A comfortable and livable living environment can be created through the design of patios in traditional southern rural Chinese dwellings. By connecting indoor and outdoor spaces, patios enable the comprehensive functions of ventilation and shading. To investigate the effects of patios on the building environment and energy conservation, the field parameters of the Wu Family Mansion in Cuijiao Village, Fujian Province, southern China, were measured in August 2016. The results indicate that patios located at the center of dwellings can effectively mitigate the impact of outdoor climate on the indoor environment. Furthermore, a reasonable depth-to-width ratio of the patio is conducive to natural ventilation and energy utilization. Through discussions and simulations using CFD and EcoTECT, it is determined that the reasonable depth-to-width ratio should not be less than 0.06, and a depth of 1.6 m is the most appropriate for patio design to achieve adequate ventilation and illumination. With the Adaptive Predicted Mean Vote (APMV) value ranging from 0 to 1.41, the indoor environment of this rural building falls within the adaptive comfort zone. Compared with air-conditioned rooms, the energy-saving rate achieved by natural ventilation is approximately 26.2%.
Abstract Enhancing energy efficiency is a critical pathway toward achieving energy conservation, emissions reduction, and green development. However, traditional location-oriented industrial policies, while promoting economic growth, are often accompanied by issues such as a high proportion of energy-intensive industries and an unreasonable energy consumption structure. In contrast, green location-oriented industrial policies, exemplified by the National Eco-industrial Demonstration Parks (NEDPs) play a significant role in enhancing energy efficiency. Against this backdrop, grounded in theories such as market failure, Porter hypothesis and the pollution haven hypothesis, this study employs panel data from 196 Chinese cities between 2005 and 2020 and applies a time-varying difference-in-differences (TV-DID) approach to analyze the impact of NEDPs on urban energy efficiency. The results reveal that NEDPs serve as an effective policy instrument for boosting urban energy efficiency. This enhancement operates primarily through three mechanisms: the strengthening of environmental regulation, the promotion of green technology innovation, and the facilitation of industrial structure upgrading. A further investigation into the heterogeneity of the data indicates that the positive impact is more pronounced in cities that are not old industrial bases, non-resource-based, or those where the parks have already been established. Conversely, the impact is less pronounced in conventional industrial cities, resource-dependent cities, and those where parks are still under development. This paper puts forward several policy implications, including the acceleration of the green transformation of traditional development zones, the design of differentiated green industrial policies tailored to urban types, and the promotion of regional collaborative governance.
With the transformation of the global energy structure, photovoltaic power generation, as a clean and renewable energy form, is receiving increasing attention and from many countries. Especially in the agricultural sector, integrating the planting of traditional Chinese medicinal plants with clean energy construction and environmental protection plays a significant role. This not provides the electricity needed for agricultural facilities but also helps to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, promoting sustainable agricultural development.
Abstract: This paper will set out to develop a policy proposal that is couched in the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) framework of fiscal policy analysis. MMT teaches us that a sovereign government that issues a free-floating currency is not bound by the tenets of what can be termed “sound finance.” Sound finance suggests that all government spending is preceded by the taxing or borrowing of the currency being spent. According to MMT, since the currency is issued by the sovereign nation during the process of spending, then this spending must take place before any taxing or borrowing is done. A federal deficit is not something to be eliminated but is the normal situation, with inflation being the only real measure of spending exceeding economic capacity. Sovereign governments are currency issuers, and the money has value if the government is willing to accept it in payment to itself. This creates policy space for spending programs that are socially and ecologically beneficial. Similarly on the tax side, there is policy space to structure the tax system in a politically determined way. The tax system is one way in which the citizens of a nation engage economically with the government. The tax obligation serves as a value anchor for the fiat currency. The tax system can be designed to incentivize behavior in line with a more ecologically sustainable future. This paper will suggest that by taxing living space in a progressive manner, multiple social and economic goals can be accomplished as the economy is transitioning toward a more environmentally sustainable future.
This paper delves into the application of green building aspects in historical and modern homes, driven by the imperative to address the environmental impacts of building construction. Against the backdrop of evolving human needs and architectural forms, the study aims to assess the extent of green building implementation in typical old and modern houses. Methodologically, the research conducts a comprehensive analysis of six key aspects of green building—Appropriate Site Development, Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Water Conservation, Material Resources and Cycle, Indoor Health and Comfort, and Building Environment Management—through random observations of representative buildings from different time periods. The results indicate a notable discrepancy in the adoption of green aspects between historical and modern homes, with historical houses exhibiting a higher degree of integration. Specifically, historical homes scored 41 points in green aspect implementation, while modern houses scored 22 points. These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing sustainable building practices to mitigate environmental impacts and promote holistic well-being in residential constructions.
