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

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.

Energy-Efficient Transceiver Design for Multi-Pair Two-Way Relay Systems

In this paper, we focus on energy-efficient transceiver and relay beamforming design for multi-pair two-way relay system. The multi-antenna users and the multi-antenna relay are considered in this work. Different from the existing works, the proposed algorithm is energy-efficient which is more applicable to the future green network. It considers both the sum-MSE problem and the power consumption problem for the users under the relay power constraint. Based on the optimal condition decomposition(OCD) method, the energy-efficient precoders at the users can be designed separately with limited information exchanged. The proposed relay beamforming algorithm is based on the alternative direction method of multipliers(ADMM) which has simpler iterative solution and enjoys good convergence. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithms in terms of power consumption and MSE performance.

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.

New Renewable Source of Energy from Municipal Solid Waste Plastics

The use of renewable energy is not new. More than 150 years ago, wood, which is one form of biomass, supplied up to 90 percent of our energy needs. Today, we are looking again at renewable resources to find new ways to use them to help meet our energy needs. Overall consumption from renewable sources in the United States totaled 6.8 quads BTU （quadrillion Btu） in 2007 or about 7 percent of all energy used nationally. Consumption from renewable sources was at its highest point in 1997, at about 7.2 quads. Over half of renewable energy goes to producing electricity. Renewable energy plays an important role in the supply of energy. Even with the current fluctuating prices for fuel, U.S. residents and businesses pay a significant price for their utilities. Emissions from the evaporation and combustion of these traditional fossil fuels contributing to a range of environmental and health problems, causing poor air quality, and emitting greenhouse gases caused global warming. The method of producing alternative energy from municipal solid waste plastic is considered an effective way to meet the demand of energy need and save the environment at the same time.

Electricity Generation in Turkey by Geothermal Energy Resources

Electricity generation generally is made in thermal, hydro, geothermal power plants and windfarms/windparks. Because of some advantages such as renewability, low-cost, clean, safe and naturality geothermal and wind energy will have been electricity generation source in the near future. Turkey has hot water springs suitable for electricity generation between 130-242 ~C with natural vapor and hydrothermal alterations in connection with grabens limited to active faults and diffuse young volcanism in Western Anatolia Region. Other renewable energy and electricity generation resource is wind energy. In Turkey electricity generation is made by windfarms/windparks. These parks/farms are generated 1,414.55 MW electricity. The year 2010 electricity general total installed capacity in Turkey is about 49,524.1 MW. According to the total installed capacity, thermal power plants have 65.18%, hydro power plants have 31.97%, geothermal power plants and wind farms have 2.85%. Electricity generation generally was obtained from 15 thermal power plants. In this study high temperature geothermal fields and windparks/windfarms in Turkey which are suitable for electricity generation potential were investigated.

Role of Wind Power in Energy Development in China

In recent years,China has made significant achievements in optimizing its energy structure and tapping into renewable energy.Wind power,in particular,has been doubled in its development year by year between 2005-2009.However,wind power develops too fast,which is not harmonious with the power system,the industry structure and the policy mechanism.Therefore,it is necessary to find the fundamental causes for the issue.Based on the inherent features and practical issues of wind power development in China,the role of wind power in energy development is put forward through probing logically into three perspectives,i.e.energy utilization,energy development and the ultimate objectives of wind power development.The current wind power development should be grounded on the improvement of wind power industrialization system,the smart grid and the research on new energy storage technology so as to lay firm foundations for large-scale development of wind power in the future.

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.

The Сoncept of Lava Flow Controlled Use as a Source of Energy and Materials

Our civilization is facing an urgent need to include innovative, large-scale sources of energy and raw materials into its technological cycles. One potential source is magma, which now still inspires awe with its unpredictable power of volcanic eruptions. We propose a method of remote control of lava flow which is based on a special design of a pipe which is lowered into the crater of a volcano. The magma is raised with the help of a well-known method for raising liquids, the airlift. This article includes a detailed description of the structure of the disperser that we shall use to introduce gas into the magma, explains the possible ways to manage the flow of magma, and describes the results that can be achieved. There is potential for the establishment of a whole new industry that will produce cheap electricity, hydrogen, rare metals, fertilizers and innovative construction materials.

The Use of Hydrogen as a Fuel for Inland Waterway Units

Escalating apprehension about the harmful effects of widespread use of conventional fossil fuels in the marine field and in internal combustion engines in general, has led to a vast amount of efforts and the directing of large capital investment towards research and development of sustainable alternative energy sources. One of the most promising and abundant of these sources is hydrogen. Firstly, the use of current fossil fuels is. discussed focusing on the emissions and economic sides to emphasize the need for a new, cleaner and renewable fuel with particular reference to hydrogen as a suitable possible alternative. Hydrogen properties, production and storage methods are then reviewed along with its suitability from the economical point of view. Finally, a cost analysis for the use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines is carried out to illustrate the benefits of its use as a replacement for diesel. The outcome of this cost analysis shows that 98% of the capital expenditure is consumed by the equipment, and 68.3% of the total cost of the equipment is spent on the solar photovoltaic cells. The hydrogen plant is classified as a large investment project because of its high initial cost which is about 1 billion US$; but this is justified because hydrogen is produced in a totally green way. When hydrogen is used as a fuel, no harmful emissions are obtained.

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.

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。

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.

Sustainabilty of Rice Processing in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Energy and environmental sustainability are important considerations for increased rice production. This study examined the energy utilization and sustainability of rice processing in sub-Saharan Africa. The community of Gadan Loko village in the song local government of Adamawa State, Nigeria was selected as the focus of study. Rice parboiling, the most energy intensive process in rice processing is carried out usually by women in small quantities of about 13.2 kg using traditional pots on tripod support stoves. The parboiled rice is sun dried on mats before it is taken to the milling stalls where it is milled using milling machines driven by single cylinder diesel engines. There were large variations in the quality of milled rice due to lack of consistency in processing parameters. Accumulation of rice husk in the community created important environmental issues. In this study, methods of improving sustainability of rice processing were investigated. The areas included： the utilization of waste heat from the diesel engines for improved drying and efficient pre-soaking; the utilization of solar energy for pre-soaking; the utilization of rice husks as alternative fuel to firewood; and the optimization and redesign of the stoves and parboiling vessels to minimize heat loss to the environment. The results showed that the utilization of rice husk as alternative fuel and the redesign of the stoves and parboiling vessels will increase the sustainability of rice processing and can be easily adopted by the community. While solar energy pre-soaking was not economical and the utilization of waste heat from the diesel engines for drying and pre-soaking would be difficult to implement at the rural scale, because most of the parboiling is done far away from the milling stalls. The study showed that research, development of appropriate technology, and education （RATE） of the rural community is an important way of increasing sustainability.

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.

Tire Manufacturer Fighting Climate Changes

This paper presents methods and strategy promoted by an operator of tire rubber manufacturer in order to reduce CO2 emissions. This paper presents calculation methods of GHG emissions and data on production activities, as well as fuel consumption, energy, etc. This example shows that environmental investments are effective primarily in the environmental aspect, but they can become profitable （the carbon trading market of GHG allowances and by providing alternative energy in national energy system, resulting in ＂green certificates＂）.