Transmission and distribution networks are capital intensive segments of the electricity sector and are generally considered natural monopolies. Due to their non-competitive nature, these are subject to independent regulation to prevent the abuse of monopolistic power and to induce competitive behaviour. Effective economic regulation of the electricity networks has become a key target in most developed economies after the 1980s. In Norway, incentive regulation and efficiency benchmarking were introduced in 1997. In Norway, the electricity grid is divided into three levels, namely, central, regional and distribution networks. In this paper, we study two overlooked aspects when analysing the performance of electricity networks: vertical integration and ownership structure. We use a stochastic frontier analysis approach to analyse the performance of Norwegian electricity distribution utilities for the period 2007−2014. We observe that vertical integration between distribution and regional... [more]

Marginal land is the area remaining in agricultural use, which is not suitable for food production because of its unfavorable ecological, anthropological, and economic conditions. A certain amount of such land exists in mountainous areas. An analysis was undertaken on the example of the Polish Sudeten mountain range of energy use. The study aimed to estimate the biomass potential for the efficient use of agricultural land in mountain areas. The characteristics of the Polish Sudeten Mountains mountain range were characterized using Geographic Information System (GIS) methods. The Polish Sudeten Mountains covers an area of 370,392 ha, 95,341 ha of which is arable land, 35,726 ha of which is class 5 bonitation land with a northern exposure of 19,030 ha and southern exposure of 16,696 ha. Depending on the sowing structure, we can obtain 331,639 tons/year of dry biomass (Miscanthus sacchariflorus on the southern and Helianthus tuberoses on northern exposure). Fertilization levels will signi... [more]

Transient building energy simulations are powerful design tools that are used for the estimation of HVAC demands and internal hygrothermal conditions of buildings. These calculations are commonly performed using a (often dated) typical meteorological year, generated from past weather measurements excluding extreme weather conditions. In this paper the results of multiyear building simulations performed considering coupled Heat and Moisture Transfer (HMT) in building materials are presented. A simple building is simulated in the city of Udine (Italy) using a weather record of 25 years. Performing a multiyear simulation allows to obtain a distribution of results instead of a single number for each variable. The small therm climate change is shown to influence thermal demands and internal conditions with multiyear effects. From this results it is possible to conclude that weather records used as weather files have to be periodically updated and that moisture transfer is relevant in energy... [more]

The major intent of this article was to determine the amount of energy received by two active systems used to convert solar radiation and to estimate their impact on reducing the emission of pollutants. Thermal solar collectors with an area of 51.36 m2 and photovoltaic panels with an area of 50.4 m2 were subject to comparative analysis. It was assumed that either of the two systems could be installed on the roof of an old tenement house located in Poznan (Poland), which is planned for renovation. Computer simulations made with DesignBuilder software were used as a research tool. Two main conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the year-long operation of both systems in the conditions of a typical meteorological year. Thermal solar collectors can produce 469 kWh of heat from 1 m2 of the device annually, while PV panels can generate 136 kWh of electricity per year from 1 m2 of active area. However, it turned out that the use of photovoltaic systems can contribute to a higher reduct... [more]

Onboard satellite clocks are the basis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) operation, and their revolution periods are at the level of 2 per day (about 12 h) in the case of the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. In this work, the authors analysed the entire BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) space segment (BDS-2 and BDS-3) in terms of the occurrence of periodic, repetitive signals in the clock products, and checked if they coincide with the orbital periods or their multiples. The Lomb-Scargle (L-S) power spectrum was used as a tool to determine the periods present in the BDS clock products, allowing for analyses based on incomplete input data; in this case, the incomplete data were the phase data with jumps and outliers removed. In addition, continuous wavelet transform (CWT) was used to produce a time−frequency representation showing the more complex behaviour of the satellite clock products. As shown in the case of geostationary and geosynchronous inclined orbit sat... [more]

This paper identifies socioeconomic factors that are supposed to impact the investment decision of private households in Germany regarding small-scale solar PV (photovoltaic) systems. In 2022, the last nuclear power plant will phase out and the end of coal-fired power plants is fixed for 2038. Thus, the legislator is mandated to foster the addition of renewable energy capacities to close the gap fossil fuels and nuclear power leaves. Some share of the renewable energies could be from private households that mainly invest in small-scale solar PV systems. To stimulate investments, it is necessary to identify factors that are important for the investment decisions of private households. Within this paper, secondary socioeconomic data for the period from 2009−2018 was compiled. In order to identify the latent variables, a factor analysis was conducted. The results state five factors that are supposed to impact the investment decisions of the prosumer in Germany.

