A New Challenge for Alternative Energy

The year 2008 sees a turning point in China’s strategy of promoting energy saving and emissions reduction, as well as development of renewable energy. Oil price breaking US$140 and large area in China suffering

A New Challenge for Alternative Energy

The year 2008 sees a turning point in China’s strategy of promoting energy saving and emissions reduction, as well as development of renewable energy. Oil price breaking US$140 and large area in China suffering

Alternative Energy Sources Gain Worldwide

风能和太阳能展示新的希望:清洁、廉价并能创造新的就业机会,难怪许多国家竞相发展。

An Envoy for Alternative Energy

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke looks to China’s clean energy sector to increase America’s hi-tech exports The United States stands poised to

Imperatives of Green Energy Strategy in Azerbaijan

The establishment of a green energy network in Azerbaijan is one of the priorities of the state.According to estimates,the total potential of the country’s green energy is estimated at 27 thousand MW.This further expands the great potential of wind energy in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.On the other hand,the availability of sufficient green energy resources in the liberated lands necessitates the creation of an energy system on this basis.In this regard,President Ilham Aliyev declared the Karabakh and East zangazur economic regions a green energy zone.At present,large-scale projects in this direction are being implemented in the country.Based on all this,the article focuses on global trends in the green energy sector in the context of the imperatives of the green energy strategy in Azerbaijan,priority issues such as green economy,green development,as well as realities reflecting the current situation in this area in Azerbaijan.In this regard,substantial results were obtained and proposals were put forward in the context of the imperatives of the green energy strategy in Azerbaijan.

Potentiality of Solar Photovoltaic Energy in Paraiba, Brazil, and the Relation with Sustainable Development

The use of non-renewable energy has been a major environmental concern and, therefore, there is a need to look for other renewable energy sources, especially photovoltaic’s. In view of this, an attempt was made to quantify the potential of solar irradiance in the State of Paraiba, as an alternative source for conversion and use in electrical energy, these determinations being the main objectives. Global solar irradiance and solar photovoltaic data were extracted from scientific publications and/or made available on the websites of the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the National Electric Energy Agency, among others. For the case study, semi-structured questionnaires were applied in different business establishments in Campina Grande, with questions related to socioeconomic aspects and photovoltaic technology. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics criteria and using an Excel spreadsheet. The main results indicated that the Brazilian energy matrix is predominantly from renewable sources. The Northeast is the second region with the highest production of photovoltaic solar energy and the State of Paraiba occupies its fourth position in the generation of this type of energy. The option of photovoltaic technology is a promising alternative, especially for rural areas, where there is not always a conventional electricity grid. The high availability of solar energy in northeastern Brazil, in almost all months of the year, especially in the state of Paraiba, demonstrates the existence of a high potential to generate electricity from photovoltaic systems. This technology contributes to local sustainable development, as it is an activity that generates employment and income, without degrading the environment.

Variation of Morpho-Agronomic and Biomass Quality Traits in Elephant Grass for Energy Purposes According to Nitrogen Levels

Elephant grass is a tropical forage plant widely spread in Brazil, used mainly in the livestock sector and in cattle feeding. Because of its high productivity and photosynthetic capacity, this culture has also been considered an alternative source of renewable energy. Six clones of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) were evaluated under five levels of nitrogen fertilization (100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 kg·N·ha-1), in a randomized-block design with a split-plot arrangement with three replicates, from April 2010 to December 2012, in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes— RJ, Brazil. The objective was to obtain estimates of variation in morpho-agronomic traits and biomass quality. We observed that genotypes Cameroon-Piracicaba and Gua?u I/Z2 have great potential to be used, with maximum dry matter yields of 60.97 and 44.10 t·ha-1 per cut for energy purposes among the studied genotypes.

Fabrication and Simulation of TE Modules for a Feasibility Study on Harvesting Solar Heat Energy from Roof Tiles

A novel roof tile thermoelectric generator(RT-TEG)was used to harvest electrical energy from a solar heat source.The RT-TEG was fabricated and simulated by flat and curved thermoelectric modules consisting of p-n junctions of p-Sb_(2)Te_(3) and n-Bi_(2)Te_(3),with an Al_(2)O_(3) substrate at the top and bottom for heat absorption and heat rejection.The RT-TEG was installed in a roof tile to act as a generator.The electrical voltage and power values of the curved thermoelectric modules were higher than those of the flat thermoelectric module by 0.44 V and 80 mW,at a temperature difference(ΔT)of 100 K.In field tests,the RT-TEG produced a maximum electrical voltage of 33.70 mV and an electrical power of 46.24μW atΔT~7 K under a load resistance of 1Ωunder good sunshine at 13.00 hours.The energy conversion efficiency of RT-TEG was found to be 2.24×10^(−4).

