Local Energy Efficiency Research Articles

Local accommodation energy efficiency in Lisbon: a red flag for tourism, indoor thermal comfort, and energy renovation targets

Abstract Climate change affects all sectors of society, and tourism is no exception. Adaptation in this sector is challenging because of its vulnerability to rapid change and uncertainties of an environmental and political nature. Local accommodation (LA) (short-term rentals) plays a key role in the Portuguese economy and is, thus, potentially a key driver of increased energy efficiency and promoting buildings decarbonization, thereby contributing both to climate change adaptation and mitigation of this sector. However, there is limited research on energy efficiency and climate change resilience in the LA sector. To address this research gap, this study focuses on four civil parishes situated in the historic center of Lisbon, Portugal. Using a multidimensional approach and cross-sectoral datasets, we assessed the energy efficiency of LA in Lisbon and explored the cost of renovation measures. This analysis exposed poor energy performance in LA buildings and a low frequency of buildings with thermal insulation or double-glazed windows. Despite this, energy performance in the LA sector was comparatively better than in the residential sector. Additionally, LA s are equipped with more heating and cooling systems than the broader residential sector. This knowledge is relevant for researchers and policymakers, contributing to developing sustainable tourism approaches and reaching the objectives outlined in energy renovation policies.

To Study the Construction Techniques for Slum Rehabilitation In Metro Cites

With increasing urbanization, the need for adequate affordable shelter also increases. Housing shortage is one of the major challenges faced in developing countries like India. It is imperative to provide housing that caters to all income groups with special focus on the low and middle income groups. In order to provide low cost housing, it is essential to adopt innovative sustainable technologies which are affordable, fast track, cost effective, durable as well as environment friendly. This seminar discusses emerging innovative technologies that can be adopted in the country to lower housing construction cost and help in provision of mass affordable housing. Some of the technologies discussed are Tunnel form, Sismo building technology, Light Gauge Steel Framed Structural technology, Precast Sandwich Panel technology etc. These technologies are reviewed on various parameters like local availability, affordability, energy efficiency, structural stability, quality, speed, cost effectiveness, eco friendliness and suitability for high rise construction. The advantages and limitations of the technologies are also mentioned. The seminar highlights the potential barriers for adoption of these technologies in the Indian urban scenario and methods which can be employed to overcome those barriers in order to provide affordable housing for the low and middle income groups. Fast track construction is very much essential for the mass housing projects like slum rehabilitation . For this rapid wall technique can be best option for construction

Transactive energy framework in fuel cell based multi-carrier energy hubs based on conditional value-at-risk

The prevalence of peer-to-peer operation among industrial energy hubs is considered a promoting method to enhance local energy autonomy, efficiency, and flexibility. By conducting stochastic programming, this paper aims to minimize the operating cost of multiple industrial energy hubs that trade power and heat energies with each other and utility. Concerning the important role of hydrogen systems, fuel cell-based combined heat and power (CHP) generators are employed within the hubs to increase sustainability. The presence of electric vehicles (EVs) and shiftable loads enhances the flexibility during peer-to-peer operating mode. The trading price for power and heat energies are derived at first by solving a deterministic problem and considering average values for demands and generation. However, to address the uncertainties in renewable generation, electric and heat demands, and electricity prices under operation, scenario-based stochastic programming tries to optimize the expected objective function. Furthermore, the Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) approach is proposed to provide various risk-averse scheduling tactics and measure the risk of each scenario. The results show that the proposed risk-constrained approach reduces the risk and makes cautious decisions about energy resources and trades. In this regard, the expected profit has been reduced by 75%, i.e., from 1636.78 NOK under a risk-neutral case to 414.97 NOK under a risk-averse case to reduce the expected risk in operating cost.

Municipal Energy Efficiency in Portugal: An Analysis of Electricity and Natural Gas Consumption

Analysing energy consumption efficiency is essential for understanding energy resource consumption patterns, identifying the economic consequences, and developing effective public policies. The study investigates energy consumption efficiency levels in Portuguese municipalities in order to analyse disparities in energy consumption efficiency. The aim is to observe the possible relationship between population density and the energy consumed by residents. The study uses the DEA model to detect benchmarking patterns, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement in energy consumption practices. The results suggest that there are serious disparities in energy consumption efficiency between Portuguese municipalities and a significant positive correlation between population density and the amount of energy consumed. The disparities can be attributed to the different levels of adoption of efficient energy consumption practices. The results point to the need to define public policies aimed at promoting more efficient energy consumption practices. The research emphasises the importance of implementing more effective public policies that encourage the adoption of sustainable energy consumption practices by residents. The conclusions have important practical implications for the formulation of public policies aimed at local energy efficiency and the development of sustainable energy consumption.

