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This study focuses on formulating the most sustainable concrete by incorporating recycled concrete aggregates and other products retrieved from construction and demolition (C&D) activities. Both recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) and recycled fine aggregates (RFA) are firstly used to fully replace the natural coarse and fine aggregates in the concrete mix design. Later, the cement rich ultrafine particles, recycled glass powder and mineral fibres recovered from construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are further incorporated at a smaller rate either as cement substituent or as supplementary additives. Remarkable properties are noticed when the RCA (4–12 mm) and RFA (0.25–4 mm) are fully used to replace the natural aggregates in a new concrete mix. The addition of recycled cement rich ultrafines (RCU), Recycled glass ultrafines (RGU) and recycled mineral fibres (RMF) into recycled concrete improves the modulus of elasticity. The final concrete, which comprises more than 75% (wt.) of recycled components/materials, is believed to be the most sustainable and green concrete mix. Mechanical properties and durability of this concrete have been studied and found to be within acceptable limits, indicating the potential of recycled aggregates and other CDW components in shaping sustainable and circular construction practices. The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from EU Horizon 2020 Project VEEP ‘‘Cost-Effective Recycling of C&DW in High Added Value Energy Efficient Prefabricated Concrete Compo-nents for Massive Retrofitting of our Built Environment” (No.723582).

The prevailing need for a more sustainable management of natural resources depends not only on the decisions made by governments and the will of the population, but also on the knowledge of the role of energy in our society and the relevance of preserving natural resources. In this sense, critical work is being done to instill key concepts—such as the circular economy and sustainable energy—in higher education institutions. In this way, it is expected that future professionals and managers will be aware of the importance of energy optimization, and will learn a series of computational methods that can support the decision-making process. In the context of higher education, this paper reviews the main trends and challenges related to the concepts of circular economy and sustainable energy. Besides, we analyze the role of simulation and serious games as a learning tool for the aforementioned concepts. Finally, the paper provides insights and discusses open research opportunities regarding the use of these computational tools to incorporate circular economy concepts in higher education degrees. Our findings show that, while efforts are being made to include these concepts in current programs, there is still much work to be done, especially from the point of view of university management. In addition, the analysis of the teaching methodologies analyzed shows that, although their implementation has been successful in favoring the active learning of students, their use (especially that of serious games) is not yet widespread.

Abstract. The concept of wake steering on wind farms for power maximization has gained significant popularity over the last decade. Recent field trials described in the literature not only demonstrate the real potential of wake steering on commercial wind farms but also show that wake steering does not yet consistently lead to an increase in energy production for all inflow conditions. Moreover, a recent survey among experts shows that validation of the concept currently remains the largest barrier to adoption. In response, this article presents the results of a field experiment investigating wake steering in three-turbine arrays at an onshore wind farm in Italy. This experiment was performed as part of the European CL-Windcon project. While important, this experiment excludes an analysis of the structural loads and focuses solely on the effects of wake steering on power production. The measurements show increases in power production of up to 35 % for two-turbine interactions and up to 16 % for three-turbine interactions. However, losses in power production are seen for various regions of wind directions too. In addition to the gains achieved through wake steering at downstream turbines, more interesting to note is that a significant share in gains is from the upstream turbines, showing an increased power production of the yawed turbine itself compared to baseline operation for some wind directions. Furthermore, the surrogate model, while capturing the general trends of wake interaction, lacks the details necessary to accurately represent the measurements. This article supports the notion that further research is necessary, notably on the topics of wind farm modeling and experiment design, before wake steering will lead to consistent energy gains on commercial wind farms.

AbstractThe North Seas offshore grid serves to connect offshore wind power to onshore systems, and to interconnect power systems in Northern Europe. Its development is a priority for the European climate and energy policy, which has led to a number of studies on the subject. Nonetheless, research questions, assumptions and typologies can vary considerably among them, and thus to guide future research this paper reviews the published works that use bottom–up energy models. This review develops a simple and effective methodology that can be applied to other reviews of energy systems models. It jointly considers the studies of interest, the system characteristics, a categorization framework and relevant indicators. The analysis indicates most studies focus on investment and operation of the grid using optimization models, with rare use of other research questions or other model approaches. Moreover, results vary significantly, and their comparability is limited due to differences in assumptions, methodology and detail of results publication. Nonetheless, integrated typologies frequently present economic, operational and environmental benefits, although the reviewed studies do not unambiguously warrant immediate and full cooperation on grid governance. Lastly, future research should be attentive to the presentation and resolution of data, assumptions and results, as well as consider grid characteristics relevant to the research questions.

Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) Systems is a technology to sustainably and economically provide space heating and cooling. However, it cannot be applied everywhere because successful application depends on the presence of a suitable aquifer and favorable climatic conditions. Despite some operational ATES systems, the Spanish ATES market is immature, and there are no regulations or guidelines developed. To foster ATES adoption in Spain, this paper introduces a potential study considering the resource potential, technical, economic, and environmental aspects. The GIS-based approach is focused on the geographical identification and assessment of the aquifer potential for ATES and climatic conditions. This allows to distinguish those areas considered more suitable for ATES systems for the residential and for the tertiary sector. The results show where in Spain potential for energy and GHG savings with ATES can be found. 38% of the aquifers in Spain show potential for ATES and 63% of large urban areas in Spain are located in such areas. Also, 50% of the population lives in areas where the residential sector seems to be suitable for ATES based on the climatic conditions. Energy and GHG savings can reach up to 91% and 68% respectively, derived from the use of ATES. The authors whose names are listed immediately below certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

In future distribution grids, prosumers (i.e., energy consumers with storage and/or production capabilities) will trade energy with each other and with the main grid. To ensure an efficient and safe operation of energy trading, in this paper, we formulate a peer-to-peer energy market of prosumers as a generalized aggregative game, in which a network operator is only responsible for the operational constraints of the system. We design a distributed market-clearing mechanism with convergence guarantee to an economically-efficient and operationally-safe configuration (i.e., a variational generalized Nash equilibrium). Numerical studies on the IEEE 37-bus testcase show the scalability of the proposed approach and suggest that active participation in the market is beneficial for both prosumers and the network operator. 11 pages, 8 figures. Published in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 2022