Importance Of Energy Efficiency Research Articles

Energy efficiency in architecture: Strategies and technologies

Energy efficiency in architecture is a critical consideration in the design and construction of buildings, aiming to reduce energy consumption and minimize environmental impact. This abstract explores various strategies and technologies that can be implemented to enhance energy efficiency in architecture. The importance of energy efficiency in architecture lies in its potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy costs, and create healthier indoor environments. Achieving energy efficiency in architecture involves a combination of passive design strategies, such as orientation, shading, and natural ventilation, as well as active technologies, including high-performance insulation, energy-efficient lighting, and renewable energy systems. Passive design strategies are fundamental to energy-efficient architecture, utilizing the natural elements of sunlight, shade, and airflow to minimize the need for mechanical heating, cooling, and lighting. Proper building orientation, effective shading devices, and strategic placement of windows and openings can maximize natural light and ventilation, reducing the reliance on artificial lighting and mechanical ventilation systems. In addition to passive design strategies, active technologies play a crucial role in enhancing energy efficiency in architecture. High-performance insulation materials, such as aerogel and vacuum insulation panels, can significantly reduce heat loss and gain through building envelopes, improving thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption. Energy-efficient lighting systems, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and daylight harvesting systems, can reduce electricity usage for lighting, while renewable energy systems, such as solar photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, can generate clean energy on-site, further reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Overall, energy efficiency in architecture requires a holistic approach that considers both passive design strategies and active technologies. By incorporating these strategies and technologies into building design and construction, architects and designers can create buildings that are not only environmentally sustainable but also comfortable, healthy, and cost-effective for occupants.

Energy Efficiency Evaluation in Automotive Industry with AHP Method and Best&Worst Method

Energy is one of the most important elements for countries to exist in the competitive market in social, economic, technological and international areas. With the developing technology and increasing energy consumption, the importance of energy efficiency comes to the fore. In this context, the automotive industry, which is an important part of the industrial sector where energy is used intensively, was preferred in the study. Besides the automotive industry's need for energy, its interaction with other industries is the reason for preference. In the study, Energy Efficiency Strategy criterion weights in the Automotive Industry were calculated by using Multi-Criteria Decision Making methods. As a result of the literature research, nine main criteria and thirty-three sub-criteria were determined. The criteria weights of the Energy Efficiency Strategy in the automotive industry are analyzed separately with AHP, which is frequently used in the literature, and BEST & WORST, which is newly introduced to the literature. Comparing the solution results of the two methods is the aim of the study. In the light of the results obtained, it has been determined that the AHP and BEST & WORST methods give close results.

GREEN INVESTMENT, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: DOES ECONOMIC FREEDOM MATTER? EVIDENCE FROM BRICS COUNTRIES

Sustainable development goals, particularly number 7, clearly urges economies over the globe to multiple their efforts in order to improve efficiency. Although witnesses stressed out the importance of energy efficiency and claimed that when it is improved drastically, it triggers economic growth, however, the reported evidences to support the claim are mixed. In BRICS scenario, economies are experiencing the change from high-speed growth to high quality growth, due to which it is equally important to look into green investment as it is an essential tool to build high quality economic growth. Although green investment targets energy conservation as well as ecological deficit as it main goal. However, limited literature claims that it affects economic growth as well. Thus, the present study aims to assess green investment, energy efficiency, and economic growth (EG) and their impact on economic freedom index of the BRICS countries. Methods of Moments-Quantile-Regression (MMQR) approach is applied to explore the association between the understudy constructs in the time span of 2001–2020. Interestingly, it is revealed that green investment, energy efficiency and renewable energy are positively related with economic freedom index of the BRICS countries. With the evidences, the study proposes a conclusive remark to spur development across the countries.

Model-based, fully simulated, system-level power consumption estimation of IoT devices

Internet of things (IoT) gaining more importance due to its crucial role in pervasive computing and also Industry 4.0. Since the number of IoT devices is scaling up to multiple dozens of billions, the importance of energy efficiency is significantly increased. With the consideration of huge variety of IoT device hardware and software, a comprehensive model and estimation methodology on energy consumption is necessary as an enabler. IoT devices are also frequently updated, upgraded and maintained because of the evolving nature of the requirements and market demands. Each and every such operation has an effect on the power consumption and arose the necessity for a new energy consumption modeling and estimation. This process is applicable for development of IoT devices, as well as the maintenance phase. Since the variety of designs is unlimited, and battery capacity is usually fixed, or a cost factor, a generic, fully simulated, model-based energy consumption estimation of IoT devices is crucial. In this study, we aim to address this problem via proposing fully simulated, model-based, system-level power estimation approaches, as well as their success rate in typical real-life scenarios. It can be seen that the proposed methodology has high accuracy over %97. For the realization of the best-proposed approach, we used Open Virtual Platform (OVP) as an instruction set accurate simulator.

