Energy Production Methods Research Articles

Effect of hydrothermal reaction time on the photoelectrochemical performance of nanostructured WO3 photoanode

Hydrogen evolution by photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting with the use of semiconductor photocatalysts is a promising method for alternative energy production. Tungsten trioxide (WO3) has been investigated for its PEC performance because of its promising advantages: availability, cost-effectiveness, and proper band gap energy. However, the PEC performance is strongly influenced by morphology, which can be tailored by adjusting the synthesis condition. In this paper, we report the investigation on the effect of hydrothermal time on phase formation, morphology, optical properties, and PEC performance of WO3 films. Nanostructured WO3 films were grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by hydrothermal method at 160 ℃. The morphology and optical properties of the WO3 layer were modified by varying the hydrothermal time of 2, 4, and 6 h. Then, a heat treatment at 500 ℃ for 2 h was carried out for all samples. The crystal structure, morphology, and optical properties of WO3/FTO were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–visible spectroscopy, respectively. The PEC performance of the WO3 photoanode was investigated by a potentiostat with a three-electrode system. The results showed that short hydrothermal time provided a better WO3 film for PEC water splitting.

Status of nuclear fusion energy science & technology for power production: progress & prospects

Energy release by nuclear fusion reactions was first proposed in the context of theories explaining the energy source of stellar objects. Subsequently, laboratory experiments in the 1930's demonstrated the validity of such reactions. From the 1940's onward, efforts began to pursue the controlled & uncontrolled release of nuclear fusion energy for both civilian & military applications. While the military aspect of this technology was proved in the early 1950's, the civilian part, which focused on inventing different techniques to fuse light elements nuclei to produce power, found little success. The main reason for this was undertaking expensive & complicated fusion experiments without fully resolving all the scientific issues regarding each concept. However, the decades – long delays in realizing fusion for power production caused some of these efforts to shift recently & noticeably to the commercial arena where a literal accountability of the progress of these projects is conducted. This status review paper gives a quick historical background on nuclear fusion science & technologies, explains briefly a few innovative nuclear fusion energy production methods with a focus on the rapidly growing commercial trend of nuclear fusion research and developments efforts.

Role of energy technologies in response to climate change

Several crises have gripped the world, clearly showing how vulnerable our energy supply is. However, emissions from industrial and energy applications have threatened our future with climate change. There is a need to redesign our strategies on energy policies. The present energy generation methods have sustained us for a long time, but they seem unsustainable for future energy demands. This energy supply and production could soon collapse if it keeps going on. It will affect not only humans but the whole planet. The primary purpose of this study is to look for new ideas that will help us produce ample energy and consider their impacts on the environment. We could alleviate this energy deficiency problem by involving the frequent use of renewable energy technologies as they do not rely on fuels and seem eco-friendly. However, before initiating any project, their impact on the environment needs extensive research. Some of the possible improvements in some present methods of energy generation were studied and mentioned. The improvement in materials used for energy applications could result in enhanced efficiency. Despite the technological advances we have, there are many challenges before us. Efficiencies of renewable energy technologies could be increased by upgrading the required equipment and infrastructure. Ensuring a mix of reliable energy production methods and ensuring minimal impact on the environment would lead us in the future. Resilient and efficient energy production will sustain our future energy demands at a low cost. Hydrogen can be viewed as an alternative fuel. It contains the highest energy content per unit weight and should be included in energy applications. There is no doubt that another war or crisis would severely affect fossil fuel-based economies. Because of such concerns, the global trend of using fossil fuels has changed. Increasingly, countries are investing in other renewable energy sources. Several challenges await us before we can implement the new changes to our energy infrastructure. In an uncertain future, our priority should be how to produce enough clean energy. The time has come to create new plans for the future of energy, minimize carbon emissions and consider the environmental consequences of these actions. There are many questions regarding climate change and energy supply which we will be covering in this report.

