Energy Utilization Strategies Research Articles

Enhanced Photothermal-Assisted Hydrogen Production via a Porous Carbon@MoS2/ZnIn2S4 Type II-S-Scheme Tandem Heterostructure.

MoS2/ZnIn2S4 flower-like heterostructures into porous carbon (PC@MoS2/ZIS) are embedded. This ternary heterostructure demonstrates enhanced light absorption across a broad spectral range from 200 to 2500nm. It features both Type-II and S-scheme dual heterojunction interfaces, which facilitate the generation, separation, and transfer of photoinduced carriers. The PC enveloped by MoS2/ZIS composite microspheres serves as a photothermal source, providing additional energy to the carriers. This process accelerates charge separation and migration, enhancing photothermal-assisted photocatalytic H2 evolution. The optimal H2 evolution rate for PC@MoS2/ZIS reaches an impressive 18.79mmolg-1h-1, with an apparent quantum efficiency of 14.1% at 400nm. This work presents a promising approach for effectively integrating multicomponent heterostructures with photothermal effects, offering innovative strategies for efficient solar energy utilization and conversion.

Exploring aquaculture related traits of the grooved carpet shell (Ruditapes decussatus) in relation to other bivalve species using Dynamic Energy Budget theory

To assess the potential of the grooved carpet shell (Ruditapes decussatus) for aquaculture in Europe, we used Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory to perform extensive parametrization on the species and compared its energy allocation strategy with those of commonly farmed bivalve species: mussels (Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis), oysters (Ostrea edulis and Magallana gigas), the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule), and great scallop (Pecten maximus). The comparison was based on DEB primary parameters relevant to aquaculture production, such as maximum assimilation rate and kappa, which represents the fraction of energy allocated to maintenance and growth, and compound parameters like the von Bertalanffy growth coefficient and maximum storage density. Furthermore, we evaluated the production efficiency at the population level, which represents the ratio of assimilated energy converted into biomass. Our results revealed notable differences in energy utilization strategies among species. However, uncertainties in parameter estimation and environmental factors challenge the direct translation of these parameters to real-world aquaculture, therefore our interpretation focuses on how these parameters might influence a species’ potential for aquaculture. The grooved carpet shell exhibits a balanced energy allocation strategy with a low growth coefficient and low maintenance costs, leading to high production efficiency. Similarly, the common mussel focuses on growth with significant biomass investment over reproduction, while the Pacific oyster and Mediterranean mussel prioritize reproductive development. The flat oyster and scallop demonstrate rapid growth at the cost of the low production efficiencies. The grooved carpet shell and mussels face constraints such as limited reserves, making them comparatively more susceptible to low food quality and quantity. In contrast, high storage densities in species like the common cockle, scallop, and Pacific oyster suggest resilience to fluctuating food conditions. These findings, along with both agreements and discrepancies with existing literature, highlight the need for further experimental research to refine DEB parameters and enhance their application in aquaculture. Overall, the DEB framework proves effective for exploring aquaculture traits across species and underscores the need for additional work on temperature-related processes, life-history events, and morphological variation.

Carbon-intercalated halloysite-based aerogel efficiently encapsulating phase change materials with excellent photothermal conversion and energy storage

