• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• 7. Clean energy close
• 13. Climate action close
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• JP close

Comfort temperature and sleep quality involving 20 participants were determined in two cases: Case A (arbitrary, controlled air-conditioner setting) and Case B (adjustment of 3 °C higher than the setting of Case A with cool bed linen). Data of indoor thermal comfort and electricity consumption were collected every night throughout the measurement period. Questionnaires on thermal comfort and sleep quality were distributed twice a night for a duration of three nights for each case; the first night was for respondents’ adaptation and the following two nights were for measurement. The sleep quality of the respondents was objectively measured using a commercially available activity tracker. Results found that most respondents were thermally comfortable in both cases, with 39% lower energy consumption reported for Case B compared to Case A. The thermal conditions of Case B were found to be more tolerable than those of Case A. Most respondents reported to have a calm and satisfied sleep for both cases. Comfort temperature and Sleep Efficiency Index (SEI) were found to be maintained in both cases.

Real-time pricing demand response programs (RTP-DRPs) are practical measures that ensure the end user's profitability from using electricity by adjusting the supply and demand equilibrium without activating costly solutions. This study explores the potential of RTP-DRPs by developing and applying a region-wise modeling approach based on maximizing the end user's social welfare in the wholesale electricity market in Japan. The regions of the wholesale market are classified based on their response into regions with excess supply, regions with high demand burden, and regular suppliers of inter-regional connections. The results revealed that the RTP-DRPs could potentially reduce the peak demand of the residential sector in Chubu, Chugoku, Kansai, Kyushu, Tokyo, and Tohoku by 1.91%-7.81%. Meanwhile, in Hokkaido, Hokuriku, and Shikoku, by 16.13%-22.9%. The avoided greenhouse emission (GHG) in Tokyo is estimated to be 82.6 and 192.2 tons in summer and winter, respectively.

Abstract Integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems is an upward trend for residential sector to achieve major targets like minimizing the electricity bill, grid dependency, emission and so forth. In recent years, there has been a rapid deployment of PV and battery installation in residential sector. In this regard, optimal planning of PV-battery systems is a critical issue for the designers, consumers, and network operators due to high number of parameters that can affect the optimization problem. This paper aims to present a comprehensive and critical review on the effective parameters in optimal planning process of solar PV and battery storage system for grid-connected residential sector. The key parameters in process of optimal planning for PV-battery system are recognized and explained. These parameters are economic and technical data, objective functions, energy management systems, design constraints, optimization algorithms, and electricity pricing programs. A timely review on the state-of-the-art studies in PV-battery optimal planning is presented. The challenges, trends and latest developments in the topic are discussed. At the end, scopes for future studies are developed. It is found that new guidelines should be provided for the customers based on various electricity rates and demand response programs. Also, several design considerations like grid dependency and resiliency need further investigation in the optimal planning of PV-battery systems.

Corrosion-resistive conductive titanium oxide exhibited remarkably higher durability than a carbon support during electrochemical catalytic reactions under high potential conditions.

Aquaponics systems and technologies are growing primary industries in many countries, with high environmental and socio-economic advantages. Aquaponics is a closed-loop system that produces aquatic animals and plants in a new way using recirculated water and nutrients. With a growing world population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, food production sustainability is a primary issue in today’s world agenda, and aquaponics and aquaculture systems can be potential contributors to the challenge. Observing the climate changes and global warming’s impact on the ecosystem, decreasing aqua animal stocks, and responding to increasing demand are turning points in the sustainability era. In the past 15 years, fish production has doubled, thus denoting that aquaponics transforms into commercial scales with a revolutionized production, high efficiency, and fewer resources’ utilization, thus requiring proper operation and management standards and practices. Therefore, this study aims to shape a new framework for sustainable aquaponics modeling and utilization as the all-in-one solution platform covering technical, managerial, socio-economic, institutional, and environmental measures within the suitability requirements. The proposed model in this study offers a systematic approach to the design and implementation of sustainability-efficient aquaponics and aquaculture systems. Through an exhaustive coverage of the topic, this research effort can be counted as a practical reference for researchers, scholars, experts, practitioners, and students in the context of aquaponics and aquaculture studies.

The global community has set intensive targets in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to better people’s lives after closing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It corresponds to the 2030 aspirations of the United Nations to enhance and promote the sustainable development of human society. The current paper explores the impact of fiscal hedging and R&D in energy Using a green-energy system in SDGs. To do this, we used TOPSIS and QARDL methodologies on a 21-year dataset of South and Southeast Asian economies from 2000 to 2020. The study results show that fiscal hedging contributes favourably to the environmental degradation of the underlying economy. Research and development (R&D) in renewables has contributed negatively to ecological degradation and SDGs in the economies of South & Southeast Asia. This study suggests policy guidelines for advanced and developing economies based on fiscal stability and technical innovation through R&D to meet SDG.

Gender-specific perceptions and needs are critical to better understanding climate change adaptation capacities of local smallholder communities in Africa and elsewhere. As many rural agricultural practices are heavily impacted by male-centered traditional customs and mores, gender dimensions can determine the level of success for policy interventions. To better understand how and what gender dimensions can be important factors for farmer’s climate change adaptations, this study attempts to examine smallholder farmers’ adaptation needs and perspectives in Ghana’s Upper East Region. A focus group discussion and a questionnaire survey were conducted among 200 smallholder farmers. We found that the female respondents, who mostly belonged to low/middle-income groups, emphasized their urgent need for financial support to improve their income. They needed more farmland as 94% of them had only less than 5 acres to farm. In addition, 91% of the female respondents expressed the importance of being connected to farmers’ mutual-help groups to share information about common farming needs. We also found gender-specific needs for extension services, farm inputs, climate information, mechanization, and infrastructure. Regarding access to resources, the women respondents had little interest in investing more in farming as the land they borrowed could be taken away by male owners. The study recommends the need for gender-specific support initiatives that prioritize social protection and gender equality.

AbstractOcean warming is altering the biogeographical distribution of marine organisms. In the tropics, rising sea surface temperatures are restructuring coral reef communities with sensitive species being lost. At the biogeographical divide between temperate and tropical communities, warming is causing macroalgal forest loss and the spread of tropical corals, fishes and other species, termed “tropicalization”. A lack of field research into the combined effects of warming and ocean acidification means there is a gap in our ability to understand and plan for changes in coastal ecosystems. Here, we focus on the tropicalization trajectory of temperate marine ecosystems becoming coral‐dominated systems. We conducted field surveys and in situ transplants at natural analogues for present and future conditions under (i) ocean warming and (ii) both ocean warming and acidification at a transition zone between kelp and coral‐dominated ecosystems. We show that increased herbivory by warm‐water fishes exacerbates kelp forest loss and that ocean acidification negates any benefits of warming for range extending tropical corals growth and physiology at temperate latitudes. Our data show that, as the combined effects of ocean acidification and warming ratchet up, marine coastal ecosystems lose kelp forests but do not gain scleractinian corals. Ocean acidification plus warming leads to overall habitat loss and a shift to simple turf‐dominated ecosystems, rather than the complex coral‐dominated tropicalized systems often seen with warming alone. Simplification of marine habitats by increased CO2 levels cascades through the ecosystem and could have severe consequences for the provision of goods and services.