Low-carbon Energy Development Research Articles

Optimal Configuration for Shared Electric-hydrogen Energy Storage for Multiple Integrated Energy Systems With Mobile Hydrogen Transportation

The flexible operation and storage of hydrogen and electric energy provide an effective path for the development of low-carbon energy and transportation systems. This paper introduces a configuration method for electric-hydrogen shared energy storage supporting the multiple energy and capacity demands of integrated energy systems (IESs). A Stackelberg game-based shared energy framework with gaseous hydrogen transportation by transportation network for shared energy storage operators (SESO) and IESs is established. In this framework, the electric power and electric storage sharing are accomplished by power lines, while the shared hydrogen is achieved by the transportation of mobile trucks. The target of the energy storage operator is to maximize its trading benefits with IESs and lower the life-cycle cost of the whole system, while the IESs aim to meet their energy demand and lower the operation cost via energy storage sharing. To solve this planning model, a two-level sine cosine based grey wolf optimizer (GWO-SCA)-bisectional method is provided to realize the system configuration, mobile hydrogen planning, and economic trading of the shared energy operator. A case study with 3 IESs, real-world geographic roads, and environmental conditions is carried out to verify the effectiveness of the method and the life-cycle configuration and operation economy of the shared energy storage. The comparisons show that the proposed energy storage sharing frame can achieve a higher energy utilization ratio of 92% and the proposed method can solve the two-level problem more efficiently, the calculation time is reduced by 80.2%.

Study on sodium-ion anode material - Graphene battery

Batteries are the most common form of energy storage. Sodium-ion batteries are gradually replacing traditional lithium-ion batteries, becoming a key factor restricting their safety, service life, energy density and capacity. With the continuous consumption of energy by human society, the increasing scarcity of mineral resources, and the increasingly severe environmental problems. It is an urgent task to seek new, renewable and clean energy. Sodium-ion battery is expected to be a new type of charge/discharge device because of its high energy conversion efficiency, high energy density, long cycle life, environmental friendliness and good economy. The development of new green and high-efficiency large-capacity energy storage technology is great significance for promoting China’s green and low-carbon energy development. It is great significance for the implementation of China’s “double carbon” strategy. Sodium-ion battery is the most important class of secondary batteries. Sodium-ion battery has high rate, good low temperature resistance, suitable for low salt concentration electrolyte, high safety and other characteristics. The sodium is abundant in the earth, low price, low REDOX potential. That is a class of secondary batteries with great application prospects. With the progress of society and the sustainable development of economy, people’s demand for sodium-ion batteries is also increasing. The “14th Five-Year Plan” New Energy Storage Development Implementation Plan clearly points out that is necessary to carry out the test and demonstration of a new generation of high energy density storage technology represented by sodium-ion batteries.

Combating Global Warming and Modern Wars is much about Sedimentology

The Paris Agreement on climate change came into force on 4 November 2016 which was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015. Under this agreement, 175 countries are legally bound to commit themselves to limit the increase of global warming temperatures to under 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, mitigation and adaptation policies have been adopted at the national and international levels. Mitigation measures include decarbonisation policy, for example the large-scale development of low-carbon energies to replace fossil fuel energy in a sustainable way. At present, efforts are focussed on the energy transition from fossil fuel driven energy to low-carbon energy which is mineral intensive. Rare earth elements (REEs) are core components of clean energy technologies such as solar, wind turbines and electric vehicles in the process of energy transition. In the quest for slow down the global temperature rise, development of low-carbon energy to achieve carbon emission reduction goals, rare earth elements are the key components to the energy transition. The criticality of supply and demand of raw materials is the key issue in planning the sustainable transition from fossil fuel driven energy to green energy. Over the past few years many countries established critical raw materials lists, in which rare earth elements have been given most attention.