Hybrid energy module for remote environmental observations, experiments, and communications

Increased concerns about climate change have led to a significant expansion of monitoring, observational, and experimental sites in remote areas of the world. Meanwhile, advances in technology and availability of low-power equipment have allowed increasingly sophisticated measurements with a wide variety of instruments. However, the deployment and use of these technologies in remote locations is often restricted not only by harsh environmental conditions, but also by the availability of electrical power and communication options. In some cases, research stations and military installations can provide power for scientific equipment, data acquisition, storage, and transmission. Clustering of research sites near existing infrastructure has had the unintended consequence of limiting a spatial understanding of large geographic regions. Fortunately, the modern market offers many power and communication solutions, but most of them are oriented toward large industrial applications. Use of those solutions to power a research site is limited because of their cost and need for significant modification for the specific research purposes. Each study has its own unique power requirements and needs for proper instrumentation. A power and communication solution for a vast majority of implementations with or without modification would be of considerable benefit. This article describes design of a universal, scalable hybrid energy module for the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic project(https://ngee-arctic.ornl.gov/). Two modules were built, and the authors describe their implementation and findings over a 2-year period at a remote field site on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska, USA.

A Study of Advanced Efficient Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Electric Propulsion and Energy Source

Recently global warming and the depletion of fuel resources have accelerated researchers’ efforts to produce more efficient and clean alternatives. This research presents a comprehensive review of the different adjustments/con figurations of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), traction motors for power systems, and wireless speed control of traction drive. Electronic installation of technology can reduce pollution efficiently and effectively. The efficient operation has always been one of the most common investigators’ objectives in the automotive industry and academic areas. There are several renewable energy resources for hybrid vehicles that will replace depleted gasoline worldwide. The purpose of this paper is the development of more efficient pure EVs, HEVs, and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) present both a challenge and a definite solution to current mobility issues. Fuel consumption in cars is a concern due to the harmful effects on the environment. Among other battery sources, fuel cells (FC), super capacitors (SC), and photovoltaic cells are studied for vehicle application. A combination of these renewable energy sources can be used for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in the next generation of transportation. With the significant progress of automobile technology, the hybrid electric vehicle has already become the main achievement of transportation electrification due to its excellent fuel-saving performance.

Techno-economic feasibility assessment of a diesel exhaust heat recovery system to preheat mine intake air in remote cold climate regions

Underground mines in Arctic and Subarctic regions require the preheating of mine intake air during winter.The cold fresh air of those remote areas can be as severe as
40℃ and commonly needs to be heated to around+3℃.This extensive amount of heating is usually provided by employing large-size air heaters,fueled by diesel,propane,natural gas,or heavy oil,leading to high energy costs and large carbon footprints.At the same time,the thermal energy content of a diesel generator sets(gen-sets)exhaust is known to be one-third of the total heating value of its combusted fuel.Exhaust heat recovery from diesel gen-sets is a growing technology that seeks to mitigate the energy costs by capturing and redirecting this commonly rejected exhaust heat to other applications such as space heating or pre-heating of the mine intake air.The present study investigated the possibility of employing a simple system based on off-theshelf heat exchanger technology,which can recover the waste heat from the exhaust of the power generation units(diesel gen-sets)in an off-grid,cold,remote mine in Canada for heating of the mine intake air.Data from a real mine was used for the analysis along with environmental data of three different location-scenarios with distinct climates.After developing a thermodynamic model,the heat savings were calculated,and an economic feasibility evaluation was performed.The proposed system was found highly viable with annual savings of up to C$6.7 million and capable enough to provide an average of around 75%of the heating demand for mine intake air,leading to a payback period of about eleven months or less for all scenarios.Deployment of seasonal thermal energy storage has also been recommended to mitigate the mismatch between supply and demand,mainly in summertime,possibly allowing the system to eliminate fuel costs for intake air heating.

The Future of Oil Industry

Oil and gas are the major energy resources all over the world but are not renewable. According to their present reserves, the resource volumes yet to be found and the large amount of non-conventional oil and gas resources, there is still great potential in oil and gas production. The proportion ofoil and gas in energy structure will be influenced by four major factors： 1） Potential of the world oil and gas resources; 2） Technological progress of oil and gas exploration and development; 3） Speed of the development of substitute energy resources; and 4） Variation ofoil price. It is estimated that, oil and gas will still retain an important proportion in energy structure by the first half of the 21st century.

Future of Architecture: Buildings as Power Plants

After the energy crisis in 1970s,buildings began to be used as a platform for the elements which produce energy from renewable energies to return them into energy producing power plants.This is a safe,clean and economic way to produce energy since the energy is produced where it is needed and they use renewable energy resources.So,it promises hope for the future energy production.Therefore,the aim of this study is to examine buildings which produce electricity by using renewable energy resources and to show that this is one of the safest,cleanest and most economic ways to be used to produce energy in the future.This is done by describing power plants and how buildings are used as power producing stations by the use of renewable energy resources or other energy producing materials,then by examining case studies which are constructed and already being used,case studies which are just a design that have not yet been constructed,and by making projections to the future energy producing techniques that are just a proposal in 2021.In the conclusion,buildings are proposed as the future power plants,either here on earth or on another planet like Mars.

Future of Renewable Resources in an Area Burdened by Brown Coal Mining

This contribution is focused on a possible utilization of renewable energy resources in the Podkrušnohoří?region (Chmomutov, Most, Teplice, ústí nad Labem districts) in the northern part of the Czech Republic after the end of brown coal mining in 2055. Results of the research describe current share of renewable energy resources (solar, wind, water, biogas) in the model area, and a future energy potential in order to ensure sustainable development of an anthropogenically burdened region. Aim of this contribution is to determine, which renewable energy resources would be the most suitable for energy production after the end of brown coal mining. It also describes current and possible use of geothermal power as there are registered heat flow anomalies in the area.

Pricing strategies in inelastic energy markets： can we use less if we can＇t extract more？

Limited supply of nonrenewable energy resources under growing energy demand creates a situation when a marginal change in the quantity supplied or demanded causes non-marginal swings in price levels. The situation is worsened by the fact that we are currently running out of cheap energy resources at the global scale while adaptation to climate change requires extra energy costs. It is often argued that technology and alternative energy will be a solution. However, alternative energy infrastructure also requires additional energy investments, which can further increase the gap between energy demand and supply. This paper presents an explorative model that demonstrates that a smooth transition from an oil-based economy to alternative energy sources is possible only if it is started well in advance while fossil resources are still abundant. Later the transition looks much more dramatic and it becomes risky to rely entirely on technological solutions. It becomes increasingly likely that in addition to technological solutions that can increase supply we will need to find ways to decrease demand and consumption. We further argue that market mechanisms can be just as powerful tools to curb demand as they have traditionally been for stimulating consumption. We observe that individuals who consume more energy resources benefit at the expense of those who consume less, effectively imposing price externalities on the latters. We suggest two transparent and flexible methods of pricing that attempt to eliminate price externalities on energy resources. Such pricing schemes stimulate less consumption and can smooth the transition to renewable energy.

Cassava:Nutrient composition and nutritive value in poultry diets

Insufficient supply, high prices and competition with the human food and biofuel industries means there is a continuous demand for alternative energy sources for poultry. As a result, cassava is becoming an increasingly important ingredient in poultry diets, largely due to its high availability. Efficient use of cassava products has been shown to reduce feed costs of poultry production. The utilisation of cassava is,however, limited by a number of factors, including its high fibre and low energy content and the presence of anti-nutritional factors, primarily hydrocyanic acid(HCN). With correct processing the inclusion level of cassava in poultry diets could be increased. Extensive research has been conducted on cassava products for poultry, but there is still a lack of consistency amongst the measured nutritive values for cassava and its products, hence variation exists in results from poultry studies. This paper reviews the nutrient composition of cassava products and its value as an alternative energy source in poultry diets.

Potential of using forest residue to offset coal use in co-fired coal power plants in the eastern United States

The global transition from fossil fuel-based energy sources to renewable energy sources will be most effective,for at least the near future,by utilizing local resources and existing infrastructure.In many areas of the eastern United States,forest residue is abundant and can be used in existing facilities to supplement coal in coal-fired power plants.Thus forest residue has potential as a renewable energy source that could be effectively utilized in the near future.This study uses GIS to estimate the potential quantity of forest residue available for use in coal-fired power plants in the eastern United States.Transportation costs limit the distance over which it is feasible to transport forest residue to the power plants and these costs may fluctuate depending on economic conditions.Thus,we consider three scenarios in our analysis assuming the maximum feasible transport distances to be 60,80,and 100 km.In the eastern U.S.,the total annual forest residue available to coal plants is approximately 29.4,40.2,and 48.2 million dry tons,respectively,for maximum transport distances of 60,80,and 100 km.Assuming an 80 km transport distance,forest residue has the potential to reduce coal consumption by 22.3 million tons per year.Under this scenario,greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by almost 58.1 million tons per year,and NOx and SOx emissions would be reduced by 69.3 and 122.6 thousand tons respectively.This analysis suggests that by offsetting coal use,forest residue has the potential to substantially reduce power plant emissions.