Energy Consumption Demand Research Articles

Elephant skin-inspired mycelium tiles for thermal regulation of buildings

Abstract Of all types of ecosystems, cities are the most polluting and this pollution affects more than 50% of the global population. One main cause for this pollution is related to the energy used to heat or cool down buildings. Currently, only 15% of households in Southeast Asia have an air conditioner, but this number is expected to rise, leading to an increase in demand in energy consumption, electricity and CO2 emissions which could further worsen global pollution and climate change. There is therefore an urgent need to find alternative solutions to cool buildings and regulate their temperatures. In this paper, inspiration is taken from elephants who live in very hot climates. Elephants can cool themselves thanks to the wrinkles on their skin that can limit heat gain, dissipate energy by evaporative cooling and store water. To emulate elephants’ cooling, tiles with elephant skin-inspired surface texture are designed. Computational simulations are performed to evaluate the effect of local shading due to the texture. Experimental tiles are produced using a biodegradable and natural material grown by a fungus, Pleurotus Ostreatus. These tiles are mycelium-bound composites (MBCs) where the fungus grew on bamboo microfibers, developing an interconnected web of cells called the mycelium that binds the microfibers together. The thermal properties of the tiles were measured for heating and cooling on the textured and flat side. The results show the tiles have anisotropic properties with a significant improvement by 25% in the cooling of the textured side over the flat side. In simulated rain conditions, the cooling is further improved by 42% as compared to dry conditions. The elephant-mycelium tiles are therefore promising for thermal regulation of building in Southeast Asia environments.

Gap distance of UHV substation in areas with an altitude of 5000 m and below

Abstract In view of the increasing energy consumption and power demand, the construction of UHV AC is growing rapidly, and the construction of the project is gradually advancing to higher altitudes. It is urgent to conduct research on typical gap discharge in substations at high altitudes. Combined with the engineering requirements, this paper corrects the test data at an altitude of 0 m according to GB/T 24842 standard through altitude correction and combines the discharge voltage requirements of various typical gaps in substations to obtain the minimum air gap distance in UHV substations at an altitude of 5000 m and below. The calculation results of the two altitude correction methods are compared and analyzed, and the applicability of the two methods is analyzed.

Assessment of higher demand of household energy consumption in different households in India: an inter-comparative study and solar savings valuation

Assessment of higher demand of household energy consumption in different households in India: an inter-comparative study and solar savings valuation

A new pathway to integrate novel coal-to-methanol system with solid oxide fuel cell and electrolysis cell

Considering the significant emissions associated with conventional coal-to-methanol (CTM) systems and the increasing demand for renewable energy consumption, this study proposes a novel scheme for CTM, which couples a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC). The objective is to reduce coal consumption and carbon emissions. The proposed scheme involves introducing green hydrogen, enriching CO2 concentration, and recovering it from exhaust gas. A system simulation model was developed using Aspen Plus/Aspen Custom Modeler software for the design and sensitivity analysis. The design results demonstrate that by utilizing green hydrogen produced through H2O electrolysis in the methanol synthesis process, the coal consumption per unit of methanol production can be reduced from 1.26 kg/kg to 0.74 kg/kg. Moreover, by employing SOFC instead of conventional heat boiler system, the CO2 concentration in CTM exhaust can be significantly improved from 9.11 % to 30 %, enhancing the efficiency of carbon separation. The inclusion of a CO2 electrolysis process helps converting CO2 into a part of methanol capacity and achieving zero-carbon emissions. The findings aim to provide a reference basis and theoretical guidance for the design, optimization, and integration of renewable energy sources into the novel coal-to-methanol system with solid oxide cells.

