Total Amount Of Energy Research Articles

Data-driven model predictive control using random forests for building energy optimization and climate control

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a model-based technique widely and successfully used over the past years to improve control systems performance. A key factor prohibiting the widespread adoption of MPC for complex systems such as buildings is related to the difficulties (cost, time and effort) associated with the identification of a predictive model of a building. To overcome this problem, we introduce a novel idea for predictive control based on historical building data leveraging machine learning algorithms like regression trees and random forests. We call this approach Data-driven model Predictive Control (DPC), and we apply it to three different case studies to demonstrate its performance, scalability and robustness. In the first case study we consider a benchmark MPC controller using a bilinear building model, then we apply DPC to a data-set simulated from such bilinear model and derive a controller based only on the data. Our results demonstrate that DPC can provide comparable performance with respect to MPC applied to a perfectly known mathematical model. In the second case study we apply DPC to a 6 story 22 zone building model in EnergyPlus, for which model-based control is not economical and practical due to extreme complexity, and address a Demand Response problem. Our results demonstrate scalability and efficiency of DPC showing that DPC provides the desired power curtailment with an average error of 3%. In the third case study we implement and test DPC on real data from an off-grid house located in L’Aquila, Italy. We compare the total amount of energy saved with respect to the classical bang-bang controller, showing that we can perform an energy saving up to 49.2%. Our results demonstrate robustness of our method to uncertainties both in real data acquisition and weather forecast.

Modified approach of total site integration for energy conservation: A case study of sponge iron cluster

In the present work, a modified approach to conserve energy in total site of plants of similar type is developed where conventional methods are not applicable. The approach includes iterative method, if utility and process streams are same, as well as non-iterative method, if these are different. Further, if coal is treated as utility and process streams, a revised model to compute its consumption is also proposed. To illustrate the new approach a cluster of three sponge iron plants are considered where two different strategies are proposed. Results show that reduction in coal consumption, predicted for Strategy-1, is higher than that of Strategy-2. Strategy-1 recovers 99.8% of waste heat available in the modified total site. Thus, through Strategy-1 total amount of energy wasted in the cluster is reduced from 43% to 7.6%. Along with this, Strategy-1 reduces waste gas emissions significantly while making sponge iron cluster more environment friendly. Moreover, 97.9% reduction of water in total site is also observed using Strategy-1, which is an added advantage. Results are compared well with that of the published literature. Further, this approach can be applicable effectively in the site of similar plants irrespective of the operating condition.

Microseismicity, tectonics and seismic potential in the Western Himalayan segment, NW Himalaya, India

The tectonics and seismic potential of the western Himalayan segment (30–33°N; 76–80°E) of the NW Himalayan (India) region have been determined in this study. 423 earthquakes were located in the NW Himalaya between 2004 and 2013 using more than 4495 P and 4453 S differential travel times to determine the moment tensors for 8 (Mw ≥ 4.0) of these earthquakes using their broadband regional waveforms. The geometry of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) plane which varies along the strike of the Himalaya in flat and ramp segments with a dip ranging between ∼2.5 to ∼4° to ∼19° below the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT) in the south to the South Tibetan Detachment (STD) in the north has also been deduced in this study. Two crustal ramps were reported in this study with a depth variance below the Main Central Thrust (MCT) and to the South Tibetan Detachment (STD) between 12 to 22 km and 28 to 40 km depth respectively. The estimated earthquake potential prevailing in the western Himalayan seismic gap lying between the epicentral zone of the 1905 Kangra earthquake and the 1975 Kinnaur earthquake reveals that the total amount of energy released since the last great event is only a fraction (3–5%) of the accommodated energy i.e.1.1E+28 dyne-cm/yr. This suggests that if an earthquake hits this NW Himalayan segment in the future, its magnitude might be around Mw ≥ 8.0.