Anaerobic Digestion of Cigarette Butts: Microbial Community Analysis and Energy Production Estimation

Anaerobic digestion using cigarette butts, one of most littered items, was studied not only as a waste treatment, but also as an energy production method. Methane production from cigarette butts was measured through the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test and it was evaluated whether it is possible to produce electrical energy. Intact cigarettes or individual components (filter, paper, and leaf) were supplied as the sole carbon source (substrate) for the BMP test. The tendency of methane production indicated biodegradation in the order of paper, filter, and leaves; however, the filter of cigarettes was the substrate produced the highest amount of methane per total solid. The microbial community was also analyzed in each anaerobic digestion reactor, and substrate-specific microorganisms were identified, such as Proteiniphilum strain (filter) and Methanobacterium formicicum (paper). In intact cigarettes, the related microbial community became dominant over time in the order of paper, filter, and leaf. The conversion of cigarette butts to methane, a renewable energy source, can be proposed as a sustainable route for energy demand, for example, in a smoking room.

Recalcitrant compounds formation, their toxicity, and mitigation: Key issues in biomass pretreatment and anaerobic digestion

Increasing energy demands and environmental issues have stressed the importance of sustainable methods of energy production. Anaerobic digestion (AD) of the biodegradable waste, i.e., agricultural residues, organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), sewage sludge, etc., results in the production of biogas, which is a sustainable and cost feasible technique that reduces the dependence on fossil fuels and also overcomes the problems associated with biomass waste management. To solubilize the organic matter and enhance the susceptibility of hardly biodegradable fraction (i.e., lignocellulosic) for hydrolysis and increase methane production, several pretreatments, including physical, chemical, biological, and hybrid methods have been studied. However, these pretreatment methods under specific operating conditions result in the formation of recalcitrant compounds, such as sugars (xylose, Xylo-oligomers), organic acids (acetic, formic, levulinic acids), and lignin derivatives (poly and mono-phenolic compounds), causing significant inhibitory effects on anaerobic digestion. During the scaling up of these techniques from laboratory to industrial level, the focus on managing inhibitory compounds formed during pretreatment is envisaged to increase because of the need to use recalcitrant feedstocks in anaerobic digestion to increase biogas productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the production mechanism of inhibitory compounds during pretreatment and work out the possible detoxification methods to improve anaerobic digestion. This paper critically reviews the earlier works based on the formation of recalcitrant compounds during feedstocks pretreatment under variable conditions, and their detrimental effects on process performance. The technologies to mitigate recalcitrant toxicity are also comprehensively discussed.

Day-ahead offering strategy in the market for concentrating solar power considering thermoelectric decoupling by a compressed air energy storage

Due to limited fossil fuel resources, a growing increase in energy demand and the need to maintain positive environmental effects, concentrating solar power (CSP) plant as a promising technology has driven the world to find new sustainable and competitive methods for energy production. The scheduling capability of a CSP plant equipped with thermal energy storage (TES) surpasses a photovoltaic (PV) unit and augments the sustainability of energy system performance. However, restricting CSP plant application compared to a PV plant due to its high investment is a challenging issue. This paper presents a model to assemble a combined heat and power (CHP) with a CSP plant for enhancing heat utilization and reduce the overall cost of the plant, thus, the CSP benefits proved by researches can be implemented more economically. Moreover, the compressed air energy storage (CAES) is used with a CSP-TES-CHP plant in order that the thermoelectric decoupling of the CHP be facilitated. Therefore, the virtual power plant (VPP) created is a suitable design for large power grids, which can trade heat and electricity in response to the market without restraint by thermoelectric constraint. Furthermore, the day-ahead offering strategy of the VPP is modeled as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem with the goal of maximizing the profit in the market. The simulation results prove the efficiency of the proposed model. The proposed VPP has a 2% increase in profit and a maximum 6% increase in the market electricity price per day compared to the system without CAES.

