Greenhouse Gas Emission Targets Research Articles

Water-energy trajectories for urban water and wastewater reveal the impact of city strategies

The global water industry has a greater emphasis on energy management than ever before. The confluence of rising energy demand and costs, and net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets means the sector must rapidly transition to a new ‘energy future’. Yet, few cities have assessed the long-term energy use of their water and wastewater systems. Here, we undertake a novel and integrated assessment of the historical trends of energy use for water and wastewater in three Australian and two US cities, collectively 17 million people. The key research question is what were the historical trends of energy use for water supply and wastewater treatment, and what can we understand about the drivers? The research contributes a first systematic time-series assessment of energy trajectories of both water and wastewater, across multiple cities. Uniquely, it integrates long-term (up to 20 years) energy dynamics in a comparative analysis. The work also contributes a qualitative analysis of driving factors behind the observed energy variations. The time-series analysis (2001−2020) identifies how energy use is evolving through time in widely differing climate, urban and water infrastructure conditions. The cities studied demonstrated downward trends in water use by 30–42% and wastewater collected by 5–30%, primarily due to water conservation and drought-related restrictions. Annual per-capita energy use for water supply reduced in Los Angeles (−58%, from 276 to 116.5 kWh/p/a), San Diego (−59%, from 503.7 to 204.2 kWh/p/a), Sydney (−26%, from 40.6 to 30.1 kWh/p/a) and increased in Melbourne (+859%, from 15.7 to 150.6 kWh/p/a) and Perth (+139%, from 118.1 to 281.9 kWh/p/a). Compared to water supply, energy use for wastewater was far more stable (it varied between 45 and 85 kWh/p/a), and not the crucial contributor to overall energy use dynamics. The significant increase in seawater desalination is identified as the primary driver of increased energy use in the three Australian cities. To offset this huge demand, developing renewable energy generation emerged as the key strategy. It causes high fluctuation of renewable energy use shares (Sydney: 317 GWh, accounting for 48.5% energy use for water and wastewater in 2011; compared to 19 GWh, accounting for only 2.5% in 2008). In contrast, both Los Angeles and San Diego managed to considerably reduce energy use by decreasing their imported water volume and energy intensity (the result of an adjusted supply portfolio). However, the absence of consistently comprehensive water/energy/renewable energy data remains a significant hurdle for a thorough quantitative analysis of drivers. Given these observations, it is evident that detailed quantitative analysis for influencing factors (e.g. water use, climate, infrastructure upgrading, sustainability targets), requires separately reported energy use for both water supply and wastewater, reported water from categorized sources and significant other data. By addressing these issues, we can have a clear path towards an energy-efficient, sustainable urban water system with net-zero emissions.

More Frequent Abrupt Marine Environmental Changes Expected

AbstractWe quantify an elevated occurrence of abrupt changes in ocean environmental conditions under human‐induced climate forcing using Earth system model output through a novel analysis method that compares the temporal evolution of the forcings applied with the development of local ocean state changes for temperature, oxygen concentration, and carbonate ion concentration. Through a multi‐centennial Earth system model experiment, we show that such an increase is not fully reversible after excess greenhouse gas emissions go back to zero. The increase in occurrence of regional abrupt changes in marine environmental conditions has not yet been accounted for adequately in climate impact analyses that usually associate ecosystem shifts large‐scale variability or extreme events. Estimates for remaining greenhouse gas emission targets need thus to be more conservative.

