New Forms Of Energy Research Articles

(Invited) Smart Textiles Towards Sustainable and Pervasive Energy Future

Energy crises and global warming severely limit the ability of human civilization to develop along a sustainable pathway. Increasing renewable energy sources and decreasing energy consumption are fundamental steps to achieve sustainability. By using remotely deployed sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT) has already changed our daily life in fundamental and meaningful ways. In the meanwhile, it is also forcing the world to use a new form of energy to sustainably power billions of distributed devices/sensors. The required energy source needs to be pervasive, mobile and beyond the capability of the traditional centralized, ordered power supplying systems. Batteries may not be the best solution for the IoT, owing to their limited lifetime, size, and environmental concerns. Powering the IoT would be impossible without making the sensors self-powered by harvesting energy from the working environment to ensure the long-term operation. In this talk, I will introduce our research that contributed to the sustainable energy future via three fundamental approaches (1) energy harvesting from the ambient environment, especially I will present a hybrid power textile, which was constructed via large-scale weaving technique for simultaneously harvesting energy from ambient solar radiance and human body motion. (2) energy saving via developing a variety of self-powered/low-power sensors. (3) energy saving via promoting the energy efficiency. Especially, I developed a nanophotonic structure textile with tailored mid-infrared property for passive radiative human body cooling to improve the building energy efficiency. The nanoporous polyethylene fabric could lower human skin temperature by 2.3 oC compared with the commercial cotton fabric of same thickness, contributing to a greater than 20% saving on indoor cooling energy.

Innovative ways in providing energy – towards improving health

Abstract The Energy issues in the world demand new innovative ways of providing us with energy. Innovations sometimes go faster than that the health sector can study the disadvantages for health. The burden of disease might change due to new forms of energy. Heat pumps is one example of a new form of energy that has also health disadvantages in use. Noise is one major issue in the use of heat pumps. There is a limited amount of studies on the use of heat pumps in densely populated areas in cities. Other forms of energy transition such as wind turbines are another source of concern. Methods Literature review Results The use of heat pumps has problems in the application by its users. The installation is not always adequate causing more noise problems. Wind turbines show problems with low frequency noise, shadow and general wellbeing of persons living in the neighbourhood. Conclusions Good practices could save a lot of hindrance and health effects.

6.D. Workshop: Climate change, energy issues and air pollution – as a triad of health priorities

Abstract As well known, climate change changes weather patterns, producing far-reaching effects on the environment, the economy and society as a whole, endangering global livelihoods, health, food and energy security, and water resources. Climate change, although globally threating to the human population and biocenosis, yet has some positive sides if the unity achieved through the Green Deal (GD) can be named so. It is difficult to prioritize among many present-day challenges and many health threats. This document strongly confirms the path to be navigated. What is the role of health professionals and what is the possible contribution of public health? This European Commission document envisages Europe as the first climate-neutral continent while strengthening its economy, taking care of and improving its inhabitants' health. The GD insists on the care for nature and a clear view that no one should be left out and left behind. This workshop points out that, even we have large regulatory framework on clean air, air pollution in the European Union continues to be the top environmental threat to health, leading to approx. 400,000 early deaths annually and high health costs. Over 20 of the 27 EU countries fail to keep air quality standards, which for key pollutants are already less strict than what the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends. There were several possible scenarios, out of which two were considered: one based on collaboration and the other, on conflict. Several dimensions were examined to address both cooperation instruments and the consequences of non-cooperation: Energy production (e.g., conventional versus renewable) and use; water resources and food security; the environment (air quality) and the impact on health; Population and migration flow. The Energy issues in the world demand new innovative ways of providing us with energy. Innovations sometimes go faster than the health sector can study the disadvantages for health. The burden of disease might change due to new forms of energy. It is important to note that health sector has an opportunity to not only prevent further damage from the air pollution and climate crises, but also to improve health outcomes by decarbonizing, building climate resilience, and amplifying the message around the interdependency between climate change and human health. This workshop will present a framework, co-developed by WHO and Health Care Without Harm, for climate-resilient, sustainable health facilities. Key messages The public health sector should consider the GD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national public health policies with the goals of this document. Achieving goals requires the education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, energy and air pollution to a much greater extent than before.

