Abstract Global warming is one of the issues of great concern in the world. The large-scale use of fossil fuels has led to the continuous increase in carbon emissions, resulting in global energy shortages and environmental pollution. Reasonable and strict environmental regulation promotes technological innovation by enterprises to achieve a win-win situation between the economy and environment, which is the core idea of the Porter hypothesis. The choice of China, as the world's largest energy consumer and carbon emitter, is not only related to the country's own mode of economic growth but also determines the development of the world's low-carbon economy. We used the panel data from 2000 to 2016 of 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China and adopted the Propensity Score Matching–Difference in Differences method to test the impact of China's carbon trading pilot system on the transformation of a low-carbon economy. The empirical results show that under the constraints of the established resources and environment, there is a positive relationship to some extent between China's carbon trading system and low-carbon economic transformation. This relationship can realize the win-win situation of environmental and economic benefits as advocated by the Porter hypothesis and further verify the applicability of the Porter hypothesis.
Sara Maestre-Andrés, Stefan Drews, Jeroen van den Bergh
ABSTRACT While carbon pricing is widely seen as a crucial element of climate policy and has been implemented in many countries, it also has met with strong resistance. We provide a comprehensive overview of public perceptions of the fairness of carbon pricing and how these affect policy acceptability. To this end, we review evidence from empirical studies on how individuals judge personal, distributional and procedural aspects of carbon taxes and cap-and-trade. In addition, we examine preferences for particular redistributive and other uses of revenues generated by carbon pricing and their role in instrument acceptability. Our results indicate a high concern over distributional effects, particularly in relation to policy impacts on poor people, in turn reducing policy acceptability. In addition, people show little trust in the capacities of governments to put the revenues of carbon pricing to good use. Somewhat surprisingly, most studies do not indicate clear public preferences for using revenues to ensure fairer policy outcomes, notably by reducing its regressive effects. Instead, many people prefer using revenues for ‘environmental projects’ of various kinds. We end by providing recommendations for improving public acceptability of carbon pricing. One suggestion to increase policy acceptability is combining the redistribution of revenue to vulnerable groups with the funding for environmental projects, such as on renewable energy. Key policy insights If people perceive carbon pricing instruments as fair, this increases policy acceptability and support. People’s satisfaction with information provided by the government about the policy instrument increases acceptability. While people express high concern over uneven distribution of the policy burden, they often prefer using carbon pricing revenues for environmental projects instead of compensation for inequitable outcomes. Recent studies find that people’s preferences shift to using revenues for making policy fairer if they better understand the functioning of carbon pricing, notably that relatively high prices of CO2-intensive goods and services reduce their consumption. Combining the redistribution of revenue to support both vulnerable groups and environmental projects, such as on renewable energy, seems to most increase policy acceptability.
Abstract Delving into the current chronicles of research findings, explorations of biodiesel production and utilization in diesel engines have been at the forefront of sustainable and creative energy discovery. Far beyond the problems of energy crises, renewable biodiesel offers unlimited solutions to the associated issues of depleting reserves and harmful emissions with fossil fuels. In overcoming the increasing energy demand owing to the growing worldwide population, the emergence of biodiesel and its global adoption in the transportation sector has brought along a reliable fuel supply that can be used in diesel engines without any modification. This study explores the comprehensive utilization of biodiesel as engine fuel and shows the prevalent global current adoption in automobiles engines. The production rates are documented globally and promoting policies that are being mandated in many countries of the world are discussed as well. The improved state of things in achieving effective power conversion from biodiesel combustion with minimal emission impact on the environment has been documented. Worldwide technological adoption has been captured according to production rate, usage and legislation favouring the economic feasibility of diesel engines that are suitable for biodiesel with little or no modification. With the progress made so far by many researchers to establish biodiesel as a viable engine fuel, coupled with the ability to eradicate environmental issues like global warming and sustainability, it is evident that biodiesel is designed to make a future energy investment and significant addition to the domestic and industrial automobile economy.