Germany's public EV charging points: Analysing the 2023 state of expansion

AbstractThe European Climate Law sets a legally binding target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In this regard, in 2023 the EU Environmental Council decided that from 2035 onwards only CO2‐neutral new cars will be licensed in the European Union. Simultaneously, since the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fuel prices increased in Germany. This has made more and more households think about purchasing an e‐car. However, not every household has the opportunity to install their own wallbox, and when travelling long distances, e‐car users are dependent on the availability of ample public charging stations. Against this background, with a special focus on rural areas, this paper considers the questions whether and where spatial inequalities in the accessibility of public charging stations might currently exist. To approach these questions, based on an empirical analysis of the 2023 official location data of public charging points in Germany, we examine the nationwide distribution, accessibility and available capacity of public charging stations in Germany at small‐scale from the point of view of the ‘household’ as well as those who travel by e‐car within Germany. In order to evaluate the location data of public charging stations we mainly use raster‐based accessibility analysis methods as well as isotropic kernel intensity estimates. We found that, in contrast to the common belief, the network of public charging stations is quite dense. However, taking a closer look reveals that the charging infrastructure in Germany has so far been tailored to the needs of intra‐regional travelers (commuting, shopping, leisure) rather than to those of the residential population with no access to their own wallbox (daily recharging in close proximity to one‘s home) or the mid‐ to long‐distance travelers.

A new Wind Atlas to support the expansion of the Italian wind power fleet

AbstractAs a contribution to national strategic energy planning, recent developments in meteorological modeling and wind generation technologies have improved the representation of the spatio‐temporal features of wind. This paper describes an updated Italian Wind Atlas (Atlante EOLico ItaliANo [AEOLIAN]) released in the early 2000s. The objective of AEOLIAN is to guide future wind generation to accord with ambitious European greenhouse gas emission targets set for 2030 and 2050. AEOLIAN is the result of a collaboration effort between Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE) SpA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which jointly developed a novel approach combining high‐resolution numerical weather modeling with the Analog Ensemble (AnEn) statistical technique. This paper uses dynamical model runs with hourly output for 1990–2019 with 4 km horizontal grid spacing. For 2015–2019, an inner grid nest with 1.33 km horizontal grid spacing is used. The AnEn is then employed to temporally extend the 5 years of high‐resolution runs back through 1990–2014 to create a 30‐year dataset for Italy and surrounding marine areas. A thorough verification is carried out using 104 observational stations homogeneously distributed throughout the territory. Compared with other state‐of‐the‐art products, AEOLIAN provides enhanced accuracy over complex terrain thanks to higher horizontal resolution and the assimilation of observational wind data over the domain, which result in a reduction of model bias on complex terrain and a better reconstruction of the wind distributions. Finally, a new WebGIS interface (https://atlanteeolico.rse-web.it/) to explore AEOLIAN data is described.

Municipal Transport Route Planning Based on Fair Mobility Budget

Abstract A series of initiatives have been adopted in the European Union to address greenhouse gas emissions and establish a society that is resilient to climate change. In response to these initiatives, the implementation of mobility budgets offers a more precise strategy for addressing carbon footprints associated with travel. Prioritizing localized carbon footprint control, mobility budgets are calculated and customized according to distinct regions, goals, and target demographics. When prioritizing the mobility budget as the central objective in municipal transport route planning, the focus should encompass principles of fairness and equity in travel. This entails considering factors such as accessibility, variety of mobility choices, inclusivity of transportation modes, and social justice. Therefore, this article aims to formulate an enhanced activity modelling methodology that would aid data-driven decision-making in municipal transport route planning, while upholding the principles of travel fairness and equity. Тhe results obtained from scrutinizing data related to public bus services and mobile networks are presented. The evaluation of Jelgava’s city transportation network to facilitate mobility budget reduction is undertaken, and this assessment is based on an analysis of data derived from a survey on public transport use coupled with an examination of the city’s mobility budget. The research presents the communication challenges that municipalities will face in planning and implementing changes that are needed to meet the greenhouse gas emission targets and outlines the possible use of visualization tools for modelling, explanation and communication of scenarios.

Ambitious near-term decarbonization and direct air capture deployment in Latin America's net-zero goal

