Share Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Research Articles

Circular Regenerative Agricultural Practices in Africa: Techniques and Their Potential for Soil Restoration and Sustainable Food Production

The conventional linear system of global food production and consumption is unsustainable as it is responsible for a substantial share of greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity declines due land use change, agricultural water stress due resource-intensive water consumption patterns and land degradation. During the last decade (1994–2014), for example, the greenhouse emissions from agriculture in Africa were reported to increase at an average annual rate of between 2.9% and 3.1%, equivalent to 0.44 Gt and 0.54 Gt CO2 per annum, respectively. Between 2000 and 2020, the greenhouse gas emissions from agrifood systems were shown to decrease in all major regions of the world, except in Africa and Asia, where they grew by 35 and 20 percent, respectively. With most of the circular agricultural practices still central to food production in the developing African countries, the continent can spearhead a global return to circular agriculture. Using a descriptive review approach, we explore the literature to examine the extent to which African agriculture is deploying these practices, the potential areas for improvement and lessons for the world in embracing sustainable food production. We underscore that the farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa have, for decades, been using some of the most effective circular agricultural principles and practices in agricultural production. We further show that practices and strategies akin to sustainable agricultural production include agronomic practices, smart irrigation options, renewable energy harvesting and waste-to-fertilizer technologies. All of these technologies, which are central to sustainable agricultural production, are not new to Africa, although they may require packaging and advocacy to reach a wider community in sub-Saharan Africa.

Reducing Strategies for Carbon Footprint of Livestock in Izmir/Turkiye

The goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5 °C. In order to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced as soon as possible. By signing the Paris Agreement in 2021, Turkiye has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 41% by 2030. The livestock sector, which is an important economic resource, also has a significant share in greenhouse gas emissions in Turkiye. In this study, it was analyzed the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from livestock in Izmir, the 3rd largest city of Turkiye. For this purpose, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint resulting from livestock farming in Izmir were calculated according to the IPCC 2019 Guidelines and Tier 1 methodology. The total carbon footprint of livestock in Izmir was determined as 2826.5 thousand tons CO2eq (ttonCO2eq). These total emissions were calculated as 1492 ttonCO2eq (53%) from enteric fermentation, 1120.5 ttonCO2eq (39%) from CH4 in manure management, and 214 ttonCO2eq (8%) from N2O in manure management. Sustainable method suggestions were also studied in order to achieve Turkiye’s greenhouse gas reduction commitment. The results show that a sustainable change in manure management method, such as biogas production from manure, can reduce the carbon footprint by 30%. As a result, sustainable manure management methods, nutrition, and animal welfare should be included in agricultural policies as methods that help reduce Turkiye’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The role of the waste sector in the sustainable development goals and the IPCC assessment reports

The management of waste plays a pivotal role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations through both direct and indirect linkages. Directly, waste management issues are addressed in four SDGs (6, 11, 12, 14), while landfilling issues are only mentioned in SDG 6 reflecting water quality in connection with waste dumping. However, inadequate management and disposal of waste pose environmental, health and safety risks; thereby undermining more SDGs. Indirectly, waste management and landfilling influence various SDGs ranging from 4 to all 17 SDGs depending on the literature reference.Although not directly addressed in SDG 13 (Climate action), the waste sector contributes to climate change, with the biggest share of greenhouse gases emitted from landfills and waste dumps. According to the latest assessment report by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), waste management—and thereby mainly landfills—are responsible for 64 Mt of CH4 per year worldwide.A waste-related assessment of the IPCC report series from 1990 to 2023 revealed a paradigm shift in the covered waste management strategies, transitioning from conventional technical disposal methods towards holistic approaches that align with the principles of sustainability encapsulated in the SDGs. The focus in the reports moves upwards the “waste management hierarchy”, fostering circular economy. Indirectly, this leads to seemingly less focus on landfills and waste dumps despite their high share of greenhouse gas emissions and particularly their strong representation in low/lower middle-income countries, which is still expected to increase during the next years.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Efficiency in Polish Agriculture

