Carbon-based Energy Research Articles

Coal-Derived Nanoscale Materials for Energy Storage Applications

The demand for carbon-based energy storage materials is growing as renewable energy production and electrification expand worldwide. The types of carbon-based energy storage materials are as diverse as the systems in which they operate. The source of these materials is also of interest. Some carbon-based energy storage materials are naturally occurring (i.e., graphite) while others are synthesized from other carbon precursors (i.e., synthetic graphite, activated carbon, graphene, etc.). This presentation will focus on this group's efforts to synthesize, by electrochemical methods, nanoscale carbon materials from an abundant natural resource, coal. The electrochemical synthesis procedure and physical characterization of the nanoscale materials will be discussed. The nanoscale material's performance in energy storage systems will be presented and compared to other commercially available carbon-based energy storage materials.

Evaluation of the synergistic effect of platinum-supported graphene materials on methylcyclohexane decomposition via flow reactor experiments and reactive force-field molecular dynamics simulations

Hydrogen technology is a viable alternative to carbon-based energy sources. However, the widespread use of hydrogen energy is limited by its low volumetric energy density, complex supply chain, and difficulties related to hydrogen storage. This study investigates the influence of Pt-supported graphene additives on hydrogen formation and decomposition of methylcyclohexane (MCH), which is a potential hydrogen carrier, by conducting high-pressure liquid flow reactor experiments and reactive force-field molecular dynamics simulations. This investigation represents a notable improvement in the MCH decomposition and hydrogen generation efficiencies through enhanced catalytic dehydrogenation facilitated by Pt-decorated functionalized graphene sheets (Pt@FGSs). Experimental results indicate that under fixed reaction conditions, the bicomposite structure of the Pt@FGSs at a loading concentration of 50 ppmw reduces the dehydrogenation energy and increases the conversion rate by up to 45%. The yields of products such as hydrogen and low-carbon species are also significantly improved. Notably, hydrogen formation is enhanced by a factor of approximately 2, demonstrating the effectiveness of Pt@FGSs in facilitating fuel decomposition and promoting hydrogen production. In addition, reactive force-field molecular dynamics simulations elucidate possible enhancement mechanisms, in which Pt nanoparticles attach to FGSs and catalyze the dehydrogenation of MCH and its derivatives. The production of a higher amount of the produced hydrogen is evidenced by the desorption of H atoms attached to the Pt surface. This study provides valuable insights that can accelerate the transition towards sustainable and effective decarbonization strategies using MCH as a hydrogen carrier.

Opportunities at the Intersection of 3D Printed Polymers and Pyrolysis for the Microfabrication of Carbon-Based Energy Materials.

In an era marked by a growing demand for sustainable and high-performance materials, the convergence of additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, and the thermal treatment, or pyrolysis, of polymers to form high surface area hierarchically structured carbon materials stands poised to catalyze transformative advancements across a spectrum of electrification and energy storage applications. Designing 3D printed polymers using low-cost resins specifically for conversion to high performance carbon structures via post-printing thermal treatments overcomes the challenges of 3D printing pure carbon directly due to the inability of pure carbon to be polymerized, melted, or sintered under ambient conditions. In this perspective, we outline the current state of AM methods that have been used in combination with pyrolysis to generate 3D carbon structures and highlight promising systems to explore further. As part of this endeavor, we discuss the effects of 3D printed polymer chemistry composition, additives, and pyrolysis conditions on resulting 3D pyrolytic carbon properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate the viability of combining continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) vat photopolymerization with pyrolysis as a promising avenue for producing 3D pyrolytic carbon lattice structures with 15 μm feature resolution, paving way for 3D carbon-based sustainable energy applications.

Toward a Global History of the Nuclear Age

The environmental history of the nuclear enterprise has grown increasingly important, not the least because of the strong conviction that an ongoing, and self-proclaimed “renaissance” in nuclear energy must be a major part of world energy scenarios in the battle against global warming and the need to abandon carbon-based energy production. This article suggests a number of ways to take advantage of the recently available primary sources by using a global approach to make sense of nuclear environmental history. It calls for looking at environmental impacts across a variety of ecosystems: desert, Arctic, tropical, limnological and oceanic. It insists on considering the entire nuclear enterprise from mining to enrichment to fission. It suggests focusing on interactions between the atom, nature, and the lives of mammals, fish and birds in the nuclear world. In the end, this analysis shows that the atom is not green, and that the argument that nuclear power is a solution to global warming ignores the troubled relationship between the natural environment and peaceful and military technologies.