Abstract Biofuels are fast advancing as alternative sources of renewable energy due to their non-polluting features and cost-competitiveness in comparison to fossil fuels. However, in order to fast-track their development, focus is shifting towards the use of technologies that will maximize their yields. Nanoparticles are gaining increasing interest amongst researchers due to their exquisite properties, which enable them to be applied in diverse fields such as agriculture, electronics, pharmaceuticals and food industry. They are also being explored in biofuels in order to improve the performance of these bioprocesses. This review critically examines the various studies in literature that have explored nanoparticles in biofuel processes such as biohydrogen, biogas, biodiesel and bioethanol production, towards enhancing their process yields. Furthermore, it elucidates the different types of nanomaterials (metallic, nanofibers and nanotubes) that have been used in these bioprocesses. It also evaluates the effects of immobilized nanoparticles on biofuels such as biodiesel, and the ability of nanoparticles to effectively suppress inhibitory compounds under certain conditions. A short section is included to discuss the factors that influence the performance of nanoparticles on biofuels production processes. Finally, the review concludes with suggestions on improvements and possible further research aspects of these bioprocesses using nanoparticles.
Accuracy in the prediction of the performances of photovoltaic plants is indispensable in power-generating industries. This has made manufacturers of photovoltaic cells place a high premium on the precision of the forecast of the power output. Artificial neural networks have been proven to be highly effective for forecasting outputs in many technologies. In this study, a feedforward backpropagation neural network model and a radial basis network model were introduced to predict or forecast the power generated by a photovoltaic plant for industrial applications. The inputs and outputs of the models for the training were selected based on the objective of the study, correlation analysis, and analysis of variance test. The results of the simulations of the proposed feedforward backpropagation artificial neural model indicated a mean absolute error of 0.0446, a mean square error of 0.0099, and a mean square error of 0.095. The results of the simulation of the developed radial basis network model indicated a mean absolute error of 0.114, a mean square error of 0.0375, and a root mean square error of 0.196. The comparative analysis of the study shows that the accuracy of the feedforward backpropagation neural network model is 3.79 times that of the radial basis function network, in terms of mean square error. The accuracy and correlation of the proposed feedforward backpropagation neural network were 98.27% and 99.97%, respectively. The proposed feedforward backpropagation neural network model is suitable for industrial applications.
Renewable energy sources, Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade
[Objective] As a new type of energy storage means, shaft-type gravity energy storage technology has unique advantages of low environmental pollution, low construction cost and high efficiency, and has a wide application prospect, but the research on the power generation characteristics and influencing factors of the system itself is still imperfect. The power generation efficiency is one of the important indicators of the energy storage system. [Method] In this paper, through the mathematical modeling of the efficiency model of the shaft-type gravity energy storage system, the influencing factors of efficiency in case of three different heavy block fall curves were studied, and the influence trend of these factors on the power generation efficiency of the system was explored through simulation experiments, and then the efficiency characteristics of the three velocity curves were compared and analyzed. [Result] The results show that the falling speed has a significant effect on the efficiency of the system, and the power generation efficiency can be improved by reducing the speed appropriately. The height of the shaft and the mass of the heavy block have little effect on the efficiency of power generation. For the three velocity curves, the power generation efficiency of trapezoidal and triangular velocity curves was less affected by other factors, while the parabolic velocity curve was more sensitive to the influence of other factors, and the power generation efficiency was relatively smaller, and the trapezoidal velocity curve has the highest system efficiency under the same conditions. Under the premise of heavy blocks with large weights, the power generation efficiency of the three velocity curves was less affected by other factors. [Conclusion] Therefore, using heavy blocks with large weights, reducing the maximum falling speed of heavy blocks, and adopting the trapezoidal velocity curve can significantly improve the power generation efficiency to achieve better system performance.
Abstract The problems of excessive CO2 emissions and global warming caused by human activities are becoming more and more severe. Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) may be an effective mean of combating global warming. However, little research focuses on the influence of ETS price on energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and the economy. This paper analyzes the impact of different ETS price level by applying a dynamic recursive Computable General Equilibrium model. The results show that GDP will reduce more with increasing ETS price level. The output of energy industries is more sensitive to ETS price than other industries. Higher ETS price, lower marginal reduction of fossil energy consumption of ETS price. Moreover, low ETS prices will undermine the capacity of the carbon market to reduce emissions. Higher ETS price will lead to a higher reduction in CO2 emission, but the economic costs cannot be ignored. Therefore, this paper argues that ETS prices in China’s ETS pilot cities are too low, and would provide little emission reduction. Maintaining ETS prices at $10 and gradually increasing carbon price to $20 is suggested in this paper. Also, we should focus on the appropriate subsidies for new energy generation.
