• Energy Research
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As a relatively mature technology, biomass molded fuel (BMF) is widely used in distributed and centralized heating in China and has received considerable government attention. Although many BFM incentive policies have been developed, decreased domestic traditional fuel prices in China have caused BMF to lose its economic viability and new policy recommendations are needed to stimulate this industry. The present study built a regionalized net present value (NPV) model based on real production process simulation to test the impacts of each policy factor. The calculations showed that BMF production costs vary remarkably between regions, with the cost of agricultural briquette fuel (ABF) ranging from 86 US dollar per metric ton (USD/t) to 110 (USD/t), while that of woody pellet fuel (WPF) varies from 122 USD/t to 154 USD/t. The largest part of BMF’s cost composition is feedstock, which accounts for up 50%–60% of the total; accordingly a feedstock subsidy is the most effective policy factor, but in consideration of policy implementation, it would be better to use a production subsidy. For ABF, the optimal product subsidy varies from 26 USD/t to 57 USD/t among different regions of China, while for WPF, the range is 36 USD/t to 75 USD/t. Based on the data, a regional BMF development strategy is also proposed in this study.

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.

Both electrical and thermal efficiencies combine in determining and evaluating the performance of a PV/T collector. In this study, two PV/T systems consisting of poly and monocrystalline PV panels were used, which are connected from the bottom by a heat exchanger consisting of a spiral tube through which a nanofluid circulates. In this study, a base fluid, water, and ethylene glycol were used, and iron oxide nanoparticles (nano-Fe2O3) were used as an additive. The mixing was carried out according to the highest specifications adopted by the researchers, and the thermophysical properties of the fluid were carefully examined. The prepared nanofluid properties showed a limited effect of the nanoparticles on the density and viscosity of the resulting fluid. As for the thermal conductivity, it increased by increasing the mass fraction added to reach 140% for the case of adding 2% of nano-Fe2O3. The results of the zeta voltage test showed that the supplied suspensions had high stability. When a mass fraction of 0.5% nano-Fe2O3 was added the zeta potential was 68 mV, while for the case of 2%, it reached 49 mV. Performance tests showed a significant increase in the efficiencies with increased mass flow rate. It was found when analyzing the performance of the two systems for nanofluid flow rates from 0.08 to 0.17 kg/s that there are slight differences between the monocrystalline, and polycrystalline systems operating in the spiral type of exchanger. As for the case of using monocrystalline PV the electrical, thermal, and total PV/T efficiencies with 2% added Fe2O3 ranged between 10% to 13.3%, 43–59%, and 59 to 72%, respectively, compared to a standalone PV system. In the case of using polycrystalline PV, the electrical, thermal, and total PV/T efficiencies ranged from 11% to 13.75%, 40.3% to 63%, and 55.5% to 77.65%, respectively, compared to the standalone PV system. It was found that the PV/T electrical exergy was between 45, and 64 W with thermal exergy ranged from 40 to 166 W, and total exergy from 85 to 280 W, in the case of using a monocrystalline panel. In the case of using polycrystalline, the PV/T electrical, thermal, and total exergy were between 45 and 66 W, 42–172 W, and 85–238 W, respectively. The results showed that both types of PV panels can be used in the harsh weather conditions of the city of Baghdad with acceptable, and efficient productivity.

In underground mining, it is not currently feasible to forecast a coal burst incident. A coal burst usually includes suddenly abrupt energy release in line with the significant deformed shape in a coal mass as well as coal ejection. The major source of the released energy is the energy stored in the coal. The effect of geological characteristics in the coal on the possible released energy due to material and joint damping is classified as a current silent issue. Therefore, innovative research is needed to understand the influence of coal’s joint and cleat characters (directions and densities) on the possible energy release and/or dissipation. A simple and novel analytical solution is developed in this paper to calculate the amount of released energy due to varying joint density. A broad validation is conducted by comparing the outcomes of the developed analytical model with the results of a three-dimensional numerical simulation using the commercial discrete element package 3DEC. An appropriate agreement has been observed between the results from the numerical modelling and the suggested closed form solution. The paper derives a novel analytical solution to calculate the amount of released energy in coal with different joint densities.

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.

One of the repeating themes around the provision of the knowledge and skills needed for delivering sustainable communities is the idea of a “common language” for all built environment professionals. This suggestion has been repeated regularly with each new political and professional review within and between different sectors responsible for the delivery of sustainable communities. There have been multiple efforts to address academic limitations, industry fragmentation and promote more interdisciplinary working and sector collaboration. This research explored the role of skills for sustainable communities, particularly within the higher education (HE) sector, and the responses to support the development of a “common language of sustainability” that can be shared between different sectors, professional disciplines and stakeholders. As an interdisciplinary group of academics and practitioners working with the HE sector in the North East of England, we evaluate the progression of sector collaboration to develop a quintuple helix model for HE. We use this as a suitable framework for systematically “mapping” out the mixed sector (academic, public, business, community and environmental organisations) inputs and influences into a representative sample of HE degree modules that are delivered from foundation and undergraduate to postgraduate levels, including examples of part-time and distance-learning modules. We developed a cascade of models which demonstrate increasing levels of collaboration and their potential positive impact on the effectiveness of education on sustainable communities. The methodological assessments of modules were followed by semi-structured group reflective analysis undertaken through a series of online workshops (recorded during the Covid19 lockdown) to set out a collective understanding of the generic skills needed for the delivery of sustainable communities. These generic skills for sustainable communities are presented as a pedagogical progression model of teaching activities and learning outcomes applied to the levels within HE. We propose sustainability education principles and progressions with the hope that they can have an impact on the design or review of current degree modules and programmes. The paper informs future sustainability research to be grounded in holism and systems thinking; better understanding of values, ethics, influencing and political impact; and procedural authenticity.

The impact of Type 4 wind turbine generator (WTG)-based 10 million megawatt clusters (TMMC) on small-signal dynamics of power systems was investigated using the second-generation generic models (GM) of Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). A WTG participation index (WTG PI) was defined to investigate the impact of Type 4 WTGs on the traditional interarea electromechanical modes. To identify the new electromechanical modes dominated by Type 4 WTGs, an identification factor (IF) was also defined using participation factors. Given the increasing penetration of Type 4 WTGs replacing synchronous generators, the changed law of damping and frequencies of the traditional interarea modes was also investigated using the WTG PI. One new type of electromechanical mode dominated by Type 4 WTGs was identified by using the defined IF. These new modes can be divided into two categories: strong-interaction modes and weak-interaction modes, depending on the number of participating WTGs. The strong-interaction modes dominated by Type 4 WTGs can result in widely spread power oscillations in power systems. The results of small-signal analysis were validated by time domain simulation and mode detection.