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This paper discusses issues and problems related to private sector involvement in China's power section in two parts. The first part consists of a summary of the conference held in Beijing June 22-23, 1999. It stresses that, despite the problems encountered and the impact of the Asian economic and financial crisis, China's power sector remains attractive to investors because of its size, growth potential, and the improving business and regulatory environments. The discussion highlighted the need for more transparency in the approval proves as well as improving creditworthiness of power offtakers. The second part, a paper on private power development in China, assesses the current status and future prospects of private sector involvement in China's power sector. It outlines the key characteristics and indicates some future developments for the different forms of private sector participation that have emerged and developed since the early 1980s. It finally provides a review of some concerns voiced by investors and a preliminary assessment of their impact on future investments.

Subduction is a major process that plays a first-order role in the dynamics of the Earth. The sinking of cold lithosphere into the mantle is thought by many authors to be the most important source of energy for plates driving forces. It also deeply modifies the thermal and chemical structure of the mantle, producing arc volcanism and is responsible for the release of most of the seismic energy on Earth. There has been considerable achievements done during the past decades regarding the complex interactions between the various processes acting in subduction zones. This volume contains a collection of contributions that were presented in June 2007 in Montpellier (France) during a conference that gave a state of the art panorama and discussed the perspectives about'Subduction Zone Geodynamics'. The papers included in this special volume offer a unique multidisciplinary picture of the recent research on subduction zones geodynamics. They are organized into five main topics: Subduction zone geodynamics, Seismic tomography and anisotropy, Great subduction zone earthquakes, Seismogenic zone characterization, Continental and ridge subduction processes. Each of the 13 papers collected in the present volume is primarily concerned with one of these topics. However, it is important to highlight that papers always treat more than one topic so that all are related lighting on different aspects of the complex and fascinating subduction zones geodynamics.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the latest research, innovations, and practical applications in the field of sustainability, with a focus on construction materials and their use in building and civil engineering structures. As an outcome of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainability: Developments and Innovations (ICSDI 2024), the book presents a selection of peer-reviewed papers from prominent researchers and engineers around the world. The book covers a broad range of topics, including construction and resilient infrastructure, sustainable manufacturing, industrial ecology, renewable energy, future cities, sustainable built environment design, and policies, regulations, and economics for achieving sustainable development goals. This book will serve as an essential reference for graduate students, engineers, and scientists, as well as industry professionals working in the field of sustainability. The book aligns with the scope of book series scope which aims tocontribute to progress in the construction sciences, techniques, and industries through communication between research and practice. It is also a valuable resource for practitioners and policymakers who are interested in understanding the latest technological advancements and innovations in sustainability to solve real-world problems.

This book presents the proceedings of the EAI International Conference on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Manufacturing (ICRESM 2023), which took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, December 16-17, 2023. The conference serves as a platform for researchers, practitioners, industry experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to share their latest findings, innovations, and best practices in the areas of sustainable practices and technologies that reduce reliance on non-renewable resources and encourage the impacts of smart industry 4.0. The papers address global challenges relating to the sustainable manufacturing, energy security and green technologies, and discuss applications that aid in lowering carbon emissions, preserving the environment, and fostering economic growth by supporting renewable energy and eco-friendly manufacturing. Together, the participants disseminate the latest technological advancements, processes, and strategies that promote renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing.

This book gathers selected papers from the 13th International Conference on Green Intelligent Transportation Systems and Safety, held in Qinghuadao, China, on September 16-18, 2022. It presents cutting-edge studies on Green Intelligent Mobility Systems, with the guiding motto being to achieve'green, intelligent, and safe transportation systems'. The book presented here helps promote the development of green mobility and intelligent transportation technologies to improve interconnectivity, resource sharing, flexibility, and efficiency. Given its scope, the book benefits researchers and engineers in the fields of Transportation Technology and Traffic Engineering, Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and System Engineering, and Electrical Engineering alike. Readers will be able to learn about the advances in green intelligent transportation systems and safety.

