Fossil Energy Consumption Research Articles

What causes environmental degradation in Pakistan? Embossing the role of fossil fuel energy consumption in the view of ecological footprint.

For decades, environmental degradation has become a universal challenge, and for sustainable environment quality, a true and broader proxy is vital. Pakistan is an ecological deficient country in the world, being the sixth-largest economy (population-wise). This study investigates the prime sources of environmental degradation through ecological footprint in Pakistan. The yearly time-series data spanning 1972 to 2020 is utilized for a set of regressors as fossil fuel energy consumption, trade openness, arable land, industrial share to GDP, economic growth, and population growth. We use various econometric techniques, the bounds test, ARDL (short and long run) model, FMOLS, and Granger causality test. Bounds test confirms the existence of cointegration among variables included in our model. The ARDL estimates suggest that fossil fuel energy consumption, trade openness, and population growth are the leading factors affecting the environment. Fossil fuel consumption and population growth significantly damage the environment in the short and long run. Contrasting to that, trade openness is substantial to the environment quality. The FMOLS approves the robustness of the cointegrating findings. Moreover, a unidirectional causal relationship from economic growth to the ecological footprint (GDP → EFP). And also, the ecological footprint of arable land (EFP → AL) is witnessed. At the same time, bidirectional causality is found between growth rate and fossil energy consumption (GDP ↔ FEC). Lastly, we recommend some policy options to improve environmental quality in Pakistan.

Numerical Optimization and Energetic Advantages of an Innovative Solar Power System Based on Scheffler Receiver Coupled with Volumetric Expanders

In the current context of increasing public awareness of the externalities of fossil fuel-based energy consumption, improvement in new technologies for energy-saving systems has become a crucial target to reduce both global warming and air pollution. Being motivated by such a critical matter, this study presents an innovative solar thermal plant based on volumetric expanders as work-producing devices coupled with Scheffler solar receivers as a thermal source. Nowadays, Scheffler receivers are well performing owing to high efficiency of the focal receiver which reduce heat losses. Simultaneously, screw expanders are volumetric machines which are able to convert thermal to mechanical power with acceptable efficiency also by expanding vapor-liquid blends at low operating pressures. The numerical model presented in this study evaluates the energetic benefits of the proposed solar power system for various operating situations. Parametric optimization of this solar power plant is then performed in a broad range of operating conditions: the optimum evaporation temperatures, together with the corresponding maximum global efficiencies, were so defined under various solar radiation intensities. The numerical results attained in this research prove that solar electricity generation systems based on screw expanders coupled with the Scheffler receivers are a promising technology.

Waste to energy: Facile, low-cost and environment-friendly triboelectric nanogenerators using recycled plastic and electronic wastes for self-powered portable electronics

Human are producing plastic and electronic wastes in huge amount, polluting our environment especially water resources and causing life-threatening complications. On the other hand, the increasing consumption of fossil energy is further damaging our environment. To help mitigate these problems, we present a facile, environment-friendly, and low-cost triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) by recycling plastic and electronic waste for power generation through biomechanical energy. The proposed graphite and plastic based triboelectric nanogenerator (GP-TENG) is fabricated by recycling the electronic waste (dry cells) to get graphite and the plastic bottles to get plastic. GP-TENG is fabricated by low-cost, facile, and environment-friendly in-house rapid fabrication process which is solvent- and cleanroom-free and doesn’t require specialized equipment and expertise. The output performance of the GP-TENG is systematically studied with an open-circuit voltage of 83.88 V, short circuit current of 101 μA, and maximum output power density of 26.54 μW/cm2. To demonstrate its practical applications, a digital calculator, an electronic watch, and nineteen blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were powered using GP-TENG. Our approach generates renewable energy by recycling plastics and electronic wastes, and therefore it provides a sustainable and viable path towards the vision of building a green world.