Electric Energy Potential that can be Produced Using Cattle Manure in the Isparta Region

Today, in order to meet the increasing energy needs, sustainable and renewable energy production methods are needed in addition to the existing energy sources. Especially taking into consideration the husbandry potential of our country, biogas and energy production through the use of animal waste have emerged as an efficient alternative of production. In this study, the amount of electrical energy that can be produced using cattle manure in the Isparta region was calculated. The husbandry data used in these calculations were obtained from the database of the Turkish Statistical Institute. The potential amount of manure that can be obtained from all of the cattle in the Isparta region was determined as 1,117,002.08 tons. The amount of existing potential manure that can be collected and used for electricity generation was determined as 558,501.03 tons. The amount of biogas to be obtained as a result of the use of animal manure in biogas plants was determined as 12,815,682.93 m3. The amount of electrical energy that can be produced by using the obtained biogas was calculated as 60,233.71 MW. This electrical energy, obtained as a result of the calculations, will be able to meet 6.00% of the electricity needs of Isparta Province annually.

Optimization of technological processes in gas distribution plants of gas mains

Gas distribution plant (GDP) is a part of gas mains performing gas intake from the gas main, its cleaning from liquid and mechanical impurities, gas heating, pressure reducing to the value set, measuring gas charge and further transportation to the consumers. The order of the implementation of technological processes is set according to the construction standards for gas main design. The order of technological processes presented often does not meet the requirements for the cleaning degree and regulation of gas pressure. With the changing of order and optimization of technological processes in GDP, i.e. with the substitution of pressure control valve for more efficient turbo expander unit, it is possible to achieve high reliability and cost effeciency in gas transportation. The method of electric energy production in this process compared to the others is ecologically safe and do not negatively affect the environment. Economical efficiency of the operation may be calculated according to the technical indexes of each GDP.

Assessing Hydraulic Fracking Issues in the US South East and Western Region

In the last several years, the choice of hydrological fracking as an alternative method of nonrenewable energy production in the US oil sector continues to gain currency across regions especially the Southeast and the West. In a country where fracking is no longer deemed as an exercise on the fringe amidst unprecedented expansion, economic boom, and ecological liabilities. The use of fracking techniques in shale fields remains so widespread across different states from California to Mississippi that it now constitutes 60% of the nation’s oil and gas output in the past two decades. This occurred in the face of favorable regulatory environments that catapulted the US atop global ranking of oil producers. While this has resulted in ample generation of revenues and job prospects in the respective states, communities in those places have endured grim impacts and risks on their ecosystems in the form of pollution, degradation, hydrological stress, induced seismicity, land disturbance and greenhouse gas emissions. Aside from efforts of the sector, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders in the search for a common ground on the issues. The mounting ecological liabilities has in many cases aggravated tensions between affected communities and the oil sector. Yet, very little studies exist on the vulnerability of the study area to the impacts of hydraulic fracking using mix scale method of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and energy statistics. Even when data is available, the sketchy nature tends to mar analytical proficiency given the lack of an accessible regional energy information system. Accordingly, this enquiry will fill that void by assessing the issues in hydraulic fracking in the study area. Emphasis are on the issues, trends, factors, impacts and efforts using techniques of GIS and descriptive statistics. Just as the results revealed a surge in production activities and revenues, the impacts consist of sizable use of water and chemicals together with extensive pollution, the disturbance of fragile landscapes and ecosystem decline. Additionally, GIS mappings pinpointed a gradual spread of production activities and concentration of risks across states in the zone due to several socio-economic and physical elements located withing the larger energy structure. To remedy the situation, the paper proffered solutions ranging from ecological monitoring to the design of a regional energy information system, effective policy, community participation/education of the public and the formation of an interagency task force.

A New Chaotic Artificial Bee Colony for the Risk-Constrained Economic Emission Dispatch Problem Incorporating Wind Power

Due to the rapid increase in the consumption of electrical energy and the instability of fossil fuel prices, renewable energy, such as wind power (WP), has become increasingly economically competitive compared to other conventional energy production methods. However, the intermittent nature of wind energy creates certain challenges to the power network operation. The combined economic environmental dispatch (CEED) including WP is one of the most fundamental challenges in power system operation. Within this context, this paper presents a new attempt to solve the probabilistic CEED problem with WP penetration. The optimal WP to be incorporated in the grid is determined in such a way that the system security is within acceptable limits. The system security is described by various fuzzy membership functions in terms of the probability that power balance cannot be met. These membership functions are formulated based on the dispatcher’s attitude. This probabilistic and non-convex CEED problem is solved using a new technique combining chaos theory and artificial bee colony (ABC) technique. In this improved version of ABC (IABC), chaotic maps are used to generate initial solutions, and the random numbers involved in the standard ABC are substituted by chaotic sequences. The effectiveness of IABC is tested on two groups of benchmark functions and practical cases. The impacts of dispatcher’s attitude and risk level are investigated in the simulation section.