Energy transition strategies in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

During the last two decades, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have seen their population, economies and energy production growing steeply with a substantial increase in Gross Domestic Product. As a result of this growth, GCC consumption-based carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased from 540.79 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2) in 2003 to 1090.93 MtCO2 in 2020. The assumptions and strategies that have driven energy production in the past are now being recast to achieve a more sustainable economic development. The aim of this study is to review and analyze ongoing energy transition strategies that characterize this change to identify challenges and opportunities for bolstering the effectiveness of current strategic orientations. The ensuing analysis shows that since COP26, GCC countries have been pursuing a transition away from carbon-based energy policies largely characterized by the adoption of solar PV with other emerging technologies including energy storage, carbon capture, and hydrogen generation and storage. While as of 2022 renewable energy adoption in the GCC only represented 0.15 % of global installed capacity, GCC countries are making strong efforts to achieve their declared 2030 energy targets that average about 26 % with peaks of 50 % in Saudi Arabia and 30 % in the UAE and Oman. With reference to solar energy, plans are afoot to add 42.1 GW of solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar power which will increase 8-fold the current installed renewable capacity (5.1 GW). At the same time, oil and gas production rates remain stable and fossil fuel subsidies have grown in the last few years. Also, there is a marked preference for the deployment of CCUS and utility-scale solar energy technology vs. distributed solar energy, energy efficiency and nature-based solutions. The pursuit of energy transition in the GCC will require increased efforts in the latter and other overlooked strategic endeavors to achieve a more balanced portfolio of sustainable energy solutions, with stronger emphasis on energy efficiency (as long as rebound effects are mitigated) and nature-based solutions. Increased efforts are also needed in promoting governance practices aimed to institutionalize regulatory frameworks, incentives, and cooperation activities that promote the reduction of fossil fuel subsidies and the transition away from fossil fuels.

Energy Transition in Colombia: An Implementation Proposal for SMEs

The environmental summits in Rio de Janeiro, Kyoto, Johannesburg, Bali, Copenhagen, and Paris significantly contributed to raising awareness among nations about the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this context, the energy transition from carbon-based energy sources to renewable energy sources is one of the main goals for both states and companies in the short and medium term. Therefore, the objective of this article is to propose a methodological route for the implementation of energy transition in Colombian SMEs. To achieve this objective, it was necessary to analyze the climate change and energy transition programs included in Colombia’s development plans. The results show that SMEs do not have significant participation in energy transition processes, mainly due to the economic and market barriers they face. However, the fiscal incentives and subsidies established by the government since 2018 increase opportunities for their participation in the present and the coming years.

AI-Powered 3D Image Reconstruction for Analyzing Lithium Ion Battery Microstructures at the Nanoscale

A clean energy future will rely heavily on lithium-ion batteries to shift away from carbon-based energy sources. These devices are closed off from the outside world and operate under highly non-ambient conditions (e.g., liquid electrolytes, air-free environments). Their performance is largely driven by the 3D microstructures of the internal components and their evolutions. For example, breached layers in batteries due to lithium dendrite growth can lead to catastrophic failures and safety concerns. As such, imaging the internal microstructures and processes is important for observing and measuring device construction details and understanding how defects are distributed and change performance during operation. In particular, 3D imaging allows for analysis of features and parameters that can only be fully understood in 3D, like porosity and tortuosity, and can also provide realistic microstructural input for 3D modelling and simulation approaches.Within this scope, X-ray microscopy provides a unique method to image electrochemical devices because of the non-destructive nature of the technique. Modern x-ray microscopes enable 3D imaging even at the nanoscale, bringing capabilities once reserved for the synchrotron into the laboratory. Advances in tomographic image reconstruction have allowed researchers to increasingly maximize the impact of x-ray microscopy data through higher image quality and enabling faster data acquisition schemes. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has been incorporated into these algorithms, dramatically increasing the performance and capability of the technique. Here, we apply multiple novel reconstruction technologies that leverage AI to dramatically improve the performance of laboratory-based nanoscale x-ray microscopes, showing examples of improvements in imaging lithium-ion battery electrode materials.We show how AI-powered tomographic reconstruction can reveal new levels of detail in lithium-ion battery materials and enable up to 10 times faster data collection across the micrometer and nanometer length-scales. These capabilities shift the paradigm in volume analysis for electrochemical devices and give researchers unprecedented insight into the detailed microstructures that drive device performance, enabling new levels of understanding and helping to power the drive to a clean energy future.