The main objective of this work was to model ground collectors with different parameters and geometries in ANSYS R19.2 and to simulate their operation during the heating season in Slovakia in order to determine their impact on the soil. At the same time, four new geometries in the shape of vertical spirals with diameters of 6, 8 and 10 m were designed and simulated to occupy a smaller area while maintaining performance similar to classical geometries. Due to climate change, heat pumps are becoming an important proxy in the heating of buildings and are an important part of decarbonisation plans; thus, it is essential to adapt them to urban and metropolitan conditions. Ground source heat pumps possess high efficiency but require a lot of space for their collectors. The collector geometries proposed in this work are a combination of horizontal and vertical technologies and are feasible. Only one geometry achieved performance similar to classical geometries: spiral with 10 m diameter. Fact... [more]

With the current concerns about sustainable development and energy consumption in buildings, water pumping systems have become essential for reducing energy consumption. This research aims to develop guidelines for the energy assessment of water pumping systems in multifamily buildings. The methodological procedures are: (i) definition of the efficiencies of electric motors; (ii) definition of pump efficiency levels; (iii) determination of energy consumption; and (iv) construction of the efficiency scale and guidelines for projects and assessments. The results obtained were that centrifugal pumps with 40% efficiency have higher energy consumption, regardless of the efficiency class of the electric motors, showing a 20% increase in electrical energy consumption. Lower efficiencies directly impact the energy efficiency rating of the water pumping system. Thus the 40% efficiency obtained energy efficiency rating “Very Low—VL” for all motor efficiency classes (between IE1 and IE5). At 60%... [more]

The use of phase change materials (PCM) for thermal energy storage (TES) is of great relevance, especially for the exploitation, in various ways, of the major ecological resource offered by solar energy. Unfortunately, the transition to the liquid state of PCM requires complex systems and limits their application. The goal of producing shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCM) is mainly pursued with the use of media capable of containing PCM during solid/liquid cycles. In this work, four cheap shape stabilizers were considered: sepiolite, diatomite, palygorskite and zeolite and two molten salts as PCM, for medium (MT) and high temperature (HT). The SSPCM, produced with an energy saving method, showed good stability and thermal storage performances. Diatomite reaches up to 400% wt. of encapsulated PCM, with a shape stabilization coefficient (SSc) of 97.7%. Zeolite exhibits a SSc of 87.3% with 348% wt. of HT-PCM. Sepiolite contains 330% wt. of MT-PCM with an SSc of 82.7. Therefore,... [more]

In recent years, as photovoltaic (PV) power generation has rapidly increased on a global scale, there is a growing need for a highly accurate power generation forecasting model that is easy to implement for a wide range of electric utilities. Against this background, this study proposes a PV power forecasting model based on the generalized additive model (GAM) and compares its forecasting accuracy with four popular machine learning methods: k-nearest neighbor, artificial neural networks, support vector regression, and random forest. The empirical analysis provides an intuitive interpretation of the multidimensional smooth trends estimated by the GAM as tensor product splines and confirms the validity of the proposed modeling structure. The effectiveness of GAM is particularly evident in trend completion for missing data, where it is able to flexibly express the tangled trend structure inherent in time series data, and thus has an advantage not only in interpretability but also in impro... [more]

Biomass is widely used for the production of renewable energy, which calls for an economic evaluation of its generation. The aim of the present work was to review the literature concerning the economic evaluation of the production of perennial crop biomass for energy use. Statistical analysis of the bibliographic data was carried out, as well as an assessment of methods and values of economic indicators of the production of perennial crops for bioenergy. Most of the papers selected for the review were published in the years 2015−2019, which was probably stimulated by the growing interest in sustainable development, particularly after 2015, when the United Nations declared 17 sustainable development goals. The earliest articles concerned the economic analysis of plantations of short rotation coppice; the subsequent ones included the analysis of feedstock production in terms of the net present value and policy. The latest references also investigated transport and sustainability issues.... [more]

This work presents an active thermal management system (TMS) for building a safer module of lithium-ion capacitor (LiC) technology, in which 10 LiCs are connected in series. The proposed TMS is a forced air-cooled TMS (ACTMS) that uses four axial DC 12 V fans: two fans are responsible for blowing the air from the environment into the container while two other fans suck the air from the container to the environment. An experimental investigation is conducted to study the thermal behavior of the module, and numerical simulations are carried out to be validated against the experiments. The main aim of the model development is the optimization of the proposed design. Therefore, the ACTMS has been optimized by investigating the impact of inlet air velocity, inlet and outlet positions, module rotation by 90° towards the airflow direction, gap spacing between neighboring cells, and uneven gap spacing between neighboring cells. The 3D thermal model is accurate, so the validation error between... [more]