Latent heat storage systems based on organic phase change materials (PCMs) are considered to be an efficient solar energy utilization strategy, but leakage vulnerability and insensitivity to sunlight of PCMs limit their further application in energy storage. In this work, a new hierarchical porous aerogel was constructed with the carbon intercalated halloysite nanotubes (CHNTs) as the assembly units for PCMs encapsulation to improve the load weight, stability and sunlight absorption. The CHNTs were first successfully synthesized through intercalation and carbonization, with the aim of increasing their specific surface area and sunlight absorption.Subsequently, the CHNTs/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) aerogels with 3D honeycomb structure were prepared by self-assembly using a freeze-drying method, which can significantly promote the encapsulation ratio of lauric acid (LA) in the pores of both aerogels and CHNTs. The CHNTs can not only improve compressive strength of the aerogels and shape stability of the composite PCMs, but also enhance light absorption ability of the composites compared to pristine HNTs. As a support material, CHNTs aerogel (CHNP) loaded more than 92 wt% PCM (LA@CHNP) and exhibited an extremely high latent heat capacity (170.9 J/g). The LA@CHNP had good structural and thermal stability in 300 cycles without visible leakage. Besides, solar energy absorption increased from 43 % to 98 %, and the solar-to-thermal energy conversion efficiency increased to 95.88 %, which could be attributed to 3D porousness and carbon nanolayers of the CHNTs. We have successfully synthesized an eco-friendly and facile composite LA@CHNP, which will contribute to the design of advanced composites with excellent solar energy storage properties, and provide a new direction for the application of carbonized materials.

Enhancing renewable energy utilization and energy management strategies for new energy yachts

Hydrogen energy, due to its clean and efficient nature, has shown great potential during the current transition period in the shipbuilding industry. However, the application of hydrogen energy in ship energy systems is influenced by variations in operational load and the integration of new energy sources during actual navigation. To address these issues, this paper focuses on optimizing and scheduling the operation of ships under various navigation conditions, considering the distributed nature of hydrogen energy. System simulations were conducted to model the photovoltaic (PV), proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), lithium batteries (LIBs), electrolytic cells (ECs), and energy storage modules of yacht energy systems. Component boundaries and objective functions were set, and two cases (excess photovoltaic state and constant power state) were designed to optimize and regulate the energy balance of hydrogen-powered yachts, enhancing their comprehensive utilization of renewable energy. By comparing the changes in ship energy under the two cases, it was concluded that case 1 ensures the maximum utilization of renewable energy. When photovoltaic power generation is insufficient, the PEMFC and LIB in the system provide the required power to achieve a supply-demand balance. Moreover, when PV power generation is sufficient, hydrogen energy is used to store renewable energy. The optimization method designed in this study can, to some extent, maximize the application of renewable energy in new energy yachts, ensuring the efficiency of the comprehensive energy system of new energy yachts, reducing emissions, and improving the sustainability and economic efficiency of the ships.

The role of halophyte-induced saline fertile islands in soil microbial biogeochemical cycling across arid ecosystems

Halophyte shrubs, prevalent in arid regions globally, create saline fertile islands under their canopy. This study investigates the soil microbial communities and their energy utilization strategies associated with tamarisk shrubs in arid ecosystems. Shotgun sequencing revealed that high salinity in tamarisk islands reduces functional gene alpha-diversity and relative abundance compared to bare soils. However, organic matter accumulation within islands fosters key halophilic archaea taxa such as Halalkalicoccus, Halogeometricum, and Natronorubrum, linked to processes like organic carbon oxidation, nitrous oxide reduction, and sulfur oxidation, potentially strengthening the coupling of nutrient cycles. In contrast, bare soils harbor salt-tolerant microbes with genes for autotrophic energy acquisition, including carbon fixation, H2 or CH4 consumption, and anammox. Additionally, isotope analysis shows higher microbial carbon use efficiency, N mineralization, and denitrification activity in tamarisk islands. Our findings demonstrate that halophyte shrubs serve as hotspots for halophilic microbes, enhancing microbial nutrient transformation in saline soils.

Improved peracetic acid activation under simulated solar-light irradiation by regulating shells of Cu2O: In-situ photothermal activation

Advanced oxidation processes based on light-mediated peracetic acid (PAA) activation are novel degradation systems for wastewater purification. In this work, different shells of Cu2O are controllably synthesized and used to activate PAA under simulative solar light. Interestingly, the kobs in the system without temperature control is 2.47 times that in the temperature-controlled system, implying the important role of the photothermal conversion effect in PAA activation. Reactive oxygen species identification demonstrates that photothermal promotes the decomposition of PAA into radical OH with higher redox potential instead of R–O, which together with non-radical 1O2 achieves a high mineralization rate (72.49%). The core–shell structure enhances light absorption and photogenerated charge separation of Cu2O, thereby improving photothermal conversion efficiency. Meantime, the in-situ photothermal conversion effect expedites the diffusion of ROS and the cycle of active Cu(Ⅱ)/Cu(Ⅰ) ultimately achieves the high-efficiency and long-lasting PAA activation. This work provides novel strategies for solar energy utilization and PAA activation processes in wastewater purification.