Kosuke Miyatake, Masahiko Haraguchi, Tomoyo Toyota
et al.
Bioenergy is increasingly recognized as an effective tool for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, its economic feasibility remains underexplored, particularly when accounting for environmental impacts. This study proposes a quantitative assessment framework to calculate the cost-benefit ratio of biomass power generation and to assess the sustainability of its supporting policy tools, such as feed-in-tariffs (FIT). The framework accounts for benefits through electricity generation and environmental externalities, namely emissions from feedstock production and procurement, such as the transportation of biomass materials. This allows for quantification and a detailed discussion of multiple environmental burdens of biomass energy and economic costs. As a case study, this framework was applied to a hypothetical biomass plant in Japan, which has the fifth-largest biomass market globally. We prepare several scenarios to consider diverse conditions within the Japanese biomass industry, including the types of biomass materials used (pellets versus chips), their sources (domestic versus international), and the biomass technologies employed. The results show that using pellets, predominantly imported, significantly increases biomass energy costs. The increase in cost is directly proportional to the quantity of utilized pellets and their transportation distances. However, pellet production location —whether in Vietnam or Canada—doesn’t significantly change the overall cost calculations in our study. Our result is consistent across various biomass technologies, showing that the high selling price under the feed-in-tariff system, rather than material type, supply origin, or transportation mode, plays the most critical role in economic feasibility, even when accounting for environmental externalities. Thus, decision-makers must reevaluate the efficacy of FIT policies for wood biomass powers, where fuel costs share a substantial portion. We also discuss its synergies with local industries and trade-offs with other land-use objectives.
Currently, the mining sector is confronted with declining ore grades, volatile energy prices, and environmental pollution from massive carbon emissions. Due to the advantages of RE in terms of emission reduction and cost, some mining companies are actively exploring integrating RE in production to alleviate these challenges. At the same time, the integration of RE in mining sites also faces many obstacles. This paper highlights the importance of incorporating RE into mining projects through a comprehensive review of existing research and analyzes the opportunities and challenges from multiple perspectives. Finally, the conclusions summarize the gaps in existing work and provide appropriate recommendations. The paper aims to inform and provide implications for the transition to RE practices in the mining industry.
[Introduction] As a new form of nuclear energy utilization that is green and clean, nuclear fusion is regarded as the "ultimate energy" of mankind in the future and also as an inevitable route for China's energy development. In thermonuclear fusion power plants, China Fusion Engineering Test Reactors (CFETR) have periodic and pulse energy output, while turbine generator units operate stably and continuously. Therefore, an energy storage island is required between a nuclear island and a conventional island for energy storage buffering. To realize such a buffering function, a suitable operation mode needs to be selected for the energy storage system.[Method] The coupling and decoupling operation of the nuclear island and conventional island corresponded to different operation modes of the energy storage island. Based on the power output characteristics of CFETR, different operation mode schemes were analyzed and compared from aspects such as system configuration, equipment design and operation control. [Result] The results show that the decoupling operation mode of a nuclear island and conventional island is superior in terms of power generation efficiency, maturity of equipment design technology and operation control of generator units, so it is recommended to adopt the decoupling operation mode for the energy storage system in a thermonuclear fusion power plant. [Conclusion] Most of the decoupling operation mode schemes for the energy storage system adopt mature technologies, so they can be put into commercial applications on a large scale and provide support for the commercial design of thermonuclear fusion power plants.
[Introduction] Global climate change and its negative impacts are serious humanitarian challenges. Accelerating the construction of a new energy system and promoting energy transition to green and low-carbon are the key to addressing the above challenge. Building a new power system is the central link in planning and constructing a new energy system. [Method] The characteristics and challenges in the six stages of constructing a new power system with new energy source as the main body, and potential roles of energy storage were described and analyzed. The viewpoint that energy storage, especially long-term energy storage, is a key technology for building a new power system was proposed. [Result] To deal with vague concept, unclear technical system and undefined R&D system for long duration energy storage in China, by analyzing the international use cases, the concept system of long-duration energy storage and its technology system covering four categories (including mechanical energy storage, thermal storage, electrochemical energy storage, and chemical energy storage) are proposed. And the R&D trends in developed countries are shown. [Conclusion] It is expected that the relevant content can provide reference for the research and application of long duration energy storage in China.