Organizational level energy conservation and efficiency - a case of public sector organization in Karachi, Pakistan

Pakistan is facing chronic energy crises since many years. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current status of energy efficiency and conservation practices at organizational level in Pakistan. The first phase of this study evaluates the trends in electricity consumption in selected buildings over the last six years (2017–2022). Subsequently, a survey was conducted in selected buildings to assess employee morale and knowledge of energy efficiency and conservation. Results show an insignificant change in electricity consumption in selected buildings during the past six year’s period indicating a poor culture of energy savings in the selected organization. Despite a constant electricity consumption from 2017 to 2022, a significant fluctuation in average billing amounts was observed. This is possibly due to electricity tariff that has continuously been fluctuating since last few years in Pakistan including Karachi. Study reveals that more than 50% of the employees in selected organization were aware about the importance of energy efficiency and conservation however, they rarely practice the energy saving measures during their routine activities. This is perhaps due to the lack of sense of national stewardship among the employees. It was also found that most of the employees of the selected organization are aware and motivated towards the environmental and climate change concerns related to energy production and its efficient use. However, again a small number of employees were found practicing the energy conservation and efficiency measures. According to this study, companies should encourage staff members to save energy by offering frequent trainings and educational opportunities. Additionally, the organizations ought to think about switching to renewable energy sources.

Bibliometric Evaluation of Energy Efficiency in Agriculture

In recent years, the importance of energy efficiency in the agricultural sector has become increasingly apparent. As the world faces challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and population growth, the need for sustainable and efficient agricultural practices has intensified. Energy plays a crucial role in agricultural production, from powering machinery and irrigation systems to processing and transportation. Therefore, understanding the scientific advancements and collaborative efforts in the field of energy efficiency in agriculture is essential for devising effective strategies, promoting innovation, and achieving global sustainability goals. The aim of this study is to provide insight into and a comprehensive overview of global publications on energy efficiency in agriculture and examine its scientific productivity. The paper explores the research areas and trending topics within the field, as well as the extent of collaboration among authors, institutions, and countries involved in this scientific domain. This investigation is crucial in order to address the current energy shocks and the numerous problems they generate, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach and the need for multiple regions to work together. Only by offering rapid and viable solutions can we effectively overcome this situation.

Nexus of energy efficiency, carbon emission and economic growth in Nigeria

Given rising temperatures, climate change, the alarming increase in energy demand, and the importance of energy efficiency, there is a need for an increasing review subject matter. In this sense, policymakers develop various measures, including renewable adoption and energy efficiency. This study examined the causal effect of oil production and carbon emission from gas flaring on the economic growth rate in Nigeria from 1980-2021. The findings revealed that economic growth and energy consumption significantly increases energy-related emissions. An increase in income level influences investors and industrialists to invest in the industrial sector, increasing production, diversification, and expansion. However, increased production and expansion of industries increase energy demand. Energy demand met by consuming fossil fuel increases energy-related emissions in Nigeria and negatively affects environmental quality. More importantly, carbon emission impedes environmental sustainability and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria. The study is relevant to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals agendas for two fundamental reasons: the world needs Sustainable Development Goal 7 – ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030. (b) Large extractive industries primarily drive growth in Nigeria, and the country's population is expected to double in about 30 years. Energy efficiency for inclusive development is very welcome. This is essential because studies have shown that the increase in unemployment (resulting from the underlying demographic change) would be accommodated by only the private sector, not the public sector.

Energy, Environment, and Sustainability: A Multi-criteria Evaluation of Countries

Energy, the environment, and sustainability are all strongly intertwined concerns. While humanity aims to spread the comfort and welfare it has achieved on a global scale, as well as to achieve more development and comfort through technological advances, it is caught in a stalemate caused by the world’s use of resources as if they are limitless, as well as irrevocable environmental damage. The major topic of this dilemma is energy. Using ARAT, CRITIC, SOWIA, CRADIS, and CODAS-Sort, this study aims to evaluate countries on the basis of energy, environment, and sustainability triangle. The results reveal that developed countries are in a better situation than developing and underdeveloped countries in terms of sustainable energy and environmental concerns. The Nordic countries notably lead the rankings and classification results. The primary reason for this is that Nordic countries have strong climate and energy policies. Given the limitations of fossil fuels, the fact that they’ll be exhausted in a few decades, and the environmental damage they cause, the development and effective use of renewable energy sources is considered a critical solution option. Because it appears that humanity will struggle to give up its existing level of comfort or lower its energy use. The importance of energy efficiency, diversification of renewable energy sources, raising societal awareness, unity in global sustainable environmental policies, aiding societies that are falling behind in achieving welfare and fighting poverty and focusing on energy savings emerge at this point. A strong will and community support will be necessary to adopt and implement these policies.

Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm With Machine Learning and Local Search for an Energy-Efficient Disassembly Line Balancing Problem in Remanufacturing

Abstract Product disassembly is a vital element of recycling and remanufacturing processes. The disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP), i.e., how to assign a set of tasks to a disassembly workstation, is crucial for a product disassembly process. Based on the importance of energy efficiency in product disassembly and the trend toward green remanufacturing, this study proposes an optimization model for a multi-objective disassembly line balancing problem that aims to minimize the idle rate, smoothness, cost, and energy consumption during the disassembly operation. Due to the complex nature of the optimization problem, a discrete whale optimization algorithm is proposed in this study, which is developed as an extension of the whale optimization algorithm. To enable the algorithm to solve discrete optimization problems, we propose coding and decoding methods that combine the features of DLBP. First of all, the initial disassembly solution is obtained by using K-means clustering to speed up the exchange of individual information. After that, new methods for updating disassembly sequences are developed, in which a local search strategy is introduced to increase the accuracy of the algorithm. Finally, the algorithm is used to solve the disassembly problem of a worm reducer and the first 12 feasible task allocation options in the Pareto frontier are shown. A comparison with typically existing algorithms confirms the high performance of the proposed whale optimization algorithm, which has a good balance of solution quality and efficiency.

Transition to energy‐efficient and clean transportation system in Nigeria: Evidence from transportation fuels demand analysis

AbstractThis paper examines the prospects and challenges of transition from the current inefficient and highly polluting road transportation system in Nigeria to a highly efficient and environmentally friendly road transportation system. The study used time‐series data from 1981 to 2019 within the framework of demand for gasoline and diesel in the structural time‐series estimation model, where the concept of the asymmetric price increase and underlying energy demand trends were incorporated into the models. The findings of the study show that both gasoline and diesel are highly price inelastic, and the UEDT is generally stochastic but exhibits a positive trend in a large part of the estimation period. The conclusion and policy implication of the result suggests that governments should combine incentives and public enlightenment on the importance of energy efficiency as well as transport infrastructure improvements with gradual adjustments of domestic prices in the short run. However, in the long run, policy should be extended towards massive investments in the transformation and modernization of the whole transportation sector in line with sustainability, efficiency and environmentally friendly goals in the transportation system of the country.

Disassembly Sequence Planning for Green Remanufacturing Using an Improved Whale Optimisation Algorithm

Currently, practical optimisation models and intelligent solution algorithms for solving disassembly sequence planning are attracting more and more attention. Based on the importance of energy efficiency in product disassembly and the trend toward green remanufacturing, this paper proposes a new optimisation model for the energy-efficient disassembly sequence planning. The minimum energy consumption is used as the evaluation criterion for disassembly efficiency, so as to minimise the energy consumption during the dismantling process. As the proposed model is a complex optimization problem, called NP-hard, this study develops a new extension of the whale optimisation algorithm to allow it to solve discrete problems. The whale optimisation algorithm is a recently developed and successful meta-heuristic algorithm inspired by the behaviour of whales rounding up their prey. We have improved the whale optimisation algorithm for predation behaviour and added a local search strategy to improve its performance. The proposed algorithm is validated with a worm reducer example and compared with other state-of-the-art and recent metaheuristics. Finally, the results confirm the high solution quality and efficiency of the proposed improved whale algorithm.