Prabhu Azhagapillai, Karthikeyan Gopalsamy, Israa Othman
et al.
Organic pollutants such as 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) pose serious environmental extortions due to their chemical stability for which efficient catalytic materials are indispensable in treating them. In this regard, the present work involves the synthesis of two different types of ferrites (NiFe2O4, and CuFe2O4), and a combination of NixCuxFe2O4 with various ratios that systemically work as efficient photocatalysts without any additional reducing agents is reported. The structural, and morphological properties of NiFe2O4, CuFe2O4, and NiCuFe2O4 were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and HRTEM techniques. Then, the catalytic role of individual ferrite catalysts was evaluated towards catalytic reduction of 4-NP under visible light. The progress dye reduction was examined via UV–vis spectrophotometry. The effect of various concentrations, and reduction time were investigated. The kinetic rate constants determined for NiFe2O4, CuFe2O4, and NixCuxFe2O4 revealed that Ni and Cu in bimetallic ferrites promoted the reduction reaction under visible light. The results demonstrated that the photo-reduction efficiency of the Ni0.7Cu0.3Fe2O4 catalyst over 4-NP (conc. 10 ppm) to 4-AP was determined as 82 % under 120 miniutes with good recyclability up to six cycles. The mechanism of photocatalytic reduction of ferrites without the use of a reducing agent was studied. Such facile and productive ferrite materials could be employed as efficient photocatalysts for the reduction of toxic organic contaminants in environmental treatment.
Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials, Energy conservation
Halyna Kryshtal , Viktoriia Tomakh , Tetiana Ivanova
et al.
The study is aimed at summarizing the processes of eco-innovative (green) transformation of urban infrastructure and researching possible prospects for the development of Ukraine in this context. In the course of the research, the possibilities of "green" transformation of urban infrastructure were considered and it was noted that the use of the principles of eco-innovative transformation in the post-war period can only take place under the condition of proper planning, state support and the creation of favourable market conditions. The authors noted that the success of such a transformation requires the establishment of green goals in all aspects of the development of Ukrainian cities. Auto-frame considered the financial possibilities of the development of urban infrastructure and proposed the location of support offices for the eco-innovative transformation of urban infrastructure at the regional level. The principles of achieving eco-innovative transformation of urban infrastructure are revealed, namely maximum energy efficiency, energy transition, "zero waste", environmental sustainability of buildings, adaptation to climate change, popularization of a green lifestyle, resource conservation, citizen involvement and circular economy. It is proposed to create a platform that would unite architects, builders, urban planners, citizens, artists and other interested persons. This platform should contribute to the search for answers to the question of how to ensure a quick, ecological, attractive and safe "green" transformation of urban infrastructure. Ukraine should cooperate with the European Union within various green platforms and networks that help cities in green transformation. All the above-mentioned tools and solutions should contribute to the creation of green, sustainable and people-oriented cities in Ukraine. The authors have considered the possibilities of financing the restoration of Ukrainian cities after the destruction in terms of the necessary financial resources, donor countries, and reconstruction expenditures.
When a high impedance fault (HIF) occurs in a distribution network, the detection efficiency of traditional protection devices is strongly limited by the weak fault information. In this study, a method based on S-transform (ST) and average singular entropy (ASE) is proposed to identify HIFs. First, a wavelet packet transform (WPT) was applied to extract the feature frequency band. Thereafter, the ST was investigated in each half cycle. Afterwards, the obtained time-frequency matrix was denoised by singular value decomposition (SVD), followed by the calculation of the ASE index. Finally, an appropriate threshold was selected to detect the HIFs. The advantages of this method are the ability of fine band division, adaptive time-frequency transformation, and quantitative expression of signal complexity. The performance of the proposed method was verified by simulated and field data, and further analysis revealed that it could still achieve good results under different conditions.
