of raw materials. The basic research method used in this work is an analysis of the literature on the links between the concept of the EPR and the CE. The authors limited their research to the selected legal, economic and social aspects of packaging production and management in the European Union (EU). The situation in Poland is discussed in particular and the legal, economic and social specificity of the implementation of the EPR in this country is presented. This paper emphasizes the dependance between the implementation of the EPR concept and the effectiveness of the transformation toward a CE, which is achiev... [more]

It has been extensively debated how social innovation, circularity, and energy transition may all be considered environmental, social, and governance (ESG) components from a sustainability perspective. To comprehend the conceptual development of this subject in the academic literature, few studies, however, tackle the problems above by reviewing earlier research on the subject. By developing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) technique, this study aims to address the current and anticipated advancements in social innovation, energy transition, and circularity. As a result, we create two metasynthesis analyses related to “social innovation−energy transition” and “social innovation−circularity.” In the first analysis, the three databases Web of Science, Scopus, and JSTOR had a total of 1767 studies and reports, and in the second analysis, we reviewed the work from a total of 466 studies and reports. We emphasize that implementing environmental... [more]

Concerns about the environment and renewable energy are growing. Improving the perception of renewable energy in urban and rural households is required to promote green development and to learn about consumer preferences for renewable energy based on the gradual reduction in financial subsidies for photovoltaic (PV) power generation. This paper aims to estimate the willingness of consumers to pay for a Household PV system and explores the factors that affect consumers’ product selection, which is conducive to optimizing Household PV products and policies and is important for achieving the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Using a discrete choice model, this paper surveyed 765 urban and rural residents without installing Household PV systems in Tianjin, China. Subsequently, the respondents’ attribute preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for a Household PV system were analyzed using a logit regression analysis model. The influence of respondents’ socio-economic characterist... [more]

Unsustainable use of electricity has severe implications on the environment and human well-being. With an estimated consumption of about 20% of total global electricity demand, the household sector is a key player in efforts for crafting interventions for reducing electricity consumption. Despite increasing calls for behavioural solutions to electricity conservation at the household level, more attention has been paid to technical than behavioural interventions. Yet a deeper understanding of electricity use behaviour is needed to design interventions and engender integration of behavioural interventions into demand-side management and decision making. Although South Africa is energy insecure and a major greenhouse gas emitter, less attention has been paid to household electricity use using behavioural lenses. Using a scoping review approach, this study inductively reviewed publications to examine the state of research on household electricity use in South Africa, focussing on (1) resea... [more]

Residential buildings instigate a vital role in creating a safe and comfortable indoor living environment. The phenomenon of overheating, an impact of climate change, can cause a negative effect on residents’ productiveness and heat-related illnesses and can even force high pressure on electricity generation by increasing the risk of power outages due to excessive peak cooling and heating requirements. Various issues on building thermal comfort are being evolved and discussed in review articles. However, there are few articles that review the current condition of adaptive thermal comfort studies and the potential for energy savings in residential buildings. Therefore, the aims for this paper are to: identify comfort temperature ranges in residential buildings, investigate the correlation of comfort temperature with indoor and outdoor temperatures with the aid of ‘comfort threads’, and clarify the effect of adaptive measures on residential energy saving potential. This study obtained a... [more]

The transport sector plays an important role in society at large. This article aimed to provide a state-of-the-art literature review in the area of sustainable transport. Data for the analysis were collected from the Web of Science database from 2000 to 2022. A total of 1238 bibliometric records of publications were collected. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken in the article. The analysis results showed five main research areas: 1—sustainable urban/public transport and mobility; 2—transport emissions and fuels; 3—sustainable supply chain/logistics management models; 4—performance and metrics in sustainable transport; and 5—future and policy. The limitations of the research carried out, which mainly concern the methodological section, should also be borne in mind. These include the selected publication base and search criteria, such as the year or language of publication.