Lung metabolomics after ischemic acute kidney injury reveals increased oxidative stress, altered energy production, and ATP depletion.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complex disease associated with increased mortality that may be due to deleterious distant organ effects. AKI associated with respiratory complications, in particular, has a poor outcome. In murine models, AKI is characterized by increased circulating cytokines, lung chemokine upregulation, and neutrophilic infiltration, similar to other causes of indirect acute lung injury (ALI; e.g., sepsis). Many causes of lung inflammation are associated with a lung metabolic profile characterized by increased oxidative stress, a shift toward the use of other forms of energy production, and/or a depleted energy state. To our knowledge, there are no studies that have evaluated pulmonary energy production and metabolism after AKI. We hypothesized that based on the parallels between inflammatory acute lung injury and AKI-mediated lung injury, a similar metabolic profile would be observed. Lung metabolomics and ATP levels were assessed 4 h, 24 h, and 7 days after ischemic AKI in mice. Numerous novel findings regarding the effect of AKI on the lung were observed including 1) increased oxidative stress, 2) a shift toward alternate methods of energy production, and 3) depleted levels of ATP. The findings in this report bring to light novel characteristics of AKI-mediated lung injury and provide new leads into the mechanisms by which AKI in patients predisposes to pulmonary complications.

Non-metallic organic dyes as photosensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells: a review.

The advent of novel technologies has led to the need for environmental and economic integration. Energy consumption plays a vital role in human existence, and thereby sustainable development is the need of the hour. When the methods of energy production are discussed, renewable resources are opted to meet the needs of the future with the key resources being solar and wind energy. Solar energy is widely adapted and harnessed due to its abundance and various benefits. Silicon-based solar cells, though produced higher efficiencies, have many cons due to their toxicity and cost. Dye-sensitized solar cells have been grounded as a better alternative due to their ability to function under low light, wider angles, and low internal temperature. In this review paper, various organic metal-free dyes, and their efficiencies along with their cell parameters are discussed. These metal-free dyes are adopted over conventional ruthenium dyes due to their non-toxicity, availability, and cost.

THE TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AS A THREAT TO RESOURCE ECONOMIES

Changes in global development benchmarks, the gradual depletion of natural resources, as well as global climatic changes are forcing economic actors around the world to look for alternative methods of energy production. The transition to them can be difficult due to the high cost of the produced energy and pressure from states and corporations specializing in the extraction of classical energy sources. The article is devoted to the study of the transition to renewable energy. The article uses a statistical analysis of indicators and makes a conclusion about the relationship between development trends. It is clear with a fair amount of confidence that the positive dynamics of the renewable energy market is leading to changes in the energy market in the USA, Europe and some other parts of the world. Keywords: renewable energy sources, export and consumption of fossil energy, alternative energy, resource economies. JEL Classifications: C10, E21, E23, Q41, Q42 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.10902

Sustainable Conversion of Renewable Energy Sources

Global energy requirements are rising tremendously because of increasing urbanization and the human population. In the last few centuries, the consumption of fossil fuels has caused increased emissions of greenhouse gases resulting in environmental concerns like global warming, climatic change, and biodiversity loss. As a result, progress in sustainable energy has become the centre of attention in climatic change agenda and economic growth. Until now, various methods of renewable energy production have been extensively studied such as geothermal energy, wind energy, and solar energy. In addition to this, the utilization of biofuels from different sustainable sources are also being considered to reduce greenhouses gas emissions. New approaches and developments are still required for the creation of more sustainable, efficient, and affordable renewable energy systems and for the mitigation of global environmental threats. This special issue aims to advance novel developments in the sustainable conversion of renewable energy, providing up to date, fruitful, and actionable insights into economic, social, and environmental sustainability and includes original research articles and reviews to describe the interaction between renewable fuels, CO2 mitigation, and global warming.

Fundamentals, synthesis, characterization and environmental applications of layered double hydroxides: a review

The availability of clean water and energy scarcity are rising issues in the context of rising population and industrialization, calling for advanced methods of remediation and energy production. Here, layered double hydroxides, as anionic clays, can be used and engineered as adsorbents or catalysts. Layered double hydroxides are generally highly stable, safe and recyclable. They can be filled with nanomaterials to form composites of enhanced performance. Here, we review fundamentals of layered double hydroxides, synthetic protocols, and applications to energy storage, dye degradation, organic pollutant degradation, water treatment, photoelectrochemical water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. Composites appear competitive in terms of low-cost, tunable band-gaps and high electrical conductivity.

Energy production by laser-induced annihilation in ultradense hydrogen H(0)

Laser-induced nuclear processes in ultra-dense hydrogen H(0) give ejection of bunches of mesons similar to known baryon annihilation processes. This process was recently described as useful for relativistic interstellar travel (Holmlid and Zeiner-Gundersen 2020) and more precise experimental results exist now. The mesons are identified from their known decay time constants at rest as slow charged kaons, slow neutral long-lived kaons and slow charged pions. Other observed time constants are interpreted as relativistically dilated decays for fast mesons of the same three types, with kinetic energy up to 100 MeV for the kaons. Mouns are observed with kinetic energy of >100 MeV as decay products from the mesons. These particle energies are much too high to be due to nuclear fusion in hydrogen, and the only known process which can give such energies is baryon annihilation. A model of the annihilation process starting with two protons or two neutrons gives good agreement with the observed meson types and their masses and kinetic energies, thus now giving the complete energetics of the process. The process works with both D(0) and p(0). The efficiency from mass (of two baryons) to useful energy is 46% (contrary to 0.3% for T + D fusion) and the main non-recoverable energy loss is to neutrinos. Neutrons are not formed or ejected so this is an aneutronic process. The energy which can be extracted from ordinary hydrogen is 11.4 TWh per kg. This annihilation method is well suited for small and medium energy applications in the kW to MW range, but scaling-up to GW power stations requires further development. It is unlikely that this energy production method can be used for weapons since there is no ignition or chain reaction.

How to get to best oxygen evolution behavior from the electrolysis practice of the seawater

Direct seawater electrolysis is the main method of hydrogen energy production in the future. However, due to the competition of anode chlorine evolution and the phenomenon of cathode fouling, direct seawater electrolysis faces great challenges. Alkali treatment of seawater is the treatment method for most work at present, but there is currently no uniform standard for the amount of alkali. Obviously, excessive alkali treatment will increase operating costs. Here, the NiFe LDH material, which is considered to have the best catalytic OER performance, is grown on carbon cloth, and the optimal amount of alkali treatment seawater is explored. By determining the amount of alkali by the amount of precipitation, it can reduce the operating cost of industrial production. It can also prevent the impact of sedimentation on the life of the equipment. We believe that this treatment method will make a great contribution to the future standard seawater pretreatment method.

CdxZn1-xS/Sb2Se3 thin film photocathode for efficient solar water splitting

Solar water splitting is considered an ideal clean energy production method and has been increasingly studied by researchers. Here, we report a highly efficient Sb2Se3 photocathode using a CdxZn1-xS modification layer. It was found that the ratio of Zn/Cd significantly influenced the photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of the Pt/CdxZn1-xS/Sb2Se3 photocathode. The Pt/CdxZn1-xS/Sb2Se3 photocathode achieved the best photocurrent density of 17.5 mAcm−2 at 0 VRHE and a high HC-STH efficiency of 2.19 %. Moreover, a tandem device with a Pt/CdxZn1-xS/Sb2Se3 photocathode and BiVO4 photoanode was prepared for standalone solar water splitting, and this tandem device showed notable stability for over 8.5 h without obvious degradation. This research offers an effective strategy for fabricating Sb2Se3-based photocathodes to efficiently produce hydrogen via solar water splitting and reveals a new direction for achieving durable and high-efficiency materials for overall solar water splitting.