Carbon Micro/Nano Machining toward Miniaturized Device: Structural Engineering, Large-Scale Fabrication, and Performance Optimization.

With the rapid development of micro/nano machining, there is an elevated demand for high-performance microdevices withhigh reliability and low cost. Due to their outstanding electrochemical, optical, electrical, and mechanical performance, carbon materials are extensively utilized in constructing microdevices for energy storage, sensing, and optoelectronics. Carbon micro/nano machining is fundamental in carbon-based intelligent microelectronics, multifunctional integrated microsystems, high-reliability portable/wearable consumer electronics, and portable medical diagnostic systems. Despite numerous reviews on carbon materials, a comprehensive overview is lacking that systematically encapsulates the development of high-performance microdevices based on carbon micro/nano structures, from structural design to manufacturing strategies and specific applications. This review focuses on the latest progress in carbon micro/nano machining toward miniaturized device, including structural engineering, large-scale fabrication, and performance optimization. Especially, the review targets an in-depth evaluation of carbon-based micro energy storage devices, microsensors, microactuators, miniaturized photoresponsive and electromagnetic interference shielding devices. Moreover, it highlights the challenges and opportunities in the large-scale manufacturing of carbon-based microdevices, aiming to spark further exciting research directions and application prospectives.

Factors affecting ecological footprint in Saudi Arabia: a panel data analysis

The global environment has witnessed an increase in environmental risks over the last few decades due to the rising demand for energy to support economic development and urbanization. These environmental risks are exacerbated by the escalating human activity that depletes natural resources. Therefore, analyzing factors affecting Ecological Footprint (EFP), which include many variables such as urbanization, energy consumption, natural resources, economic growth, and technological innovation, is essential to achieve sustainable development. Urbanization is a key driver of economic growth. Achieving economic development requires the utilization of natural resources and energy which increase the EFP. Therefore, the focus on technological innovation is essential to reduce the EFP. Despite the critical environmental and economic implications of factors affecting EFP, studies on this area are lacking, especially across Middle Eastern countries, and present contradictory findings. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of urbanization, energy consumption, natural resources, economic growth, and technological innovation on the EFP in Saudi Arabia. To this end, the study utilizes an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, which is considered the most suitable econometric approach when variables are stationary at I (0) or integrated of order I (1), based on data collected from various international sources for the period spanning from 1990 to 2022. In both the long run and the short run, empirical findings show that urbanization, natural resources, and technological innovation decrease the EFP, while energy consumption and economic growth increase the EFP. These results reveal that energy policies need to be addressed, and economic growth is unable to lower the EFP due to a lack of connection between economic policies and environmental goals. On the other hand, the study shows that urban policies and the management of natural resources are effectively linked to environmental goals. These findings have several significant policy implications for reducing the EFP. Suggestions include effectively linking economic policies to environmental goals by electrifying the economy. Additionally, several procedures should be considered, including replacing current carbon-based energy with renewable sources, reevaluating the pricing of the energy system, increasing taxes on carbon-based energy, and reassessing current energy laws and regulations.