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended more stringent climate mitigation strategies compared to the updated nationally determined contributions (NDC) presented by nations at COP27 to keep global warming temperatures below 2 °C. Given the unique geographical, political, and socioeconomic factors in different regions, it is imperative to evaluate diverse mitigation scenarios required to achieve global climate objectives. This study focuses on the Latin America and Caribbean region due to its vulnerability to global climate adversities and deteriorating climate conditions, notwithstanding its minor contribution to global emissions. Despite facing distinct climate changes, Latin America remains significantly understudied in the broader context of global climate research. The deployment of negative emission technology (NET) is crucial for achieving the end-of-century global climate goal of limiting global mean temperature to 1.5 °C and realizing regional net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets. Most countries in Latin America have established such targets for 2050. Among various NETs, Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) has recently gained research interests. This study examines the strategic implementation of NETs across the five socio-economic pathways (SSPs) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the uncertainties in regional mitigation actions and impacts on the intricate climate-energy-land-food-water nexus. In the scenario where emissions decrease by 56 % by 2030 compared to 2020 levels (NDC-56 %) on a net-zero trajectory, energy consumption under DACCS deployment is 13.1–36.2 % higher than without DACCS (between 2040 and 2100, across all SSPs). The energy demands of DACCS, especially in the aggressive NDC-56 % scenario place significant strain on energy resources, which is offset by fossil fuels. Under a globally co-ordinated climate policy and co-deployment of DACCS and Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), the NDC-56 % scenario restricts global warming temperatures to 1.81–1.96 °C by 2100.

Reviewing the UK's exploited hydropower resource (onshore and offshore)

Hydropower and tidal energy are valuable renewable energy resources that can assist in meeting the United Kingdom's net zero greenhouse gas emissions target. Existing studies have attempted to assess what the future energy resource potential is that can be harnessed from the water environment. Although schemes harnessing this energy, particularly hydropower, have been widely developed across the UK, few of the resource assessments account for already operational sites. This study takes the initial step required to holistically assess an accurate available potential by determining where and how much of the combined resource has already been exploited.During the research it was noted that the extent of development in terms of installed capacity and locations of sites has been poorly recorded. Data collection shows that there is not a single comprehensive database of hydropower and tidal energy schemes. This study has therefore addressed this research gap collating operational hydropower and tidal energy projects.This research determines the total installed capacity of hydropower is 4.66 GW, with 82 % of the powerhouses' locality identified. The contribution of tidal energy is much smaller at 10.63 MW. This research now makes it possible to fully understand the existing hydropower picture for the UK for the first time, allowing for more accurate resource assessments to be undertaken and for a better understanding of what the current contribution of these renewable energy sources (approximately 14 %) can be towards meeting the UK's energy demand (averaging 33 GW in 2020).

Improvement of energy self-sufficiency in residential buildings by using solar-assisted heat pumps and thermal and electrical storage

To reach the EU 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions targets, many apartments within residential buildings can be equipped with rooftop or building-integrated PV systems.However, as non-programmable renewable energy sources (solar, wind) are characterized by uncertainty and fluctuation, it is very difficult to match the supply with the demand for the building’s energy needs. Thermal and electric energy storage play a fundamental role in maximizing self-consumption, reducing the difference between peaks and valleys of the energy demand, and improving the electrical system's flexibility. In this study, the performances of an energy system composed of an electric heat pump (HP) fed by a PV plant and both thermal and electric storage are investigated. An innovative logic of the charge and discharge of the two storages as a function of energy generation and demand has been developed with the aim to optimize the energetic self-sufficiency of typical residential buildings. The results of the analyses carried out evidence that the system configurations with a thermal storage of about 1.000 L and an electrical storage of 5.0 kWh allow achieving rates of self-consumption and self-sufficiency of about 80%, which are 3 times higher than that one achievable by an energy system without storage. Moreover, this system configuration reduces dramatically the power exchange with the grid. The outcomes of this study are useful to provide indications for the design of the storage in combination with a solar-assisted heat pump system avoiding the recurrent praxis of oversizing of more than 100% of the electric storage.