The Importance of Energy Efficiency in Engineering and Informatics

Techniques for reducing power consumption in digital circuits that underly automatic control of modern engineering systems are of paramount importance due to the simultaneously growing demands for portable multimedia devices and energy conservation. Digital filters, being ubiquitous in such devices, are thus a prime candidate for low power design. We review an algorithmic approach to low power frequency-selective digital filtering, an essential ingredient for energy efficient technological innovation in many domains.

The Importance of Energy Efficiency in Engineering and Informatics

Techniques for reducing power consumption in digital circuits that underly automatic control of modern engineering systems are of paramount importance due to the simultaneously growing demands for portable multimedia devices and energy conservation. Digital filters, being ubiquitous in such devices, are thus a prime candidate for low power design. We review an algorithmic approach to low power frequency-selective digital filtering, an essential ingredient for energy efficient technological innovation in many domains.

Optimal energy management and operations planning in seaports with smart grid while harnessing renewable energy under uncertainty

The importance of energy efficiency and demand response management while harnessing renewable energy draws more attention from many industries in recent years. Seaports, as large scale end-users, aim to adopt energy management systems (EMS) since energy prices have increased over years and sustainable operations is a key target for greening the port industry. Many seaports start to install fully electrified equipment and use electricity as the source of energy because electricity consumption, instead of carbon-intensive energy sources, contributes to the climate change mitigation targets. In this study, a mixed integer linear programming model is suggested to solve the integrated operations planning and energy management problem for seaports with smart grid (e.g. port microgrid) considering uncertain renewable energy generation. The operations planning aims to determine the number of quay cranes (QCs) and yard equipment to assign to each ship for each one hour period. It also determines each ship’s berthing duration which affects the hourly energy consumption due to the cold ironing and the available reefer containers. These plans result in energy demand. Meanwhile, energy management matches energy demand and supply considering different energy pricing schemes and bidirectional energy trading between energy sources (e.g. utility grid, renewable energy sources) and energy storage systems. Results indicate that significant cost savings can be achieved with smart grid (port microgrid) compared to conventional settings. Deploying energy storage systems in port microgrid results in important cost savings. Energy consumption is dominated by QCs, cold-ironing and reefer containers. Finally ports which harness renewable energy obtain significant costs savings on total cost.

Importance of Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Industries for Climate and Competitiveness

Abstract The manufacturing industry in Europe is currently enfacing one of its greatest challenges due to the emission reductions needed to reach carbon neutrality by the middle of this century. The European Union’s Energy Efficiency Directive and Green Deal will force manufacturing industries to significantly reduce their present energy consumption, but at the same time sustain their competitiveness globally. Here we use the Latvian manufacturing industry as a case to analyse how different macro-level factors have affected its energy use and how the industrial energy efficiency has progressed during the last decade. We apply the Log-Mean Divisia index decomposition method to decompose the energy use in the manufacturing subsectors over the period of the past ten years from 2010 to 2019. The findings unravel the key driving factors of industrial energy consumption, which could serve as a valuable basis for effective energy efficiency policymaking in the future. The results show that energy consumption trends differed across industrial subsectors and the effect of industrial energy efficiency improvements was more pronounced in the period following the entry into force of Energy Efficiency Law in Latvia. Significant increases in energy consumption are observed in the two largest Latvian manufacturing subsectors, such as the non-metallic minerals production sector and the wood processing sector, where the current pace of energy efficiency improvements cannot compensate for the effect of increasing industrial activity, which increases overall industrial energy consumption. The results suggest that the Latvian manufacturing industry is at the crossroads of the sustainability dilemma between economic gains and energy saving targets.

Heterogeneous effects of energy efficiency and renewable energy on economic growth of BRICS countries: A fixed effect panel quantile regression analysis

Despite the importance of energy efficiency (EE) in promoting economic growth (EG), the empirical evidence about the growth effect of EE is quite thin. This research intends to examine the heterogeneous impacts of EE, renewable energy consumption (REC), and other factors on EG of BRICS countries for 1990–2014. The empirical results unveil that EE in BRICS countries is an important source for EG. The findings of fixed-effect panel quantile regression analysis clearly explain that the effects of all the selected components of EG are heterogeneous along the quantiles. The effect of EE is significantly positive across all the quantiles, but the positive effect is more robust at 50th and 60th quantiles of EG. REC significantly decreases the EG in BRICS economies, but the negative influence is more robust at the upper quantiles of EG (0.60–0.90). Moreover, the results obtained from Dumitrescu-Hurlin (D-H) heterogeneous panel causality test approve the feedback hypothesis between EE and EG in BRICS countries. The findings also provide the bidirectional causal relationship between REC and EG. Furthermore, a causal association is observed from EE to REC. It suggests that EE is also beneficial to enhance REC in BRICS countries. The study suggests that more prolific use of energy can stimulate EG in BRICS countries by improvement in EE and renewable energy (RE).

