• Energy Research
• DE close
• JP close
• English close

Japan's National Universities are now subject to "corporate" structures that, by recognizing the universities as legal persons and not simply parts of the state apparatus, aim to more closely follow models in many Western countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted their development of more proactive institutional plans and indeed institutional identities. This study traces and explains vocabulary associated with current challenges for universities around the world, and argues that the broad concept of sustainability is a central theme around which a university may build and sustain an enduring self-image.

The main aim of the Horizon Europe Fit4Micro Project is to develop a microCHCP unit running on sustainable liquid biofuels. The application of this unit is foreseen at multi-family houses and at remote or off-grid locations. This technology will lead to very high electrical efficiencies (>40%) and a flexible heat/power ratio. Moreover, the usage of a truly advanced and RED II compliant biofuel will guarantee a high GHG emission reduction. This flexible hybrid energy system is based on a double-shaft micro gas turbine (mGT) combined with a novel humidification unit, and will be able to provide renewable heating, cooling and power production, mainly for domestic usage. The Fit4Micro solution contributes to make Europe the first enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy. Proceedings of the 31st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 5-8 June 2023, Bologna, Italy, pp. 514-516

The authors compare the energy consumption and CO2 emissions from vehicles using internal combustion engines (ICE), battery electric vehicles (BEV), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV), and two types of hybrid vehicles, BEV-ICE hybrid and BEV-FCEV hybrid. This paper considers several scenarios for four countries’ electricity production from primary energy sources to estimate total CO2 release. Energy consumption of the vehicle per 100 km, emissions during manufacturing, battery production, and lifecycle of the vehicle are considered in the total amount evaluation of CO2 released. The results show that with current technologies for battery manufacturing, and a significant proportion of national grid electricity delivered by fossil fuels, BEV is the best choice to reduce carbon emissions for shorter driving ranges. In the case of electricity generation mainly by low-carbon sources, FCEV and BEV-FCEV hybrid vehicles end up with lower carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, with electricity mainly generated from fossil fuels, electric vehicles do not reduce CO2 emissions compared to combustion cars.

The Arctic climate system is in great distress, warming faster than the rest of the world and transforming more rapidly than previously anticipated. Sustained and harmonized multidisciplinary observations at key locations are needed to fill knowledge gaps and evaluate the ongoing climate change impacts on the complex Arctic marine system. For more than a decade, the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) has functioned as a “detection array” for ecosystem changes and trends in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean. This long-term collaborative initiative builds on active involvement of scientists conducting in situ observations within marine disciplines to systematically document how the arctic marine ecosystem is transforming with environmental change. The DBO concept is currently being expanded into other sectors of the Arctic, including Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, the Atlantic Arctic gateway area, and the East Siberian Sea. Through increased collaboration and joint practices, findings from these regional areas can leverage to pan-Arctic perspectives and improve our understanding of the entire Arctic Ocean. Common practices are now being developed, including key phenomena and relevant indicators to study. Also, we strive towards harmonized routines for sampling, analysis and data sharing to increase the comparability across both disciplines and regions, and to improve the usability of our in-situ observations also for the modelling and remote sensing scopes. An ambition is, moreover, to expand from today's predominantly open-sea coverage towards coastal regions, to the benefit of both local communities and researchers. The process of establishing a pan-Arctic DBO network is to a large part facilitated by the EU Horizon project Arctic PASSION (2022-2025). Here, we present the latest developments and shared priorities, as well as our vision of how to incorporate our efforts into other parallel processes aiming to strengthen the pan-Arctic observing system towards, during and beyond the upcoming IPY.

The presented work investigates planar and axial channeling effects in ion-surface collisions. Therefore, energy loss and charge state distributions depending on the crystalline surface direction are recorded and analyzed. Several additional scattering parameters, like the primary energy, the outgoing charge state, the scattering angle, and the angle of incidence are varied. Multi-peak structures in the energy spectra are observed under axial channeling conditions and attributed to different trajectory classes. Using combined trajectory and inelastic energy loss calculations we are able to unambiguously assign the different peaks in the energy spectra to the different types of trajectories found in the calculations. By this, we investigate the electronic density corrugation at different metal surfaces. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht den Einfluß von axialem und planarem Channeling auf den Energieverlust von oberflächengestreuten Ionen. Es werden Energieverlustspektren und Ladungsverteilungen in Abhängigkeit der Parameter Primärenergie, gestreuter Ladungszustand, Streuwinkel, Einfallswinkel und der azimuthalen Ausrichtung der Oberfläche gemessen. Im Fall von axialem Channeling beobachten wir in den Energiespektren eine Multi-Peak Struktur. Diese läßt sich auf unterschiedliche Teilchentrajektorien zurückführen. Zusammen mit theoretischen Berechnungen des inelastischen Energieverlustes kann eine eindeutige Zuordnung zwischen dem gemessenen Energieverlust und der dazugehörigen Trajektorienart gemacht werden. Diese Technik erlaubt es uns, die elektronische Dichtekorrugation an Oberflächen zu studieren.