Recycling and Reuse Strategies for Ceramic Components of Solid Oxide Cells

Fuel Cell and Hydrogen (FCH) applications will become crucial to enable the transition towards decarbonatization and meet the EU's zero net greenhouse gas emission targets to be achieved by 2050 (The European Green Deal, European Commission, 2019). As one part of novel FCH technologies, Solid Oxide Cells (SOCs) can be used as fuel cells and electrolyzers, enabling a fuel-flexible and adaptable range of applications.However, the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of SOCs is currently assessed at 5–7 (H2-international, October 2022), which is lower compared to most of the technologies mentioned above. In order to achieve their market breakthrough, SOCs require scalable and cost-efficient manufacturing trails. This involves an adequate End-of-Life (EoL) material treatment, minimizing environmental impact, and avoiding landfill disposals. EoL strategies for FCH applications (including the SOC) are currently in the early stages and have not been adequately addressed. Until now, existing novel technologies and their materials are reviewed based on hazardousness, scarcity and cost. Initial considerations directly for SOC material recovery are given in two very recent publications. In these two studies, the focus was on the ceramic cell part of an SOC, aiming for the recovery of the most valuable cell fractions in a (semi-) closed loop scenario.Challenges in cell recycling arise from the diversity of structures and materials of established stack and cell designs. For industrial applications, planar stack geometry is likely to prevail, further subdivided based on the mechanical support used (fuel electrode-supported cells, FESC; electrolyte-supported cells, ESCs; metal-supported cells, MSCs). As a part of the German government-funded technology platform “H2Giga”, we are working on the re-integration of EoL FESC-type SOCs into the cell manufacturing process.The concept for FESC-recycling (Figure 1.) is based on the separation of the air-side perovskite materials (air-side electrode and contact layer) from the remaining predominant cell fraction (mechanical support, fuel electrode, electrolyte, and diffusion barrier layer).[1] Separation can be achieved by exploiting the chemical resistance of NiO and YSZ to suitable leachants such as hydrochloric acid or nitric acid. In comparison, the structure of the conventional perovskites used is more vulnerable to acid corrosion. The remaining solid fraction then undergoes a re-dispersion step and is incorporated into newly manufactured substrate. The recycled substrate is characterized in terms of electrical conductivity, mechanical stability, and microstructure. Critical components (Co, La) in the separated perovskite liquid fraction are to be recovered from the solution by precipitation.The presentation will guide the audience through the concept of multi-step recovery of the predominant cell fraction Ni(O)/YSZ, and will provide insides of the experimental results, ranging from the hydrometallurgical separation of cell fractions to suitable reprocessing techniques.[1] Sarner, S., Schreiber, A., Menzler, N. H., & Guillon, O. (2022). Recycling Strategies for Solid Oxide Cells. Advanced Energy Materials, 12(35), 2201805. Figure 1

The Rise of Anti-Net Zero Populism in the UK: Comparing Rhetorical Strategies for Climate Policy Dismantling

This article explores a backlash against the net zero greenhouse gas emissions target within the UK. It introduces the term “anti-net zero populism” to analyse ideological and opportunistic counter-movements working to undermine climate policy. It builds a conceptual framework based on the literatures on “policy dismantling” and “discursive opportunity structures” to analyse how right-wing populists seek to undermine the net zero goal and dismantle policies. The article compares these efforts across six specific policy areas involved in pursuing net zero. Overall, it contributes to understanding the roles of discourse for policy dismantling, and the comparative strategies pursued to undermine net zero.

Regional implications of carbon dioxide removal in meeting net zero targets for the United States

Net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets are central to current international efforts to stabilize global climate, and many of these plans rely on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to meet mid-century goals. CDR can be performed via nature-based approaches, such as afforestation, or engineered approaches, such as direct air capture. Both will have large impacts in the regions where they are sited. We used the Global Change Analysis Model for the United States to analyze how regional resources will influence and be influenced by CDR deployment in service of United States national net-zero targets. Our modeling suggests that CDR will be deployed extensively, but unevenly, across the country. A number of US states have the resources, such as geologic carbon storage capacity and agricultural land, needed to become net exporters of negative emissions. But this will require reallocation of resources, such as natural gas and electricity, and dramatically increase water and fertilizer use in many places. Modeling these kinds of regional or sub-national impacts associated with CDR, as intrinsically uncertain as it is at this time, is critical for understanding its true potential in meeting decarbonization commitments.