Nonlinear Modeling of Dynamic Characteristics of Pump-Turbine

Hydropower is a kind of clean energy, which can effectively reduce the consumption of fossil energy and is one of the main fields of new energy development. Pumped storage power station not only provides a solution for storing electric energy and generating excess, but also is a clean, efficient, economical and safe power system regulation method with high quality. Accurate modeling of a pump-turbine, as the core equipment of a pumped storage unit, is the key to safe and stable operation of the pumped storage unit. At present, a method of simplifying the external characteristics of a pump-turbine into a first-order linear model is widely used, which cannot effectively and accurately reveal the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the unit in transition process. In order to meet the demand of high-precision simulation of the unit, a new method of identifying Taylor series expansion considering nonlinearity based on the torque characteristic formula and the flow characteristic formula is proposed, which is applied to the pump-turbine external characteristic model, and retains the second derivative term, making the model a second-order nonlinear model, and thus, the pump-turbine model becomes a nonlinear model. The nonlinear model established is used to simulate the load increase and load rejection of the unit, and the results are compared with those for the linear model. The comparison shows that the nonlinear model established for the pump-turbine can reveal the dynamic response of the unit more effectively and accurately than the linear model, and provide a further guarantee for the safe and stable operation of pumped-storage units, which is of great significance to hydropower energy development.

Forecasting Chinese Carbon Emissions from Fossil Energy Based on the Fractional Order Cumulative Multivariate Grey Model

In the process of Chinese economic development shifting from a stage of high‐speed growth to a stage of high‐quality development, carbon emissions caused by fossil energy consumption are also increasing. To reflect the interaction between Chinese carbon emissions from fossil energy consumption and economic growth, this paper constructed the fractional order cumulative multivariate gray model with equal‐dimensional recursive optimization (EFMGM(1,2)) to predict the trend of carbon emissions from fossil energy consumption and constant price GDP in China and calculated the carbon emissions from fossil energy consumption according to the IPCC accounting method. EFMGM(1,2) is compared with other gray models to verify the performance of the model. The results show that this model has better prediction performance than other models. It can be used as an effective method for forecasting carbon emissions from fossil energy.

Application of Concept of Carbon-related Energy to Reduction of CO2 Emissions and Fossil Energy Consumption

Application of Concept of Carbon-related Energy to Reduction of CO₂ Emissions and Fossil Energy Consumption

Experimental performance of a small solar system for adsorption cooling in summer and heating in winter

Solar energy is a kind of renewable energy with abundant resources and enormous reserves. Meanwhile, adsorption cooling technology can utilize natural refrigerants, thus also making this technology environmentally friendly. If solar energy can be effectively collected and utilized for heating in winter, then the environmental pollution caused by electricity and fossil energy consumption can be reduced. More importantly, considering engineering, the same solar device could provide cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. This study used parabolic trough and glass–metal vacuum heat collectors to conduct solar adsorption cooling and solar air heating experiments in summer and winter, respectively, to facilitate the complete and appropriate use of solar energy. Experimental results of solar adsorption cooling with silica gel as the adsorbent revealed that the coefficient of performance of the system reached 0.329. In addition, the influences of air flow rates and heat storage medium on the performance of the solar air heating system were investigated. Results revealed that the average and instantaneous efficiencies of the system considerably increased with the heat storage medium (i.e., water) filling in the annular cavity of the evacuated tube. The extended heating time also markedly increased by up to 170 min and was therefore of considerable practical value.

Solar Energy Resources in Desertification Regions of China and Development Suggestions

To achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, we need to accelerate the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, implement renewable energy substitution actions, and constantly increase the proportion of non fossil energy consumption. China's deserts, Gobi and desert areas cover a vast area, and solar energy resources are abundant. The regions that can be developed by technology account for more than 60% of the whole country. Give full play to the characteristics of desert, Gobi and desert areas that are rich in wind and solar energy resources, have good construction conditions, and are less affected by land use. In combination with the power grid and consumption and utilization conditions, comprehensively promote large-scale development and high-quality development of solar energy, it is an important measure to promote the clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient transformation of the energy structure. To vigorously develop photovoltaic projects in desert, Gobi and desert areas, we need to adhere to large-scale and intensive development, to adhere to multi energy complementary ecological integration development, demonstration and guidance, which can help strengthen the comprehensive utilization of land, solar energy resources and other resources, and also obtain significant ecological, economic and carbon reduction benefits. At the same time, developing photovoltaic bases in desert regions can also improve the supply capacity of renewable energy and increase the supply level of clean low-carbon energy.

Investigation of pyrolysed anthracite as an anode material for sodium ion batteries

Due to the increasingly serious problems of the greenhouse effect and environmental pollution caused by the continuous consumption of traditional fossil energy, renewable and clean energy (such as solar energy and wind energy) is facing new opportunities and challenges.