The demand for effective cooling and energy storage technologies is growing continuously. The climatic changes, miniaturization, and digitalization have redefined the technological development in the cooling and energy storage industries. The global focus is on the environmental-friendly, efficient, sustainable, and scalable cooling technologies. Owing to all these factors, green alternatives to the traditional air-conditioning and refrigeration are gaining momentum. One of such green alternatives is the electrocaloric effect (ECE). The electrocaloric effect is observed in dielectric materials as they undergo an adiabatic temperature change or an isothermal entropy change under an externally applied/removed electric field. Dielectric materials are capable to store the electrical energy as well. Therefore, they are particularly interesting for the new cooling and energy storage technologies. In this work, a ferroelectric relaxor polymer, namely, Poly(vinylidene fluoride – trifluoroethylene – chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF–TrFE–CFE) is investigated for the electrocaloric effect through the direct and the indirect methods. The electrical energy storage properties of different compositions of P(VDF–TrFE–CFE) and their nanocomposites with inorganic 0D nanofillers are studied. Initially, the relaxor properties in six different compositions of P(VDF–TrFE–CFE) are studied. Out of these six compositions, the three compositions, 51.3/48.7/6.2, 59.8/40.2/7.3, and 70/30/8.1, are analyzed for the first time. The field induced phase transition results in a double hysteresis loop in a few compositions. Through the direct electrocaloric measurements, it is observed that the electric field induced phase transition results in a higher electrocaloric temperature change. The indirect electrocaloric measurements are conducted with and without compensating the leakage current. It is shown that the indirect method can lead to erroneous results due to the leakage current. The results obtained through the indirect measurements conducted with the leakage current compensation are comparable to the direct measurements. The electrical energy storage properties of the neat terpolymers and their nanocomposites are compared. It is observed that the stored and discharged energy densities of the nanocomposites are superior to the neat terpolymers. Dissertation, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 2022

Chiller systems are used in many different applications in both the industrial and the commercial sector. They are considered major energy consumers and thus contribute a non-negligible factor to environmental pollution as well as to the overall operating cost. In addition, chillers, especially in industrial applications, are often associated with high reliability requirements, as unplanned system downtimes are usually costly. As many studies over the past decades have shown, the presence of faults can lead to significant performance degradation and thus higher energy consumption of these systems. Thus, data-driven fault detection plays an ever-increasing role in terms of energy efficient control strategies. However, labelled data to train associated algorithms are often only available to a limited extent, which consequently inhibits the broad application of such technologies. Therefore, this paper presents an approach that exploits only a small amount of labelled and large amounts of unlabelled data in the training phase in order to detect fault related anomalies. For this, the model utilizes the residual space of the data transformed through principal component analyses in conjunction with a biased support vector machine, which can be ascribed to the concept of semi-supervised learning, or more specifically, positive-unlabelled learning.