Market demand assessment of auxiliary services after large-scale wind power access

Since the beginning of the 21st century, wind power has flourished as a major form of new energy. Different from thermal power, hydropower, nuclear power and other power sources, wind power output is characterized by intermittence and volatility, low reliability of capacity, and poor predictability, which will bring additional pressure to the safe and stable operation of the power system, thus restricting its development. In order to improve the consumption capacity of renewable energy, China is building an auxiliary service market based on economic leverage to encourage flexibility resource participation in system regulation services. Demand assessment has also become a key issue in market construction. Therefore, this paper will take the peak regulation auxiliary service market and reserve auxiliary service market under large-scale wind power access as examples to evaluate the peak regulation and reserve demand.

Global energy transitions and political systems

Transitioning from one form of energy to another has led to social change in areas such as production methods, quality of life, and labor productivity. In addition, there is a relationship between this social change and the emergence of different types of political systems. Surprisingly, there are not many studies on the relationship between energy transitions and changes in political systems. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the transition from one form of energy to another has historically determined the type of political system, and that this causal relationship has evolved through the ages. A three-stage approach was used in this study to examine this relationship in the past and present, and to predict coming changes in the future. The main finding is that from the foraging period to the oil age, energy has been a factor in determining political systems. However, with the expansion of energy trade between nations and the emergence of new technology options, the situation has been reversed: political systems have now become a determinant of energy transitions. Also, even democratic countries have been unwilling to transition to new forms of energy, preferring instead to maintain fossil fuel-based energy systems.

Sustainability in Brazilian HEI: practices overview

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to verify how Brazilian HEIs apply sustainability practices, as means to improve their effects towards society, making clear to the public, including current and future students, what the university is doing and how it is concerned with sustainability.Design/methodology/approachBased on the Brazilian Education Ministry evaluation, 123 HEIs were selected as sample for the study. The websites of these HEI were verified to check for sustainability practices.FindingsIn general, the HEI focuses on helping people who live around the campus with social projects, health and work preparation. Further practices areas are new forms of energy, selective collection and new standards of plastic consumption. HEI with higher evaluations from the Education Ministry focuses mainly on educational programs and projects to improve sustainability inside and outside the campus.Research limitations/implicationsWith the methodology used, not all HEIs in Brazil were analyzed, which gives a great opportunity for further studies.Practical implicationsHEIs may use the findings of this research to develop their sustainability practices, either in the curriculum, projects, strategic plans or even organizational structure.Social implicationsCommunities are positively supported by universities applying sustainability practices. Such support includes education, health, guidance and provision of services to the community, financial aid and social well-being.Originality/valueFocusing on sustainability practices of HEI located in Brazil, the research finds, besides the practices, gaps in several of the researched universities.

Global Energy Transitions and Political Systems

Transitioning from one form of energy to another has led to social change in areas such as production methods, quality of life, and labor productivity. In addition, there is a relationship between this social change and the emergence of different types of political systems. Surprisingly, there are not many studies on the relationship between energy transitions and changes in political systems. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the transition from one form of energy to another has historically determined the type of political system, and that this causal relationship has evolved through the ages. A three-stage approach was used in this study to examine this relationship in the past and present, and to predict coming changes in the future. The main finding is that from the foraging period to the oil age, energy has been a key factor in determining political systems. However, with the expansion of energy trade between nations and the emergence of new technology options, the situation has been reversed: political systems have now become a determinant of energy transitions. Also, even democratic countries have been unwilling to transition to new forms of energy, preferring instead to maintain fossil fuel-based energy systems.

