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Abstract In order to improve the thermal performance of Trombe wall and make its active in a whole year, this paper proposed a novel Trombe wall integrated with double layers phase change material (PCM) named PCM Trombe wall. This paper studied the thermal performance of PCM Trombe wall numerically in winter and summer in Wuhan. The results showed that the PCM Trombe wall can improve indoor overheating in summer, and reduce indoor temperature fluctuations in winter. Therefore, the PCM Trombe wall can improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce cooling/heating load in the whole year compared with the traditional Trombe wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates the analysis of a terrain characteristics parameter which is responsible for the accurate wind resource estimation for a site. In this paper, the effect of terrain dependent parameters such as Wind shear exponent, Roughness Index, RIX (Ruggedness Index factor) and roughness length has been discussed for a site in Central India Region. Whole one year measured met mast wind data has been taken using anemometer and wind vane at 10 m and 25 m height respectively above ground level. The digitized elevation and roughness model of the corresponding site shows the roughness class 4 (roughness length 1.2525m). The wind data has been extrapolated up to 80m height by using power and log law models which provide the power density near about 120 W/m2. As per the micro sitting guidelines for the virtual wind farm installation 5D X 7D mapping has been selected which Indicates the total power output by installing 8 Vestas V- 90 1.8 MW wind turbine from WAsP is 31.561 GWh and from windPRO is 28.083 GWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Combined heat and power is utilized to generate electric power and produce thermal energy for various applications. In view of this, we investigate the economic savings and environmental effects of using a co-generation system that is made-up of microturbine (MT) and other auxiliaries instead of using only a gas boiler. This paper addresses the power-scheduling problem among the generating units in a microgrid (MG) system that comprises of photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine generator (WTG), MT, grid and battery storage system (BSS). The optimal operation of the proposed MG system is obtained by considering the demand response, operating costs and other key performance indicators. The objective function of this study is to minimize the cost of energy, NPC, emission, operating cost, fuel cost and grid energy purchase. HOMER software is utilized to accomplish the goal of the research work. In this paper, a model is developed to investigate the performances of the system having considered the economic and environmental significance of utilizing renewable energy resources (RERs) in a MG system. The results of the simulation analysis reveal that the proposed model is cost effective to reduce the operating costs of the MG system with the application of RERs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With the rapid development of electronic technology, the use of portable and wearable electronics hasbeen widely. In order to eliminate the dependency of low-power electronic devices on batteries and the associated requirement of periodic replacement, researchers have begun investigating methods of generating energy from ambient sources. An airflow energy harvester for human motion is typically composed of a spring-mass system with an air pump connected in parallel with a spring and a turbine. Recent studies have proposed some airflow energy harvesting devices. However, these studies are focused on structural design and little attention has been devoted to the energy conversion process. There are two processes for energy conversion: human motion to airflow energy, then airflow energy to electricity. Focus on the energy conversion, this paper proposes a way to evaluate the energy of the airflow from the perspective of damping at harmonic excitations. The model of an airflow energy harvester for human motion composed of a spring-mass system with an air pump connected in parallel with a spring and a turbine is built, and the balance force analysis is carried out. Comparing the mathematical models and the force analysis equations, the regular pattern of the damping change of the system during the vibration is defined. The simulation isperformed, the result indicates that the energy of the airflow which the vibration system provides is related to the damping of the system. This paper provides a new method toanalyzethe energy conversion process, which helps to measure the efficiency of the airflow energy harvester preferably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents an optimisation method called the Product-Energy Nexus Cascade Analysis (PENCA), developed based on the principal of Pinch Analysis. Product and energy are both valuable resources that are majorly used in industrial processes. Both product and energy are interdependent where increasing product demand will increase the energy demand and vice versa. In this paper, PENCA is introduced to simultaneously optimise both product and energy system that is interdependent. The methodology applies Cascade Analysis to individually optimise both system. As both systems are interdependent, altering one of the system will result in a change to the other system. An iterative method is then introduced to converge the analysis to obtain the optimal result for both systems. A case study is conducted to prove PENCA methodology, in which biogas is used as cooking gas and used to generate electricity and for a residential area of 500 households. A