Modeling subduction earthquake sources in the central-western region of Colombia using waveform inversion of body waves

Source parameters of four earthquakes located within the Wadati-Benioff zone of the Nazca plate subducting beneath the South American plate in Colombia were determined. The seismic moments for these events were recalculated and their approximate equivalent rupture area, slip distribution and stress drop were estimated. The source parameters for these earthquakes were obtained by deconvolving multiple events through teleseismic analysis of body waves recorded in long period stations and with simultaneous inversion of P and SH waves. The calculated source time functions for these events showed different stages that suggest that these earthquakes can reasonably be thought of being composed of two subevents. Even though two of the overall focal mechanisms obtained yielded similar results to those reported by the CMT catalogue, the two other mechanisms showed a clear difference compared to those officially reported. Despite this, it appropriate to mention that the mechanisms inverted in this work agree well with the expected orientation of faulting at that depth as well as with the wave forms they are expected to produce. In some of the solutions achieved, one of the two subevents exhibited a focal mechanism considerably different from the total earthquake mechanism; this could be interpreted as the result of a slight deviation from the overall motion due the complex stress field as well as the possibility of a combination of different sources of energy release analogous to the ones that may occur in deeper earthquakes. In those cases, the subevents with very different focal mechanism compared to the total earthquake mechanism had little contribution to the final solution and thus little contribution to the total amount of energy released.

Energy Consumption Optimization and User Comfort Management in Residential Buildings Using a Bat Algorithm and Fuzzy Logic

Energy management in residential buildings has grabbed the attention of many scientists for the last few years due to the fact that the residential sector consumes the highest amount of total energy produced by different energy resources. To manage the energy in residential buildings effectively, an efficient energy control system is required, capable of decreasing the total energy consumption without compromising the user-preferred environment inside the building. In the literature, many approaches have been proposed to achieve the goals of minimizing the energy consumption and maximizing the user preferred comfort by keeping different parameters under consideration, but all these methods face some problems in resolving the issue properly. The bat algorithm is one of the most recently introduced optimization approaches that has drawn the attention of researchers to apply it for solving different types of optimization problems. In this paper, the bat algorithm is applied for energy optimization in residential buildings, which is one of the most focused optimization problems in recent years. Three environmental parameters, namely temperature, illumination and air quality are bat algorithm inputs and optimized values of these parameters are the outputs. The error difference between the environmental parameters and optimized parameters are inputs of the fuzzy controllers which give energy as output which in turn change the status of the concerned actuators. It is proven from the experimental results that the proposed approach has been effectively successful in managing the whole energy consumption management system.

Bioenergy and its Implication for Yoga Therapy.

Electro photonic imaging (EPI) is being researched relative to its application for yoga therapy. Three parameters of interest in EPI measurements are as follows: Communication energy (C), integral or normalized area (IA), and Entropy (E). It is important to note that C indicates the total energy of communication for the organ system; IA is an indication of total amount of energy that is available for the organ system while entropy is an indication of the amount of coherence of the energy. Coherence and entropy are inversely related; this means less the entropy, more the coherence and vice versa. Illustrative cases of successful therapy with yoga practices in a wide variety of abnormal conditions are examined, and in every case, entropy is shown to decrease for the affected organ system while communication energy stays within stable range. Relative to the electromagnetic (Rubik) and living matrix (Oschman) models, it is suggested that the regulation of energy, its coherence in the biological system and interaction with life processes provide the basis for model building and design of health-promoting procedures. Further, this approach is examined relative to yoga theory, traditional medicine systems, and scientific developments in the field of gene expression and neuroplasticity and a generalized model that we call Unified System of Medicine is proposed. This model has direct implications on methods used to control the environmental factors to get robust results from EPI application for therapeutic purposes. Implications for furthering research in yoga therapy using EPI and implications of EPI as a translational technology between traditional medicine systems and modern medicine is discussed.

Energy expenditure, growth, and nutritional therapy in appropriate and small for gestational age preterm infants

ObjectiveTo evaluate the resting energy expenditure, growth, and quantity of energy and macronutrients intake in a group of preterm newborns. MethodsThe cohort study was performed with appropriate and small for gestational age preterm infants (birth weight lower than 1500g or gestational age<32 weeks). Resting energy expenditure was measured using indirect calorimetry on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days of life, and at discharge. Length, head circumference and body weight were assessed weekly. Nutritional therapy was calculated during the hospital stay and the information for each type of food was recorded in software that calculates the total amount of energy and macronutrients. Results61 preterm infants were followed; 43 appropriate and 18 small for gestational age infants. There was no statistical difference for resting energy expenditure between the groups, and it increased from the first to the fourth week of life (appropriate: 26.3% and small: 21.8%). Energy intake in the first two weeks of life was well below the energy requirement. ConclusionConsidering that the results demonstrate high energy expenditure during the first weeks of life, there is an evident need to provide the best quality of nutrition for each child in the first weeks of life so that preterm infants with or without intrauterine growth restriction can achieve their maximum potential for growth and development.

