• Energy Research
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Abstract The main hindrances to the large-scale development of renewable-energy projects are the lack of bankability and the inability to align investments and investors with suitable financial instruments or robust policy measures. To illustrate a bankable project, this paper presents a research-based case study on the installation of solar photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of 195 trains of the Indian Railways. Detailed information on the annual running hours, exposure to sunlight, efficiency of solar photovoltaic generation and electrical power demands of each rail coach is considered to conduct a quantitative measure of the tentative amount of fossil fuel savings. The purpose is to provide insight into the types of renewable-energy projects that can be highly attractive to financial institutions and promoters due to their lucrative internal return on investment. As seen in this case study, there are annual savings in diesel of 12 323 088 litres and a CO2 reduction of 32 755 tonnes, with return on investment of 1.3 years. Furthermore, this study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the limitations of existing renewable-energy project financing mechanisms in India. Subsequently, three policy measures are recommended to develop a robust financial mechanism that can effectively meet the needs of investors and investors. These measures include increasing equity injection through a buy-and-hold strategy, providing direct tax benefits to promoters and financing through real-estate investment trusts. The findings are highly relevant to address the challenges associated with bridging the financial gap between access to finance and capital investment in the renewable-energy sector, especially for Asian countries.

Abstract Hydrogen is considered a potential game changer for world energy systems and a solution to climate change concerns, as it generates zero waste and it is suited for power generation and transportation. Despite its several advantages, there are significant technical challenges in deploying a stable hydrogen economy including improving its process efficiencies, lowering production costs, maintaining cost-effective transmission and distribution, and exploiting inexpensive and sustainable feedstocks. In this context, a detailed study was conducted to analyze the production sources, technologies, storage and transport systems, and global potential exportable feedstocks to produce hydrogen. A comprehensive analysis of current hydrogen production technologies with their energy efficiencies and hydrogen selling prices was reported in this study. Various hydrogen production technologies with their capital investments and CO2 emissions were also presented. Potential feedstocks for hydrogen production were identified and analyzed through a product space model, which characterizes a network of global exportable products based on their similarities and productive knowledge. It was established that the hydrogen production feedstocks and sources currently used are primarily available in six countries: the United States of America, France, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain. Broadly, the results revealed that the United States of America and Russia shared the highest hydrogen feedstock exports, indicating a higher probability of hydrogen production in these countries. Except for Russia, all the studied countries fell in the most desired quadrant, indicating that they can move in all product space directions to exploit unexplored hydrogen feedstocks for better sustainable economic growth.

Energy conservation potential of the evaporative roof cooling technique for a cinema house in a composite climate (characterized by Delhi) has been evaluated. Thermal loads due to heat conduction through the building envelope, the required ventilation and the occupants have been taken into account. Life-cycle-cost analysis has been employed to evaluate the cost effectiveness of this energy conservation technique. It is seen that evaporative cooling on the roof leads to a net saving of 14% in the initial investment and 17% in the annual cost.

The study aims to comprehensively assess the energy and water consumption pattern in the seafood industries and suggest measures for the sustainable development of the sector. The unscrupulous usage of water and higher consumption of energy resulted in an uncontrolled generation of wastewater and enormous usage of fossil fuels. In the seafood industry, energy is primarily used for machinery and equipment handling processes such as freezing, refrigeration, heating, cooling, and drying. Similarly, a huge amount of clean water is used for cleaning machinery and plant, and for operations like washing of raw material, de-icing, defrosting, and salt splashing. As a consequence, in the energy-water nexus, additional energy is required for drawing fresh water and further processing of wastewater demands energy that results in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and incurring additional costs to the plant. Hence, this review mainly focuses on the significance of energy and water use optimization in the seafood industry, the existing trend of energy and water use pattern and management practices, optimization strategies, and the seafood-energy-water nexus and its environmental implications.