typical household with a daily electricity consumption of 9 kWh and cooking gas 31.06 kWh is estimated for this study. The power plant will also produce electricity to operate the palm oil mill. The production of biogas requires electricity as well due to the presence of electrical machineries in anaerobic digestion and purification process such as pump and compressor. An overall of 4 iterations were conducted and the final capacity of the anaerobic digester is revealed as 474.180 m3 and the biogas power plant capacity is 1522.769 kWh, the biogas storage capacity is extracted and revealed as 1065.003 m3, while the energy storage capacity is 750.00 kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The photovoltaic (PV) power generation has randomicity and intermittence due to the influence by meteorological factors and it is of significance to establish a reasonable prediction model for PV power. Since it is tough to get a completely optimal prediction of PV power by a single model due to the existence of uncertainty, the paper considered proposing an ensemble method by integrating various individual models to achieve better accuracy. In this paper, a weight-varying ensemble (WVE) forecasting model is established to improve the precision of the short-term prediction of PV power. First, the extraction of feature vectors was implemented to find out the most important variables which also helps to improve the accuracy through data pre-processing. Second, the weather pattern was recognized and clustered based on a self-organizing feature map (SOM) method. Third, the five min-ahead prediction output was obtained using the WVE model that utilizes an integrated framework of Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN), Extreme Learning Machine Neural Network (ELMNN) and Elman Neural Network (ElmanNN), which were assembled by Genetic Algorithms optimized Back Propagation Neural Network (GA-BPNN). Results show that the WVE model achieved a higher accuracy with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 5.17%, 5.26%, 5.49% and 5.82% for four types of data. The GA can be applied to optimization of other weight-varying ensemble problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A novel air source heat pump powered bed-based space radiation heating (ASHP-BBSH) system is reported in this paper. This novel system combines the merits from a Chinese Kang, or a heated bed, widely used in northern rural China and a standard ASHP system, which can provide localized space heating via both convection and radiation to maintain a comfortable indoor thermal environment, at reduced energy use. In this novel bed-based system, a bed is heated and thus used as a radiator for providing space heating at both daytime and nighttime. In this paper, firstly, there is an introduction to the novel ASHP-BBSH system. Secondly, based on the experiment setup dimensions, a numerical model is built with a real size thermal manikin. Thirdly, the thermal environment generated by the ASHP-BBSH system is analysed by Fluent. The numerical results show that the ASHP system can achieve a uniform thermal environment and energy saving potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, the thermal performance of cliff-side cave and Yaokang was studied by local investigation and area measurement. The results demonstrate that cliff-side cave can significantly improve the indoor thermal environment without any active heating conditions in winter. Average indoor air temperature of cliff-side cave was 8.4 ℃, while average indoor air temperature of outdoor and brick buildings was -0.63 ℃ and -0.26 ℃. The thermal performance of Yaokang and its influence were examined on the indoor heat environment quantitatively, the results indicate that the surface temperature of the Yaokang is affected by the gas flow direction and reduces along with the flue flow direction. In the end, the effect of Yaokang heat to the thermal environment of cliff-side cave dwelling is analyzed. Results show that the indoor air temperature of cliff-side cave with Yaokang heating increased 7.6 ℃. The research of this paper provides academic support for the regeneration design of the cave and improves the comfort level of the Yaokang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The work presented in this paper is developed as a part of the Horizon 2020 EU project REFURB. The number of deep energy retrofits is falling behind the EU ambitious targets. The REFURB project aims at finding technical and nontechnical solutions that match the demand and supply side of the residential building renovation market. Due to the multiple significant differences at the national level, compelling offers are developed specifically for each country participant. This paper elaborates only on the Danish approach. The Danish approach to create compelling offers for pre-selected homeowner target groups is based on (I) selection of dwelling segment with high impact and energy saving potential, (II) sequenced approach in creating renovation package solutions, (III) compelling offer to be proposed with specific timing. This paper focuses mainly on the second listed component, namely, development of the renovation package solutions. The paper only briefly highlights the selection of dwelling segment and does not present the creation of compelling offer due to the length of the paper. Initially, developed renovation packages are optimized purely focusing on the least-cost optimal, theoretical, energy savings. As a result, very rational packages were developed that were not met with acceptance from the building sector stakeholders. After several surveys and meetings with renovation market stakeholders such as building owners, energy renovation contractors, financial institutions, and energy consultants, the initial renovation packages were redefined in order to take account for factors such as securing investment in the renovated real estate, comfort, architectural aesthetic, and "low hanging fruit" energy saving solutions. Finally, ten different customized renovation packages were developed ranging between up to 7.500 and 62.000 € and bringing theoretical primary energy savings between 30 and up to 80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, the optimal design of a hybrid energy plant composed of a solar thermal collector, a photovoltaic panel, a combined heat and power system, an absorption chiller, an air source heat pump, a ground source heat pump and a thermal energy storage is studied. The size of each technology is optimized by applying a model implemented in Matlab® environment. The optimization goal is the minimization of the primary energy consumed throughout the life cycle of the hybrid energy plant by using a genetic algorithm. The primary energy consumed during the manufacturing phase of the hybrid energy plant is represented by the cumulative energy demand and is calculated by carrying out a cradle to gate life cycle assessment. The primary energy consumed during the operation phase is evaluated by simulating the system throughout one year. The cumulative energy demand of each system composing the hybrid energy plant is calculated as a function of the technology size. Therefore, the problem of life cycle assessment scaling of renewable and non-renewable energy systems is also taken into account in this paper. A tower located in the north of Italy is selected as a case study and two different approaches are evaluated. The first approach consists of solving the sizing optimization problem by minimizing the primary energy consumption only during the operation phase, while in the second approach the primary energy consumption is minimized throughout the life cycle of the plant by integrating the life cycle assessment into the optimization process. The results show that, if life cycle assessment is accounted for, the optimal hybrid energy plant configuration is different and a higher primary energy saving (approximately 12%) is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In order to improve the operating condition in construction site of project personnel in central China and make qualitative and quantitative evaluations for the indoor thermal environment in the prefabricated house, this paper made periodical measurement for the indoor thermal environment in a double-deck prefabricated house in a construction site in Zhengzhou area in summer and winter, tested the thermal environment condition and analyzed the achievement scale of the thermal comfort level. And then this paper compared the test data and analyzed some influence factors of the indoor thermal environment in the prefabricated house, and found the reasons why the indoor thermal environment in the prefabricated house deteriorated, thereby established theoretic basic for the target optimization and energy-saving design of the prefabricated house in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, a comprehensive numerical model is presented and validated to simulate the dynamic heat transfer behavior of pipe-embedded PCM building envelope in a typical day of heating season. The performance of the pipe-embedded PCM envelope are investigated and compared with traditional envelope as well as the envelope integrated only with a PCM interlayer. Further, the influence of two design parameter including pipe spacing and thickness of PCM layer are studied and analyzed simultaneously. Finally, the influence of building orientation on the thermal behavior of pipe-embedded PCM envelope was evaluated. The simulation results proved the effectiveness of the numerical results in this paper support and highlight the potential of pipe-embedded PCM envelope for energy saving and indoor comfort lifting. This study will help develop a comprehensive understanding of dynamic thermal behavior of pipe-embedded PCM envelope utilizing low-grade energy source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hybrid electric vehicles with power split system have been widely used during recent years due to its huge potential to reduce the fuel consumption and enhance the drivability. This paper presents a novel powertrain architecture for a hybrid electric bus (HEB) based on dual planetary gear. The configuration and operating modes are described elaborately in this paper and a rule-based power management strategy is adopted to the HEB. Meanwhile, dynamic programming (DP) algorithm is also used as a benchmark to verify the effectiveness of this system. In order to validate the fuel-saving ability, both the rule-based and DP-based power management strategy are simulated based on the same typical driving cycle. As a result, the low fuel consumption achieved by DP verifies the effectiveness of this novel powertrain architecture. Moreover, the fuel consumption of the rule-based strategy is merely 11.29% higher than that on DP, which proves the feasibility of the rule-based strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract It is difficult to estimate accurate SoC of power battery and meet the practical application due to the complexity of the algorithm. To promote the real-time and feasibility of the SoC algorithm, this paper proposes a set of solutions and verification taking lithium-ion battery as an example: First, an equivalent circuit model is established and a series of power battery tests were designed to provide data support for battery model and off-line parameter identification. In addition, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) algorithm is used for the SoC Estimation. To verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the SoC algorithm in the battery management system (BMS). The paper builds the model with chip computing capabilities and performs hardware-in-the-loop simulation tests using SpeedGoat as a platform and the Real-Time Workshop as an automatic code generation tool. Furthermore, the bench experiment of the power battery module is set up to verify and test the SoC algorithm. The results show that the proposed SoC estimation is more practical with the actual SoC estimation error less than 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Empirical models proposed to estimate the daily diffuse solar radiation (H d) in different areas worldwide, are ordinarily site-dependent. Thus, a timely scientific question would be if an application of such an empirical model to other stations can occur, without any H d records. To estimate the daily H d of these stations in different areas without H d , it is critical to establish the general models of the estimation of regional daily H d. Therefore, daily meteorological data, including daily H d , daily global solar radiation H d , daily sunshine duration, daily average temperature and daily average relative humidity, were collected and analyzed in this paper. Considering different data conditions of stations (with and without H , five diffuse fraction and three diffuse coefficient models were proposed and calibrated. Through the analysis of statistical indicators, the most efficient diffuse fraction and diffuse coefficient models were identified. According to the climatic classification, the meteorological data were collected and gathered. Then, the gathered data were used to determine the generalized constants of general models based on the best models. The results demonstrated that the general models proposed in this paper presented satisfactory accuracies and could represent the general models for the daily H d estimation of stations without H d records in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With the increasingly serious environmental pollution, the development of clean energy has received widespread attention. This paper proposes a short-term wind power forecasting method for a single unit based on a correlation vector machine. This method uses a small amount of historical numerical weather forecasts and historic wind farm power data as training samples. Combining with future numerical weather forecasts, predict the power generated by wind turbines. This paper analyses the influencing factors of wind power forecast uncertainty, and describes the uncertainty of power forecasting through the confidence interval estimation method. The RVM, wavelet and RBF were used to predict and compare the power of three wind farms in a northern wind farm. The simulation results verified the accuracy and efficiency of the RVM method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With the rapid development of power system, the ability to ensure the safe operation of power system and handle unexpected accidents is become particularly important. Therefore, in this paper, a fast and effective defense mechanism for interval state estimation is proposed. In this mechanism, the PQ decomposition method will replace the traditional Newton-Raphson method in iterative method of state estimation. The mechanism presented in this paper could be effective, which is verified by testing process on IEEE-14 system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Peer to Peer (P2P) Energy trading in a lower voltage distribution system is one of the effective approaches to increase renewable energy penetration from decentralized generators (DG). In this paper, an energy auction is proposed as a marketplace and mechanism of the market design is established to ensure a fair and efficient bidding in the auction. An optimal bidding strategy is very important to the energy auction. To solve this problem, the Bayesian Game Theory is adopted as the strategy in the energy auction to enable efficient and cost-effective bidding for each buyer. This paper proposes a procedure for the energy auction to ensure that the power losses are within acceptable range. An algorithm to transform the power loss issue to become part of bidding strategy of Bayesian Game Theory. The proposed method is showed that it has maximized the utility for prosumer on a typical distribution network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With the support of the national policy, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) has increased rapidly in recent years. The distribution system (DS) and traffic system (TS) have been operated independently for many years, but the operation of those two systems should consider the impact of fast growing EVs. The research in this paper analyzes the influence of EVs in the DS and the TS with multiple travel situations including different traffic flow sizes and congestion severity levels. A social cost model is proposed in this paper considering traffic flow and optimal power flow (OPF) to calculate a total social cost of a system composed of the 25-node TS and the 30-node DS. In the case study, the impact of different traffic flow sizes and different congestion conditions on the proposed model is compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The present energy system is facing various challenges in the near future due to changing demand and productions structures. Novel ideas are required to address the control of large number of the flexible resources. The paper aims to introduce integrated business platform of distributed energy resources in Finland. The platform is used to exchange information between laboratories, pilots, and actual facilities of all market participants. The paper describes the bare minimum information exchange requirements of some use cases for the integrated business platform to enable novel business opportunities for monitoring, verification, and application of flexibility services of microgrids and energy communities for the purposes of transmission and distribution grid management. The proposed information exchange platform is based on definition of use cases for the smart grid architecture model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The power market has been divided into two parts in this paper, one is the main purchase market which includes the forward contract market and the day-ahead market, the other is the real-time market for balancing deviations. A multi-objective unified power purchase model has been established aiming at minimizing the total purchase cost and the CVaR, considering the load deviations which we use probabilistic statistics to quantify. Then, an example is used to verify the model of the power purchase combination. The results show that the power purchase strategy proposed in this paper can provide a reference for the power retailers to occupy a favorable position in the diversified market competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the process of demand response implementation, price changes will cause users to change their electricity consumption, which will cause the trend of the entire power load curve. This paper considered the sensitivity of users to electricity prices, established real-time pricing models considering price-based demand response measures and formulated the real-time pricing sale scheme. Considering the more time points of real-time electricity price, on the basis of this, ladder-type price is further introduced, and the scheme of selling electricity by ladder-type price is established. Finally, the overall benefit of the real-time pricing scheme, the ladder-type price scheme and the original time-of-use electricity price scheme are compared and the validity and feasibility of the proposed scheme are verified by the case. It is hoped that this paper can provide some references for the sellers to formulate the strategy of selling electricity in the competition of selling electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Rural areas in developing countries have constantly been plagued by poor sanitation and energy shortages. A key issue has been the decentralized nature of waste generation and energy consumption, leading to farmers burning crop stocks, lumber, and other agricultural waste. As 1.9 billion people lack access to waste collection services [1], untreated solid and liquid refuse hamper the health of many and irreversibly damage the local ecosystem. Considering the scattered nature of agricultural waste generation and centralized treatment difficulties, this study examines the feasibility of adopting decentralized blockchain system in trading biomass energy and agricultural products across the waste-to-energy ecosystem. A case study is conducted based on the Yitong system in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, China. This plant collects and transports agricultural wastes (crop straw and animal residue), and converts them to clean energy and agricultural by-products like briquettes, fertilizer, and animal feedstock. This paper presents how a digital coupon or cryptocurrency can be introduced to trade the wastes, energy and by-products among the farmers and entrepreneurs. It argues that this system could maximize the use of agriculture wastes by incentivizing farmers and enterprises to work together. This paper covers three key areas: 1) Literature review, methodology preparation, and field assessment for introducing digital incentive mechanism to enhance rural wastes management. 2) Design of a prototype of blockchain-based model: (a) how the waste-to-energy plant managers collect the segregated waste from individual farmers through trucks connected to blockchain-based smart meters; (b) how systems on each of the trucks register the quantity of waste received onto a universal ledger when collecting. This quantity received will be translated into a certain amount of energy and products like fertilizer that the waste-to-energy plant owes each farm; and (c) how the farmers will receive digital coupons corresponding to the quantity of energy and agricultural products that they should receive. 3) Evaluation of the feasibility of blockchain-based model (technical and economic): (a) data collection on the total quantity of waste produced and the processing capabilities and availability of Waste to Energy plants; (b) assessing readiness of digital infrastructure (cyber-security and communications); and (c) economic evaluation of the incentives and responsibilities associated with the key stakeholders from the farmers to enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract For Concentrated Solar Power plants, the storage of thermal energy at high temperature is a critical issue. This paper deals with the application of a Phase Change Material integrated in the solar receiver of the Dish-Micro Gas Turbine (DMGT) for the mitigation of solar radiation fluctuation effects on DMGT performance. For this application, the PCM should have a melting temperature between 900 and 1200 ºC. Even if some promising materials are suggested in literature, the properties of most of them are not fully characterised in the working temperature range. Therefore, this paper presents the experimental results of the thermal analysis of two high-temperature metallic PCMs (Mg 2 Si and Fe 2 Si 5). Thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity have been determined using Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) and Laser