An Austrian Critique of Using Carbon Taxes to Manage Climate Catastrophe Risk

Revising and extending the neoclassical rationale for pollution taxes, some economists have attempted to justify a carbon emissions tax as a way for the state to manage systemic climate risks for society. Deploying an approach to risk management commonly seen in financial markets, they depict a tax on carbon-based energy as a hedge against climate catastrophe. The Austrian school of economics has illuminated the conceptual defects of the neoclassical framework around welfare economics, market failure, negative externalities, and socialist economic planning generally. The risk management rationale for carbon taxes suffers from the same calculation and knowledge problems that encumber other state-centric schemes. This article critiques the proposed use of carbon taxes as climate risk insurance on the grounds that systemic risks are not insurable. Moreover, future climate costs cannot be calculated due to their subjectivity, the passage of time, and the absence of demonstrated preferences regarding property values. Both climate risk models and carbon tax cost-benefit models employ flawed assumptions and utility functions. This article proposes a strategic shrinking of the state’s role in economic affairs and a return to sound money as superior ways to mitigate a society’s climate disaster risks.

Potential capacity and cost assessments for hydrogen production from marine sources

The current study comprehensively examines the application of wave, tidal and undersea current energy sources of Turkiye for green hydrogen fuel production and its cost analysis. The estimated potential capacity of each city in the country is derived from official data and acceptable assumptions and is subject to discussion and evaluation in the context of a viable hydrogen economy. According to the findings, the potential for green hydrogen generation in Turkiye is projected to be 7.33 million tons using a proton exchange membrane electrolyser (PEMEL). Cities with the highest hydrogen production capacities from marine applications are Mugla, Izmir, Antalya, and Canakkale with 998.10 kt, 840.31 kt, 605.46 kt, and 550.42 kt, respectively. The study calculations obviously show that there is a great potential by using excess power in producing hydrogen which will result in an economic value of 3.83 billion US dollars. This study further helps develop a detailed hydrogen map for every city in Turkiye, using the identified potential capacities of renewable energy sources and the utilization of electrolysers to make green hydrogen by green power. The potentials and specific capacities for every city are also highlighted. Furthermore, the study results are expected to provide clear guidance for government authorities and industries to utilize such a potential of renewable energy for investment and promote clean energy projects by further addressing concerns caused by the usage of carbon-based (fossil fuels dependent) energy options. Moreover, green hydrogen production and utilization in every sector will help achieve the national targets for a net zero economy and cope with international targets to achieve the United Nation's sustainable development goals.

Integration of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Hybrid Energy Storage in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Hybrid energy storage systems benefit significantly from incorporating nanoparticles containing metallic oxides, potassium phosphate, chemical compounds, and sulfides. The current technological problem is to increase the device’s electrical capacity without decreasing its energy capacity. The energy storage capacity of lithium-ion cells has been greatly improved by the use of tiny carbon particles owing to their conductive qualities, extensive specific surface area, customizable form, and intrinsic resilience. Further biologically active layouts, thinner ion-diffusion dimensions, and increased aboard carrier-/charge-transport motion are all made possible by incorporating effective bi-dimensional nanomaterials into future-oriented battery packs. For applications like lithium-ion batteries and electrochemical capacitors, this research presents carbon-based energy storage (CES) using a support vector machine (SVM) incorporating Particle Swarm Optimization (CES-SVM) to investigate the long-term stability of nanoparticle alloy forms of a specific shape and chemical makeup. This paper provides a potential improvement to the intermittent particle swarm optimization technique and its accompanying algorithmic architecture. Hybrid nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized, allowing the easy synthetic pathway and unique growth of nanostructuring technology to be used for electrodes with outstanding electrochemical effectiveness in conventional lithium-ion batteries. This paper shows how the cell’s conductivity, the electrode/electrolyte contact, and ion diffusion all affect impedance performance. Carbonaceous electrodes for lithium-ion battery systems, electrochemical storage units, and related combination devices are examined as a final area.