Evaluating building decarbonization potential in U.S. cities under emissions based building performance standards and load flexibility requirements

In an effort to decarbonize the built environment, municipalities across the United States are joining the National Building Performance Standard Coalition. The National Building Performance Standard Coalition is an effort by the United States federal government to encourage cities to design and implement effective and equitable building performance standards. A building performance standard is an energy policy that requires buildings to meet energy use or greenhouse gas emissions targets in effort to reduce the carbon intensity of buildings. In this paper, we examine the impact of implementing various building performance standards for commercial buildings in 15 cities and one county in the United States from 2024 to 2050. We first estimate the emission reductions associated from a null case (no building performance standard). Next, we implement two building performance standards: (1) an annual greenhouse gas emissions target and (2) a peak grid load flexibility requirement. Lastly, we combine the two to assess the potential impact of an integrated energy and demand building performance standard. We find that individually a load flexibility building performance standard does not contribute to significant emissions reductions but when paired with a greenhouse gas building performance standard it leads to a combined 89% reduction (a cumulative savings of 189 MMtCO2e) across commercial buildings in the 15 cities and one county analyzed. This potential reduction represents a massive decarbonization scenario that far exceeds a 2050 80% decarbonization target and points to feasible policy pathways for meeting climate and sustainability goals.

Indonesia’s Renewable Natural Resource Management in the Low-Carbon Transition: A Conundrum in Changing Trajectories

A paradigm shift is required to transform current natural resource management (NRM) in Indonesia’s decision to move into low-carbon development to achieve the greenhouse gas emission target. No study has been conducted to assess whether or not the current approaches are reliable in anticipating the conundrum of the new juncture. We reviewed 10 cases of NRM practices in Indonesia from 2019–2023 collected from the Scopus dataset by integrating the prisoner’s dilemma approach into the socio-ecological framework to analyze the practices and the anticipated gaps. Our finding revealed that socio-economic governance is the dominant view in interpreting the competition between personal and collective interests in NRM. Seeing NRM as an allocation problem and the excessive use of the legal normative approach in interpreting and addressing the problem are flaws in the approach. Combining the prisoner’s dilemma approach with the socio-ecological governance framework enabled us to address the flaws. Promoting polycentric governance that accommodates social trust, reciprocities, and socio-ecological beliefs and reduces uncertainties about ownership and the resources necessary to reduce defective behavior is a solution to transform the structure of the competition. Revising the socio-economic payoff into a socio-ecological value-oriented institution is the strategy to address the conundrum.

The Potential of Food Fortification as an Enabler of More Environmentally Sustainable, Nutritionally Adequate Diets.

Policies encouraging shifts towards more plant-based diets can lead to shortfalls in micronutrients typically present in animal products (B-vitamins, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids). We modelled the effect of fortifying foods with these critical micronutrients, with the aim of achieving nutrition and sustainability goals, using food consumption data from Dutch adults (19-30 years). Three dietary scenarios were optimized for nutritional adequacy and 2030 greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE-2030) targets, respectively, with the fewest deviations from the baseline diet: (i) the current diet (mainly vitamin A- and D-fortified margarine, iodized bread, and some calcium- and vitamin D-fortified dairy alternatives and iron- and vitamin B12-fortified meat alternatives); (ii) all plant-based alternatives fortified with critical micronutrients; and (iii) fortified bread and oils. Optimizing the current diet for nutrition and GHGE-2030 targets reduced animal-to-plant protein ratios from ~65:35, to 33:67 (women) and 20:80 (men), but required major increases in legumes and plant-based alternatives. When fortifying all plant-based alternatives and, subsequently, bread and oil, smaller dietary changes were needed to achieve nutrition and GHGE-2030 targets. Fortifying food products with critical micronutrients, ideally with complementary education on plant-based foods, can facilitate the transition to healthier and more sustainable diets.

