Shaping the Future of Energy:A Path toward Zero-Emission and Sustainable Solutions

In the age of rapidly growing global population and escalating energy demands,the pursuit of sustainable,zero-emission energy sources has become critical.This article explores the interplay between environmental concerns,such as global warming and the greenhouse effect,and the need for innovative energy solutions.The melting polar ice caps exemplify the urgent need for reducing carbon emissions.ARCs(advanced reactor concepts)in both fission and fusion technologies offer promising paths to zero-emission energy.Advanced fission reactors,including SMRs(small modular reactors)and Generation IV reactors,provide improved safety,efficiency,and waste management.Fusion energy,despite being in the experimental stage,holds potential as a nearly limitless clean energy source.AI(artificial intelligence)significantly enhances these technologies by optimizing design,operations,maintenance,safety,and grid integration.AI-driven innovations are pivotal in accelerating the development and deployment of ARC technologies,ensuring they are safe,reliable,and efficient.The article underscores the vital role of policy support,global cooperation,and strategic investments in shaping a sustainable energy future that can mitigate the effects of climate change,support economic growth,and protect our planet.

A Promising Distance-Based Gasoline Tax Charging System Based on Spatio-Temporal Grid Reservation in the Era of Zero-Emission Vehicles

Fuel taxes are still a primary funding source for the development and maintenance of transportation infrastructure. Such a tax is collected as a flat fee from the importer or producer of the taxable fuel product. Fuel-efficiency improvements and the adoption of zero-emission vehicles result in a continuous decrease in gasoline tax revenues. This paper proposes a novel distance-based alternative method to replace current gasoline tax collection systems in Japan by providing a software architecture platform. In this platform, we utilize driving information gathered via communication mechanisms installed in connected automated vehicles to develop a system that collects gasoline tax based on reserving spatio-temporal grids. Spatio-temporal sections are created by dividing space and time into equal grids and a designated tax charge is assigned. Connected automated vehicles reserve a planned travel route in advance and travel based on reservation information. The performance evaluation results indicate that the proposed system adequately reserves the requested grids and accurately collects gasoline taxes based on a spatio-temporal grid with minimum communication time and no data package loss. The proposed method is based on micro travel distance charges, which generates gasoline tax revenue by 5.7 percent for model year 2022 and 21.8 percent for model year 2030 as compared to the current flat-fee system.

Preparation of potassium chromate by roasting of carbon ferrochrome

The oxidizing roasting process of carbon ferrochrome to prepare potassium chromate in the presence of potassium carbonate and air was investigated. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, mole ratio of potassium carbonate to carbon ferrochrome were studied, and thermodynamics and kinetics were also discussed. It was observed that the reaction temperature and reaction time had a significant influence on the roasting reaction of carbon ferrochrome. The reaction mechanism changed greatly as the temperature varied. A two-stage roasting process was favorable for the roasting reaction, and a chromium recovery rate of 97.06% was obtained through this two-stage roasting method. The chromium residue yielded from this method was only 1/3 of the product. Moreover, the component of Fe in the residue was as high as 55.04%. Therefore, it can be easily recovered to produce sponge iron, realizing complete detoxication and zero-emission of chromium residue.

Novel method to prepare sodium chromate from carbon ferrochrome

An oxidizing roasting process of carbon ferrochrome to prepare sodium chromate in the presence of sodium carbonate and air was investigated. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, mole ratio of sodium carbonate to carbon ferrochrome were studied, and thermodynamics and kinetics of the reaction were also discussed. It was observed that there was a sudden increase in reaction rate when the temperature rose to a certain value, and the sample with a smaller grain size could start the sudden increase at a lower temperature. The chromium recovery rate increased with the increase of mole ratio of sodium carbonate to carbon ferrochrome, and it reached up to 99.34% when mole ratio of sodium carbonate to carbon ferrochrome increased to 1.2:1. The chromium residue yielded from this method was only about 1/3 of the product. Moreover, the content of Fe in the residue was as high as 60.41%. Therefore, it can be easily recovered to produce sponge iron, realizing complete detoxication and zero-emission of chromium residue.

Study on the New Grinding Fluids of Oils on Water

To fulfill a zero-emission in the process of grinding and thoroughly eliminate the influences of the conventional grinding fluids on the eco-environment as well as save up electric energy and reduce in production costs, the new grinding fluids of botanic oils on water were developed, in which a lot of tiny water droplets attached with micro oil films were blown to the machining area by a compressing air-jet so good as to produce lubricating and cooling roles.In this study, grinding performances of the new fluids were investigated by comparison to the conventional ones such as emulsion on the plane NC grinder.

Korea＇s Future Policy Recommendation for the Promotion of Eco-Friendly Vehicles in Metropolitan Area

This paper introduces and analyzes Korea＇s NGV （natural gas vehicles） policy for soot-free bus fleet which intends to promote CNG （compressed natural gas） bus in metropolitan area for the reduction of air pollution from road sector. At the early stage, Korean goverrmaent established various supporting policy systems to encourage public transportation companies to purchase CNG buses as a means to replace diesel buses. It was evaluated as very successful with making net economic benefit of CNG bus promotion policy. During the 2nd stage, Korean government implemented CNG hybrid bus promotion policy to further reduce both air pollution and greenhouse gas. Now, a new social demand for the vehicles is zero-emission vehicles. The author asserts that current FCEV （fuel cell electric vehicle） should be considered as an alternative to zero-emission vehicles in Korea and suggests policy recommendation for the promotion of FCEV by referring the current CNG bus promotion policy in public transportation sector.

A novel method to produce potassium chromate from carbon ferrochrome

The oxidizing roasting of carbon ferrochrome in the presence of potassium carbonate and air was investigated. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, ratio of alkali-to-ore were studied, together with a discussion of the thermodynamics and macro kinetics. It is observed that the reaction temperature and reaction time have significant influence on the roasting reaction. The reaction mechanism changes greatly as the temperature varies. A two-stage roasting process is favorable for the roasting reaction, and a recovery ratio of 96.51% is obtained through this two-stage roasting method. The chromium residue yielded from this method is quite little, only one third of the product. Moreover, the component of Fe in the residue is as high as 54.28%. Therefore, it can be easily recovered to produce sponge iron, realizing zero-emission of chromium residue.

Exergy life cycle assessment model of “CO_2 zero-emission” energy system and application

An exergy life cycle assessment(ELCA) model based on life cycle assessment(LCA) and exergy methodology was developed to assess a 2×300 MW coal-fired power plant,and the results indicated that the exergy input in operation phase of power plant accounts for 99.89% of the total input and only 0.11% in construction and decommission phases. Direct and indirect exergy inputs account for 93.03% and 6.97%,respectively. Compared with coal-fired power generation system before carbon emission reduction,exergy input-output ratio of life cycle "CO2 zero-emission" energy system and exergy efficiency are about 5.563 and 17.97%,respectively,which increases by 62.47% and declines by 11.21% approximately. The model quantifies the energy,resource consumption and pollutant emissions of system life cycle using exergy as the basic physical parameter,which will make the assessment more objective and reasonable.

Strategic potential of multi-energy system towards carbon neutrality:A forward-looking overview

Carbon neutrality is an ambitious goal that has been promulgated to be achieved on or before 2060.However,most of the current energy policies focus more on carbon emission reduction,efficiency and high penetration of renewable energy.Thus,this paper presented a review strategy towards carbon neutrality by presenting the concept of a multi-energy system(MES)in terms of its technologies,configuration,modelling and feasibility as zero-emission equipment.The paper addressed some prominent challenges associated with zero-carbon multi-energy systems(ZCMES).Various proven solutions in the extant studies that have been affirmed to alleviate some of these challenges were presented.In the end,we identified and summarised the current research gaps,and the future directions to ensure the feasibility of ZCMES as a primary strategy towards the actualization of carbon neutrality.Hence,this review work serves as a reference for revising the current energy policies to incorporate a carbon neutrality framework.