N, O self-doped porous carbon derived from distiller's grains for high performance supercapacitors

Improving the charge storage capacity of carbon materials derived from biomass waste is an important aspect for their practical applications as supercapacitor electrodes. A reasonable design of heteroatom-doped carbon materials derived from industrial distiller 's grains can significantly enhance the efficacy of the supercapacitor. Therefore, a distiller's grain-derived (DG) N/O self-doped activated carbon (DG-5-X) was developed for use in supercapacitors. The incorporation of heteroatoms into porous carbon materials can facilitate enhanced electrode-to-electrolyte interaction resulting in improved pseudo-capacitance, thereby enhancing the electrochemical performance. A remarkable 345.2 F g−1 specific capacitance was demonstrated in a three-electrode system employing DG-5–6 (with N and O heteroatom contents of 1.62 % and 19.27 %, respectively) as the electrode in a 6 M KOH electrolyte solution (at 1 A g−1). In addition, a symmetric coin-type supercapacitor (SSC) device was developed, which demonstrated excellent cyclic stability and a competitive energy density of 12.2 Wh kg−1 (at a 348.8 W kg−1 power density). SSC retained 95.6 % of the capacitance after 5000 cycles at 5 A g−1. In summary, the distiller’s grains as a raw material show great potential in the development of carbon-based energy storage materials that display outstanding electrochemical performance.

Molecularly-regulating oxygen-containing functional groups of ramie activated carbon for high-performance supercapacitors

Effectively managing oxygen-containing functional groups (OCFGs) within activated carbon and methodically elucidating their intricate types and proportions are essential for considerably improving the electrochemical performance of carbon-based supercapacitors. Herein, we designed a ZnCl2-based molecular regulation strategy to introduce OCFGs into ramie-activated carbon (RAC), managing different OCFGs and revealing their structure–activity relationship with electrochemical performance. Thus, this regulated RAC, with a 3.5-fold enhancement in advantageous OCFGs (a-OCFGs: CO and COO), exhibits a supreme specific capacitance of 286.4F g−1 at 1 A/g and an excellent capacitance retention rate of 89.7 % at 20 A/g in an aqueous electrolyte, considerably surpassing that of nonregulated RAC (212.0F g−1 and 81.9 %). This confirms that a-OCFGs provide ample ion-storage accommodation and suppress solvent electronic oxidation, thereby enhancing electrochemical performance. Furthermore, its electrochemical performance is competitive with that of the commercial YP-50F (129.2F g−1 at 1 A/g). Therefore, this work not only highlights the contributions of specific OCFGs to high electrochemical performance but also designs a promising commercial electrode material to meet the demands of OCFGs-adequate carbon-based energy storage devices.

Sovereign green bonds as an unconventional tool to address climate change

Creative efforts are necessary as global efforts seek to undertake projects focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. Among various financial products that provide funding for projects, green bonds, particularly sovereign green bonds (SGB or SGrB) issued with sovereign guarantees by central governments, have gained prominence. Proceeds from SGBs are used to finance green projects such as non-conventional and renewable energy projects, alternative energy solutions, greenhouse gas emission reduction, climate change mitigation, or reduced use of carbon-based energy sources. SGB will receive increasing global attention as governments attempt to meet UN climate change goals. This research uses descriptive research methodology to examine the evolution, operational aspects, challenges, and investor expectations associated with SGrBs by taking India as a case. The study period is taken from 2016 to 2023. It used a conceptual approach to discuss the market's evolution. The findings highlight how SGBs provide an unconventional way to link green finance with ecological priorities by combining fiscal policy, investment and science-based solutions. The insights are intended to inform future SGB frameworks and strategies to target funded green growth towards pressing global sustainability issues.

Impacts of Global Warming on Regional Energy and Economy: Uneven consequences arising from global warming-induced heating and cooling demand of households

The impacts of global warming vary across regions. This paper studies the distributional implications of global warming impacts on household energy use for heating and cooling and the induced macroeconomic responses under different scenarios. Our research updates the direct impact of global warming on household energy demand in 140 regions worldwide by utilizing existing estimations of damage functions related to temperature changes. Subsequently, the updated direct impact is used in a global static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to evaluate the macroeconomic responses. We find that at the global level, the market effects cause a reduction in the direct impact on the demand for oil and gas, while that for electricity displays a positive but moderate growth. Whereas the regional effects vary across countries and lead to changes in both directions, in which the autonomous adaptation embodied in the global market plays a vital role. Furthermore, we find strong inequality in the socioeconomic responses to global warming across regions. Notably, low-income countries are most strongly affected by increased primary energy use and decreased gross domestic product (GDP). Disparities in the impacts on carbon-based energy sources yield a near-perfect inequality as per the adjusted Gini index for CO2 emission changes, which potentially intensify the distributional consequences of global climate change.