DC distribution network faults seriously affect the reliability of system power supply. Therefore, this paper proposes a fault recovery reconfiguration strategy for DC distribution networks, based on hybrid particle swarm optimization. The original particle swarm algorithm is improved by simplifying the distribution network structure, introducing Lévy Flight, and designing an adaptive coding strategy. First, the distribution network structure is equivalently simplified to reduce the problem dimensionality. Further, the generated branch groups are ensured to satisfy the radial constraints based on the adaptive solution strategy. Subsequently, Lévy flight is introduced to achieve intra-group optimality search for each branch group. The method is simulated in several distribution systems and analyzed in comparison with the particle swarm algorithm, genetic algorithm, and cuckoo algorithm. Finally, the results validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.

With the rapid progress of socio-economic development and urbanization in China, a wide variety of literature has focused on the phenomenon of energy-consumption disparity, which in turn could be related to numerous fundamental energy dilemmas that China must deal with now or soon, including energy use inefficiency, regional energy shortage, insufficient use of green energy, etc. However, in most cases, only a tendency scenario is discussed, while identifying which factors are more likely to affect the improvement of energy supply/use has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore differences in energy consumption in specific, household-level aspects. Based on the information provided by Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS2015), the Gini coefficient and the Lorentz asymmetry coefficient are used to measure the difference among various categories of energy type and end use within and between different geographical sub-groups. The findings show that: (1) house... [more]

Profound changes driven by decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization are disrupting the energy industry, bringing new challenges to its key stakeholders. In the attempt to address the climate change issue, increasing penetration of renewables and mobility electrification augment the complexity of the electric grid, thus calling for new management approaches to govern energy exchanges while ensuring reliable and secure operations. The emerging blockchain technology is regarded as one of the most promising solutions to respond to the matter in a decentralized, efficient, fast, and secure way. In this work, we propose an Ethereum-based charging management framework for electric vehicles (EVs), tightly interlinked with physical and software infrastructure and implemented in a real-world demonstration site. With a specifically designed solidity-based smart contract governing the charging process, the proposed framework enables secure and reliable accounting of energy exchanges i... [more]

An existing diesel engine was fitted with a common rail direct injection (CRDi) facility to inject fuel at higher pressure in CRDi mode. In the current work, rotating blades were incorporated in the piston cavity to enhance turbulence. Pilot fuels used are diesel and biodiesel of Ceiba pentandra oil (BCPO) with hydrogen supply during the suction stroke. Performance evaluation and emission tests for CRDi mode were carried out under different loading conditions. In the first part of the work, maximum possible hydrogen substitution without knocking was reported at an injection timing of 15° before top dead center (bTDC). In the second part of the work, fuel injection pressure (IP) was varied with maximum hydrogen fuel substitution. Then, in the third part of the work, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), was varied to study the nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated. At 900 bar, HC emissions in the CRDi engine were reduced by 18.5% and CO emissions were reduced by 17% relative to the CI mode. NOx em... [more]

While it is widely acknowledged that carbon pricing plays an important role in driving the transition towards a low-carbon energy system, its interaction with complementary instruments is discussed controversially. The analysis of combining carbon pricing with complementary policies has been mostly focused on the electricity sector, while the role of carbon pricing in the buildings sector has received only minor interest. In view of the newly introduced carbon pricing scheme for the buildings and transport sector in Germany, we analyze the interactions between the carbon pricing scheme with the existing policy instruments and assess the consistency of the policy mix for decarbonizing the buildings sector. Our analysis finds that the introduction of carbon pricing has a reinforcing effect on the instrument mix and adds to the consistency of the policy mix. The results highlight the importance of complementary policies in order to achieve deep decarbonization in the buildings sector. We... [more]

In recent decades, building design and operation have been an important field of study, due to the significant share of buildings in global primary energy consumption and the time that most people spend indoors. As such, multiple studies focus on aspects of building energy consumption and occupant comfort optimization. The scientific community has discerned the importance of operation optimization through retrofitting actions for on-site building energy systems, achieved by the use of simulation techniques, surrogate modeling, as well as the guidance of existing building performance and indoor occupancy standards. However, more knowledge should be attained on the matter of whether this methodology can be extended towards the early stages of thermal system and/or building design. To this end, the present study provides a building thermal system design optimization methodology. A data set of minimum thermal system power, for a typical range of building characteristics, is generated, acco... [more]

