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Deposits formation on heat transfer surfaces is one of the main problems associated to biomass co-combustion. It reduces plant efficiency and availability and increases maintenance costs. It is obvious that an increasing amount of low-temperature melting components in fuel ash accelerates and aggravates this process. Research is done to evaluate the validity of thermal analysis methods to characterise fusion of biomass and waste ashes. Laboratory ashes from a set of biomass and waste fuels are leached in successive steps. The original and the leached ashes are analysed by Thermo-Mechanical Analysis (TMA). Traces obtained from TMA show to be promising ash fingerprints to classify deposition tendencies. Additionally Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) is performed on selected samples. Furthermore, improved chemical equilibrium calculations are proposed to predict the proportion of melted species resulting from combustion of biomass fuels. The model takes into account the reactivity of the inorganic matter in the fuel as issued from ash leaching.

Urbanization, economic growth, and intensity of electricity consumption are the important causative factors of environmental degradation in South Asia. The present study has revealed this while investigating the relationship between the level of CO2 emissions and important economic variables in the context of five South Asian countries. Panel data are used for this study over the period 1974–2017. Panel co-integration tests and the Panel Autoregressive Distributive Lag (PARDL) model are applied for empirical analysis. Robust results of the analysis indicate that urbanization, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the intensity of electricity consumption are contributing factors to carbon emissions. Based on the results of the Dumitrescu Hurlin Panel Causality test, it is concluded that there is a bi-directional causal link between urbanization and CO2 emissions and unidirectional causal links from GDP to CO2 emissions, from GDP to urbanization, and from the intensity of electricity consumption to urbanization. This study focuses on planned urbanization, eco-efficient income growth, and sensible use of electricity to control CO2 emissions in this region. Considering the nature of these developing economies in South Asia, collaborative measures and strategic planning are suggested on a regional basis to address the concerns in the above-mentioned areas that minimize carbon emissions and thereby aid sustainable development in this region.

The early childhood years are regarded as the most significant period for human development. Yet, education investments in environmental education (EE)/education for sustainability (EfS) have been largely overlooked in the early years. This chapter offers an analysis of early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) theory and practice in Australia – recognised as a leader in ECEfS. It draws on historical and international contexts, key theoretical perspectives and policy directions informing broader uptake. We believe the Australian experience with ECEfS offers pointers for other parts of the world looking to ramp up their ECEfS activities.

AbstractThe need for strengthening adaptive capacity for the vulnerable has been overwhelmingly discussed in the discourse of climate change. This paper examines the roles and constraints of local institutions for increasing adaptive capacity. The role of institutions is analyzed under two broad headings: capacity building and participatory decision making. The constraints of institutions are analyzed based on the ability to learn and act. Participatory assessments were undertaken in the Meghauli and Devchuli Village Development Committees of Nepal to generate data for the assessment. Local government, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and social groups were considered for investigation. The findings demonstrate that local government is guided by political influences that contribute to disparity in decision making. The CSOs' role is comparatively satisfactory in capacity building of social groups, but there are questions on coordination and integration with local government. Within institutions, two prime constraints that hinder the ability to learn and act are lack of knowledge and attitude. The paper concludes that the role of local institutions is still very limited in increasing the adaptive capacity of vulnerable people. The scope of their work requires further expansion, backed with technical knowledge, appropriate policies, and effective coordination among all institutions.

Microgrids are increasingly being used as a platform to integrate distributed generation such as renewable energy sources and (RESs) conventional sources in both grid-connected and isolated power systems. Due to the inherent intermittent nature of RESs, energy storage systems (ESSs) that can absorb fluctuations have become inevitable. Nevertheless, large capacities of ESSs increase the initial cost while small capacities lead to instabilities and increase in the cost of conventional fuels. Therefore, finding the optimal size of the ESS for a given application is essential for the reliable, efficient and economical operation of a microgrid. Once the battery size is decided, maintaining its energy at appropriate levels is essential to ensure stable and safe operation of the microgrid. This paper presents a novel expert fuzzy system - grey wolf optimization (FL-GWO) based intelligent meta-heuristic method for battery sizing and energy management. The proposed energy management operation is carried out by a Grey Wolf Optimiser (GWO) that is helped to set the membership functions and rules of the fuzzy logic expert system. The unit commitment (UC) issue, which is essential for the proper operation of the isolated microgrid, has been additionally considered in this paper. To verify the performance of the proposed method, results are compared with the rules-based method and traditional GWO algorithm. It has been proven from the results that the FL-GWO has a significant convergence property and capability to minimize the Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) by 14.13% and 24.15% compared with conventional GWO algorithm and rules-based method, respectively. The weather conditions for different climates is used to verify the performance of the intelligent energy management method under different operating scenarios. The results show that the intelligent online multi-objective energy management strategy is capable of managing a smooth power flow with the same optimal configuration in the isolated microgrid, minimising the fossil fuel utilisation and reducing the CO2 emission level.