New bio-based polyester with excellent spinning performance: poly(tetrahydrofuran dimethanol-co-ethylene terephthalate).

With the excessive consumption of fossil energy, technologies that transform bio-based resources into materials have received more and more attention from researchers in recent decades. In this paper, a series of poly(ethylene 2,5-tetrahydrofuran dimethyl terephthalate; PEFTs) with different components were synthesized from 2,5-tetrahydrofuran dimethanol (THFDM), terephthalic acid (TPA), and ethylene glycol (EG). Their chemical structures and compositions were determined by FTIR, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR. With the increase in THFDM content, the crystallization, T m, and tensile strength of PEFTs gradually decrease because the introduced THFDM breaks the order of molecular chains, while the thermal stability and T g remain stable. PEFTs seem to present a significant shear thinning phenomenon, which was indicated by the rheological test. Electrospinning technology was used to explore the spinnability of PEFT; it was found that PEFTs have better spinning performance than PET. In addition, due to the good hydrophobicity and porosity of PEFT nanofiber films, they have potential application value in the manufacture of hydrophobic nanofiber and filter films.

The Ethics of Climate Change

Massive consumption of fossil energy since the Industrial Revolution has contributed to carbon dioxide emissions and accumulation. That, in turn, has led to global climate change, which is mainly characterized by warming. The necessity of immediate climate action can be justified from both moral and self-interest perspectives. Achieving the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change goal of getting the world to net-zero carbon by 2050 depends on undermining the libertarian and self-interested arguments that opponents have against trying to reach this goal. First, from an ethical perspective, these opponents wrongly set the free market against the welfare state and individual property rights against the redistribution of social wealth, ignoring the possibility that their own ideal of liberty might require a welfare system. Second, it is also possible to show that morality and self-interest go together here, requiring us to reduce carbon use right now.

An Optimal DF Based Method for Transient Stability Analysis

The effect of energy on the natural environment has become increasingly severe as human consumption of fossil energy has increased. The capacity of the synchronous generators to keep working without losing synchronization when the system is exposed to severe faults such as short circuits is referred to as the power system's transient stability. As the power system's safe and stable operation and mechanism of action become more complicated, higher demands for accurate and rapid power system transient stability analysis are made. Current methods for analyzing transient stability are less accurate because they do not account for misclassification of unstable samples. As a result, this paper proposes a novel approach for analyzing transient stability. The key concept is to use deep forest (DF) and a neighborhood rough reduction approach together. Using the neighborhood rough sets, the original feature space is obtained by creating many optimal feature subsets at various granularity levels. Then, by deploying the DF cascade structure, the mapping connection between the transient stability state and the features is reinforced. The weighted voting technique is used in the learning process to increase the classification accuracy of unstable samples. When contrasted to current methods, simulation results indicate that the proposed approach outperforms them.

Does Trade Openess and Transportation Intensity Promote Enviromental Degradation in Indonesia?

Transportation is one of the most important sectors in supporting all economic activities in order to support inclusive economic development. However, in its development, trade openness triggers high economic activity that triggers environmental pollution, one of which is the impact of the transportation sector. This study aims to estimate the effect of trade openness and transportation intensity as well as total factor productivity as a proxy for technological development on the growth of carbon emissions in Indonesia. The methods used in this research are Engle-Granger ECM and Granger Causality. The results show that in the long-term trade openness and transportation intensity have a significant positive effect, while the total productivity factor has a significant negative effect. In the short term with the same direction of influence, total productivity factors and transportation intensity have a significant effect, but trade openness does not have a significant effect. Furthermore, there is a unidirectional effect of fossil energy consumption on transportation intensity & trade oponess on transportation intensity. Last, transportation intensity and trade openness have been shown to have a bidirectional relationship.

