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The decarbonisation of heating in the United Kingdom is likely to entail both the mass adoption of heat pumps and widespread development of district heating infrastructure. Estimation of the spatially disaggregated heat demand is needed for both electrical distribution network with electrified heating and for the development of district heating. The temporal variation of heat demand is important when considering the operation of district heating, thermal energy storage and electrical grid storage. The difference between the national and urban heat demands profiles will vary due to the type and occupancy of buildings leading to temporal variations which have not been widely surveyed. This paper develops a high-resolution spatiotemporal heat load model for Great Britain (GB: England, Scotland a Wales) by identifying the appropriate datasets, archetype segmentation and characterisation for the domestic and nondomestic building stock. This is applied to a thermal model and calibrated on the local scale using gas consumption statistics. The annual GB heat demand was in close agreement with other estimates and the peak demand was 219 GWth. The urban heat demand was found to have a lower peak to trough ratio than the average national demand profile. This will have important implications for the uptake of heating technologies and design of district heating.

This paper addresses the energy conservation problem in computing systems. The focus is on energy-efficient routing protocols. We formulated and solved a network-wide optimization problem for calculating energy-aware routing for the recommended network configuration. Considering the complexity of the mathematical models of data center networks and the limitations of calculating routing by solving large-scale optimization problems, and methods described in the literature, we propose an alternative solution. We designed and developed several efficient heuristics for equal-cost multipath (ECMP) and Valiant routing that reduce the energy consumption in the computer network interconnecting computing servers. Implementing these heuristics enables the selection of routing paths and relay nodes based on current and predicted internal network load. The utility and efficiency of our methods were verified by simulation. The test cases were carried out on several synthetic network topologies, giving encouraging results. Similar results of using our efficient heuristic algorithm and solving the optimization task confirmed the usability and effectiveness of our solution. Thus, we produced well-justified recommendations for energy-aware computing system design to conclude the paper.

The paper presents a modified algorithm for determining the accuracy parameter of the system for differential corrections and monitoring (SDCM) navigation solution in air navigation. For this purpose, a solution to determine the resultant accuracy parameter was proposed by using two on-board global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers. The mathematical algorithm takes into account the calculation of a single point positioning accuracy for a given GNSS receiver and a weighting factor combining the position error values. The weighting factor was determined as a function of the number of tracked GNSS satellites used in the SDCM single point positioning solution. The resultant accuracy parameter was expressed in ellipsoidal coordinates BLh (B—latitude, L—longitude, h—ellipsoidal height). The study used GNSS kinematic data recorded by two on-board receivers: Trimble Alloy and Septentrio AsterRx2i, located in a Diamond DA 20-C1 aircraft. The test flight was performed near the city of Olsztyn in north-eastern Poland. Calculations and analyses were performed using RTKLIB software and the Scilab environment. On the basis of the performed tests, it was found that the proposed algorithm for SDCM system allows for improvement in the determination of the resultant accuracy value by 56–80% in relation to the results of position errors from a single GNSS receiver. Additionally, the proposed algorithm was tested for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) system, and in this case, the improvement in the accuracy parameter was even better and was in the range of 69–89%. The resulting SDCM and EGNOS positioning accuracy met the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) certification requirements for SBAS systems in air navigation. The mathematical algorithm developed in this work was tested positively and can be implemented within the SBAS augmentation system in air navigation.

It is critical and challenging to develop high performance transition metal phosphides (TMPs) electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) to address fossil energy shortages. Herein, we report the synthesis of Co2P embedded in N-doped porous carbon (Co2P@N-C) via a facile one-step strategy. The obtained catalyst exhibits a lower overpotential of 352 mV for OER at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 84.6 mV dec−1, with long-time reliable stability. The excellent electrocatalytic performance of Co2P@N-C can be mainly owed to the synergistic effect between the Co2P and highly conductive N-C substrate, which not only affords rich exposed active sites but also promotes faster charge transfer, thus significantly promoting OER process. This work presents a promising and industrially applicable synthetic strategy for the rational design of high performance nonnoble metal electrocatalysts with enhanced OER performance.