Características e procedência da lenha usada na cocção no Brasil

RESUMO A lenha vem sendo substituída ao longo dos anos por novas formas de energia, como o gás liquefeito de petróleo (GLP) e a eletricidade. Porém, esse combustível ainda representa uma fração significativa da matriz energética brasileira, muito embora as pesquisas referentes ao seu uso ainda sejam limitadas e regionais. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar um levantamento da produção, consumo e características da lenha usada com a finalidade de cocção. De acordo com os resultados, em 2016, 26,5% da lenha produzida no Brasil foram empregados com fins residenciais, ou seja, em torno de 2x107 toneladas. A lenha é proveniente tanto da silvicultura, sendo o Paraná o maior produtor, quanto do extrativismo, sendo a Bahia a maior produtora. O estado que apresenta maior dependência desse combustível para a cocção é o Pará, enquanto o Rio de Janeiro, praticamente, não a usa para esse fim. O consumo per capita varia muito de uma região a outra do país. Com base nos dados de 2016, foi estimado um consumo de 1,7 kg/pessoa/dia. No entanto, estudos in loco mostraram variação de 0,7 a 8,5 kg/pessoa/dia. O levantamento aponta que uma parte considerável da lenha é proveniente de matas nativas que têm reflexos no desmatamento de uma dada região. A pouca disponibilidade de dados e a variação entre eles impede uma avaliação mais precisa do uso deste combustível no país e suas implicações para a saúde das florestas. A implantação de políticas públicas deveria ser prioridade do governo, pois o uso da lenha de forma inadequada afeta o manejo da vegetação nativa, além de ser uma questão socioambiental, econômica e de saúde pública.

Analysis Performance of Grid Tie Photovoltaic Type Polycrystalline Using Solar Irradiance Simulation

Indonesia is a country consisting of several islands some of which are still not covered by electricity. It is this source of PV that can be used to meet the needs of people who are not yet affordable with PLN electricity. Basically, PV includes the generation of new renewable energy types. This new form of energy comes from sunlight. Using semiconductor materials can convert energy from sunlight to electrical energy. Because in Indonesia this includes tropical climates located on the equator line, making Indonesia has a very high intensity of light. Several factors affect electrical energy, namely the extent of PV to be used, the total irradiance received by PV, the decrease in performance due to weather and cleanliness of the PV used such as snow and oiliness. In this study explained the Analysis of Irradian-based Grid Tie photovoltaic performance with Polycrystalline PV types. Taking irradian data using a Solar Power Meter, irradiance and temperature data at a certain time will use the Incremental Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) method, DC-DC boost converter, inverter, voltage source converter (VSC) using algorithm and equipment controls connected to network. This research is simulated using Matlab with the Simulink program.

Numerical analysis using CFD methods of flowing around trimaran hull

In order to reduce the pollution caused by the expanding economy, solutions are sought to find new forms of energy instead of the one based on the burning of fossil fuels. In this context, the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, England, Norway) use the wind as a source of electricity generation. Thus, in the North Sea of the European continent, windmills appeared, which, through the generators, are coupled to a system of pale energy production. These complex installations are installed in large winds with strong winds that produce waves with high heights and short periods. Vessels that service these complicated installations must respond to safe sailing requirements for maintenancepersonnel and transported equipment. Since classical ships do not exactly fit these requirements, they look for forms of hulls that give good behavior to such large ones. In the paper, the Trimaran type ship is approached, using the CFD numerical methods, the shape of the bodies as well as the distance between the bodies so that the ship's behavior meets the safety requirements of the offshore installation.

Residential fuelwood consumption in Brazil: Environmental and social implications

For a long time, firewood was the only source of energy available for cooking, heating, and protection. Currently, new forms of energy, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity, have replaced the use of firewood. However, this fuel is still part of the energy matrix of many countries, including Brazil. Its use in cooking activities generates particles and gases that can have an impact on global warming and health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of firewood related to socioeconomic and environmental factors in Brazil. According to the results, firewood characteristics, per capita consumption, and distribution percentage vary widely within the country. Although LPG is the most used fuel in Brazil, a significant portion of the population - about 11 million households - still uses this fuel for domestic purposes, causing the highest emission rates of greenhouse gases. New research is necessary and may be the best investment to improve the quality of life and mitigate these climate change problems and health hazards.