The availability of fresh drinkable water and water security is becoming a global challenge for sustainable development. In this regard, solar stills, due to their ease in operation, installation, and utilization of direct sunlight (as thermal energy), promise a better and sustainable future technology for water security in urban and remote areas. The major issue is its low distillate productivity, which limits its widespread commercialization. In this study, the effect of silicon (Si) particles is examined to improve the absorber surface temperature of the solar still absorber plate, which is the major component for increased distillate yield. Various weight percentages of Si particles were introduced in paint and coated on the aluminum absorber surface. Extensive indoor (using a self-made halogen light-based solar simulator) and outdoor testing were conducted to optimize the concentration. The coatings with 15 wt % Si in the paint exhibited the highest increase in temperature, namely... [more]

In this paper, an in situ investigation and comparison of energy consumption and efficiency of two devices for implementation of the thermo-injection masonry wall drying method are presented. The following drying devices were considered: the currently used device (CUD) and the novel prototype device (NPD) with optimized control of the operating parameters. The historic building subjected to the drying and renovation was located in the city of Łowicz (Poland). The temperature and relative humidity of the air in several points in the basement and the temperature and moisture content at various locations in the considered masonry wall segments, as well as the electrical parameters for both devices, were measured in the real time and registered by applying a dedicated data acquisition system. The specific energy consumption during drying, defined as the energy consumption divided by the length of the drying wall section and by the mean volumetric moisture content change in the wall, was eq... [more]

The security of national energy systems as well as the transition to a low-carbon future are two hot topics of discussion in the international political arena. Research on the stability of centralized energy systems is currently focused on distributed generation. Developing a scalable microgrid model enabling its massive adoption is one of the safest and feasible ways to solve such problem. The paper aims to fill an existing gap regarding the operation model of microgrids that is a barrier for the large-scale integration of those in the conventional grid network. In the proposed approach the authors identified key processes to be considered when operating microgrids, in the conditions shown through an experimental (simulation) campaign. A three-phase research was performed: (1) systematic literature review to explore the management models of a stand-alone microgrid design and management; (2) a household experiment; and (3) a computer simulation of energy balance for a selected househol... [more]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consumers’ adoption of renewable energy in Poland. The study focused on finding out the factors that influence the adoption of the technology, considering its importance in conserving the environment. The study was conducted using a quantitative method, with primary data collected from 467 households using renewable energy technology in Poland. The research adopted the TAM model. The independent variables of the study included renewable energy initial cost, environmental concern, risk and trust for renewable energy, ease of use, financial incentives, and relative advantage. The dependent variable was renewable energy adoption. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyze the study hypotheses. The research found out that environmental concerns, ease of use, financial incentives, and relative advantage have a positive and significant influence on adoption of renewable energy technology in Poland. However, renewable energy initial c... [more]

The Rankine cycle is widely used for electricity production. Significant weight and size characteristics of the power equipment working on superheated steam are the main disadvantages of such power plants. The transition to supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) working fluid is a promising way to achieve a significant reduction in equipment metal consumption and to increase energy efficiency. This paper presents the results of thermodynamic analysis of S-CO2 thermal power plants (TPPs) utilizing the heat of combustion products of an energy boiler. It was found that the net efficiency of the developed S-CO2 TPP with a pulverized coal-fired boiler reached 49.2% at an initial temperature of 780 °C, which was 2% higher compared to the efficiency level of steam turbine power plants (STPPs) at a similar turbine inlet temperature.

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) system, which can be used as a decision support tool for managing environmental sustainability, includes carbon footprint assessment as one of the available methodologies. In this study, a carbon footprint assessment was used to investigate seawater production systems of a desalination plant in Senok, Kelantan, Malaysia. Three stages of the desalination plant processing system were investigated and the inventory database was developed using the relevant model framework. Subsequently, measurements and interpretations were performed on several key indicators such as greenhouse gases, energy efficiency, acidic gases, smog, and toxic gases. Overall, the results of the study indicate that the Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology that is used in the desalination plant in the study area is one of the best options to meet the demands of the environmental sustainability agenda (SDGs). This is due to the lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, of about 3.5 × 10−2 kg of CO... [more]

We study prosumer decision-making in the smart grid in which a prosumer must decide whether to make a sale of solar energy units generated at her home every day or hold (store) the energy units in anticipation of a future sale at a better price. Specifically, we enhance a Prospect Theory (PT)-based behavioral model by taking into account bounded temporal horizons (a time window specified in terms of the number of days) that prosumers implicitly impose on their decision-making in arriving at “hold” or “sell” decisions of energy units. The new behavioral model for prosumers assumes that in addition to the framing and probability weighting effects imposed by classical PT, humans make decisions that will affect their lives within a bounded temporal horizon regardless of how far into the future their units may be sold. Modeling the utility of the prosumer with parameters such as the offered price on a day, the available energy units on a day, and the probabilities of the forecast prices, we... [more]