• Energy Research
• Open Access close
• other engineering and technologies close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close

Abstract The vision of the ‘Smart Grid’ anticipates a distributed real-time embedded system that implements various monitoring and control functions. As the reliability of the power grid is critical to modern society, the software supporting the grid must support fault tolerance and resilience of the resulting cyber-physical system. This paper describes the fault-tolerance features of a software framework called Resilient Information Architecture Platform for Smart Grid (RIAPS). The framework supports various mechanisms for fault detection and mitigation and works in concert with the applications that implement the grid-specific functions. The paper discusses the design philosophy for and the implementation of the fault tolerance features and presents an application example to show how it can be used to build highly resilient systems.

Growing or expanding the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector of the economy is one key strategy to achieve economic growth and development. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) scalability (growth or expansion) have become an area of concern for economic growth in developing economies. People use the term in reference to computer or other technological systems, but those in business also use the word to describe the adaptability of a company (Thibodeaux, 2015) in today‘s fast-paced business environment where the focus on customer satisfaction is at an all-time high. This article discusses the concept of scalability as it relates to business and non-scalable components of business process as well as the importance of being scalable. It also looked at some of the challenges and practices that prevent effective scalability of MSMEs in Nigeria and the way forward.

We are witnesses of excessive depletion of natural resources, climate change and a loss of biodiversity. Water, air, soil, light and noise pollution is increasing. At the end the quality of life is worsening as well. Interdisciplinary approach is needed. Economy and chemistry are two different scientific areas, which facing environmental challenges develop divergently. The results are that we have green economy and green chemistry; we deal with complex problems sharing our knowledge and supporting each other. Green chemistry is a new paradigm that provides solutions to contemporary environmental, ecological and sustainable challenges. The aim of the paper is to present approaches of green economy and green chemistry, collaborations between them and integrative effort in solving environmental challenges toward sustainability. The goal is to present examples of green business based on green chemistry. Methodology encompasses case studies of companies with green business. This paper contributes to existing research in three ways: it spreads knowledge and good business experiences, it shows long term benefits and it raises awareness of a paradigm shift towards ecology and sustainability.

The power system ranks the first among the greatest engineering achievements in the 20th century. With “strong electric power” as the carrier, the power system constitutes the great aorta of modern society for energy transmission; while with “weak electric power” as the carrier, the information network constitutes the nervous system of modern society. Both of them penetrate into all aspects of human society (e.g., science, production, life, international relations), and then promote the modern civilization to achieve rapid development. In terms of science, the power system has promoted the developments of materials, physics, chemistry, automation, information, medicine, and so on. This way, the system of modern science and technology is constituted. In terms of production, the second industrial revolution marked by the wide application of “strong electric power” is also called the electric power technology revolution. It has promoted another major leap in the productivity of human society after the steam revolution. The third industrial revolution marked by the widespread application of “weak electricity” is also known as the information technology revolution, which promotes the continuous evolution of industrial civilization to a much higher level. And the fourth industrial revolution, which is centered on the energy revolution, will meet the needs of human beings at a higher level and get rid of the constraints of the environment on human activities. In terms of life, electric power has become the most indispensable part of human life, ranging from material life to spiritual life, from behavioral habits to thinking ways, and from personal life to social life. In terms of international relations, the development of the power system is conducive to the fundamental solution of energy and environmental problems, thus the international political and economic competition around energy and environment has turned to the competition centered on clean power systems to some extent. As the basic platform for energy production and supply, the development of the future power system must follow the general orientation of the energy revolution. The basic form, management mechanism and technical characteristics of the power system will also undergo tremendous changes as follows: (1) The proportion of renewable energy in the power system will be increased continuously, and the power system will be tightly coupled with gas system and thermal system to form an electricity-centric energy internet. (2) The development mode of building “higher, farther and larger” power grid will turn to the co-development mode of large power grid and small power grid, and the trend of power electronation of power system will be strengthened gradually. (3) Market competition will penetrate into the weak monopolies of the power system. Each subject can play a full game in each link, so as to obtain the optimal allocation of funds, technology and human resources. (4) Digitalization and intellectualization will be the most important technical characteristics of the future power system, which will achieve leapfrog development in observability, controllability and intellectualization.

This paper presents an energy management modelling of a multi-source power system composed of photovoltaic (PV) array, storage and power grid connection, and taking into account messages from smart grid. The designed system can supply a tertiary building at the same time as PV may produce energy. The control strategy aims to manage the power flow through the load with respect to its power demand and public grid constraints. The proposed energy management modelling is based on interpreted Petri Nets formalism. The system is tested using a simulation Stateflow model and responds within certain limits. The results show that this approach is valid and can be a solution for the future smart grid communication between buildings and public grid and may contribute to a better balance between production and consumption and future energy management.

Increasing the use of electric vehicles (EVs) is regarded as a step in the right direction to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions. However, a dramatic increase of EV and charging stations has raised voltage quality and harmonic distortion issues that affect the performance of integrated renewable power sources (wind and solar) and smart-grid electrical transmission networks. This paper models an integrated electric vehicle charging and battery storage system operating in the presence of unpredictable wind and solar power sources. The aim is to enable the design of an electrical control system that develops the correct duty cycle to stabilize and regulate the voltage at the dc/dc power conversion station. Simulations are performed to evaluate energy management by the proposed control system. The proposed system effectively manages the electric power on the grid by drawing power from the batteries at peak times and then charging them in off-peak times, reducing the load on the converter and enabling the reduction of charging time for electric vehicles. A constant voltage is achieved on the grid irrespective of fluctuations in renewable energy generation and in the load.

Closed-loop supply chain networks are gaining research popularity due to environmental, economic and social concerns. Such networks are primarily designed to overcome carbon footprints and to retrieve end of life products from customers. This study considers a multi echelon closed-loop supply chain in the presence of machine disruption. A multi-objective model is presented to optimize the total cost, the total time and emissions in a closed-loop supply chain network. The aim is to analyze the trade-off between the objectives of cost, time, and emissions and how these decisions are impacted by the selection of different available machines. A number of solution approaches are tested on a case study from the tire industry. The results suggest the improved performance of the hybrid heuristic and the importance of controlling disruption in a closed-loop supply chain network. Furthermore, there is a trade-off between the different objective functions which can help the decision maker to choose a particular solution according to the preference of an organization. Finally, conclusion and future research avenues are provided.

Innovation Districts are rising as the banners of the new urban, economic, and social paradigm and as a solution to the renaissance of inner cities since they expedite the creation and commercialization of new ideas which leverage the city goals and its technologic and economic attributes. The configuration of accurate indicators to measure the degree of achievement of the innovation district goals is one of the main requirements to ensure district proper development. Even when the study of innovation districts is a topic that is increasingly under study, little is still known about the insight, and it is still needed tools that favor their evolution and development. The aim of this paper is two-fold: on the one hand, it seeks to collect and analyze the indicators that have been used in literature to measure the degree of maturity over the course of the 20-year existence of the 22@Barcelona, an area of innovation that transformed an old industrial district into a knowledge-based one. On the other hand, guided by the four dimensions of the Knowledge Base Urban Development theory and the main actors that make up Triple Helix approach, the paper designs a framework of indicators in the four spheres that shape the regeneration of the district, that is, urban, economic, social and governance. As we shall see, a total of 47 indicators are proposed, indicating for each of them: the environment in which it is applied, the main purpose to which it responds, and the main actor with the greatest power of action over it.