Abstract We evaluated three Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs: IGSM, MERGE, MiniCAM) by: (i) comparing their global Primary Energy year-2000 initializations and projections for 2010 and 2015 to historical data; (ii) mapping their CO2 emissions projections against observations; and (iii) examining model-output diagnostics. The IAMs underestimated historical primary energy consumption and initial/projected CO2 emissions in both reference and stabilization scenarios (particularly for combustion fuels) but overestimated usage of non-biomass renewables, causing underestimates of future CO2 emissions that, for the stabilization scenarios, are wildly optimistic. Mitigation technology breakdowns in the policy scenarios vary enormously across IAMs, suggesting that confidence in their projections might be misplaced, or that options for mitigation have greater scope than is supposed. Most increases in carbon-free technologies in the stabilization scenarios are already captured in the reference cases. Energy-conversion efficiencies in electricity generation improve over time, but, (except for gas-powered generation in IGSM), efficiencies in the policy scenarios are less than in the reference. Electrification results diverge widely: IGSM has little change over the 21st century, while MiniCAM and MERGE have major electrification increases in their policy scenarios. We suggest: 1) comprehensive model output suitable for secondary analysis should be more readily available; 2) directly comparable reference and policy-driven mitigation scenarios are essential for assessing mitigation measures; 3) model validation using historical, source-specific energy data is crucial for assessing model credibility; 4) separation of mitigation contributions into no-policy and policy-driven amounts is needed to assess the effectiveness of mitigation policies; and 5) detailed inter-model comparisons can provide important insights into model credibility.

As countries start to implement the Sustainable Development Goals in their national development agendas, reviews of the current policy environment are necessary to ensure that the goals are achievable by 2030. The present study assesses the effectiveness of energy policy in Indonesia in supporting progress towards universal energy access, a substantial increase in renewable energy deployment, and improvement in energy efficiency. Laws and regulations related to energy were reviewed, and their contribution to achieving the energy targets of the Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia was evaluated in terms of policy effectiveness. Results show that providing electricity for the remaining 1.1 million households living in the outermost and least developed regions of the archipelago is very challenging. However, Indonesia is still on track to achieve 100% residential electrification by 2030 as long as enough budget is allocated annually. Indonesia may not be able to provide access to clean cooking fuels and technology for everyone by 2030. The current policy focusing mostly on gas for cooking will be less effective in reaching the remaining households that cook with solid biomass and usually live in poverty. Similarly, the current policy scenario is not sufficient to allow enough progress to achieve the renewable energy target. Finally, the assessment of energy efficiency policy suggests that sectoral energy use is shaped by variables and regulation not primarily intended to improve energy efficiency.

Abstract The primary objective of this paper is to make a connection between the Singapore story of land transport policy development and the pathway towards sustainable transport planning. Its innovation is to allow a parallel growth in motorization and public transit. The Singapore experience shows how a range of well-coordinated policies including efforts to control the number of cars in both ownership and usage, and at the same time increase the availability and rider-ship of public transit contribute to a sustainable transport system. The Singapore model provides a valuable reference for not only developing an alternative approach towards sustainable transport in countries where motorization is desired but also for understanding the various parameters important to the formulation of management policies. In particular, the paper contends the Singapore experience provides a model for Asian nations and cities.

Abstract Besides the apparent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, other important factors contributing to the renewed interest in biofuels are energy security concerns and the need of sustainable transportation fuel. Nearly 30% of the annual CO2 emissions in the U.S. come from the transportation sector and more than half of the fuel is imported. Biofuels appear to be a promising option to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and the reliance on imported oil concomitantly. The interest on (ligno) cellulosic ethanol is gaining momentum as corn-based ethanol is criticized for using agricultural outputs for fuel production. Among many lignocellulosic feedstocks, woodchips is viewed as one of the most promising feedstocks for producing liquid transportation fuels. The renewable and carbon neutral nature of the feedstocks, similar chemical and physical properties to gasoline, and the low infrastructure cost due to the availability of fuel flex vehicles and transportation networks make (ligno) cellulosic bioethanol an attractive option. An in-depth LCA of woodchips shows that harvesting and woodchips processing stage and transportation to the facility stage emit large amount of environmental pollutants compared to other life cycle stages of ethanol production. Our analysis also found that fossil fuel consumption and respiratory inorganic effects are the two most critical environmental impact categories in woodchips production. We have used Eco-indicator 99 based cradle-to-gate LCA method with a functional unit of 4 m3 of dry hardwood chips production.