Giant Effect of CO2 Injection on Multiphase Fluid Adsorption and Shale Gas Production: Evidence from Molecular Dynamics.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) injection in unconventional gas-bearing shale reservoirs is a promising method for enhancing methane recovery efficiency and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of methane is adsorbed within the micropores and nanopores (≤50 nm) of shale, which possess extensive surface areas and abundant adsorption sites for the sequestration system. To comprehensively discover the underlying mechanism of enhanced gas recovery (EGR) through CO2 injection, molecular dynamics (MD) provides a promising way for establishing the shale models to address the multiphase, multicomponent fluid flow behaviors in shale nanopores. This study proposes an innovative method for building a more practical shale matrix model that approaches natural underground environments. The grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) method elucidates gas adsorption and sequestration processes in shale gas reservoirs under various subsurface conditions. The findings reveal that previously overlooked pore slits have a significant impact on both gas adsorption and recovery efficiency. Based on the simulation comparisons of absolute and excess uptakes inside the kerogen matrix and the shale slits, it demonstrates that nanopores within the kerogen matrix dominate the gas adsorption while slits dominate the gas storage. Regarding multiphase, multicomponent fluid flow in shale nanopores, moisture negatively influences gas adsorption and carbon storage while promoting methane recovery efficiency by CO2 injection. Additionally, saline solution and ethane further impede gas adsorption while facilitating displacement. Overall, this work elucidates the substantial effect of CO2 injection on fluid transport in shale formations and advances the comprehensive understanding of microscopic gas flow and recovery mechanisms with atomic precision for low-carbon energy development.

An analysis of challenges to the low-carbon energy transition toward sustainable energy development using an IFCM-TOPSIS approach: A case study

As countries worldwide grapple with the urgent need to mitigate climate change, adopting low-carbon energy sources has become a top global priority. This priority is particularly emphasized in the European Union (EU), with various initiatives, policies, and regulations to promote renewable energy sources and reduce carbon emissions. Despite these efforts, the transition to a low-carbon energy future has faced several challenges, such as the high cost of renewable energy technologies, land use, and technical issues. These challenges require decision-makers to consider and address various factors to ensure sustainable and low-carbon energy development. In this context, the present study identified challenges to the low-carbon energy transition through a literature review from 2013 to 2023. The study then set out a novel intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map method to map the interactions of identified challenges and analyze the case study performance in dealing with the challenges under three scenarios: people first, technology first, and duet. Subsequently, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method was applied to find the best scenario according to performance analysis. The results indicated that the most significant challenge is investment, followed by short-termism, and reformation, out of seventeen identified challenges. Results also indicated that the duet scenario was the best, and broad conclusions and policy implementations were provided according to the obtained results.

Preface

Preface This is the proceedings of the “1st World Energy Materials Conference”, which was held in Shenzhen, China on November 25-27, 2023. There are 24 forums in the conference. This collection consists of papers in new energy materials, new material industry development trends and hot spots, green low-carbon energy technology, development and challenges of renewable energy, etc., to discuss the latest progress and innovation in the field of energy materials, with a view to contributing wisdom to the promotion of world energy development, material science and technology innovation exchanges and cooperation, as well as high-quality and sustainable development.The list of Committees are available in this pdf.

Optimized low carbon scheduling strategy of integrated energy sources considering load aggregators

In the context of the global low-carbon energy development strategy, the massive influx of renewable energy leads to the instability of the power system, so it is necessary to carry out effective scheduling strategy and management mechanism for energy. On this basis, the Integrated Energy System including Electricity/Heat/Storage (EHSIES) is discussed in this paper. First, an ordered clustering method using a combination of simulated annealing and improved profile coefficients for load evolution number approximation is proposed. Second, a hybrid load clustering algorithm based on hierarchical clustering algorithm and K-means++ is presented and four types of load scenarios are obtained. Third, an Improved Harris Hawk Optimization (IHHO) algorithm based on the hybrid strategy is proposed and solved to the model of EHSIES. Finally, under the premise of the dynamic carbon trading mechanism considering historical compliance and load aggregator management, the scheduling strategies of flexible electric loads and thermal loads participating in EHSIES are discussed and solved by CPLEX. The results show that the solution time of IHHO is 50% and 33.3% lower than that of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and Harris hawk optimization (HHO), and the number of iterations is 76.6% and 56.25% lower than that of PSO and HHO, respectively. In addition, considering a flexible load aggregator and a compliance-based dynamic carbon trading mechanism in EHSIES scheduling can effectively reduce the actual operating cost by 27.37%, the source-side energy spill rate by 68.75%, and the carbon emission by 51.92% and improve the operating efficiency and economic benefits of EHSIES.