Large Areas of Kirgistan are made up of the Parmir-Alay and the Tian-Shan mountain systems. They house large glacier systems that contribute considerably to the aestival water supply, especially of the densely populated Fergana Valley. These water resources are used for the generation of electricity and above all for agricultural irrigation. The Syra Darya river is the confluence of Naryn and Kara Darya river; it receives large quantities of melt water from glaciers and snow and directs them towards the Fergana Valley. Under the impact of the temperature rise induced by climate change, the glaciers are subject to an accelerated melting process. In this regard, knowing which fresh water resources are going to be available in the future is of great interest for agriculture. The two publications presented here are dedicated to this question. The conceptual HBV-light model has been calibrated and validated for 18 sub basins of the Syr Darya. Thereby the lack of accessible meteorological data was an issue which had to be resolved and data gaps had to be closed. Monte Carlo simulations and the “equifinality concept” have been implemented successfully to reduce these data uncertainties. Based on this initial work, the effect of climate change according to the SRES A1B scenario (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) has been assessed for the time period 2071-2100. 1971-2000 has been selected as the reference period. An increased outflow in winter and spring of 44 to 107% magnitude has been predicted for the sub basins with regard to the current outflow. In contrast, the aestival outflow will decrease by 12-42%. These temperature-driven changes in outflow are going to further impair agricultural irrigation in the Fergana Valley, which will force agriculture to develop additional water-saving technologies. The total annual outflow will increase by 5-17% for glaciated and by about 9% for non-glaciated sub basins. The overall outflow of the rivers Naryn and Kara Darya will decrease by 20% according to the calculations, whereby the input of the 18 investigated sub basins will increase by 37% due to the glacial melting. All things considered, the conducted investigations emphasise the urgent requirement to pursue all available measures that help to mitigate the implications of climate change. Große Teile Kirgisistans werden von den Bergketten des Pamiro-Alai und des Tien-Shan Gebirgssystems gebildet. Sie beherbergen große Gletschersysteme, die in erheblichem Umfang zur sommerlichen Wasserversorgung vor allem des bevölkerungsreichen Fergana-Tals beitragen. Diese Wasserresourcen werden zur Stromerzeugung und vor allem zur landwirtschaftlichen Bewässerung genutzt. Der Fluss Syrdarya nimmt aus dem Zusammenfluss des Naryn und Karadarya die Schmelzwassermengen von Gletschern und Schnee auf und leitet sie dem Ferganatal zu. Unter dem Einfluss des durch den Klimawandel bedingten Temperaturanstiegs unterliegen die Gletscher einem beschleunigten Schmelzungsprozess. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es für die Landwirtschaft von großem Interesse zu wissen, welche Süßwasserressourcen in Zukunft zur Verfügung stehen. Dieser Fragestellung widmeten sich die vorliegenden zwei Veröffentlichungen. Das konzeptuelle Modell HBV-light wurde für 18 Teileinzugsgebiete im Oberlauf des Syrdarya kalibriert und validiert, wobei als besonderes Problem der Mangel an verfügbaren meteorologischen Daten zu bewältigen war und Datenlücken zu schließen waren. Monte Carlo Simulationen und das „equifinality concept“ wurden erfolgreich angewandt, um diese Datenunsicherheiten zu reduzieren. Basierend auf diesen Eingangsarbeiten wurde der Effekt des Klimawandels entsprechend dem SRES A1B Scenario (Special Report on Emissions Scenarios) für den Zeitraum 2071-2100 abgeschätzt. Als Bezugszeitraum wurde die Periode 1971–2000 gewählt. Für die Teileinzugsgebiete wurde ein Anstieg des Abflusses im Winter und im Frühjahr in der Größenordnung von 44 bis 107% prognostiziert, bezogen auf den derzeitigen Abfluss. Der sommerliche Abfluss wird dagegen um 12–42% abnehmen. Diese temperaturbedingten Veränderungen in den Abflüssen werden die Wasserversorgung landwirtschaftlicher Kulturen im Ferganatal weiterhin verschlechtern, was die Landwirtschaft zu weiteren wassersparenden Technologien zwingen wird. Der gesamte jährliche Abfluss wird für vergletscherte Teileinzugsgebiete um 5 – 17% ansteigen und für nicht vergletscherte um ca. 9%. Der Gesamtabfluss der Flüsse Naryn und Karadarya wird nach den Berechnungen um ca. 20% abnehmen, wobei der Beitrag der untersuchten 18 Teileinzugsgebiete aufgrund der Gletscherschmelze um 37% zunehmen wird. Insgesamt unterstreichen die durchgeführten Untersuchungen die dringende Notwendigkeit, dass alle verfügbaren Maßnahmen, die dazu beitragen, die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels zu mindern, verfolgt werden müssen.

For large scale thermal energy storage at temperatures above 300°C, two-tank molten salt systems mark the current state-of-the-art as they are proven technology in parabolic trough and tower solar thermal power plants. Research is focusing on the utilization of molten salts not only as storage medium but also as heat transferring fluid (HTF) in parabolic trough plants [1]. The current two-tank concept offers serveral cost reduction possibilities. Firstly, instead of storing the hot and cold phase in two separate tanks, the salt could be stored inside a single tank to avoid a large gas volume. The separation of both phases can either be achieved by a floating insulated barrier or simply by the different densities of both phases. Secondly, a high share of the total investment costs of a molten salt storage system is caused by the molten salt itself. For the two-tank system in 50 MWel power plants, this can be as high as half of the total TES costs [2]. In the thermocline with filler concept, a large fraction of the molten salt can be substituted by a cost effective solid material, offering a significant potential for further cost reductions [3]. Finally, gaining operational experience of such systems and the ability to derive optimized operation strategies, promise an additional cost reduction potential. The “test facility for thermal energy storage in molten salts” (TESIS:store) has been set up at DLR in Cologne, Germany. An outside view of the plant can be seen in Fig. 1. The facility operates at temperatures up to 560 °C and a maximum molten salt mass flow of 4 kg/s. The storage volume has a length of 5.4 m with a total tank volume of 22 m³. The plant allows the investigation of the thermocline concept with and without filler and gaining widespread operation experience. Heat tracing along the containment walls and the piping ensures adiabatic conditions.