Energy for Sustainable Development最新文献

An estimated 970 million Africans lack access to clean cooking and largely depend on the combustion of unprocessed biomass and low-grade kerosene in leaky stoves. Many people are therefore regularly exposed to risks of health losses from household air pollution, burn injuries, and conflagrations. This unprecedented energy and health challenge underscores the urgency to scale up access to clean energy. Although LPG is widely promoted across the continent as a clean alternative, it's yet to attain widespread usage due to limited access. Conversely, renewable alcohol fuels, such as methanol, with comparable clean combustion characteristics to LPG, have received less attention. This article utilises a narrative review approach to offer a critique of alcohol fuel use with illustrations from four African regions. The reviewed literature includes recent research on the use of methanol and ethanol fuels in the continent and seminal work on the use of alcohol stoves. The aim is to enhance comprehension of the experienced benefits and challenges of using alcohol fuels, and how to deploy them more widely. The results indicate that alcohol-fuelled stoves perform satisfactorily in ease of use, energy efficiency, and emissions abatement, and could complement proven clean cooking solutions. However, these fuels, especially methanol, while posing less of a conflagration risk compared to more widely used fuels such as kerosene, still pose an elevated poisoning risk if ingested or on dermal contact. Considerations of its adoption should therefore incorporate specific policy protections against the possible health threats, including regulations that prescribe fuel denaturing, safe packaging and clear labelling, and compulsory appliance standards. The article builds on transitions research, focussing on the social, health and safety aspects of feasible and scalable clean energy options, with implications especially for energy planners and policy makers on the African continent.

This paper offers insights into microgrid management, with an analysis that stresses the structural features of microgrids at both technical and organizational levels. The article posits that the importance of microgrid management lies in the fact that managerial activities can support the technical microgrid systems in achieving different energy-related goals. It introduces the concept of the “mirroring hypothesis”, which aligns the technical structure with the organizational structure to identify mechanisms of microgrid management. Insights from multiple cases reveal that technical integration and diversification are two dimensions of microgrid technical features. Correspondingly, coordination within organizational integration and diversification serve as two groups of management mechanisms. Energy autonomy, clean energy consumption, and auxiliary services run as three dimensions of energy-related goals. Subsequently, a conceptual framework is developed to establish connections among the technical structure, organizational structure, and energy-related goals. This management framework illustrates three distinct pathways for microgrids to achieve different goals. Finally, some practical and policy implications are provided.

This paper proposes a method for assessing the energy and economic impacts provided by the adoption of battery energy storage (BESS) in public buildings with integrated photovoltaic (PV) systems under current legislation. The method is applicable to prosumer units (PU) connected on the medium voltage grid and is based on techniques for measuring the electric energy demand and the surplus PV energy injected by the PU into the grid. Empirical data, including ambient temperature and solar irradiation, were employed to assess the solar radiation resource. In BESS simulations, PU power flows were utilized. The BESS defined operation (charging/discharging schedules) was aimed at the maximum use of the surplus PV energy and the largest reduction in electricity expenses (energy arbitrage). The suggested methodology was applied to a case study of a public building PU in Brazil. The results showed that, during peak hours, the adoption of the BESS would provide a 100 % reduction in measured power demands and consumed energy with a significant annual injection of power in the utility grid. During off-peak hours, the annual self-consumption of the PU would increase by nearly 30 %. This outcome underscores the benefits associated with time-of-use billing structure for public PU + BESS. Approximately 85 % of the total energy required to charge the BESS would be originated from the surplus of PV energy. The remaining 15 % would be supplemented by the utility grid. The findings show that currently, the insertion of BESS would not present financial attractiveness. However, it is anticipated that BESS costs will drop during the next few years. A sensitivity analysis was carried out which concluded that for a cost of US$408 (expected value for 2025) the BESS would present financial attractiveness.

