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This paper determines by how much alternative electricity generation sources—natural gas, nuclear, hydro, and renewables—displace electricity generation from coal and oil. It does so by employing a first-difference model and a mean-group estimator applied to a panel that spans 1985–2019 for 27 high- and 13 middle-income countries. As such, our approach avoids/addresses several statistical issues common in long-macro panel analyses—heterogeneity, nonstationarity, and cross-sectional dependence—that have largely been ignored/unaddressed in previous displacement studies. Ultimately, we find that the displacement effect is small and only marginally significant for nuclear, and is significant though less than unity for natural gas and hydro, whereas intermittent renewables (solar and wind) have unitary displacement effect. These results suggest a substantially greater displacement potential for alternative generation sources than typically found by the previous literature. In other words, increasing hydro and wind and solar are all impactful ways to decarbonize the electricity system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the significant role of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in achieving environmental sustainability, with a particular focus on enhancing energy efficiency, resource recovery, and water reuse. WWTPs are crucial for removing pollutants and recovering resources from wastewater, thereby protecting public health and biodiversity. However, they are also associated with high operational costs, substantial carbon footprints, and energy-intensive processes. This article delves into various strategies and technologies to overcome these challenges, aiming to transform WWTPs from energy consumers to energy-efficient resource recovery hubs. Techniques such as anaerobic digestion and the use of advanced oxidation processes and microbial fuel cells are investigated for their potential in energy recovery and efficiency enhancement. Success stories from around the globe are highlighted to demonstrate the feasibility of transitioning to energy-positive WWTP operations. The integration of water reuse systems is also discussed, highlighting recent advancements that enable treated wastewater to be repurposed for agricultural, industrial, and potable uses, thereby promoting sustainability and water conservation. This paper emphasizes the importance of integrating cutting-edge energy management practices to minimize environmental impacts, reduce operational costs, and contribute to a more sustainable water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green transition is a challenge for the Polish economy and energy sector. In this paper, the expert method of analysis was applied and findings revealed that the challenges and prerequisites for an effective transformation of the power sector mainly include technical, technological and organizational issues of energy production and use. The provision of electricity at competitive prices and with a low carbon footprint, for individual consumers and industry, is a prerequisite for maintaining the well-being of the population and ensuring the competitiveness of domestically produced goods. The ambitious climate policy goals of the European Union require immediate action and call for radical changes in the Polish energy sector; in the coming years, it must drastically reduce the amount of energy produced from fossil fuels and replace it with so-called green energy from renewable sources. The main purpose of this article was to highlight the need to modify Poland's energy policy until 2040 in order to make it more consistent with the ambitious climate goals of the European Union. This article also shows that Poland's energy transition must include a shift from fossil fuels to renewables, while ensuring that energy security is stabilized by the current energy and generation resources. To this end, we discuss the issues of creating reserves in the national energy system for the entire period of Poland's energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrode played an essential role in the operation of CW-MFC system due to its synergistic effect, and the development of electrode strategy has promoted the application of CW-MFC since 2012. In this paper, according to the material and the quantity, the electrode types in CW-MFC were distinctly divided into unified model, composited model, modified model, and multi-electrodes model combined with non-conductive or conductive particle. Different electrode strategies were provided to improve the performance of CW-MFC towards electricity generation, removal of pollutants, and control of greenhouse gas emission, and the coordination mechanism was further reviewed. Furthermore, the development process of the electrode strategy was summarized, and the low-cost, sustainable, and innovated electrode materials were emphatically recommended. For the scale-up application, multi-electrode model was systematically reviewed based on the optimizing of the material, shape, spacing distance, and connection type of electrode. This review may provide guidance to maximize the advantages of CW-MFC applications. Highlights: • Electronic receiver and non-conductive or conductive particle was firstly classified. • The electrode application on electricity generation and pollutant removal was reviewed. • The application of emerging electrode materials in CW-MFC was summarized. • The multi-anode and multi-cathode strategy may facilitate the scaling-up of CW-MFC. • The development of electrode material was prospected to extend the function of CW-MFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review reports recent breakthroughs in piezoelectric wearable energy harvesting technology, specifically focusing on their harnessing biomechanical energy from all over the human motion. Wearable technology has significantly reshaped our daily lives, prompting a pressing demand for intelligent and novel sensing mechanisms. These wearable devices and sensors often rely on batteries, necessitating frequent replacements or recharging. Leveraging the biomechanical energy of the human body, this paper underscores piezoelectric-based wearable energy harvesting from human motion. The sources of the human body's motion energy are categorized into three distinct groups based on their roles as excitation sources for energy harvesting. Additionally, this paper reviews the latest advancements in piezoelectric wearable technology for electricity generation, explicating the fundamental operational principles, structural designs, materials, and potential applications of piezoelectric wearable energy harvesters. Furthermore, it discusses the prevailing challenges associated with this technology in a dedicated section. Concluding with recommended guidelines, this paper underscores potential opportunities and shed light on future exploration.