Analysis of the efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture is an important part of agricultural and environmental economics research. The theme is extremely important due to the deepening problem of climate change and the simultaneous need to ensure food security. However, counteracting climate change cannot be achieved at the expense of reducing agricultural productivity. Due to the need to study the economic-environmental relationship in agriculture, the main purpose of this study was to assess the changes in the level and structure of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and to examine the changes in efficiency of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The authors also estimated the relative efficiency of emissions, which allowed for comparing the efficiency of emissions between agriculture and other sectors of the national economy. Analyzing the changes in agricultural emissions efficiency, as well as changes in relative efficiency of emissions, is an indirect way of assessing whether the ongoing trends are consistent with the sustainable development concept and if the country is effective enough in mitigating climate change in relation to its economic performance. The research conducted showed that agriculture has a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions among all sectors of the Polish economy. However, greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture decreased by a total of 23.5% in the years studied. The most significant changes occurred in the context of greenhouse gas emissions from intestinal fermentation. The research also shows that the efficiency of emissions from agriculture more than doubled in the years examined. However, it decreased compared to other sectors of the economy in the country. This study was based on emissions data retrieved from National Inventory Reports prepared by the National Center for Emissions Management and on the Agricultural Statistical Yearbooks of the Central Statistical Office. This paper also proposes some examples of measures that could be taken to reduce agricultural emissions. Some of them include reducing food losses, sustainable use of fertilizers, increasing energy efficiency, and greater use of renewable energy.

Impact of electric vehicle emissions in the Brazilian scenario of energy transition and use of bioethanol

The transport sector stands out on the world stage due to its significant share of greenhouse gas emissions, which currently equate to 25% of global emissions. In the global context of energy transition, the electrification of mobility is shown as one of the alternatives to mitigate the impacts of global warming. In Brazil, the conjuncture is of extensive use of renewable energy sources, in which bioethanol accounts for about 35% of the primary source in flex-fuel vehicles and the electricity generation matrix comprises about 83% of renewable sources. This study aims to evaluate the global warming potential (GWP) resulting from the insertion of electric vehicles in the long term (2023–2050), in scenarios of the Brazilian light vehicle fleet, considering the transition of the electric generation matrix and the use of bioethanol. In this sense, statistical methodologies applied to historical data series and regression algorithms were used to estimate the fleet. This is in addition to the life cycle assessment approach applied to the manufacture and use of vehicles, and also fuel production in order to estimate the global warming potential. The results of the comparative evaluation showed that the ICE and HEV vehicles fueled by bioethanol had the lowest emissions per kilometer driven, compared to purely electric vehicles. In the long term, the scenario with a greater share of bioethanol proved to be more favorable for reducing annual emissions, presenting annual emissions of 69 Mt CO2eq/year in 2050 compared to 81 Mt CO2eq/year in 2020. The results of this study will provide fundamental information for planning to mitigate the environmental impacts of the transportation sector.

Understanding Green Food Consumption Behavior

Food consumption is one of the most significant contributors to global environmental problems being responsible for a large share of greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, and soil pollution, among others. The demand for unsustainable food contributes to the food sector's environmental burden. Consequently, there has been a surge in research on green food consumption in the last ten years. Still, our understanding of green food purchase behavior is rather rudimentary and needs a comprehensive view. For this reason, the current study aims to understand green food purchase behavior through a literature review approach. The study explored and analyzed relevant theories and determinants in explaining green food purchase behavior. Additionally, the study also investigated the literature to identify research suggestions given by authors to improve future studies. The current review applied key term searches on the "Web of Science" database to find related literature. The search results found 69 articles published between 2015 and 2021 in peer-reviewed English-language journals. The findings include important descriptive bibliographical analysis and patterns and trends in green food consumption. Additionally, the research identified categories of determinants explaining green food purchase behavior. The review summarized the suggestions given by scholars in the literature to help future researchers for improvement.

Passengers’ Knowledge and Attitudes toward Green Initiatives in Aviation

The aviation sector is one of the fastest-growing segments of the transportation industry responsible for a considerable share of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, sustainability has become one of the central issues for the aviation sector. International regulatory bodies, airlines, and airport operators, along with aircraft manufacturers and suppliers have put forward initiatives to make aviation green. However, before the wider implementation of new sustainable practices, it is important to look at the opinion of passengers, as customers, on these matters. For this reason, this study aims to explore the knowledge and attitudes of Slovak passengers about green initiatives in aviation. The information about passengers’ knowledge and attitudes was collected through an online questionnaire. The data obtained from 514 respondents were evaluated employing descriptive and inferential statistics. From the results, several conclusions are apparent. Slovak passengers have generally weak environmental knowledge; therefore, it is important to provide them with enough relevant information to make informed decisions. The passengers have generally neutral to positive attitudes towards green initiatives in aviation, with the exception when these initiatives endanger their comfort or finances. For the development of green aviation, it is essential to increase the number of passengers with overall positive attitudes.

Information spillovers between carbon emissions trading prices and shipping markets: A time-frequency analysis

Climate change has become mankind's main challenge. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping are not totally irresponsible for this representing, roughly, 3% of the global total; an amount equal to that of Germany's total GHG emissions. The Fourth Greenhouse Gas Study 2020 of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) predicts that the share of GHG emissions from shipping will increase further, as international trade recovers and continues to grow, alongside with the economic development of India, China, and Africa. China and the European Union have proposed to include shipping in their carbon emissions trading systems (ETS). As a result, the study of the relationship between the carbon finance market and the shipping industry, attempted here for the first time, is both important and timely, both for policymakers and shipowners. We use wavelet analysis and the spillover index methods to explore the dynamic dependence and information spillovers between the carbon finance market and shipping. We discover a long-term dependence and information linkages between the two markets, with the carbon finance market being the dominant one. Major events, such as the 2009 global financial crisis; Brexit in 2016; the 2018 China-US trade frictions; and COVID-19 are shown to strengthen the dependence of carbon finance and shipping. We find that the dependence is strongest between the EU carbon finance market and dry bulk shipping, while the link is weaker in the case of tanker shipping. Nonetheless, carbon finance and tanker shipping showed a relatively stronger dependence when OPEC refused to cut production in 2014, and when the China-US trade disputes led to the collapse of oil prices after 2018. We show that information spillovers between carbon finance and shipping are bidirectional and asymmetric, with the carbon finance market being the principal transmitter of information. Our results and their interpretation provide guidance to governments on whether (and how) to include shipping in emissions trading schemes, supporting at the same time the environmental sustainability decisions of shipping companies.

Environmental Performance of Deconstructable Concrete Beams Made with Recycled Aggregates

The construction sector is one of the most energy-intensive and raw-material-demanding human activities and, hence, contributes a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. As a matter of principle, making the construction sector “greener” is one of the main challenges for policy makers, private companies and the scientific community. For this reason, one of the most promising actions is based on recycling Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) and converting them into secondary raw materials for the construction sector itself. Moreover, the reduction of the environmental impact can be further amplified through the optimization of the production, assembly and deconstruction/reuse procedures and through the maximization of the service life. In this aim, the present work aims at analyzing the environmental performance of duly sized and designed prefabricated Decontructable and Reusable Beam (DRB) incorporating with Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) assembled by means of an innovative system based on a memory®-steel prestressing technique. The environmental performance is evaluated through Life Cycle Assessment with a cradle-to-gate approach: the analysis of 16 midpoint impact categories was conducted using the methodology proposed by EN15804. In this context, three allocation scenarios for avoided impacts due to reuse (100-0, 50:50 and 0-100) were considered, and a sensitivity analysis was performed. It was verified that due to the higher amount of post-tensioning required for the innovative shape memory alloy steel bars, the DRBs present inferior environmental performance than the Ordinary Beams (ORB). However, when analyzing the reuse scenarios, it was observed that the DRB could have considerably lower impacts, depending on the type of allocation procedure adopted in LCA modeling. This study brings as the main contribution an evaluation and some design guidelines for the development of circular concrete structures based on the principles of Design for Deconstruction (DfD) and the prefabricated process.

Catalytic Removal of NOx on Ceramic Foam-Supported ZnO and TiO2 Nanorods Ornamented with W and V Oxides

Energy consumption steadily increases and energy production is associated with many environmental risks, e.g., generating the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. The primary gas pollution concern is CO2, CH4, and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Environmental catalysis plays a pivotal role in NOx mitigation (DeNOx). This study investigated, for the first time, a collection of ceramic foams as potential catalyst support for selective catalytic NOx reduction (SCR). Ceramic foams could be an attractive support option for NOx removal. However, we should functionalize the surface of raw foams for such applications. A library of ceramic SiC, Al2O3, and ZrO2 foams ornamented with nanorod ZnO and TiO2 as W and V oxide support was obtained for the first time. We characterized the surface layer coating structure using the XPS, XRF and SEM, and TEM microscopy to optimize the W to V molar ratio and examine NO2 mitigation as the SCR model, which was tested only very rarely. Comparing TiO2 and ZnO systems reveals that the SCR conversion on ZnO appeared superior vs. the conversion on TiO2, while the SiC-supported catalysts were less efficient than Al2O3 and ZrO2-supported catalysts. The energy bands in optical spectra correlate with the observed activity rank.

Climate Change and Healthcare: A Complicated Relationship.

Climate change is a crisis with a devastating impact on health. The warming atmosphere is increasing the tolls of deaths and illnesses from heat waves, extreme weather, poor air quality, insect-borne diseases, and other conditions. Healthcare is connected to climate change in a way that is not fully appreciated by many healthcare leaders-in fact, the sector generates a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. As additional costs, healthcare providers' margins are put at risk from treating more climate-related disease and illness, supply chain disruptions, and damage from severe storms and wildfires. These connections provide a compelling rationale for healthcare executives to create more resilience in operations, lead efforts toward decarbonization, and catalyze for climate action.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Global Construction Industries

The global construction industry is responsible for considerable effects on the environment and society. The construction and use of our built environment accounts for 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Population growth and rising standards of living are further exacerbating these problems. Understanding the contribution of construction industries and those activities responsible for the greatest share of greenhouse gas emissions is crucial in order to identify opportunities for emissions mitigation. This study uses multi-regional input-output analysis to analyse the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of global construction industries. A structural path analysis (SPA) was conducted for the construction sectors of 44 countries using top-down economic input-output data from EXIOBASE3. The findings were analysed to compare the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of each construction sector to ascertain their emissions intensity. The structural path analysis was used to disaggregate each sector into unique nodes or pathways, with each representing a single or group of activities and their associated emissions. This was used to identify critical hot spots of emissions within the various construction supply chains. The results show that there is wide discrepancy between the emissions intensity of the construction industry for the 44 countries, ranging from 0.165 kgCO2e/Euro to 2.05 kgCO2e/Euro. In addition, the most significant contributors to emissions for the most emissions intensive countries are the production of concrete and steel. This in-depth analysis of global construction industries using multi-regional input-output data provides critical information needed to identify opportunities for reducing global construction-related greenhouse gas emissions. This will help prioritise future emissions reduction efforts within the construction industry and target specific solutions to achieve the greatest improvements to the overall environmental performance of global construction industries.

Продовольственные цены в 1-ом квартале 2022 года на фоне карбонового следа

The article presents the annual share of greenhouse gas emissions, the source of which is agriculture of the Russian Federation. The role of computer modeling for estimating carbon emissions from various agricultural crops in the regions of Russia is shown. Prices of grain, milk, and meat producers in Russia, the EU, and the USA in the 1st quarter of 2022 are compared. Price regulators in the global wheat export market are highlighted. There was a double-digit (in percent) increase in prices in all major domestic food markets: milk, bread, sugar, meat, vegetables, potatoes and sunflower oil.

Energy Transition and Sustainable Road Transportation in Turkey: Multiple Policy Challenges for Inclusive Change

This paper aims to explore energy insecurity in Turkey at the intersection of environmental sustainability, human security and justice vis-à-vis growing energy demand coupled with greenhouse gas emissions coming from the transport sector. High dependence on fossil fuel imports creates bottlenecks for the economy and require urgent shift to renewable energy sources. Prospects for renewable energy transition are analyzed based on focusing on total final energy consumption by energy and transport sector as well as greenhouse gas emissions. In order to propose holistic clarifications to the triangular problem of high fossil fuel dependence, energy demand increase and greenhouse gas mitigation, sustainable energy transition in road transport is put forward. It is justified based on the share of greenhouse gas emissions originating from road transport sector and high taxation levels that create extra burden on private consumers. Energy transition is conceptualized with the theoretical offerings of sustainability transition literature that point out to socio-technical processes, hence the societal, technological as well as external structural contexts of change. Upon this background, this policy and practice review outlines the current policy instruments in order to highlight the mismatch between policy and practices for just energy transition in conjunction with sustainable mobility in Turkey.

Influencing factors of carbon emissions in transportation industry based on C[sbnd]D function and LMDI decomposition model: China as an example

Globally, the transportation industry is one of the leading fields that generate the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. While undergoing rapid development, countries worldwide aim to solve the problems involved in high energy consumption. Taking China as an example, this paper studies the main factors of carbon emissions in the transport sector and analyses the decoupling states between carbon emission and economic growth, making energy efficiency policies accordingly. In order to better demonstrate the dependence of the economy on the carbon emissions in China's transportation industry comprehensively, combined with the CD production function, this paper develops the decomposition and decoupling technology based on the LMDI approach. Additionally, it quantifies seven effects: energy emission intensity effect, energy structure effect, energy intensity effect, transportation intensity effect, technology state effect, labor input effect and capital input effect. The results show three major points: (1) From 2001 to 2018, the cumulative carbon emissions of China's transportation industry increased by 633.46 million tons, in which the capital input effect is the key factor driving carbon emissions, accounting for 157.70% of the total cumulative increased emissions, followed by energy structure effect at 10.39%. The labor input effect accounted for the smallest proportion at 2.26%. In this case, the technology state effect is the primary factor in restraining carbon emissions. During the study period, it reduced carbon emissions by 292.27 million tons, accounting for 46.14%. To a certain extent, energy intensity effect, transportation intensity effect and energy emission intensity inhibited carbon emissions, representing 16.67%, 5.32% and 2.22%, respectively. (2) During the research period, two decoupling states existed between carbon emissions and economic growth in China's transportation industry, specifically weak decoupling and expansive coupling. (3) The analysis of decomposition and decoupling state of influencing factors of carbon emissions shows that, on the one hand, factors promoting carbon emissions (capital input effect, energy structure effect and labor input effect) hinder the decoupling process. On the other hand, factors restraining carbon emissions (technology state effect, transportation intensity effect, energy intensity effect and energy emission intensity effect) accelerate the decoupling process. The research findings provide a new perspective for achieving carbon emission reduction in the transportation industry and curbing energy consumption growth.

Is There Progress towards Environmental Sustainability among Road Haulage Companies?

Road freight transport contributes to a significant and growing share of greenhouse gas emissions. This study analyses the development of environmental practices and awareness of road freight hauliers and whether hauliers witness an interest from their shippers towards energy efficiency. Results of an original survey (N = 256) conducted in 2019 among Finnish hauliers are presented and compared with those from a similar survey completed in 2011 (N = 295). The results highlight the lack of improvement in hauliers’ environmental practices during a decade when ambitious climate goals were set. Even though hauliers share the view that emissions from road freight transport must be reduced in future, their environmental practices did not change much during the 2010s. The hauliers rarely perceive an interest from their shippers towards energy efficiency. The results show that hauliers should be supported and encouraged to pursue more environmentally aware practices. Shippers in the supply chain should be a driver, not an obstacle, to increasing road hauliers’ sustainability. There should be more communication between hauliers and supply chain actors, and environmental sustainability should gain more importance when selecting carriers.

Modelling dynamics of emission of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O) from soils in agroecosystems

Problem formulation. One of the main factors affecting climate change is the greenhouse effect conditioned by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, among which CO2, CH4 and N2O are the most dangerous heat-trapping gases. In addition to anthropogenic activities, the source of greenhouse gases is emissions from natural ecosystems and agroecosystems. Carbon dioxide (CO2) accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, nitrous oxide (N2O) also has large global warming potential, being nearly 300 times higher than CO2 on a weight basis. The purpose of the study is to create the integrated model of greenhouse gas emissions from soils in the agroecosystems on the basis of studies concerning modelling carbon dioxide emissions from mineral soils, quantitatively describing nitrous oxide emissions and modelling agroecosystem productivity. Methods. Mathematical modelling of environmental processes, the synthesis of quantitative approaches to their description. Results. The results of modelling greenhouse gas emissions from soils in agro-ecosystems during 2017-2019 obtained by means of the integrated model developed showed that there is an interseasonal and interannual variability of CO2 and N2O fluxes. The higher CO2 flow rate was observed in 2017, in 2018 the lower CO2 emission intensity was discovered and in 2019 the CO2 flow rate was even lower. The emission of greenhouse gases varies depending on soil temperature, moisture and humus level of the soil. The equally low level of CO2 fluxes was observed at sufficiently low (from 1 to 6°C) soil temperatures. It was 0.072 – 0.401 g C-CO2/m2/day. The highest level of CO2 emission was observed in 2017 with a combination of high soil temperature (24-27°C) and sufficient soil moisture, and varies between 1,058 to 1,307 g С- CO2/m2/day. It was revealed that the most intense emission of N2O was observed during periods of high soil moisture when anaerobic conditions were established in the soil. The denitrification process was particularly intense in the spring of 2019, when the seasonal precipitation sum was 226 mm, and water-filled pore space (WFPS) reached more than 0.8 relative units. The average emission level of N2O was 15.592 g N-N2O/m2/day over this period, and the total N2O emission was the highest (1.134 kg of N-N2O/ha). The N2O emission intensity varied depending on the meteorological seasons. In the spring of 2017 and spring of 2018, the total N2O emission was 0.153–0.173 kg N-N2O/ha. The N2O emissions reached to 0.202-0.503 kg N-N2O/ha in the summer season and 0.192-0.660 kg N-N2O/ha in the autumn. The highest emission levels were observed in the spring seasons (2018 and 2019) and in the autumn months (2017 and 2018), an increase in soil moisture worsened soil aeration, which led to an intensive denitrification process. In total, for the three meteorological seasons the highest emission was in 2019 (1.567 kg N- N2O/ha). The emission level was lower in 2018 (1.323 kg N-N2O/ha) and even lower in 2017 (0.569 kg N-N2O/ha). Conclusions. Based on the synthesis of approaches to modelling CO2, N2O emissions and agroecosystem productivity, an integrated model of greenhouse gas emissions from soils in agro-ecosystems has been developed (plant-agrosoil-GHG-model). The interseasonal and interannual variability of CO2 and N2O fluxes and their dependence on weather conditions and humus level of the soil have been obtained.