Superparasitism is a price worth paying for parasitic wasps

Finding a good nursery for the kids is a dilemma that many new parents can relate to and parasitic wasps are no different. Competition between wasp mums can be keen when the species that will host their offspring can support only one wasp larva at a time. Add to that the sheer effort that a soon-to-be mum must invest to drill through the tough exterior of a fruit or seed to access the host larva within, and parasitic wasp mothers might have to invest significant amounts of energy to ensure that their offspring get the best start in life. Wondering how much importance pregnant wasp females place on these costs when staking a claim to a host larva, Romain Boisseau and Marlène Goubault from the Université François-Rabelais, France, and Art Woods from the University of Montana, USA, measured the amount of energy expended by female Eupelmus vuilleti parasitic wasps as they duel over and then bore through a black-eyed pea in search of weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus) larvae within.‘Females that start drilling a seed kick and chase intruders until the loser retreats’, explains Boisseau, who recorded the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by duelling E. vuilleti females as they grappled over a weevil-infested black-eyed pea to find out how costly the exertions were. However, the main technical challenge was finding a way to directly measure the carbon dioxide produced by the duelling wasps while the weevil larva inside the pea continued exhaling carbon dioxide. Fortunately, the team discovered that the wasps were content to lay their eggs on weevils that had just died, so Boisseau provided the sparring females with recently frozen black-eyed peas containing a dead weevil to battle over. Yet, when he compared the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the females during combat with the amount of carbon dioxide that they produced when there was no weevil larva to squabble over, the total daily cost was a measly 0.001%, in contrast to the massive energy costs incurred by other species during combat.In contrast, when Boisseau recorded the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by individual females as they bored through the tough seed in search of the weevil larva and calculated the total amount of energy that they expend drilling over the course of a day (16 holes on average), he was amazed that the exertion used as much as 15% of the wasp's energy budget. However, when Boisseau offered the wasps a seed that had already been drilled by a previous visitor (who had already laid her egg within), he was impressed to see that the late arrival saved time (using only 12% of the time it took to drill into a fresh pea). In total, a female could save up to 6% of her daily energy budget, despite the risk that her larva has a lower chance of surviving on a weevil that has already been parasitised – superparasitised – by another wasp mum.Although superparasitism might not seem like a great idea when it reduces a larva's chance of survival, Boisseau, Goubault and Woods suspect that the energy and time saved using a second-hand hole may partly outweigh the risk that the larva won't make it. They also add that reusing a drilled hole could help to avoid wear and tear at the tip of the wasp's egg-laying microinjector. And the trio suggests that the sheer exertion of egg laying could also account for the wasps’ lacklustre combat performance; ‘There may be little benefit to fighting fiercely to access an unparasitised host’, they suggest.

The metabolic regimes of flowing waters

AbstractThe processes and biomass that characterize any ecosystem are fundamentally constrained by the total amount of energy that is either fixed within or delivered across its boundaries. Ultimately, ecosystems may be understood and classified by their rates of total and net productivity and by the seasonal patterns of photosynthesis and respiration. Such understanding is well developed for terrestrial and lentic ecosystems but our understanding of ecosystem phenology has lagged well behind for rivers. The proliferation of reliable and inexpensive sensors for monitoring dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide is underpinning a revolution in our understanding of the ecosystem energetics of rivers. Here, we synthesize our current understanding of the drivers and constraints on river metabolism, and set out a research agenda aimed at characterizing, classifying and modeling the current and future metabolic regimes of flowing waters.

Quantitative assessment of the thermal stored energy in protective clothing under low-level radiant heat exposure

In addition to direct thermal energy from a heating source, a large amount of thermal energy stored in clothing will continuously discharge to the skin after exposure. Therefore, thermal protective clothing may have a dual effect on human skin in reality. An experimental investigation was conducted to study the energy storage within 15 different combinations of clothing layers exposed to low heat fluxes ranging from 2.5 kW/m2 to 8.5 kW/m2. The energy storage process, the distribution of energy storage, and variables critically impacting energy storage, including fabric layers, air gap under clothing, thermal resistance and heat source intensity were discussed. It is demonstrated that the weight and thickness of the fabric are dominating factors affecting energy storage. For a multilayer fabric system, 36–57% of the total amount of energy is stored in the outer shell. The neighboring layer proves to be very important for the energy storage in an individual fabric. The air gap that exists between the fabric and the skin exerts an influence on the energy storage within fabric layers. In addition, a linear correlation is observed between the energy storage and the total thermal resistance of a fabric system. The research findings will be brought to researchers to better understand the mechanism and factors associated with energy storage and help develop new fabric combinations in order to minimize heat transmission to the skin.

