• Energy Research
• 13. Climate action close
• 11. Sustainability close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close
• KR close

AbstractClimate change is an increasingly important global concern, requiring urgent action. To achieve environmental sustainability, identifying the predictors influencing individuals' actions is necessary. Individuals with negative psychological responses to climate change, such as eco‐anxiety, are more likely to engage in pro‐environmental behaviour. However, eco‐anxiety and other perceptions associated with climate change and sustainability can differ based on an individual's unique background. Therefore, this study aimed to identify potent predictors of individuals' environmental sustainability interest and examine the impact of eco‐anxiety on environmental sustainability interest. Data from 459 South Korean adults (19–65 years) were included in this secondary analysis. Eco‐anxiety, climate change risk perception and future event cognition were assessed by the Climate Change Anxiety Scale, the Climate Change Risk Perception Inventory and Future Event Questionnaires, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that eco‐anxiety was the most potent predictor of environmental sustainability interest, followed by climate change risk perception, age 60–65 years, future event cognition and age under 30 years. Considering that eco‐anxiety is the most potent predictor of environmental sustainability interest, mental health nurses should assess patients' eco‐anxiety level and help them recognize and manage their anxiety levels appropriately. Age‐specific approaches should be considered for interventions to enhance environmental sustainability interest. Further studies are needed to determine the cut‐off anxiety level that influences the positive impact on environmental sustainability interest and to develop programmes to manage eco‐anxiety.

In South Korea, the evaluation criteria for the shading devices installation are defined by regulations, but the standards of design methods are not clearly established. The installation of shading device is used to solar control in building. It has become mandatory for some public buildings due to revised regulations. Generally this device mean is horizontal shading at upper window. Therefore, a design of horizontal shading device which takes into account the energy consumption of the building is required, and indoor environmental problems which may occur due to the installation of them should also be taken into consideration. This research studied to propose a design which takes into account the energy consumption which may occur if the horizontal shading device is installed, and suggest an improved design method of horizontal shading devices on the basis of the analysis of the problems that may occur when they are installed. Consequently, it was confirmed that as the length of the horizontal shading device becomes longer, the incoming daylight is reduced and the indoor intensity of illumination becomes lower, and thus, more lighting energy may be consumed in a room where the shading device is installed than in the one where it is not. Therefore, annual energy consumption was calculated by applying the lighting control and it was found that the total energy consumption decreased as a result of the reduction in energy consumption for air conditioning and fans and further decrease in lighting energy consumption.

Biomass co-firing in coal-fired power plants has been widely accepted to reduce the environmental burden. In this study, food waste (FW) and sewage sludge (SS), which are the main types of municipal organic waste, were selected as solid refuse fuel (SRF). To compensate for the limitations of FW and SS, a mixture of FW and SS with varying ratios was processed using pyrolysis and desalination. The fuel properties such as the calorific value, chlorine content, alkali and alkaline earth metallic species (AAEMs) content, and heavy metal content were determined. The calorific values of all biochars were greater than 12.6 MJ/kg, which satisfies the national threshold of Bio-SRF in Korea. Chlorine and AAEMs contents exhibited clear trends for the FW ratio and pyrolysis temperature. Increasing concentrations of heavy metals were observed with increasing SS ratio and pyrolysis temperature. These results provide important insights into the practical application of municipal waste-based biochar in coal-fired plants, as well as the influence of mixing ratio and pyrolysis temperature.

Abstract The technological and economic impact of design changes in thermal energy storage of concentrated solar power (CSP) systems is assessed. It is shown that the system costs change with the types of storage tanks and also that the operation temperature is limited by the thermal properties of the thermal storage medium. In addition, the cost of energy can be substantially reduced by replacing the conventional power cycle with more advanced power cycles, such as a supercritical carbon dioxide power cycle. Using two types of thermal storage tanks and two thermal storage media, cases are generated incorporating combinations of the design options. A sensitivity analysis is used to investigate the impacts of each technological improvement. The results of this work will contribute to predicting the impact of research and improving the economics of the CSP system.

This paper aims to generate clean electricity by utilizing waste heat available in the environment. To achieve this, a thermoelectric generator (TEG) is used in conjunction with a Peltier module, voltage regulator, and USB charging module. The Peltier modules are connected in series to maximize voltage and minimize loss. The proposed methodology is first numerically modeled and simulated using Ansys and COMSOL, after which the model is developed with an assembly of all the above-mentioned modules. The paper mainly focuses on the sustainable use of waste heat energy to produce clean energy in the form of electricity. The paper demonstrates the working principle of thermoelectric generators and their efficiency in generating electricity from waste heat energy. It also explores the various applications of thermoelectric generator technology. The results of all three simulations are compared, and the paper emphasizes the adoption of thermoelectric generators as a practical option to recover wasted heat and reduce the environmental impact of energy-intensive industries. Overall, this paper showcases a practical solution to mitigate environmental degradation caused by industrial waste heat, while simultaneously producing clean energy.