Investment benefit analysis of coal-to-hydrogen coupled CCS technology in China based on real option approach

As a zero-carbon energy, hydrogen energy is widey recognized as playing an important role in reducing carbon emissions and addressing climate change. Considering the resource and industrial conditions in China, the coal-to-hydrogen coupled with carbon capture and storage (CTHCCS) may be a necessary choice in the early stage of low-carbon hydrogen energy development. This study used real option models to analyze the investment benefits of the representative CTHCCS technology at the national and regional levels in the current and future development scenarios in China, and discusses the impact of uncertainties in carbon price, technological progress, and policy incentives on the CTHCCS investment. The results show that (1) The opportunity for immediate investment in the CTHCCS is not available in China unless the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology decreases and the carbon price increases significantly. (2) The current CTHCCS investment critical carbon price is 353.3 RMB/t, which will decrease by 45.0%, 73.9% and 57.3% when using the initial investment subsidy, carbon emission reduction subsidy and clean fuel subsidy, respectively. (3) The CTHCCS presents a relatively high investment benefit in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi, highlighting that these areas are key pioneers for “blue hydrogen” production in China.

Research on sustainable collaborative scheduling problem of multi-stage mixed flow shop for crankshaft components

The crankshaft manufacturing process primarily comprises machining, single jacket, and double jacket stages. These stages collectively produce substantial carbon emissions, which significantly impact the environment. Low-carbon energy development and humanity's future are closely related. To promote the sustainable development of crankshaft manufacturing enterprises and improve the production efficiency of crankshafts, research on sustainable collaborative scheduling problems in multi-stage mixed flow shop for crankshaft components is conducted. In addition, the transportation process of related workpieces in the crankshaft manufacturing process, which generally have a large mass, also produces substantial carbon emissions. This paper constructs a multi-objective integer optimization model based on the manufacturing process characteristics of crankshaft components, with minimizing the maximum manufacturing time and carbon emissions as optimization objectives. Considering the complexity of the problem, a comprehensive algorithm integrating moth-flame optimization and NSGA-III is used to solve the mathematical model. Through case experiments, the integrated algorithm is compared and analysed with four classic multi-objective optimization algorithms: NSGA-III, NSGA-II, MOEA/D, and MOPSO. The experiments demonstrate that the algorithm presented in this paper offers significantly enhanced optimization efficiency in solving the problem under study compared to other algorithms. Moreover, this paper compares multi-stage collaborative scheduling and non-collaborative scheduling in the crankshaft manufacturing process, ultimately demonstrating that collaborative scheduling is more conducive to the sustainable development of manufacturing enterprises. The results indicate that the annual carbon emissions can reduce about 3.6 ton.

Research on innovation management and innovation governance of power grid under low-carbon transition

Green development as the basic goal of the construction of modern society, at present our country strengthening the reform of energy production and consumption, actively building a clean low-carbon and safe and efficient energy system, this not only clarified the future direction of energy development, but also changed the traditional power industry development mode. Therefore, on the basis of understanding the development background of low-carbon transformation of power grid, this paper mainly explores the power grid planning model and application effect of adapting to the development of low-carbon energy in a certain region according to the response ideas and implementation suggestions of power grid enterprises under the background of low-carbon transformation, so as to provide reference for the innovative development of power grid enterprises in the new era.