Aerodynamics of the Darrieus wind turbine is an extremely complex issue requiring the use of very advanced numerical methods. Additional structural components of this device, such as, for example, a rotating shaft disturb the flow through the rotor significantly impairing its aerodynamic characteristics. The main purpose of the presented research is to validate the commonly-used unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) approach with the shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model based on the particle image velocimetry (PIV) studies of a two-bladed rotor operating at the moderate tip speed ratio of 4.5. In the present numerical studies, a two-dimensional turbine rotor with a diameter of 1 m was considered. The following parameters were evaluated: instantaneous velocity fields; velocity profiles in the rotor shadow and aerodynamic blade loads. The obtained numerical results are comparable with the reference experimental results taken from the literature. The second purpose of this work was to examine the influence of the rotating rotor shaft/tower on the wind turbine performance. It has been proven that the cylindrical shaft reduces the power of the device by 2.5% in comparison with the non-shaft configuration.

Energy storage technology plays a significant role in the pursuit of the high-quality development of the electricity market. Many regions in China have issued policies and regulations of different intensities for promoting the popularization of the energy storage industry. Based on a variety of initial conditions of different regions, this paper explores the evolutionary process of electricity market players considering energy storage technology. The trilateral evolutionary game model is adopted to analyze the strategies of the power plant, the power grid, and the government. After assigning the model according to an actual situation, each equilibrium point corresponds to a real electricity market situation. The results indicate the following: (1) In the process of stabilizing, the role of “Advanced Imitators” leading the strategy of building energy storage changes between the power plant and the power grid. (2) In Eastern, Middle, and Southern China, the power plants and power grids on a greater-than-medium scale will choose to build energy storage without governmental regulations, due to the abundant net profit. (3) In the northeast of China, power plants with a medium-or-lower scale will choose not to build energy storage because of the relatively low on-grid price, and small power grids can make enough profits by operating energy storage facilities. (4) In Northern China, the large power plants and the medium power grids will choose to build energy storage due to the high electricity sale price and the resulting high profit. (5) In Western China, the small power plants and power grids cannot afford to build energy storage due to the low electricity price. The results lead to valuable policy suggestions for the local governments of China in promoting energy storage in the future. To meet the goal of energy storage popularization, regional electricity market plans need relevant policies based on its existing conditions, offering suitable external conditions for adding energy storage.

This paper investigates the sensitivity (resistance) of a quadcopter on-board gyroscope system for the observation and tracking of a moving ground target to changing parameters of its regulator under interference conditions. It was shown that the gain in matrix elements is most sensitive, and even their slightest deviation from optimal values can lead to reduced target tracking efficiency and even loss of control system stability. Furthermore, the authors studied the energy expenditure at various gyroscope system control parameter values, while homing a quadcopter onto a ground target. A Matlab/Simulink environment was used to conduct simulations of the controlled gyroscope system dynamics. Selected test results are shown in graphic form.

The prevailing need for a more sustainable management of natural resources depends not only on the decisions made by governments and the will of the population, but also on the knowledge of the role of energy in our society and the relevance of preserving natural resources. In this sense, critical work is being done to instill key concepts—such as the circular economy and sustainable energy—in higher education institutions. In this way, it is expected that future professionals and managers will be aware of the importance of energy optimization, and will learn a series of computational methods that can support the decision-making process. In the context of higher education, this paper reviews the main trends and challenges related to the concepts of circular economy and sustainable energy. Besides, we analyze the role of simulation and serious games as a learning tool for the aforementioned concepts. Finally, the paper provides insights and discusses open research opportunities regarding the use of these computational tools to incorporate circular economy concepts in higher education degrees. Our findings show that, while efforts are being made to include these concepts in current programs, there is still much work to be done, especially from the point of view of university management. In addition, the analysis of the teaching methodologies analyzed shows that, although their implementation has been successful in favoring the active learning of students, their use (especially that of serious games) is not yet widespread.