Energy conservation, Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade
Globally, environmental and energy conservation concerns have sparked a push for more efficient and long-term energy sources. Researchers worldwide have put significant effort into developing supercapacitor-based energy storage devices by fabricating electrode materials from affordable porous carbon. The advantages of porous carbons are low-cost processes, high porosity, high surface area, facilitation of surface modification, high conductivity, high mechanical stability, high chemical stability, facilitation of fast ion transport, high rate capability, and high specific capacitance. Using them as electrodes in supercapacitors (SCs) may lead to better performance in specific capacitance and long-term cyclic stability. This study focuses on the recent development of electrode materials for SCs using porous carbons obtained from several diverse sources, such as biomass, polymers, lignite, metal salts, melamine, etc. Therefore, the topic of this review is the most current development of electrode materials for SCs applications. SCs were subjected to a battery of electrochemical tests, which focused on their performance from a crucial perspective, concentrating on the porous carbon’s surface area and surface functional groups. The report also highlights the supercapacitor’s prospects and challenges.
Abstract Background Snub-nosed monkeys are highly endangered primates and their population continues to decline with the habitat fragmentation. Artificial feeding and breeding is an important auxiliary conservation strategy. Studies have shown that changes and imbalances in the gut microbiota often cause gastrointestinal problems in captive snub-nosed monkeys. Here, we compare the gut microbiota composition, diversity, and predicted metabolic function of three endangered species of snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti, R. brelichi, and R. roxellana) under the same captive conditions to further our understanding of the microbiota of these endangered primates and inform captive conservation strategies. 16 S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on fecal samples from 15 individuals (R. bieti N = 5, R. brelichi N = 5, R. roxellana N = 5). Results The results showed that the three Rhinopithecus species shared 24.70% of their amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), indicating that the composition of the gut microbiota varied among the three Rhinopithecus species. The phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes represented 69.74% and 18.45% of the core microbiota. In particular, analysis of microbiota diversity and predicted metabolic function revealed a profound impact of host species on the gut microbiota. At the genus level, significant enrichment of cellulolytic genera including Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group, Ruminococcus, Christensenellaceae R7 group, UCG 004 from Erysipelatoclostridiaceae, and UCG 002 and UCG 005 from Oscillospiraceae, and carbohydrate metabolism including propionate and butyrate metabolic pathways in the gut of R. bieti indicated that R. bieti potentially has a stronger ability to use plant fibers as energy substances. Bacteroides, unclassified Muribaculaceae, Treponema, and unclassified Eubacterium coprostanoligenes group were significantly enriched in R. brelichi. Prevotella 9, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, and unclassified UCG 010 from Oscillospirales UCG 010 were significantly enriched in R. roxellana. Among the predicted secondary metabolic pathways, the glycan biosynthesis and metabolism had significantly higher relative abundance in the gut of R. brelichi and R. roxellana than in the gut of R. bieti. The above results suggest that different Rhinopithecus species may have different strategies for carbohydrate metabolism. The Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering tree revealed fewer differences between the gut microbiota of R. brelichi and R. roxellana. Correspondingly, no differences were detected in the relative abundances of functional genes between the two Rhinopithecus species. Conclusion Taken together, the study highlights that host species have an effect on the composition and function of the gut microbiota of snub-nosed monkeys. Therefore, the host species should be considered when developing nutritional strategies and investigating the effects of niche on the gut microbiota of snub-nosed monkeys.
Muhammad Zubair Asif Bhatti, Abubakar Siddique, Waseem Aslam
et al.
This research article presents a comprehensive investigation into the design, optimization, and performance analysis of a hybrid stand-alone microgrid for an industrial facility in Iraq at coordinates 36.51 and 43.99. The system consists of photovoltaic (PV) modules, inverters, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a generator, and AC loads. Leveraging the capabilities of PVsyst version 7.3.1, HOMER Pro version 3.14.2 and SAM version 2022.11.21 software tools, this study assesses the feasibility and functionality of the hybrid stand-alone microgrid. In this study, PVsyst software is used for detailed designing and analysis of a PV plant, and the PVsyst design file is then used in HOMER Pro software to optimize and design the proposed hybrid stand-alone microgrid, and for detailed performance analysis SAM software is employed. This paper also investigates the impact of ground clearance and ground albedo on the annual generation of bifacial PV modules at various tilt angles. Key findings include a promising normalized production rate of 4.53 kWh/kWp/day with a performance ratio of 0.815 and annual energy production estimates of 84.31 MWh (P50), 79.57 MWh (P90), and 78.24 MWh (P95) for monofacial PV modules, highlighting the system’s potential for renewable energy generation. Notably, this research demonstrates the hybrid stand-alone microgrid’s capacity to significantly reduce CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, saving approximately 1811.6 tons over a 30-year period, thus contributing to sustainability and environmental conservation goals. Additionally, this study reveals operational challenges during the winter months, necessitating generator support to meet load demands. The successful installation and experimental validation of the hybrid stand-alone microgrid underscore its practical viability and its role in advancing clean energy solutions. This research provides valuable insights into hybrid stand-alone microgrid design, emphasizing its importance in ensuring reliable power supply and environmental stewardship.