This paper explores the significant role of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in achieving environmental sustainability, with a particular focus on enhancing energy efficiency, resource recovery, and water reuse. WWTPs are crucial for removing pollutants and recovering resources from wastewater, thereby protecting public health and biodiversity. However, they are also associated with high operational costs, substantial carbon footprints, and energy-intensive processes. This article delves into various strategies and technologies to overcome these challenges, aiming to transform WWTPs from energy consumers to energy-efficient resource recovery hubs. Techniques such as anaerobic digestion and the use of advanced oxidation processes and microbial fuel cells are investigated for their potential in energy recovery and efficiency enhancement. Success stories from around the globe are highlighted to demonstrate the feasibility of transitioning to energy-positive WWTP operations. The integration of water reuse systems is also discussed, highlighting recent advancements that enable treated wastewater to be repurposed for agricultural, industrial, and potable uses, thereby promoting sustainability and water conservation. This paper emphasizes the importance of integrating cutting-edge energy management practices to minimize environmental impacts, reduce operational costs, and contribute to a more sustainable water sector.

This review reports recent breakthroughs in piezoelectric wearable energy harvesting technology, specifically focusing on their harnessing biomechanical energy from all over the human motion. Wearable technology has significantly reshaped our daily lives, prompting a pressing demand for intelligent and novel sensing mechanisms. These wearable devices and sensors often rely on batteries, necessitating frequent replacements or recharging. Leveraging the biomechanical energy of the human body, this paper underscores piezoelectric-based wearable energy harvesting from human motion. The sources of the human body's motion energy are categorized into three distinct groups based on their roles as excitation sources for energy harvesting. Additionally, this paper reviews the latest advancements in piezoelectric wearable technology for electricity generation, explicating the fundamental operational principles, structural designs, materials, and potential applications of piezoelectric wearable energy harvesters. Furthermore, it discusses the prevailing challenges associated with this technology in a dedicated section. Concluding with recommended guidelines, this paper underscores potential opportunities and shed light on future exploration. • Exploration of principle, material, structure, and potential applications of piezoelectric wearable energy harvester. • Insight into harnessing biomechanical energy generated by human motion to power wearable devices. • Discussion of challenges and opportunities in this field. • Recommendations for future research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modernizing traditional power grids into smart grids represents a significant advancement in improving efficiency and sustainability within the energy sector. However, integrating renewable energy sources and the intricate network of interconnected devices has presented new challenges, especially in grid stability. Anticipating and maintaining grid stability ensures a continuous energy supply and prevents potential disruptions. This research paper explores the smart grid stability issue through machine learning. Two distinct scenarios are examined. In the first scenario, the problem is approached as a binary classification task, where grid states are categorized as stable or unstable, a well-established method for addressing grid stability. In the second scenario, an effort is made to predict continuous values that reflect the degree of grid stability. These continuous values are subsequently mapped to a conditional function, facilitating stability detection based on a predefined threshold. To address data imbalance, two balancing strategies, specifically the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) and K-means SMOTE, are employed in each scenario. The analysis covers a range of regressors and classifiers, focusing on tree-based models, boosting algorithms, ensemble learners, and Multilayer Perceptrons (MLP). The investigation results demonstrate that combining the K-means SMOTE strategy with the CatBoost Classifier in the first scenario achieves the highest accuracy, reaching an impressive 99.6%, and an exceptional ability to detect grid instability, achieving 100% accuracy. Furthermore, the results of the second scenario are promising, with accuracy rates reaching 99.4%, thanks to the utilization of a stacking ensemble learner. Notably, this study introduces Explainable AI, a groundbreaking initiative in this field, to delve into the inner workings of the proposed models and enhance their transparency. This pioneering effort marks a significant