• Energy Research
• 2025-2025close
• other engineering and technologies close
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Abstract Future “net-zero” electricity systems in which all or most generation is renewable may require very high volumes of storage in order to manage the associated variability in the generation-demand balance. The physical and economic characteristics of storage technologies are such that a mixture of technologies is likely to be required. This poses nontrivial problems in storage dimensioning and in real-time management. We develop the mathematics of optimal scheduling for system adequacy, and show that, to a good approximation, the problem to be solved at each successive point in time reduces to a linear programme with a particularly simple solution. We argue that approximately optimal scheduling may be achieved without the need for a running forecast of the future generation-demand balance. We consider an extended application to GB storage needs, where savings of tens of billions of pounds may be achieved, relative to the use of a single technology, and explain why similar savings may be expected elsewhere.

The UK is currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis that is impacting access to affordable energy, which is worsening energy poverty issues. While the crisis continues, policymakers are attempting to meet climate change goals. Our paper discusses the ways in which energy poverty and energy justice are relevant to the shift to decarbonise the social housing sector. We use a case study of 22 interviews of social housing residents on an estate in the North West of England to problematise how retrofitting social housing to decrease energy consumption impacts residents' access to energy justice. Our work contributes to the emerging concept of retrofit justice, and we assess how the forms of tripartite energy justice occur through the retrofit project, furthering debates on retrofit justice. We find that while the housing provider made attempts to involve residents in retrofit planning, many residents were disengaged from the process due to disenfranchisement and misrecognition issues, contributing to limited procedural and recognition justice. We also found that while retrofits increased the energy efficiency of the buildings, this could not solve structural problems causing energy poverty, reducing the retrofit's capacity to deliver distributive energy justice. Retrofit is a hugely important aspect of meeting climate change goals, but energy poverty cannot be adequately challenged without structural changes to the electricity market. Our paper is based on a UK case study, but the findings are relevant to international conceptual debates around retrofit and energy justice and can be useful for any national context retrofitting their social housing stock.

This study examines the impact of geopolitical risks on price exuberance within the European natural gas market. The analysis identifies several instances of price exuberance and demonstrates that increased geopolitical risk in Ukraine and the UK significantly heightens price exuberance, whereas in Russia, it mitigates its occurrence. Although geopolitical risks could significantly influence price exuberance in the European natural gas market, the effect differs across countries.

Uncertainties associated with large-scale deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and photovoltaic (PV) pose challenges to distribution network expansion planning (DNEP). This paper proposes an optimal planning method for EV charging stations (EVCS) and distribution systems to accommodate the ever-increasing uncertainties. It is achieved by entailing PV-grid-EV transactions, which enables EVCS and PV prosumers to trade energy to make profits while complying with grid securities. It offers a cost-effective operational alternative to long-term planning, which would otherwise result in PV curtailment or unnecessary DNEP. The transactive market operates on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis and is cleared via a decentralized algorithm to protect privacy and enable autonomous decision-making. EVCS is incentivized by a designed network charge, quantifying its impact on adhering to security constraints from both long-term and short-term perspectives. Considering EV users’ charging decisions, we derive optimal EV charging prices to regulate EV charging flow. We employ multiple linearization techniques to ensure the convergence of the non-convex model. Results demonstrate that the proposed method enables the distribution networks to accommodate the large-scale integration of EV and PV more effectively.

electricity. In this research, the potential of ZigZag PVNBs has been investigated. The ZigZag Solar product, developed by Wallvision, has proven to offer multiple advantages in energy yield and aesthetics for building fa & ccedil;ade applications. For noise barrier applications, the ZigZag structure could offer interesting features in safety and noise cancellation (obtained by filling the ZigZag construction with Rockwool material) on top of the advantages in aesthetics and energy yield. A ZigZag PVNB has been designed and constructed at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, after which the electrical performance has been automatically monitored under Dutch climate conditions. The measurements have been compared to simulated data, which allowed optimiza

Enhanced cycling stability and rate capability of graphite anodes were achieved through scalable spray-coated alumina. This innovative method reduces electrolyte decomposition and improves performance in lithium-ion batteries.

The need for development interventions to be context-specific in the Global South has become a mantra in the academic research over the last decade. However, there is ambiguity about which type of context actually matters, using the term to either mean different countries, sub-national regions, or specific communities. Here, ordinal logistic regression models are applied to novel survey data (N=1,016) on household and small business energy needs in rural Uganda and Zambia to analyse the extent to which current and aspirational energy consumption differ at the national, regional, district, and village levels. These results indicate that domestic energy needs vary statistically significantly between the two countries, and, notably, between districts and villages. By contrast, differences in productive energy aspirations appear to differ mostly at the national and regional level, with no significant variations associated with local district and village levels within each region. These results yield two central implications that contribute to discussions on multi-scale linkages within sustainability transitions research. First, conceptually, the results suggest that a multi-level assessment is beneficial to fully understand energy consumption and aspirations of a particular location while analyses at a singular level can overlook wider disaggregated patterns that transcend one specific level. Second, the variance of local-level household energy needs means that including local-level participatory elements into energy access policymaking and implementation might be required to adequately capture and respond to these different needs. By contrast, to meet productive use aspirations, associated initiatives may benefit particularly from factoring in economic differences between sub-national regions.

Abstract Calcium-magnesium alumino-silicate (CMAS) infiltration and attack are difficult to simulate at real-world rates. To better understand the sensitivity of the process to engine operating parameters and CMAS chemical composition, a systems-based reduced order infiltration model that incorporates combustion gas properties, TBC microstructural properties, thermal barrier coating (TBC) heat transfer properties, and CMAS physical properties was developed. The aim was to predict the time to delamination for aircraft engines operating in non-benign environments. The penetration depths reached by a synthetic four-element CMAS mixture within a clean TBC were calculated by finite difference method. Engine operating conditions and TBC top coat types were varied to study the effects on the penetration depths and times. A larger difference between operating temperature and cold shock temperature was found to increase the risk of Mode I delamination. An increase in engine operating temperature had little effect on the critical penetration depth, but significantly influenced the actual penetration depth and time. An increase in electron beam - physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) TBC taper angle resulted in a decrease in the critical penetration depths, suggesting a greater risk of Mode I delamination. The time taken to reach the actual penetration depth increased with operating time, until the TBC was consumed, at which point penetration time decreased with operating temperature due to lower melt viscosity.