The Development and Test of a Sensor for Measurement of the Working Level of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Coalbed Methane Wellbore Annulus.

Coalbed methane (CBM) is one kind of clean-burning gas and has been valued as a new form of energy that will be used widely in the near future. When producing CBM, the working level within a CBM wellbore annulus needs to be monitored to dynamically adjust the gas drainage and extraction processes. However, the existing method of measuring the working level does not meet the needs of accurate adjustment, so we designed a new sensor for this purpose. The principle of our sensor is a liquid pressure formula, i.e., the sensor monitors the two-phase flow patterns and obtains the mean density of the two-phase flow according to the pattern recognition result in the first step, and then combines the pressure data of the working level to calculate the working level using the liquid pressure formula. The sensor was tested in both the lab and on site, and the tests showed that the sensor’s error was ±8% and that the sensor could function well in practical conditions and remain stable in the long term.

‘Modern’ forms of energy in the cottages and farms of Rural England, 1920–1960

ABSTRACTThe modernisation of farming became a key policy issue in Britain after the Second World War, and the (more) efficient use of energy was seen as key to that process because of labour shortages. Traditionally, farms had been organised to make the best use of energy around the farm, be that energy human, animal, or mechanical, or (latterly) derived from off-farm fuels. The apparent crisis in the availability of human labour therefore led to propositions that labourers be encouraged to stay on the land, by improvements to housing and rural infrastructure, and that farms use new forms of energy, particularly electricity. Analysis of a range of sources, such as autobiographies, advertising literature, films, advisory texts, cash books, and social survey data, shows that, despite the political rhetoric, there was a high degree of continuity in energy consumption, however, that this was multiform and that change was far from linear, even as a range of fuels (paraffin, calor gas, petrol, diesel, TiVO), all selling themselves as ‘Modern’, came into use. Analysis shows that there were multiple, overlapping, and sometimes competing, rural ‘modernities’ in Britain 1920–1960.

A Critical Analysis on Influential Factors on Power Energy Resources in China

China is facing a number of challenges, such as environmental pollution, energy security, and slowing down of economic growth. China's total energy consumption has been leading the worldwide consumption for several years. China's annual primary energy consumption accounts for more than 90% of total energy consumption, and the country's utilization of wind energy, solar energy, biomass energy, and other new form of energy remains very low. This research has adopted a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis approach to examine the internal and external factors that affect the competitiveness of the energy industry in China. An extensive and critical review of a wide range of literature was conducted, including academic papers, industry reports, statistical data, relevant regulations, and policy documents. Eighteen factors were identified from the literature review. These factors form part of an integrated framework that provides a useful tool for policy makers and the industry to gain a better understanding of the factors that affect the sustainable development of the Chinese energy industry. The results also provide a useful reference for foreign firms that intend to explore the Chinese energy industry market.

