Growth In Energy Use Research Articles

To better understand AI’s growing energy use, analysts need a data revolution

To better understand AI’s growing energy use, analysts need a data revolution

Integration of renewable energy sources for sustainable energy development in Slovenia till 2050

One of the main goals of energy policy in the European Union (EU) is to gradually increase the use of domestic renewable energy sources (RES), improve energy efficiency and reduce import dependence on fossil fuels. The main objective of this paper is to present a current energy mix, current state of RES and scenario-based assessment for the development of energy consumption of all energy types until 2050 in Slovenia, focusing on electricity consumption. The aim is to determine the energy demand for major consuming sectors (industry, transport and households & services) according to different development scenarios and to show the impact of the contained potential of RES. In the industry sector further growth of energy use is expected. The consumption decline in transport sector is expected after 2030 with electric cars. The household & service sector is expected to have a low and constant growth. The largest RES share of electricity production is covered by hydro power plants with the overall production share 32-40 %. Slovenian hydro potential is already ∼90 % exploit. Largest and still un-exploit RES potential in Slovenia is solar power. There is not a lot of wind potential in Slovenia.

Resistive and capacitive technology recipes for peak cooling load reductions in the global south

Buildings in the Global South are expected to drive a tripling of global cooling energy demand by 2050. In countries such as India, growth in energy use far outstrips growth in population, often to the ratio 3:1. While several building-level technologies exist that could help reduce peak and total demand, the technologies, or combination of technologies, that would offer the greatest peak reduction in the range of climates in the Global South is unknown as previous work has focused on mid latitudes. Hence, we use computer simulations to study, for the first time, six different cooling-driven peak-shaving technologies covering 19 different climates in the Global South. Using Latin Hypercube Sampling to account for the uncertainties arising from building variants and technology performance, we conduct a total of 266,000 annual hourly simulations. While thermally activated building systems and phase change materials deliver the largest reductions in peak and total demand, water storage is the most consistent in reducing the peak, yet had a possible increase in annual demand. We also develop technology combinations, or “recipes”, which suggest that the range of attainable peak and total demand reduction is between 19% - 95% and 20%–99% respectively, depending on the climate. Given the scale of the potential reduction, our results justify the investment in such technologies by governments and others to deliver major reductions in energy demand and peak load in the Global South, but if incorrectly designed, it is clear they may result in reduced energy security and increased carbon emissions.

The coming perfect storm: Diminishing sustainability of coastal human–natural systems in the Anthropocene

Abstract We review impacts of climate change, energy scarcity, and economic frameworks on sustainability of natural and human systems in coastal zones, areas of high biodiversity, productivity, population density, and economic activity. More than 50% of the global population lives within 200 km of a coast, mostly in tropical developing countries. These systems developed during stable Holocene conditions. Changes in global forcings are threatening sustainability of coastal ecosystems and populations. During the Holocene, the earth warmed and became wetter and more productive. Climate changes are impacting coastal systems via sea level rise, stronger tropical cyclones, changes in basin inputs, and extreme weather events. These impacts are passing tipping points as the fossil fuel-powered industrial-technological-agricultural revolution has overwhelmed the source–sink functions of the biosphere and degraded natural systems. The current status of industrialized society is primarily the result of fossil fuel (FF) use. FFs provided more than 80% of global primary energy and are projected to decline to 50% by mid-century. This has profound implications for societal energy requirements, including the transition to a renewable economy. The development of the industrial economy allowed coastal social systems to become spatially separated from their dominant energy and food sources. This will become more difficult to maintain with the fading of cheap energy. It seems inevitable that past growth in energy use, resource consumption, and economic growth cannot be sustained, and coastal areas are in the forefront of these challenges. Rapid planning and cooperation are necessary to minimize impacts of the changes associated with the coming transition. There is an urgent need for a new economic framework to guide society through the transition as mainstream neoclassical economics is not based on natural sciences and does not adequately consider either the importance of energy or the work of nature.

Technical analysis on household energy consumption: LMDI decomposition index and innovative

For decades, Indonesia’s Economic Development had achieved great high growth rates by using more labor input, capital investment, physical and human, and fostering competition. Over time, Indonesia’s energy intensity, which historically always been high compared to other industrialized economies. This study aimed to analyze decomposition factors of energy consumption by analyzing the link between the other nine factors and household energy use. The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index were used to identify the determinant variables that drove a household’s energy usage. This study used a Time-series VECM model for prediction model analysis. The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) and decomposition index were used to identify the determining technological, economic, and social factors driving a household’s energy consumption evolution. We analyzed the outcomes after applying the LMDI. We provided econometric individual time series VEC models, which we used for three targeting models: social, economic, and technical factors. We discovered that economic variables were the most significant factors that aggravated the change in household energy consumption based on LMDI. Technical factors, on the other hand, were the lowest. We found that the government might reduce its energy use over time by improving technological factors. Energy efficiency had been a cornerstone in managing growing energy use. The declining relevance of fewer labor-force in the previous decade was reflected in the negative indication of social factors at home. We discovered that the models were more stable while using Time Series VECM.