The dependence of the coefficient of efficiency (CE) of the heating installation "EFI" upon the initial temperature of the heat-carrying agent

The purpose of the study is to determine the increase in the efficiency of the electrophysical ionization device on a scientific basis, which produces thermal energy based on the regularity of the electrophysical ionization process. This research article discusses the dependence of the amount of thermal energy obtained in the device of electrophysical ionization on temperature. It is noted that if in the case of the traditional method of heating the substance used in the heating industry, the relative heat capacity of the substance is important, then when heated by an unconventional method, in other words, the temperature of the substance is important in the electrophysical ionization device. This indicator, determined on the basis of the experiment, emphasizes the need to apply depending on the correct choice of the physical parameters of the substance the electrophysical ionization method for the efficient production of thermal energy in the heating industry from the heat-carrying substance. Although the heating of water is mainly carried out using various well-known traditional and non-traditional methods, the natural law of heating water is unique. This law notes the dependence of the magnitude of changes in the internal energy of water in a certain volume of heated water and on the speed of movement of this mass. Considering from the point of view of the regularity of the above direction, it is noted that in order to compare the water heated by the traditional method, appropriate calculations have been made.

Wpływ bezpośrednich inwestycji zagranicznych, wzrostu gospodarczego i zużycia energii na emisję dwutlenku węgla – przykład wybranych krajów Grupy Wyszehradzkiej

Przedmiot badań: Artykuł wpisuje się w nurt badań dotyczących wpływu zmiennych makroekonomicznych na środowisko. Jest to temat często poruszany w literaturze, jed­nak brak jest jednoznacznych wniosków co do wpływu BIZ, wzrostu gospodarczego i zużycia energii na emisję dwutlenku węgla (CO2) i w ten sposób na zanieczyszczenie środowiska. Wyniki badania dostarczają nowych argumentów w zakresie przedmiotu badań w odniesieniu do krajów grupy Wyszehradzkiej.
 Cel badawczy: Celem autorów była próba zbadania wpływu bezpośrednich inwestycji zagranicznych (BIZ), wzrostu gospodarczego i zużycia energii na emisje dwutlenku węgla w trzech wybranych Krajach Grupy Wyszehradzkiej (tj. w Polsce, Czechach i na Węgrzech).1 
 Metoda badawcza: W artykule zastosowano panelowy model regresji kwantylowej, który bierze pod uwagę nieobserwowaną indywidualną heterogeniczność. Opierając się na różnych punktach kwantylowych, w pełni wykorzystujemy dane próbki do analizy regresji. Dodatkowo podejście to pozwala na uchwyceniu nieobserwowalnych efektów stałych jako parametry, które należy oszacować łącznie z efektami współzmiennymi dla różnych kwantyli.
 Wyniki: Wyniki empiryczne nie potwierdziły możliwości zastosowania hipotezy „raju zanie­czyszczeń” i hipotezy „halo zanieczyszczeń” w odniesieniu do badanych krajów. W związku z powyższym nie jest możliwe stwierdzenie, iż kraje rozwinięte transferujące kapitał w postaci BIZ do krajów poddanych niniejszej analizie, wpływają w sposób istotny na wysokie zanieczysz­czenie w tych krajach, czyniąc je „rajami dla zanieczyszczeń” (biorąc pod uwagę rozważany okres badania). Także nie zostało potwierdzone, że firmy zagraniczne stosują lepsze praktyki za­rządzania i zaawansowane technologie, które sprzyjają czystemu środowisku w kraju przyjmują­cym. Z badania wynika ponadto, że zużycie energii zwiększa emisje dwutlenku węgla, przy czym najsilniejsze skutki występują przy wyższych kwantylach. Stąd też konkluzja, że wysoka emisja dwutlenku węgla w tych krajach jest wynikiem istniejącej struktury produkcji i konsumpcji ener­gii według kryterium nośników energii lub sposobów wytwarzania. Może to być wskazówką dla decydentów tych krajów, aby zostały wzmocnione odpowiednie przepisy środowiskowe w tym zakresie.