A battolyser combines the function of battery and electrolyser in one device, i.e. it provides both electrical energy storage and a means to produce hydrogen. A battolyser with lead-acid chemistry has recently been proposed, and this has potential as a particularly low-cost solution. Here, the battolyser is considered for the production of hydrogen as a cooking fuel (“hCooking”) in sub-Saharan Africa, a region where cooking typically employs polluting fuels (firewood and charcoal). The more conventional approach for decarbonisation of cooking is the introduction of electric cookers (e.g. hotplate, induction hob, pressure cooker) which can be powered by PV and possibly battery storage; accordingly these electric cooking (“eCooking”) systems are considered as the competing decarbonised technology. Multi-objective optimisation is used to design both battolyser and eCooking systems for a notional off-grid community, with solar PV as the main energy source. Objectives are the minimisation of net present cost and lifetime greenhouse gas emissions, and Pareto frontiers are produced to show the play-off between these. Results show that a battolyser system could eliminate 95.6 % of CO₂ emissions when compared with a baseline using charcoal, at an annualised cost of $507 per household, over a system lifetime of 20 years. However, eCooking systems appear superior to the battolyser, with the cleanest battery + eCook system achieving 95.8 % emissions reduction at annualised cost $422/household. More generally, hCooking systems are nearly always Pareto dominated by eCooking systems, even under a realistic range of sensitivity scenarios. This result is due to the inherently higher energy intensity of cooking over a flame compared to the eCooking options. Priorities to make the battolyser a more viable solution include extending its lifetime as far as possible, cheaper PV systems, and improved hydrogen burner efficiencies. We also show that eCooking together with some continued use of charcoal may be the cheapest possible cooking solution, whilst simultaneously curtailing 60 % of lifetime greenhouse gas emissions.

The industrial sector is the world's leading energy consumer and CO₂ emitter and yet has not received sufficient focus to reduce its energy consumption and adverse environmental impact. So, this paper addresses this gap by presenting industrial-based research on energy audit and target energy management for a sustainable bulk molding company in Alexandria, Egypt. The management focuses on the hot press hydraulic building section which consumes more than 30 % of the company's total energy. The sources of energy losses within this section are identified and quantified. Energy-saving measures including thermal energy management are proposed, implemented and valorized based on energy savings, cost and environmental impact. The yearly savings on energy consumption, energy bills and CO₂ emission reduction for the molding machines are estimated. The results show that the main sources of molds' energy losses are in the preheat stage and convection and radiation from the hot mold surfaces. The maximum energy saving due to modifying the preheat stage duration is about 51 %. The gained energy reduction due to changing the mold insulation boards is about 17.5 % and 55.3 % during the preheat and production stages, respectively. Moreover, using double layer insulation boards with the mold insulation cage reduces energy consumption by about 69.5 %. The payback period falls between 1.53 and 6.11 months where these techniques for one machine can save 1229.3 $/year and reduce 16,651.598 kg/year CO₂ emission. The study contributes to a broader understanding of how proactive insulation and thermal management can lead to significant energy and cost savings over a long-term period in industrial operations. Besides its contribution to sustainability goals: SDG7, SDG11, and SDG13, the study's approach proves its efficacity and can serve as a precedent for other industrial sites trying to enhance energy efficiency in their most energy-intensive areas.

Clean cooking systems and the incorporation of biomass and bioenergy are critical in the context of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.1.2. This article considers the biomass potential of livestock-based rural micro-enterprises and the scope for standardisation and system efficiency improvement in traditional cow-dung-based bioenergy consumption. The article also highlights the challenges that the current design of cow-dung-based traditional cookstoves poses for rural households, especially for women users. A case of rural household bioenergy system design is proposed with appropriate system specific recommendations for the stages of livestock biomass collection, drying, and preparation of fuel pellets of standard dimensions as per the requirements of the ICS (Improved cookstove). A concept design featuring multiple interventions is endeavoured with the overall objective of designing a bioenergy based sustainable energy system. The suggested design interventions are focused on rural household micro-enterprises traditionally excluded from the improved cookstove development ecosystems. Through a customised approach, multiple opportunities for improvement of fuel efficiency, operational parameters, and innovations in system design are explored.

Residential carbon reduction is crucial for China to reach its carbon peak target by 2030. This study focuses on Wuhan and examines the structural characteristics of residential energy consumption and carbon emission using survey data. The analysis takes into account scenarios that consider 2030 carbon peaking constraint. The findings reveal that urban residents exhibit higher electrification compared to rural residents, with electricity consumption being the largest contributor to carbon emission. Private cars constitute the primary source of energy consumption and carbon emissions in transportation. Under the current “Wuhan 14th Five-Year Plan”, it is unlikely that direct carbon emission from residents will peak by 2030. To advance the peak of residential direct carbon emission, increasing energy-saving building retrofits and improving household energy efficiency are necessary, which can reduce CO₂ by 1.19 Mt. Controlling private car usage, promoting clean energy vehicles, and enhancing vehicle energy efficiency also have the carbon reduction potential with 2.65 Mt. Technological advancements leading to improvements in energy intensity and carbon intensity can help suppress overall carbon emission despite population growth and economic factors contributing to increased CO₂ levels. In terms of indirect carbon emission, urban residents exhibit significantly higher consumption levels compared to rural residents but have similar consumption patterns. Housing condition shows the highest intensity of indirect energy consumption (144.9 gce·CNY⁻¹) and carbon emission (368.9 g CO₂·CNY⁻¹). COVID-19 may have a promotion effect on direct energy consumption, and a limited impact on indirect energy consumption.

Globally, renewable energy sources (RESs) are being used more frequently, including in arid desert regions such as Kuwait. This small geographical area is planning to expand its RES share to reach 15 % of the national electricity demand by 2030. This study investigates the effects of two large sandstorms on different RESs employed in Kuwait: (1) photovoltaic (PV) power plants, (2) concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, and (3) wind turbines (WTs). Sandstorms exhibit crucial weather-related characteristics as the solar irradiance decreases significantly during storms whereas the wind speed increases. These two weather parameters are the fuel used in RESs. Therefore, the power produced by the PV and CSP plants decreases substantially, whereas the power produced by the WT increases to its rated value for several hours. This causes a decrease in the total energy generated by the PV and CSP plants, in contrast to the WT plants, which always overperform against their typical daily average values. By comparing the daily energy average of May 2021 with no major sandstorms present, the energy generated by the PV is 83.3 % (Storm 1) and 49.1 % (Storm 2), whereas the energy generated by the CSP is 100.4 % (Storm 1) and 18.2 % (Storm 2). Conversely, the energy generated by the WTs is 198.6 % (Storm 1) and 237.6 % (Storm 2). This study illustrates one of the benefits of employing hybrid RESs. Different hybrid configurations are investigated with the PV-WT configuration showing great potential with near-constant produced power and overperformance in the total energy generated.

This paper investigates the applicability of the Just Transition Transaction (JTT), initially developed as a financial mechanism for South Africa's energy transition, to Southeast Asian (SEA) countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which heavily rely on coal. Utilizing South Africa as a reference case study, we deconstruct the JTT and develop a novel framework of necessary and conducive features for evaluating its suitability for supporting a just energy transition in SEA. Our findings suggest that the JTT is well-suited for Indonesia and Vietnam but not as well suited for the Philippines. Recommendations for specific research avenues in estimating baselines and aligning emissions trajectories are provided. Finally, we propose a tiered JTT model to encourage a supranational transition in SEA and suggest the potential application of our methods for assessing similar mechanisms in other coal-reliant developing countries.

The time, health, and climate impacts associated with reliance on biomass fuels for cooking are significant at the global scale, and particularly harmful to women. To help mitigate these impacts, the Jet-Flame forced draft cookstove retrofit accessory was designed to apply jets of high-momentum air into the fuelbed of existing cooking stoves to improve combustion efficiency and cooking speed. Paired with a rocket cookstove and solar home power kit and light, the device usage and resulting changes in cooking time and kitchen PM_2.5 concentrations were measured in 40 households in Malawi across four study phases using an integrated suite of sensors. Results revealed cooking time across all households was reduced by 29 % upon introduction of the Jet-Flame. Households that used the Jet-Flame more than 80 % of the time in a rocket stove showed an average reduction of 64 % in kitchen PM_2.5 concentration relative to the baseline. Battery power consumption data showed the daily power consumed by the Jet-Flame(s) (200 mAh) was about 10 % of the power consumed relative to the lights and phone chargers (1000 mAh each), suggesting a low power draw by the Jet-Flame and remaining battery capacity available for other uses that are valued by these unelectrified households. Finally, the estimates of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO_2e) emissions reductions earned by implementing the stove and Jet-Flame kit, including fuel savings and reductions in black carbon fraction from 38 to 19 % measured in the laboratory, indicated a reduction in 5.7 tons of CO_2e per stove year from baseline at a fuel harvest non-renewability of 26 % when using the stove and Jet-Flame together. These findings indicate this suite of technologies may potentially help to affordably address global goals for climate, health, and gender equity; especially if supported by carbon and co-benefit financing.