Health-Oriented Emission Control Strategy of Energy Utilization and Its Co-CO2 Benefits: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta, China.

Reducing air pollutants and CO2 emissions from energy utilization is crucial for achieving the dual objectives of clean air and carbon neutrality in China. Thus, an optimized health-oriented strategy is urgently needed. Herein, by coupling a CO2 and air pollutants emission inventory with response surface models for PM2.5-associated mortality, we shed light on the effectiveness of protecting human health and co-CO2 benefit from reducing fuel-related emissions and generate a health-oriented strategy for the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Results reveal that oil consumption is the primary contributor to fuel-related PM2.5 pollution and premature deaths in the YRD. Significantly, curtailing fuel consumption in transportation is the most effective measure to alleviate the fuel-related PM2.5 health impact, which also has the greatest cobenefits for CO2 emission reduction on a regional scale. Reducing fuel consumption will achieve substantial health improvements especially in eastern YRD, with nonroad vehicle emission reductions being particularly impactful for health protection, while on-road vehicles present the greatest potential for CO2 reductions. Scenario analysis confirms the importance of mitigating oil consumption in the transportation sector in addressing PM2.5 pollution and climate change.

Spatialization of electricity consumption by combining high-resolution nighttime light remote sensing and urban functional zoning information

ABSTRACT An accurate and timely spatialization of electricity consumption is fundamental for energy management and sustainable urban development. While previous research has relied heavily on statistical data or moderate-resolution nighttime light data, this study has presented a new spatialization method by combining high-resolution Luojia 1–01 nighttime light and urban functional zoning information. The total electricity consumption volume can be allocated to each land use pixel based on its strong linear relationship with nighttime light. Specifically, urban functional zoning data were connected with the corresponding economic sectors to differentiate the complex relationships between electricity consumption and nighttime light within different zones. The digital number value of every pixel can be multiplied by its corresponding electricity consumption coefficient. A number of comparisons have indicated that the proposed method can more accurately characterize the spatial distribution of electricity consumption. Our results can exhibit much clearer outlines and more detailed internal characteristics. More importantly, urban functional zoning information can be used to distinguish the electricity consumption of various economic sectors at fine scales. The proposed method is expected to capture the spatial characteristics of electricity consumption in a timely and accurate manner. The findings can help local authorities formulate sustainable energy utilization and emission reduction strategies.

Comprehensive Performance Evaluation of New Photovoltaic/Serpentine Collectors using Response Surface Methodology: Energy, Exergy, and Environmental Perspectives

Addressing the global energy demand and climate change mitigation requires novel strategies for renewable energy utilization. Photovoltaic (PV) systems harness solar power and are critical contributors to this clean energy transition. However, stand-alone PV systems capture only a fraction of the incident solar energy, thus limiting their overall energy conversion efficiency. To overcome this limitation, this study investigates the performance of integrated photovoltaic/thermal (PV/Thermal) systems that generate electricity and leverage solar energy for thermal applications. This research compares a stand-alone PV panel and six other innovative PV/Thermal configurations. Each configuration exhibits a unique serpentine-based four-compartment thermal absorber design. A comprehensive energy, exergy, and CO2 emission reduction evaluation combined with the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) technique is assessed in this study. The RSM technique generates regression models for all proposed PV/Thermal designs that can predict the output response as a function of the weather data. Finally, the Energy Payback Time is assessed for both systems to evaluate their financial feasibility. The results reveal that the uncooled PV system shows the shortest EPBT, while the PV/Thermal system offers additional benefits through combined electricity and thermal energy generation. Regarding CO2 emissions and mitigation over their lifespan, the PV/Thermal system could reduce the annual CO2 emissions by an average of 6.42 tons per year.