Energy Humanities: An Anthology eds. by Imre Szeman and Dominic Boyer

Reviewed by: Energy Humanities: An Anthology eds. by Imre Szeman and Dominic Boyer Jessica Maufort (bio) Imre Szeman and Dominic Boyer, editors. Energy Humanities: An Anthology. Johns Hopkins UP, 2017. Pp. viii, 595. US $49.95. Against today's backdrop of eco-catastrophe and sustainability issues, recent concerns in the field of environmental humanities include the thematic and aesthetic examinations of pollution and waste, toxic/nuclear landscapes, eco-phobia, the imperilled human/non-human cohabitation, climate change fiction, and petrofiction. Often abridged as "cli-fi," climate change fiction refers to a recent (popular) literary genre whose fictional narratives foreground current environmental issues through a variety of techniques and modes (e.g., realist, speculative, utopian, dystopic). Petrofiction deals more specifically with the multi-faceted relationship between oil and human affairs. Both cli-fi and petrofiction as well as the representational challenges they investigate are usually studied within the context of the Anthropocene. In the face of posthumanism, new materialisms, and twenty-first-century climate and technological crises, many scholars and artists are, more than ever before, calling for collaborative work between the natural sciences and the arts. This mutual enrichment potentially helps us better understand, represent, and address the complex reality we live in. Informed by a similar interdisciplinary imperative, Energy Humanities: An Anthology contributes to these debates by focusing on the interface between culture and energy sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy. In their introduction to this substantial volume, editors Imre Szeman and Dominic Boyer observe that engaging critically with our (ab)use of non-renewable energy resources leads to environmental questions as well as "social, cultural, and political challenges" (1). Work in the field of energy humanities, which is concomitant with that undertaken in environmental humanities, thus compels us to reconfigure old notions. The concept of modernity, for example, is reconceived as intimately linked to energy use: "We are citizens and subjects of fossil fuels through and through, whether we know it or not. And so any meaningful response to climate change will have to tarry with the world and the people that have been made from oil" (Szeman and Boyer 1). This point is articulated convincingly throughout the anthology. Equating modernity and energy, the editors argue, helps us achieve a more encompassing account of "the forces and processes shaping historical development" (2). The contributors to the volume contend that past critiques of modernity have too often overlooked this connection, while in fact the "economic growth," [End Page 271] "access to goods and services," and "capacities and freedoms" associated with modernity are "direct consequence[s] of the massive expansion of energy use" (2). The very well documented essays in the volume illuminate these interrelated issues. Szeman and Boyer propose that in addition to modern geopolitics, energy use has also intervened in "our relationships to our bodies, … human social relations, and … the imperatives of … 'culture'" (2). The pivotal thesis of Energy Humanities goes against the grain by suggesting that "the challenge of addressing global warming isn't fundamentally a scientific or technological one" (3). Such a proposition reacts not only to discourses that idealize technology as the sole solution to the crisis but also to those promoting energy transition plans that eventually prove complicit with an unrelenting exploitation of resources and thus with global capitalism (3).1 Rather, Szeman and Boyer write, the social sciences must complement technical research to apprehend our multi-faceted enmeshment with energy systems and "map out other ways of being, behaving, and belonging in relation to both old and new forms of energy" (3). The contributors to this volume, who for the most part hail from the humanities, adopt precisely such a transdisciplinary perspective. Some of the many issues addressed in this massive reimagining of modernity relate to environmental politics, "energy epistemologies" (6), linear and progress-based conceptions of history, and humankind's "energy unconscious" (8). Underlying these questions is a plea for "a sociopolitical revolution" that could reposition energy needs as a central criterion for "an equality of opportunities and capacities" (7). To explore the manifold implications of this eco-political endeavour, the scholarly and literary contributions to this volume are divided into four interconnected chapters: "Energy and Modernity: Histories and Futures...

Aplicación de Costos de Incertidumbre Analíticos de Energía Solar, Eólica y Vehículos Eléctricos en el Despacho Óptimo de Potencia

Context: Currently, renewable energy sources are playing an important role in counteracting the environmental impact of traditional energy sources. For this reason, system operators must have analytical tools that allow them to incorporate these new forms of energy. In electrical power systems, when incorporating renewable resources such as photovoltaic solar generation, wind power generation or electric vehicles, uncertainty is introduced due to the stochasticity of primary resources.Method: Uncertainty costs are proposed that incorporate the injected power variability of the main sources of renewable energy (solar and wind) and the consumed power (electric vehicles). Variability is considered by the probability distributions of the primary sources of renewable energy (solar irradiation and wind speed).Results: The main result of this research is the application of analytical costs of uncertainty. In this way it is possible to modify the cost function of a traditional economic dispatch. Additionally, it is proposed to solve the problem with a heuristic optimization method of economic dispatch of active-reactive power. Finally, a comparison is made with the operating cost of the system without the incorporation of renewable energies.Conclusions: The proposed model in this article is a potential decision-making tool that power system operators may consider in the operation of the system. The tool is capable of considering the uncertainties of the primary sources of renewable energy. The probability distribution of the primary source forecast is assumed to be known. An opportunity in order to extend the model is to study its applicability to dynamic time horizons, contemplating the constraints of the unit commitment problem

The peaceful atom comes to campus

Youthful idealism, institutional ambition, and Cold War sensibilities all helped shape the Michigan Memorial–Phoenix Project, the University of Michigan’s tribute to fallen World War II soldiers.