An analysis of the LIGO discovery based on introductory physics

By observing gravitational radiation from a binary black hole merger, the LIGO collaboration has simultaneously opened a new window on the universe and achieved the first direct detection of gravitational waves. Here this discovery is analyzed using concepts from introductory physics. Drawing upon Newtonian mechanics, dimensional considerations, and analogies between gravitational and electromagnetic waves, we are able to explain the principal features of LIGO's data and make order of magnitude estimates of key parameters of the event by inspection of the data. Our estimates of the black hole masses, the distance to the event, the initial separation of the pair, and the stupendous total amount of energy radiated are all in good agreement with the best fit values of these parameters obtained by the LIGO-VIRGO collaboration.

Quality of diet plans for weight loss featured in women's magazines. A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Brazil has the fifth largest population of obese individuals in the world. Women's magazines publish a large number of diet plans, and therefore the objective of this study was to assess the quality of these plans. Cross-sectional descriptive study. We included the Brazilian women's magazines of highest circulation published between January and June 2014 that advertised diets for weight loss on their covers. We extracted the quantities of macro and micronutrients from each of these diet plans and compared these quantities with the World Health Organization nutritional guidelines for adult women. We also checked the total energy quantities of these plans, and any recommendations about water intake and physical activity. We identified 136 potentially eligible magazine issues; 41 were excluded and 95 issues of 6 different magazines were included in the study. We found that 83.1 % of the plans had carbohydrate and fiber levels below the recommendations. On the other hand, the protein and saturated fatty acid levels were above the recommendations in 97.8% and 95.7% of the plans, respectively; 75.7% of the diets had inadequate calcium levels and 70.5% had low iron levels. Only 30 plans specified the total daily quantity of dietary energy and in 53.3% of these, the information was inconsistent with our estimates; 20% of the plans had no recommendations on daily water intake and 37.5% did not give recommendations regarding physical activity practices. The diet plans for weight loss featured in Brazilian women's magazines are of low quality.

A Distributed Scheme for Power Profile Market Clearing under High Battery Penetration

In this paper, we formulate a problem of power profile market clearing and develop a distributed market clearing scheme with explicit consideration of high battery penetration. The power profile market is a multiperiod electricity market in which each aggregator aims at making the highest profit by transacting a power profile, i.e., a time sequence of energy amounts at several time slots, that is generated by dispatchable power generation as well as the charge and discharge of batteries. It is theoretically shown that the clearing price profile during the time period of interest tends to level off in the high penetration of batteries. This finding enables to develop a distributed market clearing scheme that is implemented as a bidding strategy for the total energy amount during the period followed by a distributed iterative algorithm for profile imbalance minimization. Numerical simulations demonstrate the price leveling-off led by high battery penetration and the efficiency of the proposed distributed scheme.

Experimental tests on commercial Sweet Product Residue (SPR) as a suitable feed for anaerobic bioenergy (H2 + CH4) production

Food stores can find themselves in the position of having to dispose of different types of products, such as snacks, confectionery, prepackaged food, drinks and others, Sweet Product Residue (SPR), which presents a great opportunity to produce energy through Anaerobic Digestion (AD), due to its high sugar, carbohidrate and fat contents. In order to valorise SPR, this paper takes into consideration the all necessary treatments; owing the fact that the refuses are constitute by an organic part and packaging (plastic, paper and their combinations), a pretreatment able to remove the latter is necessary. SPR refuse was initially subjected to novel pretreatment approach: extrusion at 200atm to remove the packaging, and a Basic Pre-treatment (BP) then tested through a Two-Stage AD (TSAD) process, for H2 and CH4 productions. The experimental results were analysed considering three parameters: Efficiency (ξ), which takes into account the quantity of the energy produced as hydrogen plus methane that the bioreaction is able to extract; Efficacy (η), which takes into account the efficiency of the actual test, compared with that obtained from a reference test carried out with glucose; Energy Sustainability Index (ESI), which takes into account the total amount of energy produced as H2 plus CH4, and the amount of energy consumed to pre-treat the refuse. The effectiveness of the extrusion process in removing the packaging was very high: about 80% of the organic part present in the SPR was recovered. The obtained results have pointed out that SPR is suitable for energy valorization process: ξ=50%, η=0.67 and ESI=24.4, without the need of basic pre-treatment.

Effect of shade, opacity and layer thickness on light transmission through a nano-hybrid dental composite during curing.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of shade and opacity on the change in light transmission through different thicknesses of a nano-hybrid composite during curing. Twelve different shades of Venus Diamond (Heraeus Kulzer) were placed in disk shaped molds with thickness of 1, 2, and 3 mm (n = 3 per group) and cured with an LED light-curing unit. Initial, final and average irradiance, and the total amount of energy passing through the specimen were measured using the MARC Resin Calibrator at every 10s for a total of 40s. The translucency parameter and the contrast ratio were obtained using a chromameter. Results were analyzed with ANOVA/Tukey's test (α = 0.05). All shades and all thicknesses (up to 3 mm) experienced an increase in light transmittance during curing. The majority of the increase occurred during the initial 10s exposure, with significant increase occurring from subsequent exposures only in thicker specimens (i.e., 3 mm). The increase in irradiance at the bottom during curing was dependent on shade, with darker shades and greater depths of material showing less increase. For one specific resin composite formulation, an increase in translucency occurs as cure progresses, and the increase is enhanced for composites with greater lightness and lower contrast ratio. Composites demonstrate increased light transmittance as curing progress, which may improve depth of cure. The thicker composite showed the least increase in light transmission within the same shade. The increase in translucency is enhanced for composites with great lightness and lower contrast ratio.

Opportunistic Scheduling in Wireless Powered Communication Networks

In this paper, we apply the notion of opportunistic scheduling in wireless-powered communication networks (WPCNs). The considered WPCN model consists of a base station (BS) and multiple energy harvesting users (EHUs), where the BS broadcasts radio frequency energy to the EHUs over the downlink and receives information from the EHUs over the uplink. We differentiate the WPCNs based upon the battery management policy at the EHUs, i.e., whether an EHU spends the total amount of energy harvested in its battery for each IT (WPCN type 1), or spends only a part of it for the current IT and saves the other part for future ITs (WPCN type 2). We propose two opportunistic scheduling policies, referred to as the harvest-then-select and harvest-or-select protocols, employed at the WPCN type 1 and WPCN type 2, respectively. These protocols have significant practical advantages over the state-of-the-art schemes proposed for maximizing the WPCN sum-rate, because they introduce fairness in the resource utilization by the EHUs, and require much lower amount of channel state information. Both protocols achieve these benefits at the expense of a minor rate degradation relative to the rates achieved by their counterpart protocols employing multiple access, denoted as the harvest-then-transmit and harvest-or-concurrently-transmit protocols.

Inflammatory responses, matrix remodeling, and re-epithelialization after fractional CO2 laser treatment of scars.

Fractional CO2 laser therapy has been used to improve scar pliability and appearance; however, a variety of treatment protocols have been utilized with varied outcomes. Understanding the relationship between laser power and extent of initial tissue ablation and time frame for remodeling could help determine an optimum power and frequency for laser treatment. The characteristics of initial injury caused by fractional CO2 laser treatment, the rates of dermal remodeling and re-epithelialization, and the extent of inflammation as a function of laser stacking were assessed in this study in a porcine scar model. Full-thickness burn wounds were created on female Red Duroc pigs followed by immediate excision of the eschar and split-thickness autografting. Three months after injury, the resultant scars were treated with a fractional CO2 laser with 70 mJ of energy delivered as either a single pulse or stacked for three consecutive pulses. Immediately prior to laser treatment and at 1, 24, 96, and 168 hours post-laser treatment, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema, and microscopic characteristics of laser injury were measured. In addition, markers for inflammatory cytokines, extracellular matrix proteins, and re-epithelialization were quantified at all time points using qRT-PCR. Both treatments produced erythema in the scar that peaked 24 hours after treatment then decreased to basal levels by 168 hours. TEWL increased after laser treatment and returned to normal levels between 24 and 96 hours later. Stacking of the pulses did not significantly increase the depth of ablated wells or extend the presence of erythema. Interleukin 6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 were found to increase significantly 1 hour after treatment but returned to baseline by 24 hours post laser. In contrast, expression of transforming growth factor β1 and transforming growth factor β3 increased slowly after treatment with a more modest increase than interleukin 6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. In the current study, the properties of the ablative zones were not directly proportional to the total amount of energy applied to the porcine scars with the use of triple stacking, resulting in only minor increases to microthermal zone (MTZ) depth and width versus a single pulse. Re-epithelialization and re-establishment of epidermal barrier function were observed in laser treated scars by 48 hours post therapy. Finally, many of the inflammatory genes up-regulated by the laser ablation returned to baseline within 1 week. As a whole, these results suggest that microthermal zones created by FXCO2 treatment re-epithelialize rapidly with the inflammatory response to the laser induced injury largely resolved within 1 week post treatment. Further study is needed to understand the relationship between laser stacking and MTZ properties in human scars in order to evaluate the clinical applicability of the stacking technique. Lasers Surg. Med. 49:675-685, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Valorization of Waste Streams from Deinked Pulp Mills through Anaerobic Digestion of Deinking Sludge