Influence of nitrogen water interaction on leaf functional traits of dominant species in warm temperate forest.

Plant functional traits are indicative of plant responses to environmental changes, influencing ecosystem functions. Leaves, as a key focus in studying plant functional traits, present an area where the impact of nitrogen deposition and altered rainfall patterns on functional diversity remains ambiguous. To elucidate plant response mechanisms to environmental factors, we employed a canopy-based platform to add nitrogen, water, and their combination. We assessed the functional traits and community-weighted mean of the leaves of three dominant trees and three dominant shrubs. The results showed that nitrogen addition to the canopy significantly increased the leaf dry matter content of the Celtis sinensis Pers, but markedly decreased the specific leaf area of the Liquidambar formosana Hance. The nitrogen-water interaction did not notably affect the specific leaf area and equivalent water thickness of leaves. Canopy addition of nitrogen, water, and their combined interaction substantially lowered leaf nitrogen content and markedly increased leaf C/N. The structural equation model demonstrated a significant negative correlation between leaf dry matter content, equivalent water thickness, and leaf nitrogen content, as well as between equivalent water thickness and leaf phosphorus content. Our results provide evidence for the adaptation of plants to the environment and different strategies for resource and energy utilization.

Game analysis of regional energy utilization strategies under the background of energy structure transition

Game analysis of regional energy utilization strategies under the background of energy structure transition

Recent Development in Reversible Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Theory, Integration and Prospective

AbstractReversible solid oxide fuel cell (RSOC) has gained widespread attention due to their potential for high efficiency in implementing multi‐energy distributed systems. When high power demand is required, RSOC can operate in the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) mode, directly converting the chemical energy from hydrogen or other renewable fuels into electricity. When excess electricity is available, RSOC can operate in the solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) mode, producing fuels through the electrolysis of water or co‐electrolysis of water and carbon dioxide. The reversible operation of RSOC enables the direct conversion between chemical energy and electricity, offering a promising solution for clean and sustainable energy with low cost and high round‐trip efficiency. This paper introduces the research background and working principles of RSOC, provides a detailed overview of the current research status of electrolyte, fuel electrode, and oxygen electrode materials, discusses the optimization design of RSOC stacks and energy utilization strategies in the system. In addition, the future development directions of RSOC were also explored, which is of significant importance for the commercialization of RSOC.

A cascaded thermochemical energy storage system enabling performance enhancement of concentrated solar power plants

Calcium looping (CaL) thermochemical energy storage (TCES) exhibits promising potential for application in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. However, the CSP-CaL integrating system encounters challenges related to elevated heat loss and diminished power generation efficiency. Herein, for the sake of a more rational heat management and enhanced energy utilization, we propose a cascaded energy storage and utilization strategy. Accordingly, a cascaded TCES system model consisting of Calcium looping and Magnesium looping (MgL)-MgCO3/MgO thermochemical cycle subsystem is developed. The energy analysis and exergy analysis results show that the solar power efficiency and exergy efficiency of the considered system are 41.7% of 44.7%, which are 2.6% and 2.8% higher than the single CaL energy storage CSP system, respectively, demonstrating the superiority of the proposed strategy and system for CSP application. Furthermore, the operation strategy of the system under off-design conditions is proposed by considering the real solar irradiation, and the yearly overall solar power efficiency is 39.2%. The economic analysis of the proposed system indicates that the levelized cost of electricity ranges from 179–156 $/MWh for different plant sizes and is superior in large-scale CSP plants. The cascaded energy storage and utilization strategy of thermochemical cycles with different working temperatures provides better dispatchability to meet the different thermal energy demands.