Impact of the 2022 energy crisis on energy transition awareness in Latvia

Citizens, businesses, and governments faced energy scarcity, skyrocketing costs, and a high degree of unpredictability due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This situation has forced the European Union and national governments to switch to local energy resources and increase energy efficiency more strictly. But has society's attitude changed in the same way? Two separate public opinion surveys and network analyses were carried out to gain an understanding of energy efficiency practices prevalent in Latvia before and after the war erupted. In addition, the energy community simulation tool has been used to quantify the economic indicators under various conditions.The household survey results show that there, in fact, have been relatively few measures adopted to increase energy efficiency among the population during the energy crisis. The developed policy energy community simulation tool shows, that the energy costs in existing multi-family buildings have increased from around 61 EUR/m2 to 83.5 EUR/m2. However, it is still not motivating households to seek solutions toward more efficient energy use and RES generation due to the governmental subsidies to cover steep cost increases. Interventions targeting efficient energy communities through building managers would give higher strength and long-term effects.

The Spatial Spillover Effect of OFDI on Energy Efficiency

The article uses the spatial Durbin model to examine the spatial spillover effect and mechanism of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on China’s green total factor energy efficiency. The study found that, from an overall perspective, outward direct investment negatively impacts local green total factor energy efficiency and has a negative spatial spillover effect on green total factor energy efficiency in geographically related regions. From a regional perspective, the impact of outward direct investment on regional green total factor energy efficiency shows significant regional heterogeneity. In contrast, outward direct investment in the eastern region only promotes improving local green total factor energy efficiency. Mechanism analysis found that outward direct investment negatively impacts the region’s green total factor energy efficiency by inhibiting green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading. These research conclusions can provide important references for other countries to optimize their foreign investment policies and achieve sustainable development.

Experimental evaluation of alternative ceiling-based ventilation systems for long-range passenger aircraft

Alternative ventilation technology bricks, such as ceiling-based, sidewall-based or floor-based ventilation, are of high interest in terms of manufacturing and customization benefits for passenger aircraft. Two novel ventilation systems and state-of-the-art Mixing Ventilation (MV) were experimentally investigated under static conditions in a ground-based research facility. In case of Micro-Jet Ventilation, a perforated ceiling brings the air into the cabin as localized micro-jets with high momentum. Further, Low-Momentum Ceiling Ventilation characterized by a low-momentum air supply through planar and large-surface inlets is investigated. The measurement techniques and the test matrix were designed in order to quantify and evaluate thermal comfort, local air quality and energy efficiency of the ventilation concept. The results proved that there is not one single ventilation concept which optimizes all challenges: air quality, thermal comfort and energy efficiency. Both advantages and disadvantages were found for each ventilation system. In terms of technology bricks, the following main results were found: The average local age-of-air was between 5 and 14%, depending on the boundary conditions. It was lower for the ceiling-based concepts compared to state-of-the-art MV. At the same time the average CO2 concentration decreased by 7–14% for the ceiling-based concepts compared to MV. The local velocities in the vicinity of the passengers were similar for cruise conditions, whereas they decreased by up to 38% in case of hot-day-on-ground conditions for ceiling-based ventilation compared to MV. On the other hand, the heat removal efficiency was low for all concepts and the temperature stratification increased in case of ceiling-based ventilation.

HetNets under Decoupled Uplink and Downlink Access with UE Random Discontinuous Transmission: Local Delay and Energy Efficiency

HetNets under Decoupled Uplink and Downlink Access with UE Random Discontinuous Transmission: Local Delay and Energy Efficiency

Topographic metabolism-function relationships in Alzheimer's disease: A simultaneous PET/MRI study.

Disruptions of neural metabolism and function occur in parallel during Alzheimer's disease (AD). While many studies have shown diverse metabolic-functional relationships in specific brain regions, much less is known about how large-scale network-level functional activity is associated with the topology of metabolism in AD. In this study, we took the advantages of simultaneous PET/MRI and multivariate analyses to investigate the associations between AD-related stereotypical spatial patterns (topographies) of glucose metabolism, measured by fluorodeoxyglucose PET, and functional connectivity, measured by resting-state functional MRI. A total of 101 participants, including 37 patients with AD, 25 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 39 cognitively normal controls, underwent PET/MRI scans and cognitive assessments. Three pairs of distinct but optimally correlated metabolic and functional topographies were identified, encompassing large-scale networks including the default-mode, executive and control, salience, attention, and subcortical networks. Importantly, the metabolic-functional associations were not only limited to one-to-one-corresponding regions, but also occur in remote and non-overlapping regions. Furthermore, both glucose metabolism and functional connectivity, as well as their linkages, exhibited various degrees of disruptions in patients with MCI and AD, and were correlated with cognitive decline. In conclusion, our results support distributed and heterogeneous topographic associations between metabolism and function, which are jeopardized by AD. Findings of this study may deepen our understanding of the pathological mechanism of AD through the perspectives of both local energy efficiency and long-term interactions between synaptic disruption and functional disconnection contributing to the clinical symptomatology in AD.

The impact of import expansion on energy efficiency: Perspective of cities' geographical characteristics

Energy is an indispensable propeller for economic growth. Improving energy efficiency not only mitigates energy scarcity, but also represents an imperative option for reducing ecological and environmental strain, addressing the challenges of contemporary global warming. With China's increasing participation in global value chains through imports, the question arises: can import trade contribute to advancing energy efficiency? This matter holds great significance in resolving present-day energy challenges and fostering sustainable economic progress. We employ super-SBM model to measure the energy efficiency of cities; based on the data collected from prefecture-level cities from 2000 to 2016, Our findings indicate that: (1) Import trade significantly enhances cities' energy efficiency. (2) Geographical and climatic conditions significantly impact the energy effect of import trade; the enhancement effect is more significant in eastern and northeastern regions, low-relief areas, low-temperature and low-humidity cities. (3) Import trade not only improves local energy efficiency, but also promotes energy efficiency improvement in neighbouring cities, this spatial spillover effect holds significantly under various spatial matrices. We must fully utilize the promotional impact of import trade to enhance the energy efficiency of cities, and maintain our commitment to executing an active import promotion strategy. Considering the impact of topography, climate, and other geographical factors, we must emphasize the role of geographical conditions in optimizing energy and environment. Furthermore, we should encourage inter-regional economic and trade exchanges and establish a joint governance mechanism for cross-regional collaboration.

Does industrial co-agglomeration promote green energy efficiency? Evidence from spatial panel data of 284 cities in China.

Industrial co-agglomeration (IC) plays a pivotal role in the development of local and adjacent green energy efficiency across 284 Chinese cities, encompassing both resource-based and non-resource-based urban centers. Based on the panel data of 284 cities in China from 2005 to 2020, this study employs spatial econometric methods to empirically assess the influence of IC and its spillover effects on green energy efficiency, employing a spatial Durbin model. Additionally, the study categorizes the 284 Chinese cities into resource-based and non-resource-based categories, utilizing spatial econometric methods to delve into the heterogeneity of their effects and spillover impacts. The key findings are as follows: (1) The average green energy efficiency across the 284 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2020 stands at 0.5834. The trend in IC indicates growth and concentration towards the central areas, increasing from 2.7396 in 2005 to 2.7658 in 2020. (2) The IC, with a coefficient of 0.0918, promotes the local green energy efficiency. (3) There are spillover effects of local IC on the green energy efficiency in adjacent areas with a coefficient of 0.2550 and an Indirect Effect of 0.4567. (4) In resource-based cities, IC positively impacts local green energy efficiency with a coefficient of 0.1056 but negatively affects green energy efficiency in adjacent areas with a coefficient of -0.1368. In non-resource-based cities, IC enhances green energy efficiency in adjacent cities with a coefficient of 0.1335. Consequently, the study offers pertinent policy recommendations aimed at improving energy efficiency in light of these findings.

Sustainability assessment of hydrogen production based on nuclear energy

Hydrogen is expected to be a key energy carrier in the global energy transition. A promising method of hydrogen production is water electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. This energy source can also be used in other hydrogen production technologies, such as copper-chlorine cycle. Proper comparison of various hydrogen production methods from the sustainability perspective requires the use of analysis in a global balance boundary. The paper presents a comparison of sustainability of various hydrogen generation methods, with emphasis on the methods exploiting nuclear energy. Instead of local energy efficiency, the index of Thermo-Ecological Cost (TEC) is proposed. TEC is a measure of the depletion of non-renewable resources burdening the production of a given product. Other criteria used in the assessment are: availability of energy supply (capacity factor), cumulative greenhouse gas emissions and resources to production ratio. In addition, water electrolysis and copper-chlorine cycle have been considered cogeneration processes, providing oxygen as a useful by-product. Taking into account all the criteria suggests that obtaining hydrogen with the use of nuclear technologies will provide a fair, long-term compromise compared to other hydrogen generation technologies.