Configuration method for medium-deep ground source heat pump system considering renewable energy consumption and smart grid interaction

Medium-deep ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems have the advantages of low carbon, high heat exchange intensity, good thermal storage capacity, and intermittent operation characteristics, which are conducive to renewable energy consumption and grid demand response. The source-side parameters affect the configuration of underground borehole engineering, heat pump units, and other equipment. However, current research mainly focuses on the underground heat exchanger modeling, underground heat exchange, and system operation control, while there are few studies on multi-factor ground source-side parameter design and optimal configuration. In this study, the indicator analyzing the unsteady features and thermal balance state of medium-deep geothermal resources was introduced, and the source-side water temperatures were optimized based on the dynamic characteristics of the geothermal and building sides. A simulation configuration methodology for the source-side flow rate and storage capacity was developed considering the electricity prices, life-cycle cost (LCC), and grid interaction. The optimization of the ground source-side design temperature, flow rate, and capacity parameters of residential and office building heating scenarios were analyzed in northern China, respectively. The results showed that the borehole inlet and outlet temperature can be designed to 5.5 °C/17.5 °C under the annual sustainable state, and the optimal flowrate can be set to 65.77 m3/h, to achieve the lowest cost and highest heating season guarantee rate for the residential scenario. For the office building with optimal system and storage capacity, the average annual LCC is 192,000 yuan/year, with the cumulative peak shaving of 55.8 %, and an increase of 103.3MWh renewable electricity consumption.

Localization for surface microseismic monitoring based on arrival time correction and VFOM

Abstract Unconventional resources have emerged as the primary source to meet the escalating demand for energy consumption, with hydraulic fracturing standing out as an effective means of boosting production. The utilization of microseismic monitoring is crucial for acquiring real-time or semi-real-time extension information of the fracture network to guide the fracturing process. The precise positioning of microseismic events is a fundamental aspect of microseismic monitoring. Traditional methods relying on (relative) arrival time significantly impact positioning accuracy due to picking errors. While waveform-based methods offer high accuracy, they require precise velocity models and are time-consuming. To overcome challenges associated with arrival time pickup and velocity accuracy, we introduce a virtual field optimization method (VFOM) based on arrival time correction. Initially, an equivalent velocity model is established, and the arrival time difference resulting from the model transformation of the master event is calculated to correct the observed arrival time of the target event. Subsequently, we match detector pairs, establish hyperboloids based on the corrected arrival time difference, and employ the intersection point of all hyperboloids as the positioning result. After that, we use the location results of the master event to enhance the accuracy of the target event. Finally, we apply the proposed method to both synthetic test and field datasets, demonstrating a significant improvement in the positioning accuracy and stability provided by the novel method. The robustness against arrival time error renders it a suitable choice for surface monitoring applications where signal quality is compromised. Furthermore, the simplified velocity model significantly diminishes the computational requirements in the positioning process, enhancing its efficiency, and consequently holds vast potential for application in real-time monitoring.

A sustainable utilization approach of waste biomass resources to smart materials for buildings

Resource utilization of solid waste promotes resource conservation, energy transformation and sustainable development. In this study, we developed a synthetic strategy for converting biomass waste, such as waste bamboo powder, into a smart material with thermochromic properties - hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC). The synthesis process includes extraction of cellulose and modification with hydroxypropyl groups. The maximum extraction efficiency of cellulose from raw bamboo powder was up to 48 % by carefully adjusting the reaction conditions including NaOH concentration, reaction time, and treatment temperature. The maximum yield of modification process was achieved to 1.32 g/g by optimizing alkalization temperature, alkalization time, NaOH concentration, propylene oxide concentration, etherification temperature and etherification time. The samples were characterized by a variety of techniques such as FTIR, 1H NMR, XRD, SEM to validate the micro-structure of the extracted cellulose the HPC materials. Moreover, this study explored the potential application of HPC hydrogel in smart window application, and evaluated its building energy saving efficiency under different climate conditions through computational simulation. The corresponding results showed that the HPC hydrogel smart window could have significant energy saving potential compared to ordinary clear glass window. This novel approach of converting waste resources into high valued thermochromic materials for smart windows, not only reduces waste disposal demand for excessive land-use and energy consumption but also shows a positively contributes to sustainable development, environmental protection, as well as energy conservation.

An intellectual property analysis: advances and commercialization of low-dimensional carbon materials in batteries

There is a growing demand for energy consumption in society due to the increasing application of emerging technologies. Therefore, the need for the development of advanced energy storage technologies to cope with the rising energy demand is rising. Carbon materials play significant roles in energy storage technologies. In this review, the research progress and applications of low-dimensional carbon materials in batteries, including carbon quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, are summarized. The performance of these materials is compared against traditional lithium-ion batteries with graphite, which has limitations in its bandgap and reversible capacity. A mini-intellectual property analysis and the advances and commercialization of low-dimensional carbon materials in batteries were provided. The challenges and limitations associated with using these materials as electrode materials were discussed, and a market overview of their commercialization was provided. Finally, future directions for research and development in this field were concluded. Overall, this review provides a comprehensive overview of low-dimensional carbon materials as a promising research area for developing advanced batteries to meet the growing demand for energy consumption.

Study on low-carbon service mode of park-level integrated energy system with flexible supply and demand balance

Against the backdrop of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” goals in China, the park-level integrated energy system is a significant approach to meeting the energy consumption demand of users and improving the utilization rate of new energy. To take into account both the interests of integrated energy services (IES) providers and the current power market rules in China, targeting at low-carbon energy consumption, a balancing service mode for integrated energy services providers is created herein based on the idea of balancing multiple interests of regional integrated energy services providers. It aims to break down the market barriers and address the tricky problem that the integrated energy services industry fails to establish a sophisticated industrial system under the original mode. Combining the integrated energy services with the auxiliary market of power balance, the paper analyzes the characteristics of energy flow within the system, and puts forward the optimization scheme of regional integrated energy balancing services under the low-carbon background. The objective is solved by Mayfly algorithm and compared for analysis, and the results show that the optimal daily operating cost is 2632.59 yuan and the daily carbon emission is 3869.90 kg under the typical industrial scenario. The examples provided here show that the optimization plan for integrated energy balancing services can reduce carbon emissions from the park-level integrated energy system and boost the revenue for integrated energy service providers. It provides theoretical support for the green transformation of energy enterprises and promotes the healthy development of the global integrated energy industry.

Energy optimization of the smart residential electrical grid considering demand management approaches

-Many researchers have investigated the optimal energy scheduling to meet the demand regarding sustainable development issues and the economic and technical indices. This study presents the day-ahead operation of a smart residential distribution electrical grid as a bi-stage-multiple-criteria decision-making modeling. The proposed energy optimization is implemented based on optimal demand management in upper-stage and multiple-criteria decision-making in lower-stage. The multiple-criteria problem is modeled from the viewpoint of the grid's operator to optimize energy consumption costs, power losses and demand side comfort. The optimal demand management in upper-stage is coordinated considering price traffic in the upstream grid. The load shifting approach and load interruption approach are presented as optimal demand management for residential consumers. The operation of demand management by using load shifting and load interruption approaches is done via deferrable loads and clippable loads in smart residential homes, respectively. The proposed energy optimization in both stages by improved sunflower optimization (IFSO) is handled, and the TOPSIS method is proposed for the best trade-off of the multiple-criteria decision-making. The day-ahead energy operation is applied on the 33-bus distribution network to investigate the effectiveness of the residential distribution electrical grid considering obtained results from mathematical modeling and demand management approaches.

Application and effect evaluation of membrane bioreactor technology in municipal wastewater treatment

Due to the increasing amount of urban sewage and improved standards in sewage discharge, simple traditional biological sewage treatment fails to meet the needs of municipal sewage treatment. Therefore, to treat wastewater more efficiently, the process of combining biofilm technology with traditional biological wastewater treatment appeared. This paper analyzes the advantages and problems of the combined processes of membrane separation technology and traditional biological sewage treatment technology from and perspective of complementary processes, and puts forward relevant measures to alleviate membrane fouling. The study found that Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology occupies a small area, and has a better sewage effluent quality and strong stability, also the sludge output is low. Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) technology can increase the effectiveness of removing organic matter and enable resource reuse, which satisfies the demand for low energy consumption. Membrane Aeration Bioreactor (MABR) technology involves bubble-free aeration that greatly improves the quality of sewage effluent, and the production of sludge in MABR technology decreases. Anaerobic ammonium nitrogen membrane bioreactor technology can enhance the efficiency of Anammox bacteria, and the energy consumption and economic cost of this technology are low. Although these membrane combination processes can effectively treat sewage, they can easily be limited by factors such as temperature, microbial communities, and membrane fouling. This paper provides guiding opinions for decision makers in the field of urban sewage treatment so that they can apply appropriate sewage treatment technology to local municipal sewage treatment, promoting the sustainable development of sewage treatment.

Driving forces of CO2 emissions from the transport, storage and postal sectors: A pathway to achieving carbon neutrality

In tandem with the urbanisation process, China's transport sector is currently experiencing rapid development and was ranked third out of all the industrial sectors in terms of generating CO2 emissions in 2020, which poses a huge challenge to achieving carbon neutrality. Primarily using the energy consumption data from China's transport, storage and postal sectors (TSPS) and input and output data between 2007 and 2020, this study first uses the Tapio decoupling model to evaluate the decoupling effect in the TSPS. Structural decomposition analysis is then applied to explore sectoral linkages and decompose the forces driving CO2 emissions. Additionally, we explore the main determinants of the energy structure effect and final demand in terms of energy consumption and industrial sector demand. Our results show that the target sector experienced a weak decoupling, which implies that the low-carbon transformation of this sector became increasingly apparent. Factor decomposition shows that improvements in energy intensity, energy structure and the production input and output structure have contributed significantly to reducing CO2 emissions, but these gains have been largely offset by final demand, resulting in a net reduction of 27.97 million tons from 2007 to 2020. The increased usage of low carbon forms of energy, such as natural gas, is the key driver behind the emissions reduction effect in terms of the energy structure. However, the higher final demand from the construction sector and the wholesale and retail trades are the main factors that have increased CO2 emissions. By adopting a sectoral and energy structure decomposition perspective, our study can be used to provide guidance to governments seeking to pursue carbon-reduction policies to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality, in the TSPS in particular.

The Impact of Financial Development on Renewable Energy Consumption: The Case of Vietnam and Other ASEAN Members

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of financial development and renewable energy consumption in Vietnam and some selected countries in Southeast Asia. After researching over the period from 1970 to 2022, using quantitative analyses, including the ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects method (FEM), and random effects method (REM), and measuring the Driscoll–Kraay standard errors to assess cross-dependence between countries as well as a Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) estimation analysis to evaluate the robustness of the research, the research results confirm that financial development has a negative impact on renewable energy consumption, which reflects the important role of fossil energy sources in meeting energy consumption demand. Similarly, increased per capita income negatively affects renewable energy consumption. This study also confirms the positive impact of foreign direct investment on renewable energy use.

A technology-driven way to carbon peak and its impact mechanism

Based on Green Slow model, this paper builds a framework to achieve carbon peak driven by manufacturing, energy-conservation and energy substitution technology concurrently.Through a panel dataset from 2000 to 2018 at the province level, we find that the increasing carbon emissions effects from manufacturing technology are primarily due to increased levels of disposable income resulting from technological advances applied in production, which increases the demand for energy consumption and results in the emission of more carbon dioxide. China's carbon emissions have been significantly reduced by energy-conservation and energy-substitution technology, which reduce the amount of fossil energy used in the generation of clean energy while increasing its share. These results suggest that to achieve carbon peak and further improve the carbon reduction effect of energy-conservation and fossil fuel alternatives technologies, local governments should strive to create an enabling environment for technology development.

Optimization of the performance and operation of a photovoltaic-thermoelectric power supply system for bridge safety monitoring microsystems

In the long-term unattended condition, the continuous operation of bridge safety monitoring micro-system (BSMMS) in mountain areas has the issue of insufficient energy supply. Therefore, a photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid power generation system (PV-TEG) is proposed to power the temperature, wind speed, and tilt sensors of BSMMS. The power generation performance and characteristics of PV and TEG are experimentally investigated to find the operation mode to match the bridge monitoring. In addition, the intermittent operation mode of BSMMS is optimized to achieve longer running times. The experimental results show that the output voltage and power generation of the PV-TEG can meet the energy consumption demands of all sensors. TEG power generation is linear with bridge temperature, which can trigger TEG to support the temperature sensor operation. The energy storage battery supports the BSMMS to run for 8.99 days in the mode of running 5 min every 5-min intervals. Optimizing the operation time and interval of the BSMMS to run once in half an hour, it can run continuously for up to 17.97–22.46 days. This work provides a reference for the design of an unattended self-powered energy supply system for a multi-parameter integrated bridge safety monitoring system.

Long Term Forecasting of Peak Demand and Annual Electricity Consumption of the West African Power Pool Interconnected Network by 2032

The uneven distribution of primary sources of electric power generation in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) compelled the heads of states to create the West African Power Pool (WAPP). The vision of this system is to set up a common electrical energy market to satisfy the balance between supply and demand at an affordable price using the interconnected network. Forecasting maximum power demand and energy consumption is essential for planning and the coordination of new power plant and transmission lines building. This work consists of predicting maximum power demand and total energy that must transit through the WAPP interconnected network by the year 2032. We compare the performances of three time series models namely the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Fb Facebook Prophet. Electric power and energy data used for training the systems comes from the WAPP authorties. The results show that, for monthly peaks, the Facebook (Fb) Prophet model is the best, with a MAPE (mean absolute error percentage) of 3.1% and a low RMSE (root mean square error) of 1.225 GW. For energy prediction, ARIMA performances are the best compared to others with (RMSE 1.20 TWh, MAPE 1.00%). Thus, the forecast for total annual energy consumption and annual peak demand will be, respectively, 96.85TWh and 13.6 GW in 2032.

Towards a Learning Progression of Alternative Energy at School: A Literature Review

The enormous energy crisis due to the high demand for energy consumption leads to the need to incorporate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the learning strategy to ensure energy-literate citizens. This study addressed the analysis of the current trends of alternative energy education in the school setting in terms of educational level scope, content area, and educational strategy. The data was gained from the Scopus database and the PRISMA method which includes the identification, screening, and inclusion phase was used. 15 articles were brought to the inclusion phase to be read and analyzed. The result highlighted that the educational level covered in alternative energy education mainly focused on secondary and university levels. It is found that at elementary and high school levels, there are insufficient amounts of alternative energy education happened. Most of the papers covered general alternative energy as the topic and the rest of the articles mainly focus on one type of alternative energy topic. Project-based learning was the most common educational strategy in teaching alternative energy and STEM learning comes as the second common. Pedagogical, professional development, problem-based learning, and virtual lab were also utilized to teach alternative energy

Thermodynamic modeling and analysis of cascade hydrogen refuelling with three-stage pressure and temperature for heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles

Recently, the development of heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles (HDFCVs) has received intense attention. Unlike the refuelling protocol of SAE J2601 for light-duty fuel cell vehicles, the SAE J2601-2 for HDFCVs does not propose a specific filling strategy but only specifies the limits that need to be observed for safety. Refuelling data for HDFCVs at hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) shows that refuelling parameters are often set conservatively, resulting in long refuelling time. To shorten the refuelling time, energy consumption and power demand of the cooling system, we establish a detailed three-stage pressure filling model to study the effects of pressure ramp rate (PRR), initial pressure, number of onboard tanks and precooling temperature on the filling time. Then, a three-stage temperature precooling method is proposed simultaneously, whose cooling energy and power of the heat exchanger are compared with the single-stage temperature precooling method. Research shows that three-stage and two-stage pressure filling can reduce the average pressure difference between the station-side and the vehicle-side storage tanks, thereby reducing the Joule-Thomson heat generated by the reduction valve throttling and the heat exchanger energy consumption. Increasing the PRR and initial pressure can significantly and directly shorten the filling time. Increasing the number of onboard tanks and decreasing precooling temperature have little effect on the filling time but reduce the final hydrogen temperature in the onboard tank, which is beneficial to increase the PRR further to shorten the filling time. Within the ambient temperature range set in this article, compared with the single-stage temperature precooling method, the three-stage temperature precooling method can reduce the maximum peak cooling power by 16.69%–17.38% without increasing the total cooling energy of the heat exchanger and onboard tank's final hydrogen temperature, reducing equipment investment in cooling systems. This research is significant for optimizing HRS design and operation strategies.

Aqueous aluminum ion system: A future of sustainable energy storage device

The world is predicted to face a lack of lithium supply by 2030 due to the ever-increasing demand in energy consumption, which creates the urgency to develop a more sustainable post-lithium energy storage technology. An alternative battery system that uses Earth-abundant metals, such as an aqueous aluminum ion battery (AAIB), is one of the most promising post-lithium battery technologies not only because of its safety and sustainability but also because of their high theoretical energy density in addition to their natural abundance in the Earth's crust. However, the commercialization of AAIB is confronted with many challenges as the three-electron transfer reactions of Al3+/Al are difficult to realize, and its charge transfer mechanism is still controversial. Delicate engineering of every battery part, from cathode, anode, and electrolyte, must be done simultaneously and carefully to realize these systems to meet the requirements of real-life applications. This review discusses the recent advancements in various AAIB designs where different approaches were carried out to realize the trivalent Al-ion transfer. Advanced battery systems with added functionalities in the context of AAIB, such as electrochromic, paper-based, wearable, and biobattery, will also be discussed. As a secondary energy device option, developments in the Al-ion supercapacitors are also highlighted. Finally, the review highlights the challenges and prospects for further research in this growing field.

Optimal Design of Tilted Building Envelope Considering Air Conditioning Energy Demand, Daylight Utilization and Glare Protection—Case Study

An important energy-saving method to optimize building envelope design is the integration of local climate characteristics. This study attempts to find sloped facade configurations to balance air conditioning energy demand and daylight utilization for four directions in an area with a hot climate. Tilt angle dependence of the air conditioning energy demand, useful daylight illuminance (UDI) and daylight glare index (DGI) are selected to investigate the acceptance thresholds of the tilt angle. The final facade’s configuration is achieved by employing the graphical optimization method. An acceptable solution that balances better daylight performance and less energy consumption by air conditioning is developed. Due to the considered city being located in a low-latitude area with great daylight availability as well as a fully dimmable light control strategy, unbearable glare reduction can be achieved by benefiting from the sloped facades, without necessarily sacrificing much usable daylight. Meanwhile, there is no obvious increase in the demand for lighting energy consumption, and a good outward view is preserved. The sloped rather than vertical facade provides natural solar shading to the east-, south- and west-oriented windows while allowing low-angle winter solar heat to warm the building space. Tilt angles between 35°and 40° are preferred for the east facade, and smaller tilt angles of between 30°and 35° are recommended for the south facade. Larger tilt angles of between 40°and 45° are preferred for the west facade. However, the north-facing facade’s outward tilt would cause an undesirable increase in air conditioning energy demand. The annual air conditioning energy demand of the east-, south- and west-facing space is found to separately decrease by 7.1%, 7.3% and 9.9%, respectively, benefiting from the sloped facades.