Flash Analysis (LFA) apparatuses. The thermal expansion behaviour of the samples has been determined up to 1000 ºC. Furthermore, the compatibility of the PCM samples with the Silicon carbide (SiC) has been also studied up to 1000 ºC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With village revitalization and new rural construction, the landscape of Chinese villages is undergoing fundamental changes. Due to delayed construction, ecological degradation, and backward in management, rural settlements have many problems in the planning and construction process in Northeast China, such as lacking local characteristics, and natural environment destruction. Rural built-up landscapes are a complex combination of buildings, settlements, natural landscapes, and cultural landscapes. How to improve rural built-up landscapes is an important issue in village planning, which can provide a beautiful and livable countryside for farmers. The purpose of this paper is to structure a multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) analysis for the sustainable development of rural built-up landscapes. Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach is employed in the research to find out the key factors of sustainable rural built-up landscapes in the decision-making procedure of rural planning. The ANP model is structured with 3 criteria (settlement forms and structures, regional cultural characteristics, ecological and natural resources) and 16 sub-criteria. The results show that the settlement layout complying with the terrain is the most important factor, followed by the continuation of traditional architectural style, natural landscape restoration, and village vitality. Decision makers and planners should dedicate more attention to these aspects in the rural construction and landscape planning. This paper also presents the ranking of important sub-criteria and several sustainable development strategies are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Under the influence of the idea of globalization and modernism planning, in the process of urban development, inefficient use of land, supremacy of functionalism and traffic congestion have become important problems in Chinese cities because of the expansion of land scale, the transformation of urban functions and the leading of maneuverable traffic. As the component unit of the city, urban block is also faced with the problems of unordered environment and the loss of culture. To realize the comprehensive and sustainable development of economy, society and ecological environment in the city, it is of great significance to study the corresponding urban block patterns suitable for the city. This paper starts from the perspective of local culture and conducts in-depth discussion on the internal causes of the current problems of urban blocks in China. On this basis, the paper puts forward the countermeasures of the sustainability of urban block patterns from three aspects of society, technology and management and attempts to explore the construction path of sustainable development for urban blocks in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper is based on a hybrid PV and fuel cell system designed to meet energy requirements of 100000 customers of Southern California in a sustainable way. Solar roof-top PV system is turning out to be a boon to the mankind with its positive effects of reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emission, lowering stress on conventional coal-fired or natural gas generators and even reducing costs associated with electricity pricing for consumers. However, with increased penetration from the grid tied PV systems, there is an inevitable rise in stress faced by conventional generators in terms of meeting and balancing the energy requirements during early morning and late afternoon hours which requires precise switching and control mechanisms. This paper addresses the ramping issues and offers an integrated solution in the form of fuel cells that can complement the existing PV system during intermittent times of energy production and even by reducing the ramp up and ramp down slopes of power production by conventional generators, in a promising way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper aims at clarifying the distinctive features of "Landcare", which is a well-known movement in Australia and began in Victoria in 1986, from both theoretical and practical points of view. Landcare is a distinctive approach that adopts a "bottom-up" (community-based) and holistic methodology for tackling local environmental problems and has contributed not only to solving local environmental problems effectively, but also to building social resilience and community networking to adapt to the crises that farmers have faced in Australia. Examining the characteristics and principles of Landcare in light of sustainable development (SD) theory, this paper argues that an existing micro-hydropower development project in the town of Gokase in Japan operates on similar principles to Landcare, i.e., the production and preservation of capital assets (natural and produced), knowledge sharing, and institutions for creating networks among the residents in Gokase toward sustainable community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Over the past few years, the energy usage in the transportation sector understandably has a significant impact on total carbon footprint generated in urban areas. One of the significant contributors comes from logistic sector as 70% of total logistic activity is derived from transportation. Meanwhile, the rise of e-commerce in urban areas has changed the way people buy goods. This result to the higher delivery frequency in urban areas which cause more significant