• Energy Research

Population growth and city expansion in developing countries require traditional urban planning practices to be transformed in order to tackle climate change and follow Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agendas. Almost every expert in the urban sector believes that future cities should be sustainable, smart, and environmentally friendly, where energy is one of the most critical factors to achieve these goals. They also agree that smart and sustainable energy provision for cities requires a comprehensive and responsive legal and policy framework to be in place at the national level. However, this research’s findings reveal a lack of such frameworks for this group of countries. Considering the challenges and unique nature of Low-Income-Developing (LID) countries, there should be a framework based on the realities in these countries. In this research, key challenges of urban and energy sectors of LID countries, specifically Afghanistan, are identified, and a framework for the integration of sustainable and smart energy in the urban planning processes for LID countries is proposed. To make it easily replicable and adaptable for LID countries, the proposed framework is studied and analyzed around Afghanistan’s urban and energy sectors. This is one of the few frameworks of its kind for LID economies to the best of the authors’ knowledge. This framework lays a solid foundation for sustainable and smart energy integration in the urban planning process of developing countries. This study highlights that sustainable and smart energy systems could ensure climate change mitigation and economic growth enhancement but require close cross-sectoral coordination and policy maker’s commitments and involvement. This research will help many existing and emerging cities in the LID countries’ worldwide use and benefit from the proposed framework in their urban planning processes. It also enables policymakers, urban planners and designers, municipalities leadership, and other stakeholders of the urban, energy, and environment sectors to work together and make smart and rational decisions for the future of their cities and lead them towards smart and sustainable cities.

Energy scarcity and environmental degradation have developed into major worldwide challenges. Electro-microbiology has the potential to turn trash into environmentally friendly and sustainable resources. Low power density MFCs remain a viable option for disposing of organic waste, as they are more cost-effective than previous methods. Coordination between researchers with diverse backgrounds is required to issues look at the new gates in waste to energy issues. Biocathodes are necessary for electrosynthesis because they require microorganisms to function as an electron source and then catalyze chemical synthesis. Organic compounds may be synthesized using discarded CO2 as a carbon source, reducing the requirement for considerable quantities of arable land. Additionally, the proposed approach can be sustainable and carbon neutral when a renewable energy source is explored. An additional benefit of microbial-assisted chemical synthesis with MECs is that it enables the production of valuable chemicals from wastewater while producing electricity. This study examines the sustainable approaches for green energy by discussing bioelectrochemical and electrochemical resources and technologies.

A smart city is fundamentally intended to reduce the consumption of resources and optimize efficiencies. In almost any area, efficiency results in energy saving, reduced energy intensity, sustainable economic development, enhanced productivity, a protected environment, and most importantly, cooperation with the climate change battle. Although budget, technology, and the required infrastructure are major constraints for poor cities to achieve smart and sustainable city goals, the benefits of smart cities are multiple for poor cities compared to developing and developed cities. Poor cities achieve improved living environments, security, safety, economic development, governance, and quality of life in addition to achieving sustainable energy goals, and this study seeks to identify those smart renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies that are economically feasible and technically applicable in poor cities. The findings of this research would help poor and low-income, developing cities take the initial steps towards becoming smart cities by applying smart, innovative, and economically feasible sustainable energy projects and initiatives. As a result, these cities will be able to enhance their environment, economy, and employment by transitioning to smart ones.

It is not always the technical, financial, and environmental aspects of power projects that decisions are based on. There are many other political, social, and local issues shaping the decision-making processes. This research shows how political and social issues challenged the decision-making process of a high-voltage transmission line routing and how to avoid such unwanted consequences in similar projects. Our insights reveal the importance of risk, conflict, and stakeholder management techniques and strategies in successfully delivering power projects. When planning large energy projects, it is of utmost importance to engage and consult stakeholders, especially direct recipients, civil society, political parties, people’s representatives, and experts, in addition to the techno-economic considerations. Finally, it is suggested that there should be an authority at the country level responsible for deciding on routing, siting, prioritizing, and the strategic planning of power projects.

Urbanization and technology have proven to be detrimental to the environment. Buildings contribute a significant portion of this damage. This issue motivated governments, builders, engineers, and architects to seek ways to reduce buildings’ environmental footprints. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is one of the most widely used strategies to ensure energy efficiency and a clean environment in buildings. In Afghanistan, where there are no active regulatory frameworks for energy saving and efficiency for the building sector, it is imperative to promote the transformation of the building industry and practices towards sustainability. In this regard, the role of the residential building sector is of utmost importance due to its major share in the country’s energy consumption and GHG emissions profile. Thus, this study assesses the energy efficiency and environmental impact of existing buildings in Kabul city concerning the LEED rating system. This research suggests practical steps to improve the sustainability of the residential building stock in Kabul city. Robust sets of data on existing residential buildings in Kabul are collected, classified, evaluated, and compared to LEED standards. This research reveals and concludes that most of the existing buildings in Kabul city are in poor conditions and do not meet the minimum requirements to be a candidate for LEED certification. A detailed analysis of the results has led to recommendations on how these buildings could improve to meet the LEED criteria. This is the first study of its kind conducted for Kabul city residential building. Considering the cross-sectoral nature of the building industry, the findings of this study will contribute to many other areas such as water, transportation, ICT, health, energy and the environment.

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.

Buildings are one of the major consumers of energy and producers of greenhouse gases globally. Reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from buildings helps decrease global warming and enhances the natural environment. This can only happen by transitioning from traditional to sustainable architecture and urban planning. For decades, sustainable architecture and urban planning have been applied in many countries’ building sectors, but others among the poor and least developed countries are left behind. Kabul, the capital of one of the least developed countries, Afghanistan, has experienced a remarkable growth rate in population and building since 2001. This rapid and uncontrolled growth of building construction caused problems from different perspectives, especially from the sustainability perspective. In this paper, the current state of the building industry in Kabul is evaluated from a sustainability perspective, especially those constructed after the year 2000. This assessment helps to rate and see how sustainable each type of building is. Analysis of the collected data clarifies that buildings’ sustainability level in Kabul city is significantly low. Based on the results, recommendations provide a better future for the building industry and ensure that existing and future buildings are sufficiently sustainable to protect the environment of Kabul city and of the globe.