AbstractThe mitigation of wind‐induced excitations of tall buildings was investigated. The shape of a building can be aerodynamically modified by changing the taper of the cross‐section. This modification alters the flow pattern around the building, and reduces wind‐induced vibration of tall buildings. A tapered tall building that spreads the vortex‐shedding over a broad range of frequencies more effectively reduces cross‐wind responses. In this paper, to investigate the tapering effect on the reduction of wind‐induced responses of a tapered tall building, a high‐frequency force‐balance test was conducted. Six types of building model of differing taper ratios—2·5%, 5%, 7·5%, 10%, 15%, and a basic building model of square cross‐section—were tested on two typical atmospheric boundary layers representing suburban and urban areas. The effect of wind direction was also considered. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has attracted global attention as a more ecological energy source when compared to other fossil fuels. The nitrogen (N2) expander liquefaction is the most green and safe process among the different types of commercial natural gas liquefaction processes, but its relatively low energy efficiency is a major issue. To solve this issue, an energy-efficient, safe, and simple refrigeration cycle was proposed to improve the energy efficiency of the N2 based natural-gas liquefaction process. In the proposed refrigeration cycle, vortex tube as an expansion device was integrated with turbo-expander in order to reduce the overall required energy for LNG production. A well-known commercial simulator Aspen Hysys® v9 was employed for modeling and analysis of proposed LNG process. The hybrid vortex-tube turbo-expander LNG process resulted in the specific energy requirement of 0.5900 kWh/kg LNG. Furthermore, the energy efficiency of the proposed LNG process was also compared with previous N2 expander-based LNG processes. The results demonstrated that the proposed hybrid configuration saved up to 68.5% (depending on feed composition and conditions) in terms of the overall specific energy requirement in comparison with previous studies.

Agro-wastes, such as crop residues, leaf litter, and sawdust, are major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, and consequently a major concern for climate change. Nowadays, mushroom cultivation has appeared as an emerging agribusiness that helps in the sustainable management of agro-wastes. However, partial utilization of agro-wastes by mushrooms results in the generation of a significant quantity of spent mushroom substrates (SMS) that have continued to become an environmental problem. In particular, Shiitake (Lentinula edodes Berk.) mushrooms can be grown on different types of agro-wastes and also generate a considerable amount of SMS. Therefore, this study investigates the biotransformation of SMS obtained after Shiitake mushroom cultivation into biogas and attendant utilization of slurry digestate (SD) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crop fertilization. Biogas production experiments were conducted anaerobically using four treatments of SMS, i.e., 0% (control), 25, 50, and 75% inoculated with a proportional amount of cow dung (CD) as inoculum. The results on biogas production revealed that SMS 50% treatment yielded the highest biogas volume (8834 mL or 11.93 mL/g of organic carbon) and methane contents (61%) along with maximum reduction of physicochemical and proximate parameters of slurry. Furthermore, the biogas digestate from 50% treatment further helped to increase the seed germination (93.25%), seedling length (9.2 cm), seedling root length (4.19 cm), plant height (53.10 cm), chlorophyll content (3.38 mg/g), total yield (1.86 kg/plant), flavonoids (5.06 mg/g), phenolics (2.78 mg/g), and tannin (3.40 mg/g) contents of tomato significantly (p < 0.05) in the 10% loading rate. The findings of this study suggest sustainable upcycling of SMS inspired by a circular economy approach through synergistic production of bioenergy and secondary fruit crops, which could potentially contribute to minimize the carbon footprints of the mushroom production sector.

A large amount of radioactive material was released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) in 2011 and dispersed into the environment. Though seven years have passed since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, some parts of Japan are still under the influence of radionuclide contamination, especially Fukushima Prefecture and prefectures neighboring Fukushima Prefecture. The long-term effective doses and the contributions of each exposure pathway (5 exposure pathways) and radionuclide (131I, 134Cs, and 137Cs) were evaluated for people living in the regions of Fukushima and neighboring prefectures in Japan using a developed dose assessment code system with Japanese specific input data. The results estimated in this study were compared with data from previously published reports. Groundshine and ingestion were predicted to contribute most significantly to the total long-term dose for all regions. The contributions of each exposure pathway and radionuclide show different patterns for certain regions of Japan. Keywords: Radionuclide, Radiological dose, Long-term effective dose, Exposure pathway, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident