Sustainable Use Of Energy Resources Research Articles

Experimental Study on Heat Recovery in a CaO/Ca(OH)2-Based Mechanical Fluidized Bed Thermochemical Energy Storage Reactor

Long-term storage of seasonally available solar energy and its provision to balance heating energy demand can contribute significantly to the sustainable use of energy resources. Thermochemical energy storage is a suitable process for this purpose, offering the possibility of loss-free long-term energy storing and heat supply. In order to develop suitable technical solutions for the use of this technology, novel reactor concepts and scientific questions regarding material and technology development are being investigated. In this publication, the energy storage process of a long-term energy storage system based on a ploughshare reactor is experimentally investigated under various technically relevant operating conditions. One specific aspect of this technology is related to the release of water vapour during the charging process. Therefore, this work focusses, in particular, on the possibility of technically utilizing the latent heat of the released water vapour in the range of 45 °C to 80 °C, which covers the operating requirements of common heating systems in households. The experiments have shown that the dehydration process enables the separation of two heat fluxes: the chemically bound energy for long-term storage and the physically (sensible and latent) stored energy for short-term applications. However, the limitation of gas transport was also identified as the most important influencing parameter for optimising the performance of the process.

Forecast of Commodity Energy Consumption and Structure of Rural Households in Sichuan Province

With the growth in energy consumption, problems such as environmental pollution and resource depletion are becoming more and more prominent, and the sustainable use of energy resources and sustainable economic and social development can be achieved only through scientific forecasting and effective management. Forecasting the changing trend of energy consumption structure can guide the government and society to take corresponding measures for environmental protection and sustainable development, and reduce the negative impact of energy consumption on the environment. Based on the current development situation of commodity energy in rural households in Sichuan Province and related consumption data, this paper uses the grey prediction model and Markov model to predict the consumption and consumption structure of commodity energy in rural households in Sichuan Province. It is found that among the four types of commodity energy consumed by rural households in Sichuan Province, the consumption of electricity shows exponential and growth, and it is expected that the consumption of electricity by rural households in Sichuan Province from 2022 to 2025 will be 3,316,166, 3,582,203, 3,886,622, and 4,216,240 tonnes of standard coal, respectively. Meanwhile, using Markov chain to predict the consumption structure, it is found that under the no-planning constraint scenario, the share of energy consumption of electricity and natural gas is increasing, while the share of energy consumption of coal and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will be decreasing, and the shares of energy consumption of coal, electricity, natural gas, and LPG will be 1.97 per cent, 75.82 per cent, 26.36 per cent, and 0.02 per cent, respectively, by 2030.

Evaluation of green banana pulp drying using infrared radiation with temperature control

The green banana flour (GBF) is a functional food rich in resistant starch and nutrients, probiotic, and has low glycemic index. The obtaining of the flour is usually done in dryers with high energy consumption, and possible deteriorating processes. These problems can be minimized with an adaptive temperature control system in infrared heat sources. The aim of this research was to quantify the energy savings in the production of green banana flour produced by infrared drying compared to the conventional process of drying in a resistance oven. The production of flour from green banana pulp was evaluated using an infrared radiation dryer with fruit surface temperature control (IR-FSTC). The IR-FSTC was performed by keeping the pulp surface at 50 °C and 60 °C. The results were compared with conventional drying using a resistive source. The energy consumption of drying using IR-FSTC was significantly reduced compared to the drying by resistive source and prevented the formation of hotspots. The drying process was also evaluated by physicochemical and spectroscopic analyses of the GBF. The product maintained the pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, and lipid content with values similar to those obtained by conventional heating oven drying. In turn, the spectroscopic analyses confirmed the maintenance of biomolecules inherent in GBF. Thus, it is concluded that the results contribute to the sustainable use of energy resources in the production of GBF.

Integration of advanced technologies to improve the efficiency of gas condensate field development

In the context of constantly growing global energy demand and rapid changes in the energy sector, the study and implementation of advanced technologies in the development of gas condensate fields is of critical importance. The purpose of this study is to investigate methods to increase the efficiency of production and sustainable use of energy resources by optimising the development of gas condensate fields using advanced technologies. The methods used include analytical method, classification, functional method, statistical method, synthesis. Within the framework of this study, the technological aspects of using wells of the Altyguyi gas condensate field were investigated and extensive laboratory and field analyses were conducted aimed at the correct implementation of the double injection method for simultaneous extraction of gas from one reservoir and oil from another, with an emphasis on their contribution to the development of wells through this approach. The paper also considers aspects of operation and technology, including hydrodynamic and thermohydrodynamic studies, when analysing well designs considering compatibility intervals and mining and geological drilling conditions, based on predictive curves of reservoir pressure and rock fracture pressure. As a result of the analyses, studies and calculations, the implementation of the method of intensification of gas condensate field production using the oil and gas approach of dual injection in one well was substantiated. This approach is focused on reducing capital investments and accelerating the development process. The practical significance of this research lies in the development and implementation of innovative technologies to optimise the production processes of gas condensate fields, which contributes to improving the efficiency of hydrocarbon production and promotes the sustainable use of energy resources

Modified Social Group Optimization to Solve the Problem of Economic Emission Dispatch with the Incorporation of Wind Power

Economic dispatch, emission dispatch, or their combination (EcD, EmD, EED) are essential issues in power systems optimization that focus on optimizing the efficient and sustainable use of energy resources to meet power demand. A new algorithm is proposed in this article to solve the dispatch problems with/without considering wind units. It is based on the Social Group Optimization (SGO) algorithm, but some features related to the selection and update of heuristics used to generate new solutions are changed. By applying the highly disruptive polynomial operator (HDP) and by generating sequences of random and chaotic numbers, the perturbation of the vectors composing the heuristics is achieved in our Modified Social Group Optimization (MSGO). Its effectiveness was investigated in 10-unit and 40-unit power systems, considering valve-point effects, transmission line losses, and inclusion of wind-based sources, implemented in four case studies. The results obtained for the 10-unit system indicate a very good MSGO performance, in terms of cost and emissions. The average cost reduction of MSGO compared to SGO is 368.1 $/h, 416.7 $/h, and 525.0 $/h for the 40-unit systems. The inclusion of wind units leads to 10% reduction in cost and 45% in emissions. Our modifications to MSGO lead to better convergence and higher-quality solutions than SGO or other competing algorithms.

Storage management optimization based on electrical consumption and production forecast in a photovoltaic system

Decentralized energy production, particularly from photovoltaic (PV) systems, is becoming increasingly prevalent, leading to a rise in the number of energy producers and consumers, or ”prosumers”. These prosumers, equipped with their own energy generation and storage systems, are not just passive consumers but active participants in the energy market. They generate their own electricity, often from renewable sources, and can feed excess power back into the grid, store it for later use, or share it within a local energy community. This evolving energy paradigm presents new opportunities and challenges in terms of energy management and optimization, necessitating innovative approaches to ensure efficient and sustainable use of energy resources. This paper introduces an innovative storage management method for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. The method is designed to minimize either the economic or ecological cost, or to find an optimal balance between the two, under various tariff scenarios. This is achieved while adhering to a full self-consumption constraint imposed by the distribution system operator. The control strategy is underpinned by forecasts of electrical consumption, production, and CO2 emissions, which are developed using feedforward neural network models. These models are trained on data from a real-scale smart-grid demonstrator at the Catholic University of Lille, France. The results of the study offer a comparative analysis of the economic and ecological benefits of the three proposed strategies, demonstrating that the best compromise is achieved when considering the off-peak tariff option. Furthermore, a real-time controller was implemented on the Energy Management System (EMS) of the demonstrator and tested over a 24-hour period, yielding satisfactory results. This paper, therefore, presents a significant advancement in the field of storage management for grid-connected PV systems.

Public awareness of hydrogen energy: A comprehensive evaluation based on statistical approach

Climate change and environmental problems, increasing global energy demand, and uncertainties in energy supply have brought the production and use of sustainable energy resources to be crucial. Hydrogen, which is an important energy carrier, is being produced and used globally within the perspective of sustainable energy and environmental technologies. Public awareness is an important step toward the spread of hydrogen energy (HE). In the literature, while public awareness studies focus on renewable energy sources, no study that examines public awareness in the field of HE in a way that addresses different perspectives has come across. This pioneering study aims to explore public awareness of HE by analyzing survey data collected from individuals via basic statistical techniques. Findings indicate that individuals' awareness of hydrogen energy mainly varies according to their knowledge level, education level, and age group. The results of the study will provide an important perspective for all stakeholders on hydrogen energy. Especially the policymakers should consider these results to constitute the frameworks of policy without compromising any perspective of public awareness.

IoT based smart and intelligent smart city energy optimization

With the effective result of IoT architecture in all research areas, we propose IoT framework based energy efficient smart and intelligent street road lighting system that consist of IoT sensor bases smart electric pole with controller for tuning LED lamps. In our work we replace traditional metal halide lamps with mesophic design LED lamps based on human eye sensitivity and it provides significant saving of energy too. Based on the sensor unit information about traffic flow and presence and absence of occupant smart and intelligent decision making module compute intensity level that generate different width pulse using PWM dimming system which triggers LED power switch via DALI controller mounted inside LED Light Controller. For efficient use of sustainable energy resources we use sustainable power systems that consist of PV solar panel units, Battery storage systems and smart electric power grids. For the charging battery system we use MPPT based dynamic battery charging algorithm. From experiment and simulated result, we observe that proposed energy efficient Smart Street lighting saves considerable amount of energy during peak and off peak hours not only at highway roads but at residential and sub-urban pedestrian areas also. It will finally decrease the consumption of energy and carbon emission. We perform comparative result analysis of proposed systems with existing lighting systems based on energy consumption. Our experimentation result also represents the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic battery charging algorithm based on the battery storage PV solar panel system performance.

The Role of Biomethane from Sewage Sludge in the Energy Transition: Potentials and Barriers in the Arab Gulf States Power Sector

The increasing energy and water demands by the Arab Gulf states highlight the importance of sustainable use of energy resources. Wastewater sludge management for energy recovery creates an opportunity for sector integration for both wastewater treatment plants and renewable energy production. The objective of this study was to theoretically estimate the biomethane potential of wastewater sludge, together with identification of the role of biomethane in the region. The prediction of biomethane potential was based on the theoretical stoichiometry of biomethanation reactions, using the R-based package ‘Process Biogas Data and Predict Biogas Production’. The biomethane potential of sludge ranges between 232–334 × 106 m3, with a total heat-value up to 10.7 trillion BTUs annually. The produced biomethane can generate up to 1665 GWh of electric energy, an equivalent amount to the current levels of electricity generation from wind and solar power combined. The findings from the case study on Kuwait’s indicate that biomethane could displace 13 × 106 m3 of natural gas, or approximately 86,000 barrels of crude oil, while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 86% when compared to the base-scenario. Despite its potential, biomethane recovery in the region is hindered by technical-, economic-, and policy-based barriers.

PREDICTION FOR TOTAL MOISTURE CONTENT IN WOOD PELLETS BY NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (NIRS)

Mankind consumes as many fossil fuels per year as nature produced during a million years. Furthermore, energy consumption has tripled in the last 60 years, and is expected to be doubled in 2050, due to the technological and economic takeoff of large emerging powers. In light of this scenario, a change in energy policies should be aimed to promote energy efficiency and the use of sustainable energy resources, such as bioenergy, safely and environmental friendly. Biomass fuels take a main role in the EU's energy and climate policies, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and combating Climate Change. Quality control of biofuels and knowledge of their characteristics reach a large relevance in any industrial application based on the energy use of biofuels. NIRS technology (near infrared spectroscopy, Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy) is based on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and material, and now is presented as an encouraging technological tool for quality testing of solid biofuels, since it is a non-destructive and much faster and cheaper analytical technique than traditional ones, which are based on current ISO standards. That interaction appears as spectral vibrations (energy absorption or absorbance) that are properly processed, allowing to measure the most important physical-chemical properties of solid biofuels in a fast, simple and non-destructive way. Wood pellet is the highest quality solid biofuel in the current biomass market, which is regulated by ENplus® certification scheme in the European-wide, ensuring the quality of product to consumers. Low heating value is the most important parameter of solid biofuel, and is strongly linked to total moisture content, so the control of moisture is key factor during pelletizing process. The original research carried out in this work allows to present the development of a NIRS prediction model for total moisture in wood pellets, in the range of values of 5 – 10 %, providing a much faster and more automated methodology for product quality control, both in production plants of wood pellets and in power plants with wood pellets as fuel. Keywords: near infrared spectroscopy, wood pellets, quality control, moisture, prediction model

Sustainable Use of Energy Resources, Regulatory Quality, and Foreign Direct Investment in Controlling GHGs Emissions among Selected Asian Economies

“United in Science” is the recent slogan of the United Nations climate summit in 2020. A collective effort of institutional governance, energy resources utilization, foreign inclusion, and regional collaboration is required for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of achieving a clean environment. In reaching this objective, this study investigates the sustainably of Regulatory Quality (RQ), Energy Consumption per capita (ECpc), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and their interaction in reducing the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) Emissions. This study considered 27 Asian economies, covering the more extensively undertaken regional investigation, in the time period from 2001 to 2018. The results of the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) show that RQ has a strong positive significant impact on GHGs emissions reduction. It further indicates that FDI inflows support the institutions to enhance their institutional capacities. Simultaneously, ECpc has negative impacts on GHGs emissions. Furthermore, RQ interaction with ECpc and FDI also have a strong significant positive impact on GHGs emissions reduction in Asia. The study concludes that the Asia region has been implementing aggressive and prudent policies towards environmental up-gradation to achieve sustainability. However, FDI inflows should be more allocated to environmental quality and energy efficacy to clean the climate and promote regional collaboration.

Solar desalination tower, novel design, for power generation and water distillation using steam only as working fluid

The use of sustainable energy resources is indispensable nowadays. This paper studies a new solar chimney plant for electrical power generation and water distillation. The operating mechanism of the power plant is based on evaporating seawater using concentrated solar power techniques. The novelty of the proposed system is using steam only as working fluid; also, the collector area is separated away from the solar chimney. The solar field absorbs and transfers solar energy into the steam generator. As steam passes through the chimney, the vapor exchanges the heat with the outside environment resulting in water condensation at the inner surface of the chimney. A set of equations have been developed, and a hybrid integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) is constructed for comparison purposes. In general, the results show that the proposed system can improve the efficiency of the solar utilization of the new solar chimney with 78% more than the conventional ISCC system. The geometrical dimensions of the solar field and chimney of the new system are smaller than the traditional one; therefore, the estimated capital cost ($/m2) will be relatively less.

Energy Audit of Agricultural Enterprises: New Approaches and Assessment Criteria (Following the Russian-Finnish Project Interim Outcomes)

Currently implemented project “Russian-Finnish Bioeconomy Competence Сentre – BioCom” within South-East Finland – Russia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 aims to integrate the BioEconomy principles and approaches into the agricultural sector of the neighbouring border areas of Russia and Finland. The energy efficiency of farming and sustainable use of energy resources is one of the fundamentals of the bio-economy concept. The energy audit is the first step in identifying opportunities to reduce the energy inputs on the farms.(Research purpose) To discover the new approaches to the energy auditing of agricultural enterprises and new assessment indicators following the project experience.(Materials and methods) Four farms were selected for the energy inspection – two farms located in the Leningrad Region, Russia, and two farms located in the South Savo Region, Finland. In Russia the standard energy auditing, measurement, and calculation procedure was applied. The systems of electrical power supply, heat supply, water supply, sewage, and building envelopes on the farms were examined and estimated.(Results and discussion) Following the outcomes of the energy audits in the project framework and the previous relevant experience, the basic energy-saving and efficiency improvement measures were established. Three new approaches to the energy auditing of agricultural enterprises were suggested – energy and environmental assessment of applied technologies and equipment; consideration of the application of renewable energy-generating sources; consideration of the conversion of vehicles to biogas.(Conclusions) The study outcomes proved the energy audits to play an important role in improving the energy efficiency of agricultural production provided they are mandatory, take into account the energy environmental assessment criteria, consider the application of renewable energy-generating sources and the conversion of vehicles to biogas.

Numerical approach of liquid carbon dioxide injection in crushed coal and its experimental validation

The safety issues are a major restriction on coal mining and growing efforts are being made in the search for solutions that will guarantee sustainable use of energy resources. Liquid carbon dioxide is attracting particular interest of coal fire-fighting due to the promising efficiency of cooling and asphyxia. Our objective is to develop a valid model to simulate the dispersion and thermal behaviors of liquid carbon dioxide under crushed coal condition and assessment of liquid carbon dioxide injection for coal fire-fighting. For this purpose, a numerical approach which requires an accurate state equation for calculating physical parameters of carbon dioxide, also accounts for appropriate description of energy transformation during the injection is presented. The validation of such a model against three experimental tests on temperature variation is proposed, and the model has proved capable of accurately predicting the heat and mass transfer process when liquid carbon dioxide is injected into crushed coal. Furthermore, the impact of nozzle diameter on the dispersion and thermal behaviors of liquid carbon dioxide is extensively investigated.

Thermal Energy Storage for the Complex Energy Systems

Thermal energy systems (TES) systems contribute to the on-going process leading to greater integration between different energy systems in order to achieve cleaner and more sustainable use of energy resources. This paper reviews the current literature showing the development and deployment of TES-based solutions in power grid-connected systems. These solutions integrate the energy system to gain new potential for energy management, make better use of renewable energy (RES) resources, modernize energy system infrastructure, facilitate network operation practices that include energy conversion and service delivery. The network is cost-effective, facilitating. This paper provides a complementary look at other investigations into energy storage technologies and materials for TES and TES building applications and electrical energy storage aids for network applications. The main aspects discussed are the features, parameters, and models of TES systems, the deployment of TES in variable RES systems, small networks, multi-power networks, and emerging trends for TES applications.

Characterization of cooling loads in the wine industry and novel seasonal indicator for reliable assessment of energy saving through retrofit of chillers

The food sector is a major consumer of energy and growing efforts are being made in the search for solutions that will guarantee the efficient and sustainable use of energy resources. Among the different sectors, wineries are attracting particular interest due to the continuous growth of the global market and production. Surveys conducted in the winemaking sector have highlighted the importance of performing accurate energy audits and have identified the installation of efficient refrigeration systems as a promising solution in a variety of cases. Unfortunately, the savings achievable by efficient cooling technologies are often estimated using simplified approaches which do not take into consideration the actual operating conditions of the equipment typically variable on seasonal and daily bases. In this paper a novel bottom-up procedure is presented, aimed at developing reliable profiles for refrigeration and air-conditioning loads and at assessing the extent to which more efficient chilling units could contribute to reducing electricity consumption. The use of standard Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratios is critically discussed and a novel customized indicator is proposed. The method is applied to a medium-scale winery producing still red and white wines and sparkling wines, for which only aggregated energy consumption data are available. After deriving detailed load profiles, it is proven that the use of standard seasonal indicators leads to 56.85% and 83.87% overestimation of potential energy savings, respectively, for low and medium temperature cooling energy uses, confirming the importance of adopting seasonal indicators customized on the actual operating conditions of chillers.