Changes of C, H, and N Elements of Corn Straw during the Microwave Heating Process

Due to the rapid growth of the global economy, energy consumption has been steadily increasing, leading to increasing issues such as energy shortages and environmental concerns. Biomass energy, a critical renewable energy source, plays a vital role in advancing low-carbon energy development and resource sustainability. In this study, experiments were conducted to study the migration of C, H, and N elements of corn straw during the microwave heating process, and the effects of residence time, heating temperature, and microwave power were also investigated. The results showed that when the temperature rose, both the proportion of C and H elements fluctuated slightly. Specifically, when the temperature rose from 75 °C to 275 °C, there was a 1.02% increase in the proportion of the C element and a 0.25% decrease in the proportion of the H element. Residence time appeared to be a significant factor influencing the changes in C, H, and N elements. For a 40 min residence time, the proportion of the C element increased from 31.77% to 35.36%, while the proportion of the H element decreased from 4.50% to 3.83%. When there was an increase in the microwave power between 160 W and 200 W, higher temperatures were reached in the samples, leading to the carbonization process of corn straw being more complete. Consequently, the proportion of the C element rose with extended residence time, whereas the proportion of the H element decreased as the residence time increased.

New Energy Commuting Optimization under Low-Carbon Orientation: A Case Study of Xi’an Metropolitan Area

Low-carbon travel is an important part of low-carbon cities and low-carbon transportation, and low-carbon transportation is an inevitable choice to slow down the growth of carbon emissions in China. All countries in the world are actively promoting new energy vehicles and attach great importance to the application of the new energy industry in urban transportation. Commuting is an important part of urban life, and the choice of travel behavior has an important impact on traffic and environmental protection. Taking the Xi’an metropolitan area as an example, this paper expounds on the integrated development path of the industrial chain of new energy + travel in the metropolitan area and clarifies the energy transformation model of the integrated development of low-carbon transportation and energy. From the perspective of green and low-carbon, 1000 commuters were interviewed using a questionnaire survey, and the cumulative prospect model was used to verify the internal mechanism affecting commuters in metropolitan areas to choose new energy commuting. The results of the study show that new energy transportation modes play an important role in the low-carbon economy, and under different scenarios and assumptions, there are significant differences in the cumulative prospect values of the subway, new energy buses and fuel private cars, and corresponding optimization measures are proposed to increase the proportion of new energy commuting trips. The results will help further promote the development of a low-carbon economy and energy integration in the field of transportation and provide a reference for the sustainable development of public transportation.

Regional cooperation in promoting low-carbon energy development in the CAREC region: Challenges and opportunities

Regional cooperation in promoting low-carbon energy development in the CAREC region: Challenges and opportunities

Evaluating multi-dimensional response capability of electric bus considering carbon emissions and traffic index

With the development of low-carbon energy, the use of thermal and hydropower units for regulation in the power system dominated by new energy (PSDNE) is decreasing. Electric buses (EBs) are expected to become the primary dispatching objects in this context. Accurately evaluation EB's response capability (RC) is vital for the scheduling operation of the PSDNE. However, current evaluation methods for EB's RC are relatively crude, lacking detailed and quantifiable measures. This paper proposes a novel multi-dimensional evaluation method to provide the aforementioned RCs. The EB operational schedule revise model considering traffic and temperature is proposed to obtain more accurate EB charging load by revise arrival charging time and remaining battery energy. The proposed EB charging model considering carbon emissions contributes to revealing the impact of various charging modes, such as low-carbon and electricity price, on the Eb's RC. The EB multi-dimensional evaluation model is established to obtain quantified and detailed RCs to support the operation of NEDPS. These capabilities include fast response within various periods, sustained response over extended durations, and remaining RC after executing scheduling instructions. Finally, using the actual data from an EB station of a city in China, the effectiveness of the proposed evaluation model is verified.