Matías Manzano-Zavala, Fabiola S. Sosa-Rodríguez, Jorge Vazquez-Arenas
et al.
The interactions arising in Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC) made up of commercial activated carbons (DLC 50 Norit, TF-B520 and Kuraray YP-80 F), acetylene carbon black (AB) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) are analyzed with the aim of maximizing their specific capacitances. AB is varied (0–10 wt%, 0–20 wt% only for further exploration of TF-B520) to minimize its content, while maintaining fixed the PTFE composition. The best rate capabilities are obtained at 5 wt% AB for TF-B520 and Kuraray YP-80 F, and 4 wt% AB for DLC 50 Norit on the basis of cyclic voltammetry, charge/discharge curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. These results strongly depend on a minimum amount of AB in the composite determined through conductivity measurements (i.e. percolation threshold), which guarantees its electronic conductivity. According to N2 adsorption/desorption and textural studies, the critical property defining the electrode supercapacitance is its specific surface area (SSA), relying considerably on the surface area of the pristine AC (main component), regardless of its pore volume and size, or AB area. The specific capacitances present the following trend: TF-B520 (1711–1830 m2 g−1) > > (1356–1571 m2 g−1) > (1319–1504 m2 g−1). Viscoelasticity properties of the composites are less important than conductivity or SSA, since mechanical pressure alters the AC-AB interparticle network, generating better percolating media. In order to optimize specific capacitance, a balance is required between electronic conductivity (percolation in the porous media by AB) and ionic transference (specific surface area of AC) in the electrode composite.
Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade, Renewable energy sources
Advancing agrivoltaics (APV) beyond niche-innovation to full market diffusion requires interrelated technoeconomic and socio-political change. Previous applications of socio-technical transitions theory highlight which key technical, economic, social, and regulatory factors are critical to the upscaling of niche energy innovations [1] – by applying this lens to APV, we can improve our understanding of the essential drivers needed to support the stabilization of the technology. Insights drawn from recent research on the sociopolitical barriers and opportunities for APV suggest that achievement beyond niche application is contingent on enhanced techno-economic performance [2], reduced costs and complexities [3], as well as favorable regulatory frameworks [4] and socially robust designs [5]. As the U.S. APV industry is in its nascence, interactive learning processes across industry, research, and government are needed to form coordinated best practices and policy regimes that minimize adoption barriers and maximize economies of scale and value for all stakeholders. To that end, this study leverages lessons learned from solar industry engagement to outline a pathway for the diffusion of APV, with emphasis on better defining the role of policymakers. The findings identify the key drivers critical to industry adoption of APV in the U.S. and beyond.
On the basis of the conducted study of the peculiarities of the state policy of the oil refining industry, it has been determined that the oil refining industry occupies a significant part of the country’s fuel and energy complex, providing for the needs of the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. At the same time, in the conditions of the global economy, Kazakhstan's oil-producing industry is experiencing problems due to anti-Russian sanctions, which make it difficult to implement the national policy of overcoming the raw orientation of the export of oil and oil products. The very fact of the presence of anti-Russian sanctions forms the field of intensifying competition between Russia and Kazakhstan in the European energy market and creates conditions for the use of methods of imperfect competition, for the use of political instruments in solving economic problems. This situation has a negative impact on the development of the oil production industry in both Russia and Kazakhstan, and requires its resolution, which becomes possible when the Kazakh oil sector moves to an innovative model of development based on the intensification of oil refining. Sanctions against Russia create significant difficulties due to the fact that Kazakhstan uses Russian transport infrastructure to trade with European Union countries. Therefore, the Republic of Kazakhstan needs to strive to reduce economic costs by insuring the transportation process of exported goods and subsidizing some additional costs. Kazakhstan is taking the initiative in mediating between the countries, trying to maintain relations with Russia through diplomacy, which it has conducted so far, as well as coping with the economic difficulties and political pressure that the country is facing in a balanced way. Thus, Kazakhstan continues its traditional multi-vector foreign policy strategy. Of course, the most effective and comprehensive solution for Kazakhstan, as well as for all countries in the region, is to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
Youssef Rehouma, Mohamed Abd El basset Mahboub, Aicha Degla
et al.