How does environmental legislation guide urban green transition development? Evidence from China

Based on the unique perspective of local environmental regulations promulgated in Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2000 to 2018, this paper examines the impact of urban environmental legislation on green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE). The results show that implementing environmental legislation significantly improves local GTFEE, with comprehensive protection regulations contributing to local energy efficiency improvements, while the impact of pollution prevention regulations is insignificant. This conclusion remains robust to multiple scenarios. Potential mechanisms through which environmental legislation can guide urban green transition include the industrial upgrading effect represented by “clean industry development” and “polluting industry exit”, as well as the technical innovation effect achieved through “new technology generation” and “old technology upgrading”. Furthermore, environmental legislation with a higher degree of regulatory effectiveness has a greater potential for energy saving. Environmental legislation has a more significant impact on improving GTFEE in cities in non-old industrial bases, with less frequent turnover of officials, and in central and western regions in China. This study evaluates the positive impact of urban environmental legislation on GTFEE, aiming to advancing the rule of law in local environmental pollution governance and thereby promote urban green transition.

Thermo-ecological cost – System evaluation of energy-ecological efficiency of hydrogen production from renewable and non-renewable energy resources

Hydrogen is expected to be a key fuel in the global energy transition. It is characterised by diverse potential applications in the industrial, transport, energy and building sectors. An increase of hydrogen production from renewable energy (RES) is especially important from the point of view of further sustainable development. However, a dominant share of hydrogen production is still covered by steam methane reforming (SMR). In order to facilitate the increase of the share of H2 from RES, efficiency of various hydrogen production technologies should be properly assessed. Majority of scientific publications consider only the local energy efficiency of the hydrogen production methods. From this perspective the production of hydrogen by SMR is characterised by higher efficiency than production of hydrogen from RES. In order to properly evaluate the global efficiency of hydrogen production technologies, we propose an advanced system exergy analysis – Thermo-Ecological Cost (TEC). Additionally, we propose to consider the production of hydrogen via electrolysis as cogeneration of two useful products - hydrogen and oxygen. Such approach allows to decompose the energy expenditure for the process and assign a lower burden for the main product (hydrogen). The results of TEC analysis for hydrogen production from non-renewable and renewable resources are presented and compared with the local energy efficiency of these technologies. The presented results confirm the thesis that local energy efficiency is not a proper tool for evaluation of effectiveness of hydrogen technologies, especially when production of hydrogen from non-renewable and renewable energy is to be compared.

How can market-oriented environmental regulation improve urban energy efficiency? Evidence from quasi-experiment in China's SO2 trading emissions system

Improving energy efficiency helps achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. Examining whether China's SO2 trading emission system (TES) reform can enhance energy efficiency will provide empirical evidence for the institutional benefit of market-oriented environmental regulation in environmental governance. This paper employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the effect of SO2 TES on energy efficiency using panel data from 285 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2018. The empirical results indicate that: (1) SO2 TES significantly promoted green total factor energy efficiency and reduced energy intensity. This conclusion is still valid after the prerequisite assumption test and robustness test. (2) SO2 TES significantly promotes local energy efficiency and has significant spatial spillover effects on surrounding cities. (3) Promoting green technological progress, resource allocation, and curbing energy consumption, are the primary mechanisms for SO2 TES to improve energy efficiency. (4) SO2 TES's improvement in energy efficiency comes more from eastern, developed, small, resource-based, and non-old industrial cities.

How Does Digital Finance Affect Energy Efficiency?—Characteristics, Mechanisms, and Spatial Effects

The boundaries of traditional financial services have been expanded by digital finance, which has boosted their effectiveness and quality while encouraging energy-efficient production and lifestyles, and also influencing energy efficiency. This connection between energy efficiency and digital finance is empirically investigated in this paper using panel data from 278 cities from 2011 to 2019. The main findings indicate that energy efficiency can be greatly increased via digital finance. Moreover, usage depth and digitalization level can improve energy efficiency while coverage inhibits it; developed digital finance regions, central regions, and resource-based cities have all seen improvements in energy efficiency. Furthermore, green technology innovation and R&D investment are mechanisms for digital finance that can improve energy efficiency. Finally, further research illustrates that digital finance can improve local energy efficiency while inhibiting neighboring areas’ efficiency, though this effect is insignificant. This research provides additional impetus for a rise in energy efficiency due to the growth of digital finance.