A review of intelligent coal gangue separation technology and equipment development

ABSTRACT One of the necessary ways to achieve the efficient, clean utilization of coal resources is to reduce the amount of coal gangue in raw coal to ensure the development of clean, low-carbon, and green energy in China. The application of conventional coal gangue separation equipment is severely limited due to the large investment in early construction, high production costs, and large water consumption and waste in production. Intelligent coal gangue separation equipment has the advantages of fast speed, high precision, strong modularity, and integration scalability. It also has the advantages of low operation cost and energy consumption, convenient operation and maintenance, and no water use. All of that could effectively improve the utilization rate of coal resources and expand the economic benefits of enterprises. The application of high-speed, high-precision, and anti-interference online element rapid analysis technology in intelligent coal gangue separation equipment will become an inevitable trend of equipment development in the future with the continuous improvement of coal product demand. Online rapid element analysis technology includes laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, dual-energy X-ray, and transient neutron activation analysis. Improving and applying more high-speed, high-precision algorithms such as partial least squares and Monte Carlo library least squares in the future are important.

Application of Acid Fracturing Technology to Improve Water Yield of Deep Carbonate Geothermal Wells

To achieve the “carbon peak” goal, green and low-carbon energy development is the key. The development and utilization of geothermal resources and the development of deep carbonate geothermal wells in China are analyzed. Based on the principle of chemical reaction between hydrochloric acid and the main components of carbonate rock, four rock samples from geothermal wells were dissolved with 15% and 20% hydrochloric acid, respectively. The comparison showed that 15% hydrochloric acid was more economical and effective. The percolation capacity of acid dissolution fractures was tested through percolation capacity experiments, and the optimal amount of acid solution was determined to be 2-8 PV. It was verified that acid dissolution helps improve fracture percolation capacity. Through the on-site testing of acid fracturing technology in the Xiong’an New Area, it has been verified that the on-site implementation of multi-stage acid fracturing has a significant effect on increasing production. Finally, conclusions are drawn. The method of using acid solution dissolution to increase the water yield of deep carbonate geothermal wells is feasible, and the multi-stage acid fracturing technology is suitable for deep wells and can increase the water output of geothermal wells, which has good promotion value.

Modelling and multi-objective optimisation of sustainable solar-biomass-based hydrogen and electricity co-supply hub using metaheuristic-TOPSIS approach

The utilisation of biomass and solar energy for green hydrogen production offers potential benefits in reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy security, aligning with global sustainability efforts. However, research is still limited in optimising hybrid renewable energy systems that leverage biomass and solar energy for a balanced co-supply of hydrogen and electricity in industrial settings. In addition, the identification of optimal capacity configurations for these systems can be challenging, due to supply–demand variations and conflicting design objectives. For the first time, we demonstrate the use of a two-stage multi-objective metaheuristic-Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS) method for the design of a solar-biomass-based hydrogen and electricity co-supply hub (HECH), based on the consideration of economic, supply stability, and waste energy generation aspects. Through a proposed case study in Felda Taib Andak, Malaysia, the best-compromised solution for capacity setup is successfully determined. Among the metaheuristics screened, the TOPSIS-assisted multi-objective mayfly algorithm (MMA) provides the most preferred capacity arrangement, minimising the total annualised cost (TAC) to USD 9.43 mil./yr and hydrogen and power supply probabilities (LHSP and LPSP) to 0.188 and 0.328, respectively. The MMA-TOPSIS approach also reduces the potential energy waste probability (PEWP) of HECH down to 0.09. The study also discusses the feasibility of battery and hydrogen storage during critical periods such as low and high biomass feed supplies. Overall, the outcomes of this research offer guidance to the engineers in optimising HECH designs, which sets the groundwork for low-carbon energy development in biomass-related industrial ecosystems.