Juice Vesicles Bioreactors Technology for Constructing Advanced Carbon-Based Energy Storage.

The construction of high-quality carbon-based energy materials through biotechnology has always been an eager goal of the scientific community. Herein, juice vesicles bioreactors (JVBs) bio-technology based on hesperidium (e.g., pomelo, waxberry, oranges) is first reported for preparation of carbon-based composites with controllable components, adjustable morphologies, and sizes. JVBs serve as miniature reaction vessels that enable sophisticated confined chemical reactions to take place, ultimately resulting in the formations of complex carbon composites. The newly developed approach is highly versatile and can be compatible with a wide range of materials including metals, alloys, and metal compounds. The growth and self-assembly mechanisms of carbon composites via JVBs are explained. For illustration, NiCo alloy nanoparticles are successfully in situ implanted into pomelo vesicles crosslinked carbon (PCC) by JVBs, and their applications as sulfur/carbon cathodes for lithium-sulfur batteries are explored. The well-designed PCC/NiCo-S electrode exhibits superior high-rate properties and enhanced long-term stability. Synergistic reinforcement mechanisms on transportation of ions/electrons of interface reactions and catalytic conversion of lithium polysulfides arising from metal alloy and carbon architecture are proposed with the aid of DFT calculations. The research provides a novel biosynthetic route to rational design and fabrication of carbon composites for advanced energy storage.

Aging Mechanisms of Lithium-ion Batteries

<p>Modern society is making numerous efforts to reduce reliance on carbon-based energy systems. A notable solution in this transition is the adoption of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as potent energy sources, owing to their high energy and power densities. Driven by growing environmental challenges, the application scope of LIBs has expanded from their initial prevalence in portable electronic devices to include electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESSs). Accordingly, LIBs must exhibit long-lasting cyclability and high energy storage capacities to facilitate prolonged device usage, thereby offering a potential alternative to conventional sources like fossil fuels. Enhancing the durability of LIBs hinges on a comprehensive understanding of the reasons behind their performance decline. Therefore, comprehending the degradation mechanism, which includes detrimental chemical and mechanical phenomena in the components of LIBs, is an essential step in resolving cycle life issues. The LIB systems presently being commercialized and developed predominantly employ graphite anode and layered oxide cathode materials. A significant portion of the degradation process in LIB systems takes place during the electrochemical reactions involving these electrodes. In this review, we explore and organize the aging mechanisms of LIBs, especially those with graphite anodes and layered oxide cathodes.</p>

ENERGY POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The article provides a retrospective analysis of the development of the European Union’s contemporary energy policy with a focus on green energy. This study also delves into the transformations taking place in the EU’s energy sector under the influence of recent geopolitical dynamics. The article extensively analyzes the factors influencing the EU’s energy policy. Special attention is given to the REPowerEU plan, aimed at increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the energy structure of EU countries. The author discusses the issues of the practical implementation of the REPowerEU plan and the timeline for its deployment. The article also studies the challenges facing the EU in the process of transition to green energy amidst the freeze of long-term energy cooperation with Russia. The author also draws conclusions regarding possible prospects and directions for the future energy transition of the EU in the context of adjusting energy policy. The article addresses the challenges of diversifying energy resource suppliers, enhancing collaboration with other regions, and diminishing reliance on carbon-based energy sources.

Revisiting just energy transition in Indonesia energy transition policy

Abstract Leaving carbon-based energy will mean destruction for the players in the industry. As such, justice is an important factor in the transitioning process from a carbon-based energy to a green energy. However, what is considered ‘just’ remain a subject of debate in the existing literatures. This article aims to take a juridical normative approach to formulate ‘just’ concept in just energy transition in Indonesia energy transition policy, by scrutinizing the theory and practice and looking the status quo in Indonesia energy governance. This article proposes two practical solutions to the New and Renewable Energy Bill. Indonesia should include just transition concept and allow public participation in decision-making process to enable a ‘just’ energy transition.