Assessing the cost variability of emissions abatement in small-scale on-farm anaerobic digestion

Agriculture is considered a hard to abate sector in which 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets will be challenging. Anaerobic digestion is a technology that can reduce agricultural emissions whilst producing renewable energy and a biofertiliser. In Ireland this technology was previously evaluated to be a high cost of abatement solution. However, it is not clear if the potential variations in anaerobic digestion systems were accounted for in these analyses; scale, plant design, technology, feedstock and biogas end-use differ between systems and can directly impact abatement costs. This study assesses different biogas end-use options (generation of heat, electricity and biomethane) and varying farm sizes for on-farm anaerobic digestion systems digesting grass silage and cattle slurry feedstocks. To evaluate and compare each biogas end-use for the varying farm sizes, the abatement cost and potential was obtained based on the net present value (NPV) and the total discounted GHG emissions for each system configuration. The abatement cost of the on-farm anaerobic digestion systems assessed varied between −7 €/tCO2eq to 816 €/tCO2eq. For a farm with 185 dairy cows, the integration of anaerobic digestion with the use of a boiler to produce heat sold through a district heating network was found to be a financially viable option. Biogas upgrading to produce biomethane was not financially viable due to the high operational and capital costs of small-scale upgrading systems. A key result of the analysis shows that if a single input variable is changed within the system boundary, the financial and environmental performance of a system can be significantly changed. For example, an increase in tariffs and biomethane sale prices can substantially improve the financial viability from +72 €/tCO2eq to −227 €/tCO2eq. Similarly, a higher cost for grass silage feedstock (€43 per tonne) will unfavourably impact the abatement cost; raising it from −7 €/tCO2eq to 492 €/tCO2eq.

Trends and variability in methane concentrations over the Southeastern Arabian Peninsula

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas with an important contribution to global warming. While national and international efforts have been put in place to reduce methane emissions, little is known about its variability, especially in hotspot regions where natural and anthropogenic emissions are compounded. In this study, the current state of CH4 concentrations and their trends over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and surrounding region are investigated with satellite and reanalysis data. CH4 concentrations have increased over the last 5 years, with a trend in the satellite-derived column values (XCH4) of about 9 ppb/year. A clear annual cycle is detected in XCH4, with an amplitude of up to 75 ppb and peak values in the warmer months. The largest concentrations are found in coastal sites, where sabkhas and landfills are present, and along the Al Hajar mountains, where agricultural activities and microhabitats that may host CH4-producing microbes occur and where advection by the background flow is likely an important contributor. The reanalysis data shows a good agreement with the satellite-derived estimates in terms of the spatial pattern, but the magnitudes are smaller by up to 50 ppb, due to deficiencies in the data assimilated. Surface CH4 concentrations in the reanalysis data account for more than 50% of the corresponding XCH4 values, and exhibit a seasonal cycle with the opposite phase due to uncertainties in the emissions inventory. Our findings provide an overview of the state of CH4 concentration in the UAE and surrounding region, and may aid local authorities to propose the appropriate emission reduction strategies in order to meet the proposed net-zero greenhouse gas emission target by 2050. This study highlights the need for the establishment in the Arabian Peninsula region of a ground-based observational network for greenhouse gas concentrations which is still lacking to date.

Forecast Assessment of Achieving Carbon Neutrality in the Russian Federation in View of Changes in Forestry and Land Use

The article analyzes the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Russian Federation by 2030 to 70% relative to the 1990 level. It is shown that the Russian Federation is one of the world’s leaders in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while the goals set forth by the European Union to achieve carbon neutrality are currently not confirmed by the availability of resources and actually taken efforts. The Russian and foreign approaches to the formation of input data for calculating and accounting the absorption capacity of forestry are analyzed; the results of carbon dioxide absorption estimates performed using different techniques are given, and the balance of greenhouse gas emissions in the Russian Federation is evaluated taking into account land use, and changes in the land use and forestry. The results of the assessment of carbon dioxide absorption performed on the basis of the methodology developed by the Center for Ecology and Forest Productivity of the Russian Academy of Sciences are several times lower than those obtained using other techniques. The absorption capacity of Russian forests calculated by an international group of scientists exceeds the emission of greenhouse gases in the Russian Federation. According to calculations made by the Russian Research Institute for Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry (VNIILM) and IIASA, the absorption capacity of forests is slightly less than the greenhouse gas emissions. The problems and prospects of accounting the reserve lands and forests that have grown on abandoned agricultural lands are described. The prospects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions owing to the development of solar and wind power plants are estimated, and the capital costs for the construction of wind and solar power plants are shown with and without taking into account energy storages. It has been determined that the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the development of wind and solar power plants entails significant financial costs and yields a smaller effect than in taking into account the absorption of carbon dioxide by forests grown on abandoned agricultural lands. Recommendations for achieving greenhouse gas emission targets are formulated, including full-valued consideration of the absorption capacity of reserve forests and farmlands overgrown with forests and shrubs after updating the information of the state forest register.