Abstract For the interaction of crack on the soil–grout interface under fracture grouting, an approximate method to determine the stress intensity factor (SIF) of crack on the soil–grout interface was proposed based on the conservation J 2-integral. With this method, the energy release rate of crack propagation under fracture grouting can be defined by the parameters of elastic–plastic soils and the grouting pressure. In order to study the change of strain energy near the crack of elastic–plastic soil under fracture grouting, a mechanical model of elastic–plastic soil with crack was established based on non-associated Mohr–Coulomb criterion model, and the SIF of crack with spring boundary was investigated. The influence of the crack depth ratio and crack aspect ratio on the SIF of cracks under the spring boundary were analyzed, and revealed the rule of crack growth under fracture grouting in elastic–plastic soils. The results showed that the variation of the crack depth ratio and crack aspect ratio had an effect on the change of the SIF of cracks. Increasing the crack depth ratio and crack aspect ratio caused an increase in the SIF of the crack. The results can provide the reference for foundation reinforcement in elastic–plastic soils.
The article examines the regulatory aspects of energy conservation and energy efficiency, specific terminological tools and technological procedures. The authors provide a critical review of the policy in Russian Federation in the field of energy conservation and energy efficiency in goods realization; construction and operation of buildings, enterprises, facilities; and energy audits. The quality comparison analysis of state regulation in the field of energy conservation and energy efficiency in Russian Federation and Sweden is carried out. Based on comparison analysis, it has been established that Russian Federation has not achieved such progress as the EU countries. The idea is substantiated that an extensive internal energy supply, cold climate, and inefficient technologies lead to high energy intensity remaining inherent in every Russian economy sector. It is reflected that main problems are the lack of a unified methodology for conducting energy audits, the provision of qualified personnel, the construction of a model for regulating activities in the field of energy conservation and energy efficiency. It is concluded that mechanisms of state support for energy conservation and energy efficiency improvement, organizational and information support for implementation of goals and objectives of this program should include/add: provision of state debt to enterprises for projects implementation; creation a complete and understandable state information system (monitoring the situation); methodological and regulatory support for energy saving and energy efficiency improvement; investment, co-financing of the best regional projects (provision of subsidies); training and advanced training of persons responsible for the growth of energy efficiency (executive power, budgetary and commercial organizations, population); motivating the formation of a lean and economic model of citizens’ behavior.
Given the constraints of energy, environment, and climate change in the process of economic development, transitioning to a low-carbon economy by such means as the construction of low-carbon cities is a feasible approach to a sustainable development pattern that balances energy conservation, environmental protection, and economic growth. Utilizing the data of listed companies in China A-shares market over the period 2007–2016, we treat China’s low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCPP) as a quasi-natural experiment and adopt a difference-in-differences approach to explore the effect of LCCPP on the total factor productivity (TFP) of firms. Firm TFP is found to be negatively associated with the implementation of LCCPP. Our mechanism analysis reveals that the LCCPP stimulates innovation by firms in China, consistent with the weak Porter hypothesis. Moreover, the negative relationship between the LCCPP and TFP holds more strongly in larger firms or those located in the eastern region.
Economic growth, development, planning, Economic history and conditions
Nripat Singh, Mukesh Sharma, Dibyendu Mondal
et al.
Large-scale production of graphene sheets by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite is a challenging task from a sustainability point of view. Certain bio-derived solvents were found to exfoliate graphite to produce single-layered graphene sheets but the high cost of the solvent is always a deterring factor towards upscaling of the process. Herein, Kappaphycus alvarezii, a cultivable red seaweed is demonstrated as a sustainable resource for producing a bio solvent for exfoliation and to produce graphene sheets from graphite. A solvent system consisting of levulinic acid, acetic acid, and γ-valerolactone was prepared from the polysaccharide obtained from the seaweed biomass through acid hydrolysis under pressure and the mixture was found to exfoliate graphite to produce few-layered pristine graphene nanosheets. The process is scalable and cost-effective and the seaweed biomass-derived solvent mixture can be recovered and reused in the subsequent cycles of exfoliation for large-scale production of graphene nanosheets.
Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials, Energy conservation