Contributing to regional decarbonization: Australia's potential to supply zero-carbon commodities to the Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific has experienced prodigious growth in energy use and is by far the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitting region. Australia has played a leading role in meeting the region's energy and resource needs, becoming the world's largest exporter of coal, liquefied natural gas, iron ore, and alumina. Our analysis shows that these exports are tied to sizeable consequential emissions at the point of use or processing, accounting for about 8.6% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the Asia-Pacific. The paper investigates three pathways by which Australia could instead export zero-carbon energy and products: direct exports of renewable electricity via sub-sea cables, exports of zero-carbon fuels such as green hydrogen, and the export of “green” metals processed from Australian ores using renewable energy. Carrying out robust, high-level calculations we find that Australia has the land and renewable energy resources to become a key exporter of these commodities. Realization of this potential relies on ongoing cost reductions, growing demand-side interest linked to meeting ambitious emission reduction targets in the region, and the development of cross-border frameworks for clean energy trade. If it were to achieve this goal, Australia could make a sizeable contribution to regional decarbonization via renewable-energy based exports.

Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort

Growth in energy use for indoor cooling tripled between 1990 and 2016 to outpace any other end use in buildings. Part of this energy demand is wasted on excessive cooling of offices, a practice known as overcooling. Overcooling has been attributed to poorly designed or managed air-conditioning systems with thermostats that are often set below recommended comfort temperatures. Prior research has reported lower thermal comfort for women in office buildings, but there is insufficient evidence to explain the reasons for this disparity. We use two large and independent datasets from US buildings to show that office temperatures are less comfortable for women largely due to overcooling. Survey responses show that uncomfortable temperatures are more likely to be cold than hot regardless of season. Crowdsourced data suggests that overcooling is a common problem in warm weather in offices across the US. The associated impacts of this pervasive overcooling on well-being and performance are borne predominantly by women. The problem is likely to increase in the future due to growing demand for cooling in increasingly extreme climates. There is a need to rethink the approach to air-conditioning office buildings in light of this gender inequity caused by overcooling.

Simplified Steady-State Representation of Slot Synthetic Jet Actuators to Enable Numerical Optimization With Steady RANS Simulations

To address the growing energy use of data centers, waste heat recuperation offers a solution to better integrate these facilities into the broader energy system, thus facilitating a transition to the decarbonization of the energy system. The use of liquid coolants for full immersion cooling or local heat extraction from high power density components is considered for this purpose. However, heat can also be extracted by novel air cooling approaches, perhaps in combination with localized liquid cooling. To optimize heat extraction from air-cooled systems and maximize the heat grade, synthetic jets (SJs) can be used for targeted adaptive cooling in conjunction with air ducting to facilitate maximum heat recuperation potential in rack or server-mounted air-to-liquid heat exchangers. Internal server layouts can be optimized numerically, e.g., using a multiple objective genetic algorithm approach based on minimization of entropy generation rates. However, since SJs are inherently transient flow phenomena, this would require transient flow simulations, which forms a bottleneck in a numerical optimization loop. This research aims to develop a simplified steady-state representation of a synthetic jet actuator (SJA) with slot orifice using a localized body force to generate a similar time-averaged flow field to a real SJA, suitable for steady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations within a numerical optimization loop. Both flow fields are compared in terms of the mean flow field, jet spreading rate, and turbulence intensity distributions.

Modernity is incompatible with planetary limits: Developing a PLAN for the future