Minimum Energy Utilization Strategy for Fleet of Autonomous Robots in Urban Waste Management

Minimum Energy Utilization Strategy for Fleet of Autonomous Robots in Urban Waste Management

Change and Regulation of Nutritional Metabolism in Silver Pomfret During Compensatory Growth.

Compensatory growth (CG) in fish is heavily influenced by nutrient metabolism. However, there are limited studies examining how nutrient metabolism is regulated during this process. For silver pomfret, an important commercial marine fish, it's crucial to establish effective starvation and re-feeding strategies to ensure good water quality and fast growth. To identify the complete compensatory growth model of silver pomfret, we conducted an experiment with a control group (normal feeding) and three starvation/re-feeding groups. We observed that the recovery of weight and condition factor in the 14-day starvation and 14-day re-feeding groups was significantly faster than other groups, indicating full compensatory growth. Thus, we selected this group for the next experiment. We performed untargeted metabolomics and transcriptome analysis of muscle tissue on Day 14, 21 and 28 (CG process), and examined the key regulatory genes of nutrient metabolism on Day 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 (starvation and re-feeding process). Our data revealed that during starvation, silver pomfret first utilized carbohydrates and short-chain lipids, followed by proteins and long-chain lipids. After re-feeding, lipids accumulated first, resulting in rapid growth, followed by the recovery of protein content in muscle. During starvation, the expression of anabolic-related genes such as TER and CALR decreased, and catabolic-related genes such as TSC2 and MLYCD increased, promoting the AMPK pathway. During re-feeding, anabolic-related gene expression increased without AMPK inhibition. Our findings provide insights into the energy utilization strategies of fish and molecular regulation during compensatory growth in fish.

Microbial community ecosystem network model for chemical energy transport

Microorganisms thriving in low-energy ecosystems have evolved diverse strategies to sustain life, including individual-level energy conservation, optimizing energy utilization through interspecies competition, and mutually beneficial interspecies syntrophy. This study introduces a novel community-level strategy to enhance energy efficiency. We employed an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction network model to capture the intricate metabolic interactions within microbial communities. Our findings highlight the importance of microbial functional diversity in facilitating metabolic handoffs, leading to an improved energy utilization efficiency. Moreover, the mutualistic division of labor and the resulting complexity of redox pathways actively facilitate material cycling, thereby enhancing energy exploitation. These findings provide new insights into the potential of self-organized ecological interactions to develop efficient energy utilization strategies, with significant implications for the functioning and evolution of microbial ecosystems.

Gas foaming guided fabrication of hydrogel beads with controlled phase and porous structure for durable and highly efficient solar-powered water purification

Solar-powered interfacial evaporation has emerged as a reliable and sustainable strategy for clean water production, and accordingly, the rational fabrication of hydrogel-based evaporators has received special attention. The systems with anti-salt accumulation, scalable fabrication and facile use in large areas of water are in urgent need. Herein, MoS2-embedded foam hydrogel beads having hybrid open- and closed-cell structures are constructed via a self-assembly spinning-foaming-crosslinking method. Taking advantage of the internal hierarchical pore structure and spherical surface geometry of hydrogel beads, the assembled “indirect contact” architecture possess efficient in-situ energy utilization strategy, and could induce sufficient Marangoni effect to accelerate water transport and salt ions backflow, leading to prominent salt resistance. Gratifyingly, the improved system achieves an impressive evaporation rate of 3.58 kg m−2 h−1 and photothermal conversion efficiency of 94.7% under one sun illumination, as well as maintain over 3.3 kg m−2 h−1 for 8 cycles (12 h/cycle) even in the 25 wt% brine. As demonstrated by portable solar still prototype, high quality freshwater with production rate of ∼22 L/m−2 day−1 was collected. This study offers a viable strategy for developing the ease of scale, flexible of use, cost-effective and sustainable solar water purification system in real-world applications to mitigate clean water shortages.

Environmental Adaptability and Energy Investment Strategy of Different Cunninghamia lanceolata Clones Based on Leaf Calorific Value and Construction Cost Characteristics.

