• Energy Research
• 7. Clean energy close
• 2. Zero hunger close

Decarbonizing the building sector is extremely important to mitigating climate change as the sector contributes 40% of the overall energy consumption and 36% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Net-zero energy buildings are one of the promising decarbonization attempts due to their potential of decreasing the use of energy and increasing the total share of renewable energy. To achieve a net-zero energy building, it is necessary to decrease the energy demand by applying efficiency enhancement measures and using renewable energy sources. Net-zero energy buildings can be classified into four models (Net-Zero Site Energy buildings, Net-Zero Emissions buildings, Net-Zero Source Energy buildings, and Net-Zero Cost Energy buildings). A variety of technical, financial, and environmental factors should be considered during the decision-making process of net-zero energy building development, justifying the use of multi-criteria decision analysis methods for the design of net-zero energy buildings. This paper also discussed the contributions of renewable energy generation (hydropower, wind energy, solar, heat pumps, and bioenergy) to the development of net-zero energy buildings and reviewed its role in tackling the decarbonization challenge. Cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessment of building designs were reviewed to shape the priorities of future development. It is important to develop a universal decision instrument for optimum design and operation of net-zero energy buildings.

This paper considers several alternative forms of an energy imbalance market (EIM) proposed in the nonmarket areas of the Western Interconnection. The proposed EIM includes two changes in operating practices that independently reduce variability and increase access to responsive resources: balancing authority cooperation and sub-hourly dispatch. As the penetration of variable generation increases on the power system, additional interest in coordination would likely occur. Several alternative approaches could be used, but consideration of any form of coordinated unit commitment is beyond the scope of this analysis. This report examines the benefits of several possible EIM implementations--both separately and in concert.

AbstractThis study presents the results obtained from simulated performance monitoring of seven different roof mounted PV systems in Abu Dhabi, the largest of UAE's emirate. Data were analyzed to evaluate the suitability of PV systems for installations in different types of buildings in the UAE. The PV systems consisted of amorphous silicon (a-Si) and polycrystalline silicon (p-Si) PV technologies. Different performance evaluation parameters are presented. The results give an indication of the system performance and provide a basis for economic and environmental assessment of the PV generated electricity.

In an effort to define the desirable airfoil characteristics for large variable-speed wind turbines, a systematic study was performed using a series of airfoils designed to have similar aerodynamic properties, except for the amount of lift, which varied over a wide range. For several airfoil combinations, blade shapes were designed for a 750-kW wind turbine with a 48.8-m diameter rotor using the optimization code PROPGA together with PROPID, which is an inverse design method for horizontalaxis wind turbines. Roughness effects, including the consideration of dirty-blade performance in the blade-shape optimization process, were also considered and are discussed. The results and conclusions reveal practical design implications that should aid in the aerodynamic blade design of not only large but also other sizes of variable-speed wind turbines.

Environment-friendly treatment of sewage sludge has become tremendously important. Conversion of sewage sludge into energy products by environment-friendly conversion process, with its energy recovery and environmental benefits, is being paid significant attention. Direct liquefaction of sewage sludge into bio-oils with supercritical water (SCW) was therefore put forward in this study, as de-water usually requiring intensive energy input is not necessary in this direct liquefaction. Supercritical water may act as a strong solvent and also a reactant, as well as catalyst promoting reaction process. Experiments were carried out in a self designed high-pressure reaction system with varying operating conditions. Through orthogonal experiments, it was found that temperature and residence time dominated on bio-oil yield compared with other operating parameters. Temperature from 350 to 500°C and reaction residence time of 0, 30, 60min were accordingly investigated in details, respectively. Under supercritical conversion, the maximum bio-oil yield could achieve 39.73%, which was performed at 375°C and 0min reaction residence time. Meanwhile, function of supercritical water was concluded. Fuel property analysis showed the potential of bio-oil application as crude fuel.

Abstract This study investigates the non-linear relationship between urbanization paths and CO2 emissions in selected South, South-East, and East Asian countries over the period 1971–2014. Based on the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) framework, we applied the advanced and robust methods of dynamic seemingly unrelated regression (DSUR), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and fully modified OLS (FMOLS) to estimate the long-term effects. The empirical findings revealed the inverted U-shaped effects of urbanization and urban agglomeration and the U-shaped impact of the largest city ratio on CO2 emissions. Urbanization and urban agglomerations improve environmental quality in the long-run and support ecological modernization theory. However, excessive concentration in the largest cities have severely affected the environmental quality and violates the notion of compact-city efficiencies. Moreover, energy intensity and economic growth positively affect CO2 emissions, while trade openness negatively influences CO2 emissions. Our robustness analysis at the country-level applies the augmented mean group (AMG) panel ARDL technique, which further supports the non-linear effect of urbanization paths on CO2 emissions except for a few countries. The results of the panel Granger non-causality approach unveil bidirectional causality of energy efficiency, economic growth, urbanization, and largest city ratio with CO2 emissions. In contrast, unidirectional causality runs from urban agglomeration to CO2 emissions. Our findings have important policy implications as we suggest green urban infrastructures, eco-friendly dwellings, smart cities, country-specific trade policies, and renewable energy options to improve the environmental quality.

Charcoal has a large share in the Brazilian market. The production is carried out by pyrolysis of biomass at different temperatures, between 300 and 500 °C. In this study, the corn cob pyrolysis was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Samples after pyrolysis were compared with raw biomass to evaluate changes in fuel characteristics. In DTG curves a reduction in the number of degradation peaks in the carbonized material was observed. The FTIR spectra allowed to identify the aromatic ring of the lignin in the charcoals structure, indicating the presence of this compound even in charcoals produced with a temperature of 500 °C. It can be concluded that the temperature of 400 °C was enough to completely degrade the hemicellulose and cellulose of the biomass, resulting the final product (charcoal) less reactive or thermally more resistant than the in natura corn cob.

Ultrarich filtration combustion of ethane is studied in a porous medium composed of alumina spheres with the aim to achieve optimized conversion to hydrogen and syngas. Temperature, velocities, and...