We created a real-time acquisition system to track the voltage, current and temperature changes of the solar panel as we installed it in a charging regulator with a battery. The system consists of an Arduino Uno board, the controllership, which is programmed by the Arduino IDE application, based on the C language, and sensors to capture the variables, we put the SD card to save the data and the LCD to see it currently and can be monitoring the data by connecting the Arduino Uno board to the computer and processing it with the Excel application.
ABSTRACT Because the Russian economy relies heavily on exports of fossil fuels, the primary source of human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it may be adversely impacted by Paris Agreement-based climate policies that target reductions in GHG emissions. Applying the MIT Economic Projection and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model to assess the impacts on the Russian economy of the efforts of the main importers of Russian fossil fuels to follow the global goals of the Paris Agreement, we project that climate-related actions outside of Russia will lower the country's GDP growth rate by about one-half of a percentage point. The Paris Agreement is also expected to raise Russia's risks of facing market barriers for its exports of energy-intensive goods, and of falling behind in the development of low-carbon energy technologies that most of the world is increasingly adopting. Key policy insights Regardless of its domestic emissions reduction efforts, Russia will not be able to sustain its current trajectory of fossil fuel export-based development due to climate policies worldwide. To address the challenge of climate-related energy transition, Russia needs a new comprehensive development strategy that accounts for the post-Paris Agreement global energy landscape. The key elements of such a strategy include diversification of the economy, moving to low-carbon energy sources, and investing in human capital development. Our diversification scenarios show that redistribution of income from the energy sector to the development of human capital would benefit the economy. The largest impact of investment re-orientation from the fossil fuel sector would be on manufacturing, services, agriculture and food production.
Abstract The concept of ‘smart living’ is becoming increasingly prevalent in discussions about anticipated energy futures. However, despite the promises surrounding smart technology, take-up to-date has been relatively low, with existing research showing that concerns about it abound. Smart technology has also been positioned as potentially able to alleviate fuel poverty, yet there has been little exploration of how it is perceived and experienced by vulnerable consumers. In this paper we situate these discussions in the context of interview data with residents in a Welsh Valleys community where smart technologies were due to be installed in some homes as part of a wider energy scheme. Whilst there was some enthusiasm for aspects of smart technology, participants often found it difficult to see how it would improve their everyday lives and energy use, expressing scepticism and concern that energy consumption would be increased. In exploring these issues, we raise questions for the smart energy agenda and supporting policy, highlighting the need to account for people's different abilities and enthusiasm to relate to smart developments in everyday energy technologies. In particular, we argue for the importance of considering vulnerable consumers in smart transitions, to avoid worsening already precarious positions.
Abstract Background Sustainability of energy is key for quality life; thus, the use of clean energy at the household level warrants moving from fossil-based energy to modern forms like biogas. However, the joint interactive effect of household income, biogas usage and willingness to adopt a single-stage solar-supported hyper-thermophilic anaerobic biogas digester (SSHTABD) is not known. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out to assess the willingness of residents of Elmina to adopt the SSHTABD. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 219 respondents fitted into a complementary log–log regression model. Results Household willingness to adopt the SSHTABD was 86%. Among them are households not willing to use biogas but have high income and households willing to use biogas but have either low or high income are more likely to adopt the technology compared to households not willing to use biogas and have low income. Households not willing to use biogas, but have high income (OR = 1.725, confidence interval [CI] 0.803–3.706) and households willing to use biogas, but have low income (OR = 1.877, CI 1.103–3.188) compared to households willing to use biogas and have high income (OR = 1.725, CI 1.080–3.451) are more likely to adopt the technology as households not willing to use biogas and have low income. Additionally, households employed under the formal government sector, formal and informal private sectors are 40%, 136% and 103%, respectively, more likely to adopt the technology than those unemployed. Conclusion The high willingness of households to adopt the technology calls for government to support households to own biogas digesters thus requires policy interventions and interdisciplinary research.
Renewable energy sources, Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade