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The European Geosciences Union (EGU) brings together geoscientists from all over the world covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary and space sciences. This geoscientific interdisciplinarity is needed to tackle the challenges of the future. One major challenge for humankind is to provide adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources in efficient and environmentally sustainable ways. This Energy Procedia issue provides an overview of the contributions of the Division on Energy, Resources & the Environment (ERE) at the EGU General Assembly 2017.

Abstract The quality of the thermal environment within the built environment is dependent by local climate and urban design features. Therefore, the scientific knowledge on urban design and microclimate are fundamental for obtaining a tolerable thermal environment at the neighborhood scale. Such problematic interested the huge part of the world population that lives in urban area, which is currently about 50% and it is expected will increase to 66 % by 2050. The specificity of the urban climate is frequently associated with the urban heat islands phenomenon, which refers to the elevated temperatures within the city areas compared to the rural surroundings. In this context a typical urban geometry is represented by the so called “urban canyon “that denotes an ideal infinite urban street confined by buildings on both sides In this study an urban geometry, constituted by three urban street canyons with a canyon aspect ratio H/W of 1.0, has been examined. CFD simulations were performed to evaluate the fields of temperature and velocity of the air within the urban canyons and their surroundings. Several scenarios were examined considering alternatively the leeward or the windward walls hitted by the sunrays, while the opposite facade was shaded, as well as varying the reflective properties of the surfaces and the wind velocity. The results of simulations evidence that the adoption of materials of the building envelope with high albedo coefficient guarantees a decrease of the temperatures at least of 1.5°C. Therefore, an increase of the knowledge of urban climate may provide valuable contribution to promote energy efficiency in the built environment.

Abstract The main purpose of salinity gradient solar ponds (SGSPs) is to store the maximum possible solar thermal energy. A well-established salinity and temperature gradients are the main points to achieved optimum storage efficiency. In this work, a high-fidelity model is developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the SGSP behavior under hot climate regions. The model is able to simulate the double convective effect by solving Navier-Stokes and energy equations, simultaneously. Brines with different salinities (i.e. 10%,15, and 25%) are used to investigate their role on the developed salinity/temperature gradients. Simulation results show the successful establishment of the three zones (i.e. upper convective, non-convective, and lower convective) with relatively stable salinity and temperature gradients. However, injecting the lower convective zone (or storage zone) with 10% saline brine results in preserving the highest storage temperature of around 79.2°C after flow time of six hours.

AbstractThe increment of energy costs and decreasing prices of turbines generator and photovoltaic (PV) panels caused photovoltaic/wind hybrid system (PWHS) utilization is becoming popular. This paper presents a new topology of PWHS. It is consists of two main parts: the cooling system for photovoltaic module and the combination method of Savonius and Darrieus for wind turbine. The PWHS is installed in front of Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy (CERE), University Malaysia Perlis, Northern Malaysia. The main energy source of this system is gain from PV array and wind power generation. It is well known that the power and efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) module usually falls at the rate of ∼0.5%/°C and ∼0.05%/°C respectively as increase of ambient temperature. The electrical efficiency of PV cell depends on its operating temperature during absorption of solar radiation. For this reason, an active PV cooling system was design using the DC brushless fan with inlet/outlet manifold for uniform airflow distribution. It was attached at the back of the PV panel. Where else, the improvement of wind is using Vertical Axis Hybrid Wind Turbine (VAWT) through the combination method of Savonius and Darrieus types. From the results, it shows that the improvement of PWHS give the big advantages in term of supply the energy in Perlis.

Abstract Global primary energy consumption will continue to increase with a high rate to 2050, which will be a big challenge for countries to meet both global and regional energy demand. Pumped storage stations (PSS) integrated to a hybrid power system (HPS) with solar and wind power for China are under construction to tussle with this challenge. Historically, modeling of a PSS integrated HPS has been ignored the interaction effect between the shaft vibration and the governing strategies, which will increase the dynamic risk of PSS disconnected immediately to HPS. Here we unify the models of the hydro-turbine governing system and hydro-turbine generator units with a novel expression of hydraulic forces. We quantize all the parameter’s interaction contributions of PSS integration to HPS and validate this model with the existing models. Finally, we show the feasibility of PSS’s model in integrating of a HPS under steady and fault scenarios.

AbstractThis paper presents the experimental plans and designs as well as examples of predictive modeling of a pilot-scale CO2 injection experiment at the Heletz site (Israel). The overall objective of the experiment is to find optimal ways to characterize CO2 -relevant in-situ medium properties, including field-scale residual and dissolution trapping, to explore ways of characterizing heterogeneity through joint analysis of different types of data, and to detect leakage. The experiment will involve two wells, an injection well and a monitoring well. Prior to the actual CO2 injection, hydraulic, thermal and tracer tests will be carried out for standard site characterization. The actual CO2 injection experiments will include (i) a single well injection-withdrawal experiment, with the main objective to estimate in-situ residual trapping and (ii) a two-well injection-withdrawal test with injection of CO2 in a dipole mode (injection of CO2 in one well with simultaneous withdrawal of water in the monitoring well), with the objective to understand the CO2 transport in heterogeneous geology as well as the associated dissolution and residual trapping. Tracers will be introduced in both experiments to further aid in detecting the development of the phase composition during CO2 transport. Geophysical monitoring will also be implemented. By means of modeling, different experimental sequences and injection/withdrawal patterns have been analyzed, as have parameter uncertainties. The objectives have been to (i) evaluate key aspects of the experimental design, (ii) to identify key parameters affecting the fate of the CO2 and (iii) to evaluate the relationships between measurable quantities and parameters of interest.

AbstractThe European Union aspires to reducing the import dependency of raw materials that are critical to its industries. In this respect, mineral resource information and data sharing by European Geological Surveys is crucial. In 2010, the European Commission identified 14 critical non-energy non-agricultural raw materials. This list was updated in 2014. This article presents the Critical Raw Material (CRM) Map of Europe produced by EuroGeoSurvey's Mineral Resources Expert Group. This map shows European mineral deposits from the EU FP7 ProMine project database, as containing critical commodities, according to the list of CRM published by the European Commission.