​This book presents smart energy management in the context of energy transition. It presents the motivation, impacts and challenges related to this hot topic. Then, it focuses on the use of techniques and tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) to solve the challenges related to this problem. A global diagram presenting the general principle of these techniques is presented. Then, these techniques are compared according to a set of criteria in order to show their advantages and disadvantages with respect to the conditions and constraints of intelligent energy management applications in the context of energy transition. Several examples are used throughout the white paper to illustrate the concepts and methods presented. An intelligent electrical network (Smart grid—SG) includes heterogeneous and distributed electricity production, transmission, distribution and consumption components. It is the next generation of electricity network able to manage electricity demand (consumption/production/distribution) in a sustainable, reliable and economical way taking into account the penetration of renewable energies (solar, wind, etc.). Therefore, an SG smart grid also includes an intelligent layer that analyzes the data provided by consumers as well as that collected from the production side in order to optimize consumption and production according to weather conditions, the profile and habits of the consumer. In addition, this system can improve the use of green energy through renewable energy penetration and demand response.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the latest research, innovations, and practical applications in the field of sustainability, with a focus on construction materials and their use in building and civil engineering structures. As an outcome of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainability: Developments and Innovations (ICSDI 2024), the book presents a selection of peer-reviewed papers from prominent researchers and engineers around the world. The book covers a broad range of topics, including construction and resilient infrastructure, sustainable manufacturing, industrial ecology, renewable energy, future cities, sustainable built environment design, and policies, regulations, and economics for achieving sustainable development goals. This book will serve as an essential reference for graduate students, engineers, and scientists, as well as industry professionals working in the field of sustainability. The book aligns with the scope of book series scope which aims tocontribute to progress in the construction sciences, techniques, and industries through communication between research and practice. It is also a valuable resource for practitioners and policymakers who are interested in understanding the latest technological advancements and innovations in sustainability to solve real-world problems.

This book gathers selected papers from the 13th International Conference on Green Intelligent Transportation Systems and Safety, held in Qinghuadao, China, on September 16-18, 2022. It presents cutting-edge studies on Green Intelligent Mobility Systems, with the guiding motto being to achieve'green, intelligent, and safe transportation systems'. The book presented here helps promote the development of green mobility and intelligent transportation technologies to improve interconnectivity, resource sharing, flexibility, and efficiency. Given its scope, the book benefits researchers and engineers in the fields of Transportation Technology and Traffic Engineering, Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and System Engineering, and Electrical Engineering alike. Readers will be able to learn about the advances in green intelligent transportation systems and safety.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the latest research, innovations, and practical applications in the field of sustainability, with a focus on construction materials and their use in building and civil engineering structures. As an outcome of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainability: Developments and Innovations (ICSDI 2024), the book presents a selection of peer-reviewed papers from prominent researchers and engineers around the world. The book covers a broad range of topics, including construction and resilient infrastructure, sustainable manufacturing, industrial ecology, renewable energy, future cities, sustainable built environment design, and policies, regulations, and economics for achieving sustainable development goals. This book will serve as an essential reference for graduate students, engineers, and scientists, as well as industry professionals working in the field of sustainability. The book aligns with the scope of book series scope which aims tocontribute to progress in the construction sciences, techniques, and industries through communication between research and practice. It is also a valuable resource for practitioners and policymakers who are interested in understanding the latest technological advancements and innovations in sustainability to solve real-world problems.

This volume describes the thinking on sustainable development and a variety of initiatives across Europe, illustrating regional efforts to foster sustainable communities and ecological and social innovation. It contains various contributions which showcase examples of thinking, economic and social structures and in consumption and production patterns needed, to implement the SDGs.This book is part of the'100 papers to accelerate the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals initiative'.

This book comprises peer-reviewed proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Energy and Advancement in Power Technologies (ICSEAPT-2021). The book includes peer-reviewed papers on renewable energy economics and policy, renewable energy resource assessment, operations management and sustainability, energy audit, global warming, waste and resource management, green energy deployment, green buildings, integration of green energy, energy efficiency, etc. The book serves as a valuable reference resource for academics and researchers across the globe.

Future Energy: Challenge, Opportunity, and Sustainability presents new advances and research results in the fields of theoretical, experimental, and practical sustainable energy engineering. The book's chapters are based on selected research papers presented at the 2023 7th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Engineering (ICSEE 2023). Contributions cover case studies to explore and analyze technological advancements alongside practical applications to help readers better understand the relevant concepts and solutions necessary to achieve clean energy and sustainable development. The book brings together the latest developments in the emerging areas of intelligent power systems, green energy, and technology. It offers approaches to help engineers and researchers working in sustainable energy engineering technologies solve practical problems affecting their daily work.

This book highlights research presented during the American Solar Energy Society's 52nd National Solar Conference (ASES SOLAR 2023) held at the University of Colorado Boulder. The conference, with the theme of “Transforming the Energy Landscape for All” attracted a broad base of solar and renewable energy professionals and thought leaders, including researchers, architects, engineers, entrepreneurs, installers, manufacturers, economists, finance professionals, and policymakers – providing a platform for the exchange of ideas, information and business insights and unbiased perspectives on progress toward greater sustainability. These conference papers explore best practices and major roadblocks from a variety of perspectives in the transformation towards 100% renewable energy in the United States, focusing on the challenges to advancing renewables through principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI).