Energy Consumption on Dairy Farms: A Review of Monitoring, Prediction Modelling, and Analyses

The global consumption of dairy produce is forecasted to increase by 19% per person by 2050. However, milk production is an intense energy consuming process. Coupled with concerns related to global greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, increasing the production of milk must be met with the sustainable use of energy resources, to ensure the future monetary and environmental sustainability of the dairy industry. This body of work focused on summarizing and reviewing dairy energy research from the monitoring, prediction modelling and analyses point of view. Total primary energy consumption values in literature ranged from 2.7 MJ kg−1 Energy Corrected Milk on organic dairy farming systems to 4.2 MJ kg−1 Energy Corrected Milk on conventional dairy farming systems. Variances in total primary energy requirements were further assessed according to whether confinement or pasture-based systems were employed. Overall, a 35% energy reduction was seen across literature due to employing a pasture-based dairy system. Compared to standard regression methods, increased prediction accuracy has been demonstrated in energy literature due to employing various machine-learning algorithms. Dairy energy prediction models have been frequently utilized throughout literature to conduct dairy energy analyses, for estimating the impact of changes to infrastructural equipment and managerial practices.

Fleet Transition from Combustion to Electric Vehicles: A Case Study in a Portuguese Business Campus

This paper aims to contribute to the urgent reflection as a society about environmental protection, in the ultimate challenge that is the sustainable use of energy resources. Since Portugal is at an early stage of market development internally, governmental and local stimulation policies play a central role and are a key element in the successful diffusion of Electric Mobility. The study will focus on the transition of a company car fleet, which currently consists of combustion vehicles, to electric vehicles. With this change it becomes necessary to understand how the electrical installation will be affected due to the installation of charging stations, allowing the company to have some autonomy from the public grid. The various changes resulting from the installation consumption profile will be studied and compared. The state of the art, the level of maturity and where the development of electric mobility in Portugal is heading will also be appreciated.

Automated Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring System Using Stacked Neural Networks and Numerical Integration

Population growth and new consumer needs, among other factors, have lead to growing energy demand, without a concomitant increase in energy generation. This way, reduction and rationalization of energy consumption, especially by residential users, have become a global concern generating a need for developing techniques for efficient management and distribution of the available energy. Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) techniques have provided valuable information about energy consumption for power generation companies as well as consumers. Such information is important for making decisions related to sustainable use of energy resources. This study proposes an automated system based on Artificial Neural Network for performing some of the NILM tasks. A stacked neural network was developed to extract features of power signals of appliances to identify those in operation during a given period. This information is then used to disaggregate individual appliance loads through the total aggregate signal, and consumption is calculated through numerical integration. The system was tested using real data from two databases about appliances with On/Off, multi-level, and variable consumption patterns collected in low frequency. The performance metrics, resulting from identification and disaggregation tasks, demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed system.

Enabling smallholder farmers to sustainably improve their food, energy and water nexus while achieving environmental and economic benefits

Traditional cropping practices in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, South Asia, are resource intensive, requiring large inputs of water, energy and human labor. They are also inefficient, with relatively low productivity for the inputs used although the climate, soil and water resources of the region indicate that greater productivity is achievable. In on-farm experiments conducted across three countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal) we compared the performance of traditional and improved management practices to understand which better facilitated the production of food-grain crops while reducing energy and water demands, thus improving the sustainability of cropping system energy requirements. Benefits of improved over traditional management practices included increases of up to 10% in crop grain yields; up to 19% in water productivity; up to 26% in energy productivity; and reductions of up to 50% in labor. These metrics combined to reduce the cost of production under improved management by up to 22% and to increase gross margins by up to 100% (although in most instances gross margins increased by 12–32%). CO2-equivalent emissions reduced by 10%–17% compared to traditional practices.The principles behind the improved management practices, which we demonstrate improve the food-energy-water nexus while concurrently promoting more sustainable use of energy resources, are applicable across smallholder farming systems throughout South Asia and in many emerging-economy countries. These improvements to traditional management practices combined with our approach of supporting farmers through the implementation of new methods has widespread applications and the potential to assist many countries transitioning to low-energy, sustainable food production.