step forward in understanding and optimizing the predictive capabilities of machine learning models applied to smart grid stability. [Display omitted] • Reframing the smart grid stability problem as a regression task. • Underscoring the significance of predicting the grid stability value. • Assessing the impact of data balancing strategies on the prediction results. • Evaluating several classifiers and regressors for smart grid stability. • Achieving 100% instability detection accuracy using K-means SMOTE and CatBoost. • Pioneering eXplainable AI (XAI) techniques to enhance model transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change presents a substantial impediment for the global community and prompts policymakers worldwide to prioritize environmental goals when defining national development strategies. Prioritizing these goals is particularly challenging for governments of developing economies still relying on fossil fuels, foreign capital, and industry contribution to GDP. This study examines the relationships between carbon dioxide emissions, industry value added, financial development, and electricity generation in 15 Central and Eastern European countries from 1995 to 2021. To achieve this objective, we examined stationarity and cointegration and employed a vector error correction model to investigate causalities between the variables, along with a variance decomposition analysis. Our findings suggest that the short-run unidirectional causalities exist from industry value-added to carbon dioxide emissions and from carbon dioxide emissions to financial development and electricity generation. Long-term causality exists between carbon dioxide emissions and industry value added. The findings shed light on the challenges and opportunities these countries face in transitioning to climate neutrality and meeting the decarbonization targets. Within this context, the findings underscore the significance of crafting customized strategies for these economies to navigate the complex landscape of climate change while promoting sustainable industrial, electricity and financial sector development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the carbon neutralization plan by 2060, China implemented the "Dual Control" (Neng Hao Shuang Kong in Chinese) policy in 2015 by limiting the energy intensity and consumption, leading to forced slowdown of energy-related production and consumptions, which in turn hampered China's economic growth. The economic impact of energy shortage has been discussed in such studies as Cheng et al., the economic consequences of the new policy remain unanswered. In this article, we select China's provincial GDP and electricity generation data from 2001 to 2021 to perform causality tests and a double log model which delineates the nexus between GDP growth and electricity generation. We find that (a) electricity generation growth Granger causes GDP growth but not vice versa, and (b) a 1% increase in electricity generation growth will lead to 0.17% increase in GDP growth. The significance of the finding is: as coal still primarily fuels electricity generation, dual control will further hinder China's economic development sans significant enhancement of electric system or expansion of renewable energy, our findings thus support an upgrade of current grid network by China Power International Development; an expansion of renewable capacity such as a proposal of 400 GW new energy project; and construction of energy storage devices such as the CGD Group thermal storage System and Yingcheng Compressed Air Energy Storage System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity generation and chemical production are both critical cornerstone for modern society. Integrating electricity output and high value chemical production in an electrochemical system is highly attractive both environmentally and sustainably. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the development of these multifunctional devices (electrocatalytic flow batteries) that could generate both electricity and high value chemicals through rational coupling of half‐electrode reactions, covering the basic principles, device configurations, and applications. We also discuss the current challenges and suggest potential research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A universal strategy that integrates PAA grafting, ion exchange, and in-situ chemical reactions to synthesize photothermal materials for enhanced solar-driven interfacial evaporation and gradient materials for electricity generation, respectively. [Display omitted] • A universal strategy is proposed for the preparation of SDIE and FFIPG materials. • Synthesized nanoparticles or nanoplates are evenly spread on SDIE fabric fibers. • A combination of one-way flow and suspension mode is used for fluid evaporation. • All SDIE fabrics achieve excellent evaporation rates at 0.5 cm suspension height. • The fluid flow can constantly generate a potential difference across the FFIPG fabrics. In our contemporary society, addressing the increasingly pressing global resource shortage, particularly the scarcity of vital water resources and energy, is critical for human survival. This paper presents a strategy that integrates PAA grafting, ion exchange, and in-situ chemical reactions to synthesize photothermal materials for enhanced solar-driven interfacial evaporation and gradient materials for electricity generation, respectively. The obtained photothermal material demonstrates exceptional light absorption and photothermal conversion performance. By employing a unique combination of unidirectional flow and suspension mode for water evaporation, remarkable evaporation rates are achieved, with all samples exceeding 2.03 kg m-2h−1. The hybrid mode is also applied to saltwater treatment, where it is found that the evaporation rate is not significantly affected, regardless of the salt concentration. No change in the evaporation rate is observed even after 12 h of continuous treatment with 10 % brine, indicating the robustness and stable performance of the evaporative materials. For the synthesized gradient materials, the flowing fluid can establish a potential difference at both ends of the gradient fabric. The magnitude of open circuit voltage and short circuit current can be controlled by adjusting the measurement distance, the deposited nanoparticles with different polarity and the amount of charge carried. We acquire a maximum output of 209.7 mV using the gradient Cu-S/PAA-cotton fabric, which can be connected in series to power small electronic devices like a digital watch. This research not only advances the design and practical application of high-performance solar evaporators but also illuminates a novel pathway for developing electricity-generating materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The systems of policies impacting climate change mitigation are complex. Yet, to date, we have limited conceptual and empirical knowledge on the dynamics within these. We address this gap by employing a systems lens to untangle the interactions between the policies affecting climate change mitigation in the electricity generation space. We conceptualise climate policyscapes for electricity generation as systems populated with policies whose means impact decarbonisation in the electricity generation space. The impacts under analysis include both support and obstruction of climate change mitigation. We analyse the evolution of the UK climate policyscape from 1956 to 2022. Methodologically, we combine qualitative content analysis and network analysis. We populate the policyscapes with pieces of legislation in the electricity generation space and employ qualitative content analysis to identify the policy means affecting climate change mitigation. Our network analysis of the 2022 climate policyscape reveals that policies hindering climate mitigation remain largely present, which renders the climate policyscape incoherent. We show that policies supporting mitigation are more likely to behave as a group than policies hindering climate mitigation. Climate policies tend to be adopted as packages, whilst fossil policies remain a steady process throughout the history of the UK climate policyscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity distribution has become one of the most essential components of our society since the beginning of human civilization, relying on an abundant, reliable, and affordable power supply. Fossil fuels dominate the production of electricity (89.57 %), emitting 68.7 % of greenhouse gases, polluting water and soil, and depleting fossil fuels. Future energy needs are faced with growing demand for coal (772 million tonnes by 2040) and fluctuating fuel prices. The Indian power sector withdraws over 20 billion m³ of water, whereby coal power plants use around 35 % of freshwater. Among the seventeen sustainable development goals, Goal 7 emphasizes meeting the demand for electricity, the availability of clean fuels, and mitigating air pollution. In 2021, about 747 TWh of energy consumption was met by coal, oil (92 TWh), and solar energy (25 TWh). Renewable power would meet the world’s growing energy needs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost the economy, and strengthen the society. Therefore, renewable energy has gained global attention as a sustainable electricity source. For this, a thorough examination of the economic and social implications of electricity generation technologies must be carried out. This study discusses how fossil fuel-based electricity generation affects global health and the environment and helps achieve Goal 7 of the sustainable development goals. All sectors must work together to stop global warming and water war and make electricity available worldwide for integrated development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Anammox anaerobic fluidized bed microbial fuel cell (Anammox AFB-MFC) exhibits exceptional performance in both nitrogen removal and electricity generation, effectively eliminating ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrite nitrogen (NO2−-N) pollutants. This technology offers the advantages of high efficiency in nitrogen removal and low electricity consumption. By coupling an AFB with an MFC, the Anammox AFB-MFC was developed through the introduction of anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) into MFC. Anammox AFB-MFC's nitrogen removal ability was found to be superior at an influent COD concentration of 200 mg/L, as determined by a study conducted under unchanged conditions. Subsequently, an open and closed-circuit experiment was performed on the Anammox AFB-MFC system while maintaining a COD concentration of 200 mg/L in the influent. Remarkably, the reactor exhibited significantly enhanced nitrogen removal performance when electricity generation occurred. Throughout the entire experimental process, the reactor consistently maintained high nitrogen removal efficiency and electricity production performance. Under optimal experimental conditions, the reactor achieved a remarkable nitrogen removal rate of 91.8% and an impressive output voltage of 439.1 mV. Additionally, the generation of Anammox bioparticles in MFC significantly contributed to efficient pollutant removal. This study elucidates the impact of organic matter on both the nitrogen removal and electricity generation capabilities of Anammox AFB-MFC, as well as highlights the synergistic effect between MFC electricity generation and nitrogen removal in the reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The electrode played an essential role in the operation of CW-MFC system due to its synergistic effect, and the development of electrode strategy has promoted the application of CW-MFC since 2012. In this paper, according to the material and the quantity, the electrode types in CW-MFC were distinctly divided into unified model, composited model, modified model, and multi-electrodes model combined with non-conductive or conductive particle. Different electrode strategies were provided to improve the performance of CW-MFC towards electricity generation, removal of pollutants, and control of greenhouse gas emission, and the coordination mechanism was further reviewed. Furthermore, the development process of the electrode strategy was summarized, and the low-cost, sustainable, and innovated electrode materials were emphatically recommended. For the scale-up application, multi-electrode model was systematically reviewed based on the optimizing of the material, shape, spacing distance, and connection type of electrode. This review may provide guidance to maximize the advantages of CW-MFC applications. Graphical Abstract

On the way to complying with the 2015 Paris agreements regarding climate change, there are notable differences between the positions of the countries. Even considering the same geographical area such as Europe, the existence of a supranational environmental policy, assumed by the 27 European Union (EU) countries, generates evident differences with neighboring countries that do not belong to this organization. In this paper, 17 indicators related to electricity generation are proposed and, based on the information from the year 2020 of these indicators for 45 European countries, two multivariate techniques are applied with the aim of verifying whether or not such a policy generates similarities and differences between those countries affected by such supranational policy and those who are not obligated to apply it. The initial hypothesis seems to have been fulfilled in part: the non-EU countries have mainly been grouped together, while the members of the EU have separated from them. This result would be in line with the fact that the supranational policy of the EU seems to have the expected effect of homogenizing the countries in terms of the energy variables considered in this analysis. • Analyse differences in use of renewable energy resources and electricity generation in Europe. • Multivariate techniques to identify groups of countries with similar characteristics. • Seven groups of European countries founded. • Conclusions about energy policies in the use of renewable resources for each group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate forecasting is one of the keys to the efficient use of the limited existing energy resources and plays an important role in sustainable development. While most of the current research has focused on energy price forecasting, very few studies have considered medium-term (monthly) electricity generation. This research aims to fill this gap by proposing a novel forecasting approach based on zero-shot transfer learning. Specifically, we train a Neural Basis Expansion Analysis for Time Series (NBEATS) model on a vast dataset comprising diverse time series data. Then, the trained model is applied to forecast electric power generation using zero-shot learning. The results show that the proposed method achieves a lower error than the benchmark deep learning and statistical methods, especially in backtesting. Furthermore, the