This is an open access book. This book contains research papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Energy and Sustainable Futures (ICESF), which took place at Coventry University, UK, in 2022. The ICESF is an annual conference organised by the UK-based Doctorial Training Alliance (DTA) programme. It is a multidisciplinary conference focused on addressing the future challenges and opportunities for meeting global energy targets and sustainable development goals. The conference brought together academic researchers, industry experts and research students to showcase the latest innovations and research on a wide range of topics in the areas of energy and sustainability, including • renewable energy; • ICT and control; • computational fluid dynamics; • optimization; • conventional energy sources; • energy governance; • materials in energy research; • energy storage and • energy access.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 1st Congress in Sustainability, Energy and City (CSECity'21) held in Ambato, Ecuador, on June 28–29, 2021, proudly organized by Universidad Tecnológica Indoamerica in collaboration with GDEON. The CSECity brings together experts that promotes the dissemination of advances in sustainability, urbanism, energy, and industry research through the presentation of keynote conferences. In CSECity, theoretical, technical, or application works that are research products are presented to discuss and debate ideas, experiences, and challenges. Presenting high-quality, peer-reviewed papers, the book discusses the following topics: Energy sustainability Information and knowledge management Information technologies Innovation, technology, and society Software and systems modeling Software systems, architectures, applications, and tools Sustainable energy and the city.

This book provides readers with peer-reviewed research papers presented at the 6th International Conference on Green Technology and Sustainable Development (GTSD) held in Nha Trang City, Vietnam, from July 29 to 30, 2022. The book is original work of researchers from academia and industry focusing on the theme “Green technology and sustainable development in Industrial Revolution 4.0” not only to raise awareness of the vital importance of sustainability in education, technology, and economic development, but also to highlight the essential roles of technology innovation for the green future. The book presents a wide range of research aspects including energy engineering, electric power systems, renewable energy systems, automatic control engineering, robotics, vehicle engineering, material engineering, construction engineering, mechanical engineering, vibrations, computational analysis, numerical investigation, system failure, technological solutions in health care, and so on. Throughthorough research basing on both experimental and numerical methods, the authors feature either solutions for existing problems or optimization and improvement for performance of existing methods. The collected research results could be useful alternatives and implications for industry experts, research institutions, universities, and all others who share a common interest in the future global sustainable development.

These proceedings gather selected papers from the 12th International Conference on Green Intelligent Transportation Systems and Safety, held in Beijing, China on November 17-19, 2021. The book contains cutting-edge research on Green Intelligent Mobility Systems, with the goal of achieving'green, intelligent, and safe transportation systems'as the guiding slogan. The contributions offered here can aid in the advancement of green mobility and intelligent transportation technology by increasing interconnectivity, resource sharing, flexibility, and efficiency. Researchers and engineers in the areas of Transportation Technology and Traffic Engineering, Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Industrial and System Engineering, and Electrical Engineering will all benefit from the book's scope.

This book gathers selected papers presented at the International Conference on SMART Automatics and Energy (SMART-ICAE 2021), held in Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russian Federation during 7–8 October 2021. The book will be useful for wide range of specialists in the field of designing innovative solutions and organizational measures that increase the efficiency of the use of industry technologies in their various manifestations. The issue is also of interest to scientific and engineering personnel engaged in the achievements and farsighted researches in the area of intellectual technology use for solving of real, applied tasks in various areas of industries and policies of nations and systems and for students and undergraduates studying “Power systems engineering and electrotechnics”, “Automatized systems”, “Managerial systems in power technologies”, etc., and postgraduate students in the corresponding branches of study.

The book contains select proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Grid Energy Systems and Control (SGESC 2021). The proceedings is divided into 03 volumes, and this volume focuses on adaptive control and intelligent sensors, wide-area measurements, and applications in the smart grid. This book includes papers on topics such as SMART sensors, vision sensors, sensor fusion, wireless sensors, and the internet of things, MEMS, Mechatronics, Remote sensing, telemetry, and its applications in automated vehicle control. This book is a unique collection of chapters from different areas with a common theme and will be immensely useful to academic researchers and practitioners in the industry.

This book quantifies the potential for greater energy efficiency in industry on the basis of technology- and sector-related analyses. Starting from the methodological fundamentals, the first part discusses the electricity- and heat-based basic technologies and cross-sectional processes on the basis of numerous application examples. In addition to classic topics such as lighting and heat recovery, the study also covers processes that have received less attention to date, such as drying and painting. The second part is devoted to energy-intensive industries, in particular metal production and processing, the manufacture of the non-metallic materials cement and glass, and the chemical, paper, plastics and food industries. Both parts are concluded by placing them in a larger energy and economic context. The findings are condensed into checklists at many points and summarized in the overall view at the end to form generally applicable recommendations.This book is a translation ofthe original German 2nd edition Energieeffizienz in der Industrie by Markus Blesl and Alois Kessler, published by Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature in 2017. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.

This book comprises peer-reviewed proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Energy and Advancement in Power Technologies (ICSEAPT-2021). The book includes peer-reviewed papers on renewable energy economics and policy, renewable energy resource assessment, operations management and sustainability, energy audit, global warming, waste and resource management, green energy deployment, green buildings, integration of green energy, energy efficiency, etc. The book serves as a valuable reference resource for academics and researchers across the globe.