Steady-State Predictive Optimal Control of Integrated Building Energy Systems Using a Mixed Economic and Occupant Comfort Focused Objective Function

Control of energy systems in buildings is an area of expanding interest as the importance of energy efficiency, occupant health, and comfort increases. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel predictive steady-state optimal control method in minimizing the economic costs associated with operating a building. Specifically, the cost of utility consumption and the cost of loss productivity due to occupant discomfort were minimized. This optimization was achieved through the use of steady-state predictions and component level economic objective functions. Specific objective functions were developed and linear models were identified from data collected from a building on Texas A&M University’s campus. The building consists of multiple zones and is serviced by a variable air volume, chilled water air handling unit. The proposed control method was then co-simulated with MATLAB and EnergyPlus to capture effects across multiple time-scales. Simulation results show improved comfort performance and decreased economic cost over the currently implemented building control, minimizing productivity loss and utility consumption. The potential for more serious consideration of the economic cost of occupant discomfort in building control design is also discussed.

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Electronic Retail of Household Products

Electronic shopping is getting more and more popular, and it is not only clothes and electronics that people buy online, but groceries and household products too. Based on real-life data from a major cosmetics and household products retailer in the Czech Republic, this study set to assess the life cycle environmental impact of parcel delivery. Two archetype parcels containing common household and hygiene products were designed and packed in two distinct ways, and the environmental impact was quantified using the Life Cycle Assessment method. It showed that it is environmentally beneficial to use plastic cushions to insulate the goods instead of paper. However, the most important process contributing to the environmental burden was found to be electricity consumption in the logistics center. Hence, the importance of energy efficiency and efficient space utilization was demonstrated on alternative scenarios. Since the cardboard box the goods are packed in turned out to be another important contributor, an alternative scenario was designed where a reusable plastic crate was used instead. Even though the scenario was based on several simplistic assumptions, it showed a clear potential to be environmentally beneficial. In the study, contribution of other processes was scrutinized, as well as sensitivity to variation of parameters, e.g. transportation distances. The main scientific contribution of this work is to show the importance of logistics and distribution of products to end customers in the rapidly developing field of electronic retail of household products.

Energy Efficiency of Eco-Friendly Home: Users’ Perception

As the population in Indonesia grow, the use of energy in eco-friendly residences increases. Concerning this issue, the Green Building Council Indonesia provides standard criteria for greenhouses. Nevertheless, eco-friendly homes’ users are still not familiar with the application of these criteria. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the users’ perception of eco-friendly homes’ energy efficiency. The study was conducted in Surabaya and Malang, using a cross-sectional survey method by distributing questionnaires; 200 respondents participated in the study. After the descriptive analysis, it was revealed that most of the respondents had the same perception regarding the importance of energy efficiency in their homes. According to the results, the criteria of water conservation, under the sub-criteria of using fittings for water-saving, shows the highest mean value; so, it can be concluded that the respondents prioritize the household water use efficiency more than other types of energy.

A novel method to improve vehicle energy efficiency: Minimization of tire power loss

The importance of energy efficiency, as one of the most crucial issues in automotive industry, has grown more rapidly considering the global energy crisis and climate change in recent years. This paper aims to introduce a method to increase the powertrain efficiency based on the minimization of tire power loss. Slip resistance is taken into account as well as rolling resistance to yield the modified tire resistance considered in this study. It is shown that the general optimal control problem can be reduced to an instantaneous minimization problem in which the equivalent force of tire power loss is to be minimized at each instant of time. Moreover, tire inflation pressure is selected as the control input bearing its major influence on tire resistance and its potential of being controllable in the mind. In addition, a polynomial inverse tire model is developed in order to find the solution of the minimization problem with lower computational cost. The coefficients used in inverse tire model are characterized as a function of friction coefficient, normal load, and inflation pressure so that the reliability and accuracy of the model are guaranteed under different conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed online control system, called Tire Inflation Pressure Regulation System, is simulated in some driving cycles, i.e. NEDC, FTP, HWFET, and ARTEMIS-Urban, and it is shown that up to 2% improvement is achievable.