A comprehensive study for the identification of the requirements for an optimal H2 combustion engine

As part of the fight against global warming and to achieve greenhouse gas emission targets, it is crucial to reduce the carbon footprint of ground transportation. Mobility needs are continuously growing with increase in population. All these factors will lead to an upsurge in the energy demand for the mobility in the very next future. Consequently, the diversification of low carbon energy sources is urgently required. Hydrogen can be used for mobility solution in its two energy conversion mechanisms: The Fuel Cell technology or the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). The latter option, studied in the present work, offers the advantages of current fossil fuel engines – existing and proven technology, lifetime, controlled cost – with a very low carbon footprint. The overall objective of the study is to define the specifications of a dedicated Hydrogen direct injection combustion system for ground transportation application with the best fuel efficiency and lower raw emissions, to minimize the aftertreatment needs. A complete experimental and numerical study was carried out to get valuable information on various phenomena occurring throughout the engine cycle. The very first step of the study consisted in performing experimental investigations. For this purpose, an all metal single cylinder engine originally designed for gasoline spark ignited combustion (tumble air motion, gasoline direct injection) was modified for hydrogen direct injection combustion. The gas-gas injection was experimentally studied in the High Pressure/High Temperature vessel available at IFPEN. Those experiments were used to calibrate the 3D CFD numerical approach. Based on a 0D pre-study (boundary conditions) and using the injection modeling calibration introduced before, 3D CFD simulations have been then carried out with specific hydrogen kinetics properties. Finally, this comprehensive study highlights the specificities of ICE running with hydrogen. It provides indications and guidelines for further developments and optimization of hydrogen combustion engines.

The Use of Solar Thermal Heating in SPIRE and Non-SPIRE Industrial Processes

This paper investigates the use of solar thermal energy systems in SPIRE (sustainable process industry through resource and energy efficiency) and non-SPIRE industries and evaluates the use a novel solar Fresnel collector for generating temperatures of up to 400 °C. The investigation showed that solar thermal energy systems were mostly integrated into the non-SPIRE industries like food and beverages, paper and pulp and the textile industries with temperature requirements of up to 150 °C while few of them were used in the SPIRE industries like the non-metallic minerals, chemicals, basic metals and water industries with temperature requirements of up to 1500 °C. The limitation of those solar energy systems was seen in their application in higher irradiance regions due to the limited operation temperature of certain types of solar collectors, which particularly affected the SPIRE industry sector. To increase their use in high and low irradiance regions, a novel solar thermal system developed by the EU-ASTEP project that could achieve a temperature of up to 400 °C was introduced. The calculations of the theoretical and technical potential application of the ASTEP system in EU industrial processes showed an increase of 43%, of which 802.6 TWh totalled the theoretical potential and 96.3 TWh the technical potential. This resulted in a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 24 thousand kt CO2 equivalent, which could help industries to achieve their 2050 targets for net-zero GHG emissions.

Emission reduction targets and electrification of the Finnish energy system with low-carbon Power-to-X technologies: Potentials, barriers, and innovations – A Delphi survey

Energy systems are rapidly changing, and many promising low-carbon solutions are now available for different industries. For a society to efficiently implement these promising technologies, experts and policymakers from different fields must comprehensively understand the possibilities and barriers of these technologies. This paper investigates how experts in different fields perceive the transition by conducting two broad Delphi surveys regarding energy transition and greenhouse gas emission targets in the context of Finnish society. The focus of the research is Power-to-X technologies, the required actions and barriers for achieving emissions targets, and societal electrification. The results reveal that while it is possible to achieve the ambitious emissions targets, a variety of political and technological changes are required. It is also established that Finnish society will increase low-carbon electricity consumption in the near future. For instance, Power-to-Gas and Power-to-Fuel technologies are viewed possible technologies for achieving the targets.