This book focuses on the complex topic of “Energy Transition with Economic Justice” and highlights research presented during the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Conference (ASES SOLAR 2022) held at the University of New Mexico. This conference brings together a broad base of solar and renewable energy professionals and thought leaders, including researchers, architects, engineers, entrepreneurs, installers, manufacturers, economists, finance professionals, and policy makers, and provides a platform for the exchange of ideas, information and business insights and unbiased perspectives on progress toward greater sustainability. The conference papers explore interests of shared values and identify contentious issues in the transition towards 100% renewable energy in the United States, especially on public lands, within tribal communities, and frontier areas.

The book contains select proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Grid Energy Systems and Control (SGESC 2021). The proceedings is divided into 03 volumes, and this volume focuses on renewable energy towards the smart grid. It includes papers related to smart grid, renewable energy, its integration, and DERs in the network for better energy management and ancillary services. The book presents cutting-edge research in the emerging fields of micro, nano, and smart devices and systems from experts. Most of the contributors have built devices or systems or developed processes or algorithms in these areas. This book is a unique collection of chapters from different areas with a common theme and will be immensely useful to academic researchers and practitioners in the industry.

This book is an outcome of the 36th International Conference EnviroInfo 2022, held at the University of Hamburg, Germany, organized by the technical committee for Environmental Informatics of the German Informatics Society. It presents a selection of papers that describe innovative scientific approaches and ongoing research in environmental informatics and the emerging field of environmental sustainability, promoted and facilitated by the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The respective articles cover a broad range of scientific aspects including advancements in core environmental informatics-related technologies such as earth observation, environmental modelling, geographical information systems, sustainable transportation, risk modelling and assessment, artificial intelligence applications, renewable energy-based solutions, optimization of infrastructures, sustainable industrial processes, citizen science, as well as applications of ICT solutions that areaiming at supporting societal transformation processes towards more sustainable management of resource use and energy supply. A special focus is on how environmental informatics research covers the societal challenges of digitalization and sustainability, green in IT, green by IT and their relationships, green data centres, green software engineering, green coding and green environmental management information systems. The book is essential reading for scientists, experts and students in these fields of research.

The book contains selected and peer-reviewed papers presented during the ‘International Workshop on Renewable Energy and Storage Devices for Sustainable Development'(IWRESD-2021). The book covers recent research on various applications and scientific developments in the areas of renewable energy. These topics are solar cells, sustainable energy conversion, processing technologies, instrumentation, energy storage devices, solar thermal applications, batteries, new materials, and processes to develop low-cost renewable energy-based technologies, etc. This book will be of interest to researchers and engineers across a variety of fields.

The Energy Statistics Compilers Manual (ESCM) is a publication that complements in a practical manner the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES), which provides a comprehensive methodological framework for the collection, compilation and dissemination of energy statistics in all countries irrespective of the level of development of their statistical system. In particular, IRES provides of a set of internationally agreed recommendations covering all aspects of the statistical production process, from the institutional and legal framework, basic concepts, definitions and classifications to data sources, data compilation strategies, energy balances, data quality issues and statistical dissemination. The ESCM is written primarily for practitioners that are tasked with building up or improving the energy statistics programme of a country or institution in a way that is consistent with the latest international standards and produces reliable and internationally comparable data.The ESCM aims to assist countries in the collection, analysis and dissemination of energy statistics to international standards. Its purpose is to complement IRES by providing explanations that make it easier to apply the principles defined in IRES in practical applications, to understand specific relationships that facilitate or complicate the adaptation of such principles to national situations and therefore provide practical ways to implement an energy statistics programme that is consistent with the established international recommendations.

This book contains peer-reviewed papers presented at the 10th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL'19), held in Jinan, China from 6-8 November 2019.Energy efficiency helps to mitigate CO2 emissions and at the same time increases the security of energy supply. Energy efficiency is recognized as the cleanest, quickest and cheapest energy source. Not only this, but energy efficiency brings several additional benefits for society and end-users, such as lower energy costs, reduced local pollution, better outdoor and indoor air quality, etc.However, in some sectors, such as the residential sector, barriers to investments in energy efficiency remain. Legislation adopted in several jurisdictions (EU, Japan, USA, China, India, Australia, Brazil, etc.) helps in removing barriers and fosters investments in energy efficiency. These initiatives complement innovative financing schemes for energy efficiency, the provision of energy services by energy service companies and different types of information programs. At the same time, progress in appliance technologies and in solid state lighting offer high levels of efficiency. LED lighting is an example. As with previous conferences in this series, EEDAL'19 provided a unique forum to discuss and debate the latest developments in energy and environmental impact of households, including appliances, lighting, heating and cooling equipment, electronics, smart meters, consumer behavior, and policies and programs. EEDAL addressed non-technical issues such as consumer behavior, energy access in developing countries, and demand response.

