• Energy Research
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Abstract This study aims to analyze the innovation strategies for the green supply chain management with QFD (quality function deployment) multidimensionally. The novelty of the study is to define the criteria of green supply chain for each stage of QFD and propose a hybrid model by IVIF (interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy) DEMATEL (decision making trial and evaluation laboratory) and IVIF MOORA (Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis) respectively. The results demonstrate that understanding the customer expectations with customer relation management is the most important innovation strategy for the green supply chain management in energy industry with the consecutive stages of QFD whereas benchmarking the competitive market environment has relatively the last seat in the ranking. Hence, it is recommended that energy companies should have an effective customer relationship management. In this context, these companies should make a detailed analysis to learn what their customers directly expect from them. With the help of this issue, these companies should generate their product and services based on these expectations. Additionally, it is also stated that new service and product development is also essential for energy companies to improve their innovativeness. For this purpose, a research and development department should be created, and the qualified people should be employed. Additionally, different opinions should be collected from various parties, such as customers, employees, and suppliers. Since customers who are satisfied will prefer these companies, the energy companies can catch the opportunity to increase their market share.

The global demand for wood pellets used for energy purposes is growing. Therefore, increased amounts of wood pellets are produced from primary forestry products, such as pulp wood. The present analysis demonstrates that substantial amounts of alternative, low-value wood resources are available that could be processed into wood pellets. For three resources, test batches have been produced and tested to qualify for industrial pellet standards. These include: primary forestry residues from premerchantable thinning operations, secondary forestry residues from pole mills and post-consumer wood wastes from discarded wooden transport pallets. The total wood potential of these resources in the southeast of the U.S. (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina), was estimated to be 1.9 Tg y(-1) (dry) available at roadside (excluding transport cost) for 22 $ Mg-1 (dry) increasing to over 5.1 Tg y(-1) at 33 $ Mg-1 (dry). In theory, 4.1 Tg y(-1) pellets could be produced from the estimated potential. However, due to the geographically dispersed supply of these resources, the cost of feedstock supply at a pellet plant increases rapidly at larger plants. It is therefore not expected that the total potential can be processed into wood pellets at costs competitive with those of conventional wood pellets. The optimal size of a pellet plant was estimated at between 55 Gg y(-1) and 315 Gg y(-1) pellets depending on the location and feedstock supply assumptions. At these locations and plant sizes, pellets could be produced at competitive costs of between 82 $ Mg-1 and 100 $ Mg-1 pellets. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wind energy projects provide clean energy so that they should be increased to reach the sustainable development goals of the countries. However, current decision-making process should be improved for the effectiveness of these projects. Thus, critical factors should be considered to understand the significant indicators of the performance of the wind energy projects. This article aims to determine the factors that should be considered when deciding on wind energy investments. In this context, 9 different criteria belonging to 3 dimensions (project, firm, market) are determined based on literature review. Later, an analysis is carried out by using hesitant interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to identify the most important factors. Furthermore, 4 different investment strategies in Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) matrix have been determined as alternatives. To determine which of these strategies is suitable for wind energy investments, the hesitant IVIF multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) method has been considered. Additionally, a comparative evaluation is also performed by using technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methodology. Similarly, sensitivity analysis is also made by considering 9 different cases. The analysis results of different methodologies are quite similar which shows the coherency and reliability of the findings. It is concluded that firm-based factors play the most significant role. It is also identified that technical development, financial performance and organizational effectiveness are the most significant criteria to make investment decision on wind energy projects. Furthermore, due to the market growth potential, it is recommended that wind energy investors increase their investments and strengthen their position in the market.

This study investigates the environmental impacts of using two different power groups in a fixed-wing Un-manned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The first power group consists of a conventional electric motor, a lithium polymer battery and a propeller. The second power group is the hybrid power group formed by adding the Proton Ex-change Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method is applied to the configurations to reveal environmental impact values (global warming, terrestrial ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidifi-cation, eutrophication and so on). Inventory and impact analysis calculations are performed using SimaPro 9.1 software. Ecoinvent 3.6 database is employed in this software. The environmental impact assessment is made according to CML-IA Baseline and ReCiPe method. In addition, the research involves hotspot analyses for both power group configurations. Consequently, the following is noticed as a result of a transition from lithium -polymer power group to hybrid hydrogen fuel cell system; (i) the global warming reduces by 6.95%, (ii) the terrestrial ecotoxicity reduces by 6.35%, (iii) the photochemical oxidation decreases by 1.23%, and (iv) the ozone layer depletion increases by 12.44%. These days when environmental problems stand out, the effects of UAVs hybridized with fuel cells, known as a clean energy source, related with environmental problems reflect the principal of this research.