Based on the results of this study, a total energy amount of 3,111 TJ/year can be produced from the anaerobic digestion of deinking sludge (DS) arising from German deinked pulp mills, which can then be used to replace up to 5% of the total energy demand for those mills. The DS examined was generated by flotation deinking at the laboratory scale from selected mixes of paper for recycling (PfR). The results from the batch fermentation tests indicated a strong dependence of the methane potential of the DS on the carbohydrates and lignin contents, which in turn are linked to the original PfR quality. The highest methane yield was observed for DS100 (25.8% carbohydrates; 5.1% lignin) with 280.4 mL/g of volatile solids (VS) added, while DS70 (14.2% carbohydrates; 24.9% lignin) showed the lowest methane yield, with 122.1 mL/gVS. All of the DS samples showed high methane production rates, in the range between 59.4 (DS70) and 118.6 mL/gVS d-1 (DS100), and kinetic constants of 0.66 to 0.79 d-1. Additionally, no distinguishable lag phases were observed, which strongly indicates the rapid biodegradation of the DS.

Accumulation of biomass and bioenergy in culms of cereals as a factor of straw cutting height

Abstract Cereal straw is an important biomass source in Europe. This work assessed: 1) the morphological and energetic characteristics of culms of spring and winter cereals, 2) the energy deposited in the different aboveground parts of cereals, 3) losses of energy due to different cutting heights. The straw of winter and spring cereals was collected from arable fields during the seasons 2009/10 and 2010/11 in southern Poland. Detailed biometric measurements of culms and internodes were performed. The losses of straw biomass and energy were assessed during simulation of cutting the culm at different heights, up to 50 cm. Longer and heavier culms were developed by winter wheat and triticale and oat. Cutting of straw up to 10 cm did not lead to significant losses in straw yield. The total amount of energy in the culms was as follows: triticale &gt; winter wheat &gt; oat &gt; spring wheat &gt; winter barley &gt; spring barley. Cutting the culms above 20 cm led to significant differences in terms of biomass energy between cereal species. The smallest losses of energy were recorded for spring and winter barley. Oat and barley accumulated the highest energy in grains.

Multibody dynamics simulation of an all-wheel-drive motorcycle for handling and energy efficiency investigations

ABSTRACTIt is now possible, through electrical, hydraulic or mechanical means, to power the front wheel of a motorcycle. The aim of this is often to improve performance in limit-handling scenarios including off-road low-traction conditions and on-road high-speed cornering. Following on from research into active torque distribution in 4-wheeled vehicles, the possibility exists for efficiency improvements to be realised by reducing the total amount of energy dissipated as slip at the wheel–road contact. This paper presents the results of an investigation into the effect that varying the torque distribution ratio has on the energy consumption of the two-wheeled vehicle. A 13-degree of freedom multibody model was created, which includes the effects of suspension, aerodynamics and gyroscopic bodies. SimMechanics, from the MathWorks, is used for automatic generation of equations of motion and time-domain simulation, in conjunction with MATLAB and Simulink. A simple driver model is used to control the speed and yaw rate of the motorcycle. The handling characteristics of the motorcycle are quantitatively analysed, and the impact of torque distribution on energy consumption is considered during straight line and cornering situations. The investigation has shown that only a small improvement in efficiency can be made by transferring a portion of the drive torque to the front wheel. Tyre longevity could be improved by reduced slip energy dissipation.