proposed method provides vastly superior execution time as it does not require problem-specific training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the potential for renewable energy-based electricity generation using existing wave, wind, and solar energies in Türkiye. A significant part of Türkiye's energy needs is still met using fossil fuels. Considering the country's resources, renewable energy sources appear as an alternative source to meet these needs. The objective of this study is to find an effective, efficient, economical, environmentally friendly, and sustainable way to produce electricity to reach net-zero targets and transition towards low-carbon and carbon-free energy systems. To be able to make a deep investigation about the relevant issue, six provinces from different regions of Türkiye (Antalya, Çanakkale, İstanbul, İzmir, Kırklareli, and Muğla) are assessed in terms of wave, wind, and solar energy potential, including wave data, wind speeds, sunshine duration, and global radiation values. Wind, wave, and solar energy data of the selected regions were taken from the ERA5 database, which is the weather forecast model of the European Center for Medium-Term Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Türkiye and the General Directorate of Meteorology. Calculations were made using monthly data for the last 5 years. Considering the coastal lengths in the determined regions, the annual total electrical power produced from wave, solar, and wind energies was calculated. In these calculations, the coastal length parameter was assumed to be uniform across all cities, and the electrical power potential from these energy sources was analyzed. Within the framework of these analyses, the number of houses in the selected regions whose electricity needs can be met was calculated. As a result, the potential electrical power and the amount of affordable housing units in the selected regions were compared. As an important result of the studies, it was determined that the characteristic features of the selected regions, such as wavelength, wave height, and wind speed, were directly related to the applicable coast length. The power obtained from wave energy was higher than that from other renewable energy sources, considering the determined coast lengths. Wave energy was followed by parabolic solar collector, wind, and photovoltaic solar energy systems. According to the model, the power obtained from renewable energy systems was at the highest level in the Kırklareli/Demirköy province compared to other locations. Kırklareli was followed by İstanbul, Antalya, İzmir, Muğla, and Çanakkale. It was also found that the electricity needs of 763,578 houses were met in the Kırklareli/Demirköy region, and the electricity needs of 470,590 houses were met in the Çanakkale/Ayvacık region. The statistically optimized factors using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for wind, photovoltaic, parabolic solar collector, and wave power were reported as 995.278, 4529.743, 2264.546, and 276,495.09, respectively. The optimal factors aim to achieve a total electricity generation rate of 2.491 × 109 (kWh/year), a total number of houses of 682,590.55 (number/year), and a total cost of USD 813,940,876. In line with the results obtained, the Kırklareli/Demirköy region becomes favorable when considering wave and wave-integrated wind and solar energies. The proposed system has the potential to meet the entire electricity demand of the Kırklareli province based on data from the Republic of Türkiye Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green transition is a challenge for the Polish economy and energy sector. In this paper, the expert method of analysis was applied and findings revealed that the challenges and prerequisites for an effective transformation of the power sector mainly include technical, technological and organizational issues of energy production and use. The provision of electricity at competitive prices and with a low carbon footprint, for individual consumers and industry, is a prerequisite for maintaining the well-being of the population and ensuring the competitiveness of domestically produced goods. The ambitious climate policy goals of the European Union require immediate action and call for radical changes in the Polish energy sector; in the coming years, it must drastically reduce the amount of energy produced from fossil fuels and replace it with so-called green energy from renewable sources. The main purpose of this article was to highlight the need to modify Poland’s energy policy until 2040 in order to make it more consistent with the ambitious climate goals of the European Union. This article also shows that Poland’s energy transition must include a shift from fossil fuels to renewables, while ensuring that energy security is stabilized by the current energy and generation resources. To this end, we discuss the issues of creating reserves in the national energy system for the entire period of Poland’s energy transition.