EXPERIENCES AND RESULTS OF THE WORLD COUNTRIES IN USING SOLAR ENERGY

Aim: To investigate the experiences and results of the world countries in using solar energy and to make a comporative analysis Results: The demand for energy in the world is increasing day by day. Between 1990 and 2012, world primary energy demand increased by approximately 53 percent and reached 13,361 million tons of oil equivalent (MTEP). In 2012, approximately 82 percent of primary energy demand was met by fossil fuels. In this article, the history and methodology of utilizing solar energy has been researched. The increasing need for energy in the world day by day causes the gradual depletion of fossil fuel resource reserves, which are limited in the world. In addition, with the increase in the use of fossil fuels after the industrial revolution, the concentration of greenhouse gases (greenhouse gases), especially carbon dioxide (CO2), in the atmosphere increased significantly and a global warming began to be experienced. The recent energy crises and the reality of global warming have led countries to seek constantly renewed and environmentally friendly energy sources instead of fossil fuels, which are traditional energy sources, which have a common use, risk of depletion, share in greenhouse gas emissions. These resources, which are called as renewable energy resources, attract great attention today. Among the renewable energy sources, solar energy is both environmentally friendly as it does not emit CO2, and is a large enough energy source to potentially meet the energy demand of the whole world. Solar energy reaches the earth in a sufficient amount to meet all the electrical energy needs of the world. However, considering a fixed location on the earth, the amount of solar and wind energy at that location is variable due to the nature of these energy sources or due to atmospheric events. Scientific novelty: In this work compares the history, methods and innovations of the use of solar energy in Azerbaijan and other countries of the world.

Co-Optimization of Energy Losses and Transformer Operating Costs Based on Smart Charging Algorithm for Plug-In Electric Vehicle Parking Lots

The global transport sector has a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) can play a vital role in the reduction of pollution. However, high penetration of PEVs can pose severe challenges to power systems, such as an increase in energy losses and a decrease in the transformers' expected life. In this article, a new day-ahead co-optimization algorithm is proposed to reduce the unwanted effects of PEVs on the power system. The aim of the proposed algorithm is to minimize the cost of energy losses as well as transformer operating cost by the management of active and reactive powers simultaneously. Moreover, the effect of harmonics, which are produced by the charger of PEVs, are considered in the proposed algorithm. Also, the transformer operating cost is obtained from a method that contains the purchase price, loading, and losses cost of the transformer. Another advantage of the proposed algorithm is that it can improve power quality parameters, e.g., voltage and power factor of the distribution network by managing the reactive power. Afterward, the proposed algorithm is applied to a real distribution network. The results show that the proposed algorithm optimizes the daily operating cost of the distribution network efficiently. Finally, the robustness of the proposed algorithm to the number and distribution of PEVs is verified by simulation results.

Review of Energy in the Built Environment

Urban environments can be key to sustainable energy in terms of driving innovation and action. Urban areas are responsible for a significant part of energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. The share of greenhouse gas emissions is likely to increase as global urban populations increase. As over half of the human population will live in cities in the near future, the management of energy supply and demand in urban environments will become essential. Developments such as the transformation of the electricity grid from a centralised to a decentralised system as well as the electrification of the transportation and heating systems in buildings will transform the urban energy landscape. Efficient heating systems, sustainable energy technologies, and electric vehicles will be critical to decarbonise cities. An overview of emerging technologies and concepts in the built environment is provided in this literature review on the basis of four main areas, namely, energy demand, supply, storage, and integration aspects. The Netherlands is used as a case study for demonstrating evidence-based results and feasibility of innovative urban energy solutions, as well as supportive policies.