This book presents selected papers from the International Conference on Renewable Energy Systems (ICRES 2020). It throws light over the state of the art of renewable energy sources and their technological advances. Renewable energy sources discussed in this book include solar, wind, biomass, fuel cells, hydropower, hydrogen, nuclear, and geothermal. This book comprehensively explains each of these sources, materials associated, technological development, economics and their impact on the environment. As the renewable energy sources are intermittent, they require specific power electronic converter to convert the generated power into useful form that can be used for utility. Hence, this book describes different forms of power converter such as AC-DC, DC-DC, DC-AC and AC-AC. Advanced power semiconductor devices, their gate drive and protection circuits, heat sink design and magnetic components for power converter are the additional topics included in this book. The topics coveredin these proceedings will have a large impact among academicians, researchers, policy makers, scientists, practitioners and students in fields of electronics and electrical engineering, energy engineering, automotive engineering, and so on.

This book provides an innovative, realistic and reliable solution to the common problem of Indian water and energy sector due to the onset of the Impact of Climate Change and Large-Scale Urbanization. Twelve Case Studies and One Review Paper that were included in this book depict the way soft computation techniques, simulation and decision-making framework can optimize the best solution from multiple solutions to the problems of water and energy management which corresponds to a novel symbiotic and synchronous nexus between water and the energy sector. All the studies included in this book are collected from all parts of India. The selected studies utilized the latest technologies like Multi-Criteria Decision Frame Work, Neural Networks and Nature-Based Optimization techniques to achieve diverse objectives from the prediction of climatic parameters to yield from ungauged watershed to performance optimization of Water Treatment Plant, Hydropower as well as futuristic alternative energy systems like Wave to Power Plants.

This book is an outcome of the 35th International Conference EnviroInfo 2021, held at Humboldt University Berlin, organized by the technical committee for Environmental Informatics of the German Informatics Society. It presents a selection of papers that describe innovative scientific approaches and ongoing research in environmental informatics and the emerging field of environmental sustainability, promoted and facilitated by the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The respective articles cover a broad range of scientific aspects including advances in core environmental informatics-related technologies such as earth observation, environmental modelling, big data and machine learning, robotics, smart agriculture and food solutions, renewable energy-based solutions, optimization of infrastructures, sustainable industrial processes and citizen science, as well as applications of ICT solutions intended to support societal transformation processes toward the more sustainable management of resource use, transportation and energy supplies. A special focus lies on the question how environmental informatics can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Given its scope, the book is essential reading for scientists, experts and students in these fields of research.

This is a book about the international oil market. It takes a historical perspective on how the market emerged, developed, and became what it is today—the biggest commodity market in the world. It is mature and complex, but far from perfect. Throughout most of its 150-year history, the oil market has been monopolised by companies and governments. For only a fraction of that, oil traded in a relatively free market. As a result, we had to live with ‘big oil', economic shocks, high oil prices, instability and wars. Using a simple concept of market power, this book will explain the meaning of ‘oil price'and how it is established while offering a valuable lesson for other commodities.Market power is the key to understanding the ‘price of oil'. This book uses a simple concept of price-makers and price-takers to examine the evolution of oil markets, their structure, and prices. The early decades of the oil industry were competitive with low barriers to entry. Barely 25 years later, the Standard Oil company created a refining monopoly, buying oil at its own ‘posted'price. In the following century, the cartel of major oil companies, helped by their governments, did the same at the international level. OPEC helped producing governments regain control of their own resources, but the organisation was never able to retain a similar level of control. After 1986 price collapse, OPEC abdicated the price-making function in favour of the market. While it never gave up attempts to influence prices, OPEC had to link their official prices to one of the global oil benchmarks. Modern international oil markets function because of oil benchmarks such as Brent, WTI and Dubai. This book showcases:•How oil traders played a prominent role in development of the industry•How policies of consuming nations helped oil cartels•Why and how the US price of oil was negative•How AI has changed the way markets operate and the way in which the markets are likely to change in futureThis book explores how oil markets grew, functioned, and have occasionally failed to do their job. The ecosystem of derivatives or ‘paper barrels'trading in far greater volume than physical oil plays a very important role in mitigating risk. With this core tenant, setting the ‘price of oil'is explained in detail.

This open access book presents papers displayed in the 2nd International Conference on Energy and Sustainable Futures (ICESF 2020), co-organised by the University of Hertfordshire and the University Alliance DTA in Energy. The research included in this book covers a wide range of topics in the areas of energy and sustainability including:•ICT and control of energy;•conventional energy sources;•energy governance;•materials in energy research;•renewable energy; and•energy storage.The book offers a holistic view of topics related to energy and sustainability, making it of interest to experts in the field, from industry and academia.

This volume presents six new papers on environmental and energy economics and related policy issues. Robert Pindyck provides a systematic overview of what is known, and remains unknown, about climate change, along with the implications of uncertainty for climate policy. Shaikh Eskander, Sam Fankhauser, and Joana Setzer offer insights from a comprehensive data set on climate change legislation and litigation across all countries of the world over the past thirty years. Adele Morris, Noah Kaufman, and Siddhi Doshi shine a light on how expected trends in the coal industry will create significant challenges for the local public finance of coal-reliant communities. Joseph Aldy and his collaborators analyze the treatment of co-benefits in benefit-cost analyses of federal clean air regulations. Tatyana Deryugina and her co-authors report on the geographic and socioeconomic heterogeneity in the benefits of reducing particulate matter air pollution. Finally, Oliver Browne, Ludovica Gazze, and Michael Greenstone use detailed data on residential water consumption to evaluate the relative impacts of conservation policies based on prices, restrictions, and public persuasion.

This book highlights cutting-edge ecodesign research, covering product and service design, smart manufacturing, and social perspectives in ecodesign. Featuring selected papers presented at EcoDesign 2019: 11th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, it also includes diverse, interdisciplinary approaches to foster ecodesign research and activities. In the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it addresses the need for the manufacturing industry to design innovations for sustainable value creation, taking into account technological developments, legislation, and consumer lifestyles. Further, the book discusses the concept of circular economy, which originated in Europe and aims to increase resource efficiency by shifting away from the linear economy. Focusing on product life cycle design and management, smart manufacturing, circular economy, and business strategies, and providing useful approaches and solutionsto these emerging concepts, this book is intended for both researchers and practitioners working in the broad field of ecodesign and sustainability.

This book gathers a selection of refereed papers presented at the 2nd Vietnam Symposium on Advances in Offshore Engineering (VSOE 2021), held in 2022 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The book consists of articles written by researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and entrepreneurs addressing the important topic of technological and policy changes intended to promote renewable energies and to generate business opportunities in oil and gas and offshore renewable energy. With a special focus on sustainable energy and marine planning, the book brings together the latest lessons learned in offshore engineering, technological innovations, cost-effective and safer foundations and structural solutions, environmental protection, hazards, vulnerability, and risk management. Its content caters to graduate students, researchers, and industrial practitioners working in the fields of offshore engineering and renewable energies.

In many developing countries, both governments and investors have expressed disappointment with the performance of recently privatized electricity distribution companies. Some investors claim that the design of the new regulatory system is fundamentally flawed and recommend that independent regulatory commissions be replaced or supplemented by more explicit'regulation by contract'that would reduce the discretion of new commissions. This paper examines whether regulation by contract or a combination of regulation by contract and regulatory independence would provide a better regulatory system for developing and transition economy countries that wish to privatize distribution systems.

This book gathers the best papers presented at the International Congress on Project Management and Engineering, in its 2017 and 2018 editions, which were held in Cádiz and Madrid, Spain. It covers a range of topic areas, including civil engineering and urban planning, product and process engineering, environmental engineering, energy efficiency and renewable energies, rural development, information and communication technologies, and risk management and safety.

This book contains selected and peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference on Efficient Solar Power Generation and Energy Harvesting (ESPGEH 2019). The primary focus of the book is on latest advances and scientific developments in the field of solar energy. The book covers various topics such as solar photovoltaics, solar energy harvesting, smart materials for energy applications, hybrid renewable energy plant, and on-grid and off-grid power plant. The book also discusses current techniques to produce energy-efficient solar cells, emerging materials and processes to develop cost-effective solar cells, and different issues in energy management. Given the scope of the contents, this book will be of interest for researchers, professionals as well as policy makers.

This book gathers selected high-quality research papers presented at the IconSWM 2018 conference, which explore various aspects of urban mining. In addition, they discuss how to achieve sustainable waste management systems, urban mining, landfill mining, material recovery, circular economy, etc., with the aid of effective waste management practices. Additional topics covered include maximum resource circulation and efficiency, key differences between landfill mining and urban mining, and how urban mining can be combined with the concepts of circular economy and sustainability.

The book focuses on a global issue—municipal solid waste management (MSWM) and presents the most effective solutions based on energy recovery processes. There is huge potential in employing different technologies and modern management methodology for recovering energy from various waste streams to establish a sustainable and circular economy. In several countries, energy recovery from municipal solid wastes (MSW) is seen as a way of reducing the negative impact of waste on the environment and also reducing the burden on land resources. The book primarily focuses on highlighting the latest insights into energy recovery from various waste streams in different countries, with a particular emphasis on India. Further, it paves the way for sustainability in the energy sector as a whole by addressing waste management issues and simultaneous energy recovery. The chapters present high-quality research papers selected and presented in the conference, IconSWM 2018.