Abstract Due to the various restrictions on the energy performance of public office buildings, it is essential to obtain occupancy information for not only evaluating but also regulating the building energy performance. There is still a lack of information and standard, however, for occupancy density due to the limitations on data collection and the lack of reliable data. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the optimal occupancy density for reducing the energy consumption in public office buildings. Towards this end, this study used various statistical methods, such as correlation analysis, decision tree, and Mann-Whitney U test, based on the actual occupancy data from public office buildings in South Korea. This study was conducted in three steps: (i) establishment of the database; (ii) determination of the optimal occupancy density using the statistical approach; and (iii) application of the proposed occupancy density using building energy policies. As a result, it was shown that buildings with an occupancy density above 31.41 m2/person could save up to 50.3% energy on average compared to those with an occupancy density below 31.41 m2/person. The analysis results showed that the proposed occupancy density could help in deciding the appropriate occupancy density for reducing the energy consumption of public office buildings.

Abstract Small hydropower projects (SHPs), though generally considered more environmentally benign and socially acceptable as compared to large projects, yet their overall sustainability is under suspicion in the Himalayan regions. Almost all SHPs in this region are being developed as run of the river mode which generally causes less/no submergence and quite less displacement of people as compared to large reservoir based hydropower production mode. However, in the absence of proper planning and monitoring mechanism, these projects are causing implacable tunnelling of hills, choking of streams, conversion of streams into dry ditches and long term socio-environmental impacts. This paper presents a SHP development study from hydro rich Beas river basin of Himachal Pradesh, a state nestled in western Himalayan region of India. In depth field studies, focus group discussions with the project affected people and interaction with project proponents of five SHPs in this region suggest that sustainability issues with respect to SHPs are not small vis-a-vis size of their installed capacity. There is an urgent need to take steps to include SHPs having an installed capacity of above 10 MW into the ambit of environment clearance process which is absent in many countries of the world at present.

This study investigates the performance of the “green refurbishment” of existing buildings. Two ordinary rooms in an existing building were chosen for examination. Refurbishment measures such as additional insulation, high-performance glazing, and air-tightening were applied to the control room. Temperature and electricity use were monitored to identify heating performance in winter and then compared with a baseline. The results of the field tests showed that green refurbishment significantly improved heating performance. Lowered heating load and electricity use with increased airtightness were also verified through building performance simulations. The empirical investigation suggests a predictive model to obtain indoor minimum temperatures as a function of outdoor temperature swings.

AbstractRepublic of Korea is the seventh largest CO2 emission country in 2010 and the third fastest country in the growth of CO2 emission according to the European Commission's Joint Research Center. To mitigate the effect of CO2 on the climate change and global warming, Korea should reduce the anthropogenic CO2 emissions from sources such as the power plants and iron works. So carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology is regarded as one of the most promising reduction options. This study established the CO2 transport strategies from the sources to sinks (such as the saline aquifers and gas fields in the Southeast Sea of the Korean Peninsula) for the offshore CCS in Korea. Also the cost estimations were carried out with the CO2 transport strategies. The CO2 transport methods suggested in this study were pipelines for both onshore and offshore, and a complex concept consisting of a pipeline for the source to coast (including the liquefaction facility on a barge) and a CO2 carrier for the coast to sink (including the temporary storage near offshore sink). With respect to the onshore pipelines, it was desirable to construct the CO2 transport pipelines along existing roads and/or LNG (liquefied natural gas) pipelines, as already realized in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Australia CO2 transport chains because of the cost and environmental aspects. The CO2 carrier was considered for the offshore CCS demonstration stage starting in 2016 to meet the timeline set by the Korea National CCS Master Plan. To optimize the CO2 transport systems, the advantages and drawbacks for the CO2 transport using the pipeline and shipping were analysed and the costs for them were also estimated with the CO2 transport strategies. There were several factors to be considered before constructing the CO2 pipelines including the amount of CO2, the terrain, the diameter of pipe, the transport pressure, the CO2 quality, the transport temperature, the CO2 state (i.e. gas, liquid or supercritical phases), etc. Also for the CO2 shipping it should be considered such as the amount of CO2, the shape and capacity of CO2 cargo tanks, the ship capacity, the liquefaction pressure and temperature, the type of the temporary storage, etc. Although the present study is now on-going to optimize the CO2 transport infrastructure for the offshore CCS in Korea, the preliminary results show the CO2 transport cost for the pipeline system is lower than that for the shipping in the present status.