Energy prosumerism using photovoltaic power plant and hydrogen combustion engine: Energy and thermo-ecological assessment

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) represent an attractive way to save natural resources and improve the overall impact of power systems on the environment. A continuous increase of share of RES in national energy mixes is observed, and due to the energy policy of the European Union and many other countries, further increase is expected. A disadvantage of RES is their random, weather-dependent availability, which requires energy storage. A promising method of integrating RES with the energy system is the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier (e.g. coupling RES with electrolyzers in order to directly use the renewable electricity for production of hydrogen). In the present work, a simulation of cooperation of a photovoltaic power plant with a gas piston engine fueled by hydrogen was performed, with and without the presence of energy storage. The aim of the analysis is twofold. First, the “compensation losses” due to forced part-load operation of the engine coupled with RES are evaluated and compared with “storage losses” resulting from the thermodynamic imperfectness of the storage; this allows to calculate the minimum round-trip efficiency of storage required for positive energy effect. The “compensation losses” have been determined to be of the order of magnitude of 2%, and the minimum round-trip efficiency of storage to be at the level of 85%. Second, a thermo-ecological analysis was carried out to determine the impact of the source of hydrogen on the overall ecological effectiveness of the system. Contrary to the commonly used measure of “energy efficiency” describing a local balance boundary, thermo-ecological cost (TEC) evaluates the consumption of non-renewable exergy within a global balance boundary. The analysis confirmed that comparing various hydrogen production methods (especially renewable and non-renewable) in terms of local energy efficiency is inadequate, because it does not tell much about their sustainability. For a hydrogen energy system basing on the water electrolysis – hydrogen transport/storage – combustion in a gas piston engine pathway to be considered sustainable, the input electricity to the electrolysis process should be characterized by TEC lower than ∼0.15 J∗/J, a value which even some renewable energy sources fail to achieve.

Local conditions for the decentralization of energy systems

ABSTRACT Local energy systems (LES) are designed to decarbonize, balance, and coordinate supply, storage and demand resources. Which local conditions enable LES to flourish? Using a unique dataset of 146 LES projects in the UK from 2010 to 2020, we apply econometric methods to identify energy, institutional and socio-economic conditions significantly associated with LES, but not other local energy forms. We show distributed power generation, low-carbon infrastructure firm activity, local government strategy and active energy efficiency markets are enablers of LES involving multiple actors, sectors and skill sets. These conditions describe a clear policy agenda for stimulating and supporting emerging local energy markets.

Spatial effects of technology market development on energy efficiency: Heterogeneity analysis based on the characteristics of technology market

Technology development can help improve energy efficiency and achieve “peak carbon and carbon neutrality.” In contrast to the existing studies on technological innovation and energy efficiency, this is the first discussion based on technology market development and energy efficiency to the best of our knowledge, which provides a new point for ways to improve energy efficiency. A significant positive spatial correlation was found between technology market development and energy efficiency. Technology market development can effectively improve “local-neighborhood” energy efficiency. This finding holds after the endogeneity test of GS2SLS and transformed spatial matrix robustness test. In particular, this study puts forward the impact of technology market development on the energy efficiency improvement of a specific path. The results show that different technology market characteristics affect energy efficiency differently. Market fluency had the largest moderating effect on local energy efficiency improvement, followed by market health. Market depth is the least impact, with a significant negative spillover effect on energy efficiency because of the siphoning effect. So, from the positive externality of technology market development on energy efficiency enhancement, local governments should formulate relevant policies through local legislation. The heterogeneity test indicates that the local region should also improve relevant legislation to increase market depth, fluency, and security protection of technology markets.

ენერგომენეჯმენტის სისტემის დანერგვის მოტივაციის, სირთულისა და სარგებლის მრავალფაქტორიანი შეფასება

The energy management system is a 50001-standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization, the introduction of which has become mandatory for industrial enterprises in accordance with the Law of Georgia on Energy Efficiency. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the connections that exist between the motives for the introduction of the 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS) standard and the difficulties of its adoption and the benefits arising from its adoption. An exploratory path analysis was performed, which is conducted through structural equation modeling (SEM). The experience of the project participants already implemented in Georgia was used, a questionnaire was drawn up and sent to the local energy efficiency expert consultants of the participating enterprises. After processing the received answers, the input information was entered into the statistical program EQS. Based on the analysis of the obtained results, it is concluded that the research gives us a first idea of the relationship between the motivations, difficulties and benefits of the implementation of ISO 50001, which is especially interesting for industrial managers, engineers, consultants, certified bodies and policy makers.