The rehabilitation of a dismissed scientist

There is a standard narrative about the radical psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich that includes the claims that following an admittedly brilliant youthful career in Vienna he became mentally ill and that his supposed laboratory work related to life energy was based on self-delusion at best, or conscious deceit at worst. To the US Food and Drug Administration of the early 1950s Reich was little more than a cancer quack, abusing desperate patients with his fraudulent claims about a new form of energy, ‘‘orgone energy,’’ and a simple enclosure for accumulating it (the orgone energy accumulator, usually referred to derisively as ‘‘the orgone box’’), used by Reich in experimental treatment of cancer patients. The FDA pursued him with a vengeance and was able to have all of his books that include the word ‘‘orgone’’ legally designated as ‘‘labels’’ for the allegedly worthless accumulator. Once his books were no longer books but mere labels, destroying them was not an outrageous act of censorship, but akin to disposing of worthless pills or some brochures lying about in a doctor’s office, or the so the Government reasoned. As pointed out in the book under review, Reich is probably the only person in history to have his books burned in both the USA and Nazi Germany. Strick devotes his book to Reich’s so-called pseudoscientific work on life energy, specifically the laboratory work on microscopic entities Reich named ‘‘bions’’ conducted in his well-funded research facility in Oslo between the years 1934 and 1939. It was during this period that Reich the psychoanalyst, sexologist, political activist, Marxist social theorist, therapist, became Reich the biologist—thus Strick’s chosen title. Focusing on but one aspect of Reich’s multi-varied work allows the author to examine Reich’s laboratory work in great depth. The result of this

Smart grids and the constitution of solar electricity conduct

In the face of challenges of energy security, low carbon transitions and the replacement of aging infrastructure networks, new logics for the development of smart electricity systems are emerging amongst utility providers and public authorities. Whilst often portrayed as a technical matter, orchestrated through the top-down intervention of major corporate or government actors, such shifts in the system of electricity provision also entail efforts to fundamentally reconfigure relationships between providers and consumers, and rearticulate energy practices so that they are aligned to new governmental rationales. In this paper, we draw on theories of governmentality and social practice to consider the ways in which the smart grid is serving to constitute new forms of energy conduct, which in turn are vital to the ways in which smart grids are realised. Through the analysis of the first findings from an industry regulator–funded project in the north of England, we consider how and with what implications households that have installed solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies are fitting smart grid techniques and devices into their everyday practices. We argue that in contrast to households where solar PV has been regarded primarily as a device to deliver new flows of finance, the introduction of smart grid logics through the installation of in-home displays and hot water storage has served to rearticulate what ‘good’ electricity conduct entails and to reconfigure the ways in which energy-intensive practices are undertaken in households. We find these new forms of ‘governing the self’ to be critical in shaping how, and to what effect, the smart grid is taking root.

Optimization of integrated building solutions: efficiency of a heating and cooling ground source heat pump

In order to deal effectively with energy supplies and climate change, it is imperative to move towards more sustainable solutions. For the housing sector which represents 45% of a country’s overall energy expenditure and one quarter of carbon dioxide production, it is essential that a building is no longer a mere consumer of energy, but it should become an energy producer. There is a need to optimize integrated solutions to the building envelope. With soil as the sole source for deriving heat, the efficiency of a heating and cooling pump was assessed. The research also focused on analysis of socioeconomic aspects, related to the integration of renewable energy in the habitat, that included action on the issue of technology transfer from laboratories to industry and secondly, the extent of the social acceptability of these new forms of energy and direction, by the adoption of appropriate economic policy measures. The feasibility study in this work showed that heating and cooling through a system of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) is possible based on economics and optimizing energy efficiency used in the town of Tlemcen in Algeria as a case study. The optimal depth to place a heat pump for air conditioning and heating was similar, so that the same depth could be considered for both applications. Note that this is the first study of GSHP in Algeria.