This book gathers high-quality research papers presented at the 2nd AUE international research conference, AUEIRC 2018, which was organized by the American University in the Emirates, Dubai, and held on November 13th-15th, 2018. The book is broadly divided into two main sections: Sustainability and Smart Business, and Sustainability and Creative Industries. The broad range of topics covered under these sections includes: risk assessment in agriculture, corporate social responsibility and the role of intermediaries, the impact of privatizing health insurance, political events and their effect on foreign currency exchange, the effect of sustainable HR practices on financial performance, sustainability integration in the supply chain and logistics, gender inequality in the MENA economies, the panel data model, the model of sustainable marketing in the era of Industry 4.0, micro-enterprises as a tool for combating unemployment, the impact of financial education and control on financial behavior, measuring financial and asset performance in agricultural firms, a comprehensive strategic approach to sustainability in the UAE, sustainability and project finance, HR analytics, FaD or fashion for organizational sustainability, a conceptual framework of sustainable competitive advantages, psychology of organizational sustainability, Blockchain technology and sustainability, veganism and sustainability, institution building from an emotional intelligence perspective, sustainable concrete production using CWP, occupants'behavior and energy usage in Emirati houses, the effect of shop lighting on consumer behavior, multimedia applications in digital transformation art, integrating biomimicry principles in sustainable architecture, experimental sustainable practices in fashion education, technology-assisted student-centered learning for civil engineering, and a 10-step design process for architectural design studios. All contributions present high-quality original research work, findings and lessons learned in practical development.

This volume presents six new papers on environmental/energy economics and policy. Robert Stavins evaluates carbon taxes versus a cap-and-trade mechanism for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, arguing that specific design features of either instrument can be more consequential than the choice of instrument itself. Lucas Davis and James Sallee show that the exemption of electric vehicles from the gasoline tax is likely to be efficient as long as gasoline prices remain below social marginal costs, even though it results in lower tax revenue. Caroline Flammer analyzes the rapidly growing market for green bonds and highlights the importance of third-party certification to the financial and environmental performance of publically traded companies. Antonio Bento, Mark Jacobsen, Christopher Knittel, and Arthur van Benthem develop a general framework for evaluating the costs and benefits of fuel economy standards and use it to account for the differences between several recent studies of changes in these standards. Nicholas Muller estimates a measure of output in the U.S. economy over the last 60 years that accounts for air pollution damages, and shows that pollution effects are sizable, affect growth rates, and have diminished appreciably over time. Finally, Marc Hafstead and Roberton Williams illustrate methods of accounting for employment effects when evaluating the costs and benefits of environmental regulations.

This book presents selected peer-reviewed papers from the International Conference on Recent Advancements in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (RAAR) 2019. The focus is on current research in a very topical area of HVAC technology, which has wide-ranging applications. The topics covered include modern air conditioning and refrigeration practices, environment-friendly refrigerants, high-performance components, computer-assisted design, manufacture, operations and data management, energy-efficient buildings, and application of solar energy to heating and air conditioning. This book is useful for researchers and industry professionals working in the field of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration.

This book highlights the latest advances in waste management, resource recovery and resource circulation in various countries, with a special emphasis on India. It leads the way towards a sustainable circular economy developing local economy and enhances the sustainability of the energy sector as a whole by holistically addressing waste management. Waste management is a major problem around the globe; effective waste disposal is one of the most plaguing issues faced by municipalities. Yet waste can also serve as a major source of energy rather than a disposable material. The book discusses various upstream and downstream aspects of waste management systems, e.g. conversion processes and collection methods, that are needed in order to make waste management systems into an effective industry and move closer to a circular economy. It also provides information on management tools for analysis and decision support. All chapters included here are based on high-quality research papers presented at the conference IconSWM 2018.

This open access book presents the proceedings of the 3rd Indo-German Conference on Sustainability in Engineering held at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India, on September 16–17, 2019. Intended to foster the synergies between research and education, the conference is one of the joint activities of the BITS Pilani and TU Braunschweig conducted under the auspices of Indo-German Center for Sustainable Manufacturing, established in 2009. The book is divided into three sections: engineering, education and entrepreneurship, covering a range of topics, such as renewable energy forecasting, design & simulation, Industry 4.0, and soft & intelligent sensors for energy efficiency. It also includes case studies on lean and green manufacturing, and life cycle analysis of ceramic products, as well as papers on teaching/learning methods based on the use of learning factories to improve students'problem-solving and personal skills. Moreover, the book discusses high-tech ideas to help the large number of unemployed engineering graduates looking for jobs become tech entrepreneurs. Given its broad scope, it will appeal to academics and industry professionals alike.