Risk transmission of El Niño-induced climate change to regional Green Economy Index

Global warming and rare weather caused by climate change continue to affect ecosystems, human health, and economic systems, which pose serious climate risk challenges for humanity. To address and adapt to climate change risks and to facilitate the process of achieving carbon peaking and carbon-neutral targets, the financial industry has become more concerned about the information spillover effects of extreme climate events on green financial products. Therefore, this paper adopts the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) to describe climate change and investigates the influence of the SOI on the volatility of the NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index (OMX-GEI) under a variant of the Double Asymmetric GARCH-MIDAS (DA-GM-X) model. The results show that the SOI provides relevant information for OMX-GEI volatility forecasting and the DA-GM-X model yields outstanding forecasting performance in statistical and economic terms. This conclusion indicates that considering SOI and its asymmetry changes can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of econometric models. Also, several robustness tests confirm our findings. Overall, the findings of this paper suggest that to achieve the two-carbon goal and combat climate change, governments should pay more attention to policy formulation that combines environment, climate, health, energy, and economy, and actively promote green, low-carbon, and sustainable energy development globally.

Effect of carbon regulations on the financial technological development: Russian and European companies’ adaptation strategies

The plans announced by the European Union to impose a carbon fee by 2022 on commodities purchased from both European and external manufacturers make it increasingly relevant to examine the adaptation of Russian and European companies to low-carbon requirements. The article aims to assess the financial technological costs, technological achievements and energy transition risks for enterprises in Russia and the EU. Theoretical approaches to analyzing technological effects of carbon requirements on enterprises constitute the methodological framework of the study. The research methods of comparative qualitative and quantitative analysis were used in relation to technologies introduced by European and Russian large companies, reached values and dynamics of the carbon footprint in manufacturing, energy consumption, the percentage of renewable energy, the size of costs and investments, projected parameters of traditional energy, the EU plans, and the cost price of alternative energy. The empirical evidence includes public reports of European and Russian exporting companies affected by the carbon fee introduction, as well as microeconomic statistics. The analysis showed that both European and Russian major exporters by the end of 2021 had already initiated certain efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and achieved satisfactory outcomes in this area. In some cases, the Russian companies were even more successful than the European ones, but in general they lagged behind. However, expenses of the European companies are more significant, and energy transition risks for them are higher, which significantly reduces the dividend received by the leader. We propose recommendations to protect Russian business, including export-oriented one, from excessive costs incurred in the development of low-carbon energy. These recommendations can be of use for authorities when implementing industrial policy.

Incentive Mechanism for the Development of Rural New Energy Industry: New Energy Enterprise–Village Collective Linkages considering the Quantum Entanglement and Benefit Relationship

As an important foundation of and driving force for rural revitalisation, green and low-carbon energy development is an intrinsic requirement for meeting the people’s needs. Rural energy utilization efficiency is low, and there is an urgent need to develop and use renewable green energy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore and clarify the entanglement mechanism between new energy enterprises (NEEs) and village collectives (VCs) considering the mutually beneficial evolutionary stability strategy of the main participants in the rural new energy industry (RNEI) regarding the quantum entanglement state. The quantum evolutionary game model for NEEs and VCs was constructed, and a set of quantum strategies of both parties was introduced. This not only expands the strategy set of the classical game model but also considers the characteristics of quantum entanglement in the implementation of the quantum game. This study also analysed the evolution path and stability strategy of participants in the process of RNEI’s development. The results of this study are presented as follows: (i) after considering the entanglement of states, it is easier to adopt the complete quantum strategy to realize the complete incentive situation that “income increases with the increase of one’s own efforts,” which is conducive to the development of the RNEI. (ii) Observable and quantifiable performance indicators are of greatest importance. Both parties involved in the development of the RNEI should make relevant information open and transparent to promote the smooth implementation of the RNEI development process. (iii) The signing of the “entanglement contract” requires a scientific, complete, specific, and quantifiable performance evaluation system to be established by a professional and independent third-party organization. The study not only makes a certain theoretical contribution to clarifying the mechanism of entanglement between NEEs and village collectives but also provides a theoretical basis for scientific and effective cooperation between NEEs and village collectives.