Performance evaluation of four-wheel driving wheel tractor with diesel engine using biodiesel fuel

The Indonesian government is committed to increasing biodiesel usage as renewable energy by 23% of national energy consumption by 2025. Implementing the mandatory biodiesel program must be carried out sustainably to help reduce fossil energy consumption, reduce air pollution, and reduce the effect of greenhouse gases. The Ministry of Agriculture studied applying biodiesel from palm oil in agricultural machinery, especially four-wheeled tractors, to help implement agricultural mechanization in Indonesia. The research objective was to determine the effect of biodiesel on the performance of a four-wheeled tractor engine in several variations of the mixture to obtain the composition of biodiesel mixture that gave optimal engine performance. The experiment was conducted by testing the performance of a four-wheeled tractor engine on a laboratory scale referring to SNI 7146-2019, using biodiesel fuel with a mixture of B10 to B100 variations. The result showed that biodiesel affects the performance of a four-wheeled tractor engine. The efficiency of continuing engine power using biodiesel was the largest at B20 of 80.15% at the maximum governor and 80.97% at the standard PTO rotation of 540 rpm. The smallest power forwarding efficiency on the B100 was 76.12% at the maximum governor and 76.55% at 540 rpm PTO rotation. Biodiesel B20 provided the greatest maximum power of 23.55 kW, 44 kgf of torque, specific fuel consumption of 250.54 g/kW hours. At 540 rpm, PTO rotation produced a maximum power of 23.79 kW, 42 kgf of torque, the specific fuel consumption of 256.12 g/kW hours

Spatial evolution of the energy industry in Hebei province and drivers of green productivity factors

Energy security has become the focus of common attention of all countries in the world. It is an effective way to promote the transformation of energy consumption structure from fossil energy consumption to renewable energy consumption at present. Based on the current development status of China, this paper mainly studies the spatial evolution process of the traditional energy and the renewable energy industry in Hebei province from the perspective of space and time, and analyzes the influencing factors in this process. The results are as follows: (1) Moran’s I of the traditional energy industry increased from 0.254515 in 2005 to 0.289301 in 2021. Moran’s I of the renewable energy industry increased from 0.31409 in 2005 to 0.426467 in 2021. This indicates the energy transition in Hebei is progressing. It is worth noting that the wind and solar energy industries are both higher than the national average; (2) the spatial diffusion effect of the energy industry in Hebei province becomes more and more significant with the transformation of regional energy industry, forming a spatial distribution trend of southwest to northeast axial diffusion; (3) from 2005 to 2018, the number of green productivity factors affecting the development of both traditional and renewable energy industries increased from 2 to 6. The transformation process of the energy industry in Hebei province is influenced by different factors in different temporal stages.

Low-carbon Operation of Combined Heat and Power Integrated Plants Based on Solar-assisted Carbon Capture

Accelerating the development of renewable energy and reducing CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> emissions have become a general consensus and concerted action of all countries in the world. The electric power industry, especially thermal power industry, is the main source for fossil energy consumption and CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> emissions. Since solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture technology would bring massive extra energy consumption, the application of solar-assisted carbon capture technology has attracted extensive attention. Due to the important role of coal-fired combined heat and power plants for serving residential and industrial heating districts, in this paper, the low-carbon operation benefits of combined heat and power integrated plants based on solar-assisted carbon capture (CHPIP-SACC) are fully evaluated in heat and power integrated energy system with a high proportion of wind power. Based on the selected integration scheme, a linear operation model of CHPIP-SACC is developed considering energy flow characteristics and thermal coupling interaction of its internal modules. From the perspective of system-level operation optimization, the day-ahead economic dispatch problem based on a mix-integer linear programming model is presented to evaluate the low-carbon benefits of CHPIP-SACC during annual operation simulation. The numerical simulations on a modified IEEE 39-bus system demonstrate the effectiveness of CHPIP-SACC for reducing CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> emissions as well as increasing the downward flexibility. The impact of different solar field areas and unit prices of coal on the low-carbon operation benefits of CHPIP-SACC is studied in the section of sensitivity analysis.

Is there any relationship between geopolitical risk and climate change?

Purpose: The aim of this study is to point out the impact of geopolitical risk on climate change. The CO2 emissions per capita is used as a proxy for climate change. Methodology: In this study, the data sample covers annual data from 1990 to 2015 for 12 selected Latin American and Asian countries. After standard preliminary tests (Cross-sectional dependence tests, CIPS unit root test, and slope homogeneity test), we employ the second-generation estimator – the AMG (Augmented Mean Group) method to explore the long-run relationship between geopolitical risk and CO2 emissions per capita. Results: The AMG findings document that a 1% rise in geopolitical risk escalates CO2 emissions per capita by 0.001%. In addition, economic growth and fossil energy consumption foster CO2 emissions per capita, whereas renewable energy contributes to decreasing CO2 emissions per capita. Conclusion: In recent years, scholars have attempted to explore the impact of geopolitical risk on environmental degradation. According to our results, in Latin American and Asian countries, decreasing geopolitical risk and conflict can impede environmental degradation. In the long run, a robust clean energy policy should be considered in case of geopolitical conflict by the government. Besides, the government should focus on renewable energy policy and substitute non-renewable energy resources with more technology-intensive resources.

