• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• Closed Access close
• Restricted close
• IT close
• FR close

Dolomite-based binders are characterised by interesting technical and environmental features. For their synthesis, sources of both CaO and MgO are required. The idea developed in this work is to couple the synthesis of dolomite-based binders, starting from a natural dolomite, through the concept of concentrated solar energy (needed to drive the endothermal dolomite calcination process) in fluidised bed reactors. To this end, a fluidised bed system, where the concentrated solar radiation is mimicked by the use of Xe-lamps (short-arc), has been set up and operated. Natural dolomite (sieved in the 420-590 ?m size range) was calcined at a nominal temperature of 850 °C, and bed temperature profiles during solar-driven calcination were investigated. Then, four binders were prepared by mixing slaked dolomite (obtained from the hydration of solar calcined dolomite) with either blast furnace slag or coal fly ash as supplementary cementitious materials. The binders were hydrated for curing times ranging from 7 to 56 days. X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and combined differential thermal and thermogravimetric analyses were employed as characterisation techniques both to analyse the chemical composition of starting materials and to investigate the evolution of the hydration in the four systems.

In this paper a grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) cascaded H-bridge (CHB) inverter with embedded storage units is proposed. The multi-input single-output inverter architecture allows a distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) approach, thus mitigating the mismatch effects. The energy storage units (ESUs) embedded at each dc-link provides more flexibility to the power circuit compensating for the inherent variability of the PV sources. The proposed power system ensures a continuous power supply to the grid also in case of PV power fluctuations due to irradiance conditions as well as to the MPPT. In particular, the presence of a storage element allows a voltage sweep on the PV source to be implemented, thus guaranteeing the maximization of PV energy harvesting, with no detrimental effect on the power delivery to the utility network. The numerical results, carried out on a single-phase nineteen-level PV CHB inverter, reveal the improved performance of the proposed design and control technique.

In recent years, the occurrence and damages of the blackouts in power systems saw an increase. Many of them are due to the impacts of climate change. However, tracing all blackouts that happened in the world and associating them with specific causes is quite challenging due to the huge amount of information over the Internet. In this paper, we proposed a framework for automatically analyzing the information collected from Internet based on the Ontological Approach coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tailored for Natural Language Processing, which permits information extraction from reports to better understand the major entities of a power outage, their role, and the connections among them. However, our test shows that, despite the promising results of Named Entity Recognition in other fields, the lack of a standard ontology for blackout analysis is both the proof and the cause for the missed chance of exploiting this AI branch.

The growing global awareness of social and environmental issues has led investors to prioritize sustainable investments. This study examines the relationship between ten Islamic and conventional sector indices, which include stocks screened for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, across three energy-related fields: renewable energy, energy efficiency, and oil equipment and services. Using a quantile cross-spectral approach, this research finds a high level of long-term synchronization among all energy-related sectors and indices. However, as markets shift from bearish to bullish, the current relationship between energy-related sectors and Islamic and conventional indices weakens. To support the findings in this research and investigate potential financial implications, this investigation applies a causality-in-quantiles approach. The research in this study shows a bidirectional causal relationship between conventional and Islamic indices, particularly in the energy efficiency sector during bearish market conditions. At lower tails, ESG market indices are found to cause renewable energy products, suggesting a hedging mechanism. The findings of this study assert that investments that do not possess any ESG shortcomings are imperative for effectively bolstering renewable energy companies and fostering opportunities for energy efficiency. These conclusions hold considerable ramifications for energy policymakers as they strive to devise more robust financial mechanisms that can provide substantial support to the burgeoning green sector.

This article concerns a field study about the use of non-invasive manual lighting and shading control to save energy in listed buildings. The system was chosen to limit cabling and masonry work. The test room consists of an individual office located in a historical building in Southern Italy. The room was retrofitted with two roller shades (semi-transparent and blackout) and six LED-based pendants provided with step-dimming and three Correlated Colour Temperature options. Shading and lighting could be remotely controlled from the desk by six subjects who took part in the test for two weeks each. Behavioural interventions and a set back to default setting at the end of the working day were adopted to improve the test subjects’ energy behaviour. The results show that energy for lighting could be reduced between 15% and 71% compared to European benchmark, with wide range accounting for variability of individual preference and weather conditions. The savings are due to the computer-based work, the communication and engagement campaign, as well as the default settings. The findings suggest that simple manually controlled systems are energy and economic viable solution for listed buildings, since the system accommodates users’ needs, and proper training is provided to the users.