This document presents a qualitative analysis of surface temperatures of the oceanic territory of Panama. These temperatures represent an indication of the potential of the thermal resource in the oceanic territory of Panama and could generate benefits for the success and stability of the national economy facing the current and growing challenges of the society. The OTEC technology is promising for countries located in tropical regions, where sea temperature differentials are ideal for efficient operability. Currently, this technology has low efficiency levels. Therefore, to evaluate its possible implementation in Panama, a theoretical thermodynamic analysis has been carried out. An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) simulation for the net production of 100KW was performed. It considered the temperature differentials of the oceanography of Panama and used refrigerants R717 and R134a as working fluids. Considering the database of Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PODAAC) for the year 2018, the ocean territory of Panama in the Gulf of Chiriqui reflects seawater surface temperatures (SST) of approximately 27.5 °C to almost 29.5 °C. Besides these values they do not reflect representative anomalies in the critical points with respect to the seasons of the year. The importance of the study in this area is its proximity to the deep cold sea waters, considering the Panama bathymetry map, since its SST are not very variable through the year or through the territory?

Climate change and rising global temperatures pose significant challenges for natural resource management. While developed economies have made progress in addressing these issues, emerging economies are still striving to achieve carbon neutrality, sustainable resource use, and environmental sustainability. This research aims to identify the factors driving carbon emissions in emerging economies over the past three decades. The study establishes a long-run relationship among the factors under investigation by employing various panel diagnostic methods. Non-parametric approaches are used to account for the non-symmetric distribution of panel data. The findings reveal that natural resource components have asymmetric impacts on carbon emissions, with oil rents reducing emissions and mineral rents increasing them. Economic growth and agricultural value added are identified as significant contributors to carbon emissions in the region. On the other hand, renewable energy consumption plays a crucial role in achieving carbon neutrality targets. Gross capital formation exhibits a mixed influence on carbon emissions, being positive and significant in lower quantiles and significantly negative in upper quantiles. These estimates are robust and align with existing literature. The study recommends sustainable resource abstraction and utilization, renewable energy production and consumption improvements, and enhanced capital formation. By providing empirical evidence and policy recommendations, this research contributes to understanding the relationship between these factors and their impact on carbon emissions, facilitating effective strategies for sustainable development and environmental preservation. Xinyang Normal University

Gas-based power plants have attracted more attention in providing electrical energy worldwide because of their lower costs and air pollution. In addition, the use of multi-carrier energy systems has several advantages, such as sustainability benefits and improving performance in supplying the energy demand. This study aims to optimize the total operation cost of multi-carrier energy systems considering the uncertain parameters. The storage technology and consumption side assist the operator in achieving lower costs based on conceptions of demand response programs. Therefore, this study presents a comprehensive mathematical model for the coordinated operation of integrated multi-carrier energy systems while the operational constraints of both gas and power networks are considered. Furthermore, this paper utilizes a new uncertainty modeling method based on Hong's two-point estimate method for addressing the uncertainties of load consumption and wind generation. The proposed model is applied to a gas and power multi-carrier energy system through four case studies. The results affirm the high performance of the presented method and investigate the influence of demand response programs in both sides of energy carriers.

Abstract The safe decommissioning as well as decontamination of the radioactive waste resulting from the nuclear accident in Fukushima Daiichi represents a huge task for the next decade. At present, research and development on long-term safe storage containers has become an urgent task with international cooperation in Japan. One challenge is the generation of hydrogen and oxygen in significant amounts by means of radiolysis inside the containers, as the nuclear waste contains a large portion of sea water. The generation of radiolysis gases may lead to a significant pressure build-up inside the containers and to the formation of flammable gases with the risk of ignition and the loss of integrity. In the framework of the project “R&D on technology for reducing concentration of flammable gases generated in long-term waste storage containers” funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), the potential application of catalytic recombiner devices inside the storage containers is investigated. In this context, a suitable catalyst based on the so-called intelligent automotive catalyst for use in a recombiner is under consideration. The catalyst is originally developed and mass-produced for automotive exhaust gas purification, and is characterized by having a self-healing function of precious metals (Pd, Pt and Rh) dissolved as a solid solution in the perovskite type oxides. The basic features of this catalyst have been tested in an experimental program. The test series in the REKO-4 facility has revealed the basic characteristics of the catalyst required for designing the recombiner system.