The calorific value and construction cost of leaves reflect the utilization strategy of plants for environmental resources. Their genetic characteristics and leaf functional traits as well as climate change affect the calorific values. This study explores the differences in energy investment strategies and the response characteristics of energy utilization in leaves to climate change among nine clones of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata). Considering the objectives, the differences in the energy utilization strategies were analyzed by determining the leaf nutrients, specific leaf area, and leaf calorific value and by calculating the construction cost. The results showed a significant difference in the ash-free calorific value and construction cost of leaves among different Chinese fir clones (p < 0.05). There were also significant differences in leaf carbon (C) content, leaf nitrogen (N) content, specific leaf area, and ash content. The correlation analysis showed that leaves' ash-free calorific value and construction cost were positively correlated with the C content. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that P2 is inclined to the "fast investment return" energy investment strategy, while L27 is inclined to the "slow investment return" energy investment strategy. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicates that the monthly average temperature strongly correlates positively with leaf construction cost, N content, and specific leaf area. The monthly average precipitation positively impacts the ash-free calorific value and construction cost of leaves. In conclusion, there are obvious differences in energy investment strategies among different Chinese fir clones. When temperature and precipitation change, Chinese fir leaves can adjust their energy investment to adapt to environmental changes. In the future, attention should be paid to the impact of climate change-related aspects on the growth and development of Chinese fir plantations.

Assessment of household energy utilization patterns in Uganda: A latent class analysis

This study aims to identify classes and patterns of household energy utilization and the predictive factors that determine class membership. Energy is an essential part of a household's socio-economic status. By examining the household's energy utilization patterns, we can better understand how to formulate and implement efficient strategies for adopting clean energy. This study aims at identifying homogenous classes with respect to their energy patterns in Uganda and examining predictive factors of household class membership. The study uses data on 2,138 households from the 2019/2020 Uganda National Household Survey. Using latent class analysis models, a data-driven method, the study identified four latent household classes; ‘Solar-firewood’ (41%), ‘Electricity-charcoal’ (33%), ‘Moderate energy-user’ (19%) and ‘Low energy-user’ (7%). Results from the study show that the main drivers of household energy choice for cooking and lighting were age, education level, housing conditions and wealth status of the household head. This study contributes to understanding the classes and patterns of household energy utilization patterns in Uganda. These findings may help policymakers predict which latent class a household falls into in order to guarantee efficient targeting of household energy utilization policies and strategies seeking transition to cleaner energy sources.

Ultrathin ZnIn2S4 Nanosheets-Supported Metallic Ni3FeN for Photocatalytic Coupled Selective Alcohol Oxidation and H2 Evolution

Photocatalytic anaerobic organic oxidation coupled with H2 evolution represents an advanced solar energy utilization strategy for the coproduction of clean fuel and fine chemicals. To achieve a high conversion efficiency, the smart design of efficient catalysts by the right combination of semiconductor light harvesters and cocatalyst is highly required. Herein, we report a composite photocatalyst composed of noble metal-free transition metal nitride Ni3FeN decorated on 2D ultrathin ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) nanosheets for selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols to aldehydes pairing with H2 production. In the composite, ultrathin ZIS serves as a light harvester that greatly shortens the diffusion length of photogenerated charges, while the metallic nitride Ni3FeN acts as an advanced cocatalyst which not only captures the photoelectrons generated from the ultrathin ZIS to promote the charge separation, but also provides active sites to lower the overpotential and accelerate the H2 reduction. The best photocatalytic performance is found on ZIS/1.5% M-Ni3FeN, which shows a H2 generation rate of 2427.9 µmol g−1 h−1 and a benzaldehyde (BAD) production rate of 2460 µmol g−1 h−1, about 7.8-fold as high as that of bare ZIS. This work is anticipated to endorse the exploration of transition metal nitrides as high-performance cocatalysts to promote the coupled photocatalytic organic transformation and H2 production.