This age of modernity is characterized by consistent growth in energy use, economic activity, and resource consumption, and a generally increasing standard of living—albeit inequitably distributed. All currently living humans, and most academic disciplines, have developed in this age, which appears normal and indefinite to us. But modernity has been enabled by the rapid and accelerating expenditure of our one-time inheritance of fossil fuels, and by drawing down the resources and ecosystems of our finite Earth—none of which can be sustained as we transition from a resource-rich frontier to a human-dominated planet. Climate change is often singled out as modernity’s existential crisis, but it is only one of a series of interlocking challenges constituting an unprecedented predicament that must be understood and mitigated in order to live within planetary limits. While energetic and technological challenges attract significant attention, arguably the greatest challenges are conceptual or even cultural. In particular, as we review in this Perspective, today’s political economy has been designed to value short-term financial wealth over the real treasure of Earth’s functioning ecosystems, to discount the future at the expense of the present, and to demand infinite exponential growth…which is simply impossible on a finite planet. Given all this, humanity should view its present overshoot-prone trajectory with tremendous suspicion, humility, and concern. We call for the establishment of a transdisciplinary network of scholars from across the entire academic landscape to develop a global understanding of planetary limits and how humanity can adapt to the associated realities. We present a set of foundational principles to serve as a starting point to anchor this network and drive a new area of focused inquiry to develop a shared vision of viable future paths.

Can we live within environmental limits and still reduce poverty? Degrowth or decoupling?

Can we live within environmental limits and still reduce poverty? Degrowth or decoupling?

Does not compute: Avoiding pitfalls assessing the Internet's energy and carbon impacts

Does not compute: Avoiding pitfalls assessing the Internet's energy and carbon impacts

Thermal and Photocatalytic Performance of Unsaturated Polyester Resins Modified with TiO2 Nanoparticles as Panel Bodies for Vehicles.

The transport sector is the fastest growing contributor to climate emissions and experiences the highest growth in energy use. This study explores the use of TiO2 nanoparticles for obtaining photocatalytic nanocomposites with improved infrared reflectance properties. The nanocomposites were prepared by dispersing 0–20 wt% of TiO2 nanoparticles in an unsaturated polyester resin. The effect of TiO2 on the curing kinetics was studied by differential scanning calorimetry, showing a significant delay of the curing reactions. The thermal reflectance of the modified resins was characterized by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry, measuring total solar reflectance (TSR). The TiO2 greatly increased the TSR of the resin, due to the reflectance properties of the nanoparticles and the change in color of the modified resin. These nanocomposites reflect a significant part of near-infrared radiation, which can contribute to a reduction of the use of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Moreover, the photocatalytic effect of the TiO2 modified nanocomposites was studied by monitoring the degradation of an organic model contaminant in an aqueous medium under UV light, and the reusability of the nanocomposites was studied with 5 cycles. The developed nanocomposites are proposed as a solution for reducing global warming and pollutant emissions.

Do energy consumption, economic growth, and financial progress influence carbon dioxide emission A fresh evidence from Bangladesh

The rapid industrialisation of developing countries in the world is causing environmental pollution in many areas. As a part of the international obligation, this study explores whether growing energy use, economic growth, and financial progress influence Bangladesh's environmental degradation. This experiment focuses on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach with the existence of structural break, which was identified in 1990 for carbon dioxide (CO2) and used annual data covering 1974-2014 in Bangladesh. The empirical outcomes prove that, in the long run, with the existence of structural break, the burning of energy, economic expansion, and financial progress intensifies the degradation of the atmosphere by emitting CO2 into the environment. This study recommends that policymakers should seek new financial innovations for the country's green economic development to be sustainable. Moreover, the adoption of non-renewable energy is recommended to decrease, and at the same time, it is suggested to adopt renewable energy efficiently to achieve real economic advancement in Bangladesh.

Recalibrating global data center energy-use estimates.

Growth in energy use has slowed owing to efficiency gains that smart policies can help maintain in the near term

The role of innovation in reducing South Korea's energy intensity: Regional-data evidence on various energy carriers

We analyze the growth-energy use nexus for South Korea, considering province-level consumption data for both total energy use and the five main energy carriers from 2002 to 2017. Given the importance in the country's environmental initiatives and lack of Korea-specific empirical evidence, our focus lies on the role of technological change in reducing the corresponding energy intensities and related changes induced by the National Strategy for Green Growth launched in 2009. While we decompose the growth effect into technique and composition effects and treat income as endogenous, three additional indicators are used to measure innovation activity. We find that not only the income-induced technique effect, but also trade openness, government environmental expenditures, and in part innovation, reduce the total energy intensity. Interestingly, the effects of innovation and government expenditures have been significantly stronger since 2009, whereas the total energy intensity has not improved during the same period. At the energy carrier level, the importance of the drivers is heterogeneous. The technique effect reduces the oil and electricity consumption intensity in particular, and increases the renewables consumption intensity. Reductions in the coal consumption intensity are driven by increases in government expenditures, innovation activity, and trade openness. Decreasing the natural gas consumption intensity appears difficult to achieve.

Significant climate impacts of aerosol changes driven by growth in energy use and advances in emission control technology

Abstract. Anthropogenic aerosols have increased significantly since the industrial revolution, driven largely by growth in emissions from energy use in sectors including power generation, industry, and transport. Advances in emission control technologies since around 1970, however, have partially counteracted emissions increases from the above sectors. Using the fully coupled Community Earth System Model, we quantify the effective radiative forcing (ERF) and climate response to 1970–2010 aerosol changes associated with the above two policy-relevant emission drivers. Emissions from energy-use growth generate a global mean aerosol ERF (mean ± 1 standard deviation) of -0.31±0.22 W m−2 and result in a global mean cooling (-0.35±0.17 K) and a precipitation reduction (-0.03±0.02 mm d−1). By contrast, the avoided emissions from advances in emission control technology, which benefit air quality, generate a global mean ERF of +0.21±0.23 W m−2, a global warming of +0.10±0.13 K, and global mean precipitation increase of +0.01±0.02 mm d−1. Despite the relatively small changes in global mean precipitation, these two emission drivers have profound impacts at regional scales, in particular over Asia and Europe. The total net aerosol impacts on climate are dominated by energy-use growth, from Asia in particular. However, technology advances outweigh energy-use growth over Europe and North America. Various non-linear processes are involved along the pathway from aerosol and their precursor emissions to radiative forcing and ultimately to climate responses, suggesting that the diagnosed aerosol forcing and effects must be interpreted in the context of experiment designs. Further, the temperature response per unit aerosol ERF varies significantly across many factors, including location and magnitude of emission changes, implying that ERF, and the related metrics, needs to be used very carefully for aerosols. Future aerosol-related emission pathways have large temporal and spatial uncertainties; our findings provide useful information for both assessing and interpreting such uncertainties, and they may help inform future climate change impact reduction strategies.

Applying the California net energy system to growing goats1

The aim of this review is to describe the main findings of studies carried out during the last decades applying the California net energy system (CNES) in goats. This review also highlights the strengths and pitfalls while using CNES in studies with goats, as well as provides future perspectives on energy requirements of goats. The nonlinear relationship between heat production and metabolizable energy intake was used to estimate net energy requirements for maintenance (NEm). Our studies showed that NEm of intact and castrated male Saanen goats were approximately 15% greater than female Saanen goats. Similarly, NEm of meat goats (i.e., >50% Boer) was 8.5% greater than NEm of dairy and indigenous goats. The first partial derivative of allometric equations using empty body weight (EBW) as independent variable and body energy as dependent variable was used to estimate net energy requirements for gain (NEg). In this matter, female Saanen goats had greater NEg than males; also, castrated males had greater NEg than intact males. This means that females have more body fat than males when evaluated at a given EBW or that degree of maturity affects NEg. Our preliminary results showed that indigenous goats had NEg 14% and 27.5% greater than meat and dairy goats, respectively. Sex and genotype also affect the efficiency of energy use for growth. The present study suggests that losses in urine and methane in goats are lower than previously reported for bovine and sheep, resulting in greater metabolizable energy:digestible energy ratio (i.e., 0.87 to 0.90). It was demonstrated that the CNES successfully works for goats and that the use of comparative slaughter technique enhances the understanding of energy partition in this species, allowing the development of models applied specifically to goat. However, these models require their evaluation in real-world conditions, permitting continuous adjustments.

Exploring the Nexus among Environmental Pollution, Economic Growth Energy Use and Foreign Direct Investment in Sub Sahara Africa

This research seeks to enhance the current literature by exploring the nexus among environmental contamination, economic growth, energy use and foreign direct investment in 6 Selected Sub-Saharan-African-nations for a time of 34 years (1980-2014). By applying, panel unit root (CADF and CIPS, Cross-sectional independence test), panel cointegration (Pedroni and Kao cointegration test, Panel PP, Panel ADF), Hausman poolability test and an auto-regressive distributed lag procedure in view of the pooled mean group estimation (ARDL/PMG), experimental findings discloses that alluding to the related probability values, the null hypothesis of cross-sectional independence for all variables is rejected because they are not stationary at levels but rather stationary at their first difference. The variables are altogether integrated at the same order I(1). Findings revealed that there is a confirmation of a bi-directional causality between energy use and CO2 in the short-run as well as one-way causality running from energy use to CO2 in the long run. There is additionally a significant positive outcome and uni-directional causality from CO2 to foreign direct investment in the long-run yet no causal relationship in the short-run. An increase in energy use by 1% causes an increase in CO2 by 49%. An increase in economic growth by 1% causes an increment in CO2 by 16% and an increase in economic growth squared by 1% diminish CO2 by 46%. The positive and negative impact of economic growth and its square approve the EKC theory. To guarantee sustainable economic development Goal, more strict laws like sequestration ought to be worked out, use of sustainable power source ought to be stressed. GDP ought to be multiplied to diminish CO2 by the utilization of eco-technology for instance carbon capturing, to save lives and also to maintain a green environment.

53CONTROLLING TYPE 1 ERROR RATE IN CNV GENE-SET ENRICHMENT TESTS

With development of society, energy needs and the warnings of global warming have become two main focuses in the considerable aspects of human life. Currently, researchers need to concentrate on applying innovative methods for controlling the growth of energy use. Besides improving the energy efficiency by reducing energy consumption, energy quality issues have become a key topic of interest. Energy quality management (EQM) is a technique that aims at optimally utilizing the exergy content of various energy sources.This chapter introduces EQM in a relative systematic scope. Firstly, this chapter provides a definition of “energy quality,” and then it makes an explanation about the concept of EQM. Subsequently, EQM is introduced in two application fields: built environment and energy conversion technology. In this part, five case studies are presented. A brief description of each is shown below:Renewable energy source is unpredictable and highly depends on climatic conditions, thus energy system reliability needs to be considered for the renewable energy systems. This case study defines the system reliability as a constraint function. EQM is capable of guiding users to make optimizations for energy systems under the predefined constraint.For this case study, EQM aims to explore the optimum energy system that contains solar technologies in order to identify the suitable solar energy utilization pattern for different district typologies. The optimum system is defined with minimum life cycle CO2 emissions and cost as well as maximum exergy efficiency (EE). Then, the effects of different solar energy parameters on the solar utilization patterns for these districts are investigated.As an important means to realize the energetic complementarity and improve the efficiency of renewable resources, the stand-alone microgrid (SAMG) system gains attention increasingly, especially in islands and remote areas. As a testing study, EQM is proposed to formulate for medium voltage (MV) SAMG in the case.For this case, EQM concepts are applied to an ejector refrigeration system (ERS) that uses natural refrigerant R600a as the working fluid and has 100 kW cooling capacity (CC). The system is investigated from thermodynamic and thermoeconomic perspectives. To take EQM for such a system, the objective function is defined as the sum of the costs of brine side fluids, electricity (EL), and costs related to capital investment and operation and maintenance expense. The pinch point temperatures in the three heat changers are considered as the decision variables, with two different economic scenarios imposed to the system. An iteration technique is employed to minimize the objective function. It shows that the optimized objective function is reduced by 8.1 and 7.5%, respectively, compared to the nonoptimized cases for the two scenarios.In this case study, a new ejector refrigeration system (NERS) using zeotropic mixture is proposed. R32/R134a, R32/R152a, R134a/R142b, R152a/R142b, R290/R600a, and R600a/R600 are selected as the working fluids in the analysis. The comparison between this NERS and the conventional ejector refrigeration system (CERS) is made under the same operating condition. It is found that this new system has higher coefficient of performances (COPs) than the CERS. The effects of operating conditions and the composition on the performance of this new system are presented. EQM is carried out to study the loss within each component of the system. It is observed that the irreversibility in the EJ represents more than 50% of the total exergy loss.As the last part, a novel type of advanced EQM based on the conventional EQM is included. Also, an ERS is set as an example to explain how the advanced EQM works. The advanced EQM for an ERS might avoid 35% of the overall exergy destruction in the whole system. It can be regarded as a valuable supplement to the conventional EQM in future.

Thermal equity, public health and district cooling in hot climate cities

In urban environments, ‘chemical’ air pollution has long been of concern. Currently, ‘physical’ air pollution, in the form of excessive temperatures, is likely to impact public health even more, especially in cities with hot climatic conditions. The urban heat island effect (UHI) – whereby big-city air temperatures are already elevated by up to 7°C – is intensifying with urban growth and global warming. Overheating of cities is in addition inequitable, as it is predominantly caused by the rich and suffered by the poor. Heat waves are becoming more frequent and severe. Measures to combat UHI include improved urban design, improved technical efficiencies, reduced heat from vehicles, reduced consumption and palliative or emergency civil measures. A measure of exceptional interest is ‘district cooling’ (DC), the counterpart of the district heating widespread in temperate climates. DC offers economies of scale, higher-energy efficiency than air conditioning, lower climate emissions and other benefits. It is in fact almost the only way to actually counteract UHI, by removing heat from the urban environment, thus reducing the growing energy use and health impacts in hot climate cities. This paper surveys the current practice in DC and its potential benefits.