MOF-derived CoN/CoFe/NC bifunctional electrocatalysts for zinc-air batteries

Zinc air battery (ZAB) is one of promising devices to solve the problems of fossil energy consumption and environmental pollution, but the development of low-cost non-precious metal dual-functional catalysts for ZAB still remains a great challenge. Here, we synthesize a bifunctional catalyst (Co5.47N/Co3Fe7/NC) consisting of two kinds of active sites. The Co5.47N/Co3Fe7/NC catalyst shows excellent electrocatalytic activities with a half-wave potential of 0.89 V (versus RHE) for ORR and a low potential of 1.609 V at 10 mA cm−2 for OER in alkaline condition. When the catalyst was used in ZAB, the ZAB provides a maximal power density of 264 mW cm−2 and maintains a stable voltage gap over 180 h. The results show that Co5.47N plays a very important role in both ORR and OER processes, because it effectively improves the conductivity of catalysts. Moreover, the two-phase interface produced by the two crystal structures will produce an electronic coupling effect, forming a large number of active sites. This catalyst provides a reliable alternative to air cathode catalysts for rechargeable zinc air batteries.

Analysis of comprehensive utilization of waste tire pyrolysis char by combustion method

A technical route for large-scale utilization of waste tire pyrolytic char (TPC) by combustion method was proposed. The physical and chemical characteristics and combustion characteristics of TPC were studied and compared with anthracite, semi-coke, bituminous coal, coal char, coal gasification fly ash which have similar chemical compositions. And the material composition of TPC ash was analyzed. The results show that the overall particle size of TPC particles is larger (average particle size is 193.8 μm), and they are formed by bonding fine carbon black particles. The microstructure of TPC particles is different from that of coal and coal char. TPC has a well-developed pore structure, and its specific surface area and pore volume are close to coal char. TPC is composed of a large amount of amorphous carbon, which has a low degree of graphitization and large spacing of aromatic lamellae. TPC carbon has a highly disordered structure, low cross-linked structure strength, and a looser overall carbon structure. The surface functional groups in TPC mainly exist in the form of aromatic carbon and aliphatic carbon, and only a small amount of O = C-O and Π-Π*. The volatiles content of TPC is only 4.36%, but the ignition temperature of TPC is similar to that of lean coal, and the activation energy of TPC is lower than that of anthracite and lean coal, which is caused by the developed pore structure and loose carbon structure. TPC is a high-quality high-calorific value fuel, replacing coal coke and semi-coke as fuel, thereby reducing fossil energy consumption. The ash of TPC can be processed to obtain Zn and white carbon black (SiO2) raw material, which has high utilization value. The combustion method of TPC can realize its resource utilization and large-scale application.

What is the role of the rents in energy connection with economic growth for China and the United States?

Energy is one of the essential factors in the industrial production process, and it is important for economic growth. Within the context of the debate on the ecological consequences of energy usage and the importance of renewable energy, we have analyzed the relationships between fossil energy and GDP for both China and the United States. This study has been constructed on related economic data from 1990 to 2015. By employing the Hacker and Hatemi-J (2006) causality tests and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, we have examined the relationship between economic growth (GDP) and all of the following: natural gas rents, renewable energy consumption, renewable electricity production, coal rents, and oil rents. The main contribution of this study to literature is relating and analyzing the relationship between GDP and all of the following: renewable energy (RE) consumption and production, fossil energy consumption and production, as well as gas/coal/oil rents for the United States and China. It considers the nexus not only separately but also collectively. Furthermore, to explore the causality connection between each type of energy input, this method is employed. Our empirical findings show that there is no long-term causal relationship among these variables for China while there is a long-term causal relationship among the variables in the United States. In addition, we found that the RE production, fossil energy production, and consumption, GDP, rents, all of these variables cause RE consumption in both China and the United States.