These proceedings present fourteen peer-reviewed papers from the 10th International Conference on Improving Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings and Smart Communities, which was held March 21-22, 2018 in Frankfurt, Germany. This biannual conference aims to promote and diffuse the concept of energy efficiency in new and existing commercial buildings and to enlarge the market for low consumption and sustainable non-residential buildings. It also covers smart and sustainable districts, communities and cities, since energy systems efficiency and renewable energies are often optimized at the district or municipal level. The 2018 conference focused on advanced and innovative technologies to improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings, communities and cities as well as the policies and measures by governments at various levels to improve energy efficiency. A particular focus was on Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). The conference addresses energy policy makers at international, national, and local level; academics, researchers and energy efficiency experts; ESCOs, utilities, buildings energy and environmental managers; buildings engineers and architects; and equipment manufacturers and commercial property investors.

This book presents a number of innovative uses of fly ash. Fly ash is a fine powder that is a byproduct of burning pulverized coal in thermal power plants. It is a pozzolan – a substance containing aluminous and siliceous material that when mixed with lime and water forms a compound similar to Portland cement. Though fly ash was a problem in terms of its disposal, it now has a variety of uses, such as a prime material in blocks, bricks, and PCC paving, and further applications are being investigated. As such, the recovery and reuse of fly ash wastes plays an important role in the implementation of the circular economy concept. Featuring selected, high-quality research papers presented at IconSWM 2018, the book provides valuable insights for the recycling industries, power plants, researchers, and governments.

This book includes the proceedings of the Intelligent and Fuzzy Techniques INFUS 2019 Conference, held in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 23–25, 2019. Big data analytics refers to the strategy of analyzing large volumes of data, or big data, gathered from a wide variety of sources, including social networks, videos, digital images, sensors, and sales transaction records. Big data analytics allows data scientists and various other users to evaluate large volumes of transaction data and other data sources that traditional business systems would be unable to tackle. Data-driven and knowledge-driven approaches and techniques have been widely used in intelligent decision-making, and they are increasingly attracting attention due to their importance and effectiveness in addressing uncertainty and incompleteness. INFUS 2019 focused on intelligent and fuzzy systems with applications in big data analytics and decision-making, providing an international forum that brought together those actively involved in areas of interest to data science and knowledge engineering. These proceeding feature about 150 peer-reviewed papers from countries such as China, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, India, USA, Spain, France, Poland, Mexico, Bulgaria, Algeria, Pakistan, Australia, Lebanon, and Czech Republic.

The book entitled “Advancements in Smart City and Intelligent Building” is the Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart City and Intelligent Building (ICSCIB 2018) held in Hefei, China, September 15-16, 2018. It contains 58 papers in total categorized into 8 different tracks, on Building Energy Efficiency, Construction Robot and Automation, Intelligent Community and Urban Safety, Intelligentialization of Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning System, Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems, New Generation Intelligent Building Platform Techniques, Smart Home and Utility, and Smart Underground Space, which cover a wide range areas of smart cities and intelligent buildings. ICSCIB2018 provided an international forum for professionals, academics, and researchers to present the latest developments from interdisciplinary theoretical studies, computational algorithm developments and engineering applications in smart cities and smart buildings. This academic event featured many opportunities to network with colleagues from around the world in a wonderful environment. Its program covered invitation and presentations from scientists, researchers, and practitioners who have been working in the related areas to establish platforms for collaborative research projects in these fields. The conference invited leaders from industry and academia to exchange and share their experiences, present research results, explore collaborations and to spark new ideas, with the aim of developing new projects and exploiting new technology in these fields, and bridge theoretical studies and emerging applications in various science and engineering branches. This book addresses the recent development and achievement in the field of smart city and intelligent building. It is primarily intended for researchers and students for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the background of multiple disciplines including computer science, information systems, information technology, automatic control and automation, electrical and electronic engineering, and telecommunications who wish to develop and share their ideas, knowledge and new findings in smart city and intelligent building.

This edited volume consists of three parts. It is a culmination of selected research papers presented at the second version of the international conference on Improving Sustainability Concept in Developing Countries (ISCDC) and the second version of the international conference on Alternative and Renewable Energy Quest in Architecture and Urbanism (AREQ), organized by IEREK in Egypt, 2017. It discusses major environmental issues and challenges which threaten our future. These include climate change impact, environmental deterioration, increasing demand for energy and new approaches for alternative renewable energy sources which became a necessity for survival. In addition to addressing the different environmental issues witnessed today, research presented in this book stressed on the need of sustainably shaping buildings and cities using renewable energy sources. Topics included in this book are (1) Resilience in the Built Environment, (2) Design for energy-efficient architecture and (3) Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources Quest in Architecture and Urbanism. The book is of interest to researchers and academicians who continuously aim to update their knowledge in these fields, as well as decision makers needing the enough knowledge to carry out the right decisions towards the benefit of the environment and society.