energy consumption and emissions. This paper contributes to the existing literature by proposing model conceptualization that focus to generate basic understanding to the total CO 2 emissions generated through urban freight volume that powered by e-commerce growth in Jakarta. This paper uses causal loop diagram as one of the tools in model conceptualization to illustrate the systems in urban logistic. The model will mainly focus on environment and economic aspects of urban logistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Climate change and global warming are currently the biggest threat to human society. In Iranian households, buildings expend 33% of the yearly energy consumption. The potential of renewable energy sources in Iran is high and Iranian government is taking steps to increase the use of renewable energy sources. This paper examines the use of renewable energy in two major city buildings in Iran. In this paper, solar radiation in two cities (Tehran and Yazd) is analysed. The average annual sum of solar irradiation in Yazd is 2200 kWh/m2 and in Tehran, the amount is 2000 kWh/m2 [1]. The major task in this paper is to quantify the impact of geographical region and to evaluate the viability of implementing renewable systems in buildings in Iran. To reach this end, the annual average solar radiation is calculated in each city. Hourly Analysis Program is used to design each building and calculate their respective heating and cooling loads. Photovoltaic solar systems and solar-thermal systems are designed for both of the buildings. It is seen that, although Yazd has hot and arid climate compared to Tehran, the cooling and heating load in the building in Tehran is higher, and the higher solar radiation in Yazd reduces the number of solar panels required for the designed building. However, the difference is not significant. It is assessed that in order to have more efficient systems, the grid infrastructure in Iran should be upgraded to enable applying large-scale renewable energy systems for buildings in a neighbourhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Increasing global energy demand at a rate faster than the population growth has led the researcher to look for alternative fuel. Amongst the options, biodiesel is an environmentally sustainable substitute of diesel fuel being renewable, biodegradable and have similar properties of fossil diesel. Among the biodiesel sources, microalgae is a potential third generation biodiesel feedstock which can be produced throughout the year and its oil yield is higher than any other crops. This paper reviews recent development in microalgae biodiesel in terms of its oil extraction technics, challenges of oil extraction, production of biodiesel from microalgae oil and its fuel properties. Finally, the paper discusses the performance and combustion analysis of diesel engine fuelled with microalgae biodiesel. This paper provides a clear understanding of the potential use of microalgae biodiesel as an alternative source to fossil diesel for diesel engines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Nowadays, research on biodiesel focuses on enhancing the conversion and production yield to fulfill the demand. Utilization of new feedstocks, development of highly efficient catalysts, determination of effective and economical reaction approaches, and application of process system engineering tools are efforts for the optimization purposes. This paper reviews the technological progress of reactors used for biodiesel production. The first part gives an overview of previous findings available in the literature. Many factors affecting the production yield of biodiesel have been reviewed such as reaction time, agitator rotational speed, temperature, types of catalyst, catalyst concentration, the molar ratio of oil and alcohol, types of solvent, and types of feedstock. However, the review of different types of reactors used for the biodiesel production is still lacking. The appropriate selection of reactor type is necessary to enhance the product yield and the productivity. Thus, the second part of this paper aims at compiling the information on various reactors. The description of key operating conditions and process design, relevant integrated reaction and separation techniques, recent achievement and progress, and challenges for future development are highlighted. This review provides the basis for exploitation and selection of reactor to enhance optimization, scale-up development, and implementation in industrial-scale biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The clean transition of GenCo is affected by various uncertainties such as strategies of other participants, power grid development, policies, and power demand, among which, being the most direct stakeholders in electricity market, other participants' generation investment is crucial. This paper simulates the dynamic trajectories of installed capacity, power generation, as well as annual average coal consumption rate of China's power supply structure from 1985 to 2015, and the dynamic transition process of a traditional coal-dominated GenCo from 2016 to 2030. Based on simulation, this paper comprehensively evaluates the impact of other participants' generation investment on clean transition of GenCo, and quantitatively analyzes the robustness of a given clean transition strategy in different scenarios. The results achieved by quantitative analysis of simulation can provide decision support for GenCos' decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The paper presents results developing an innovative power supply system on the basis of a modular, flexibly customizable and cost-effective lithium-ion battery and power converter unit for peak-shaving and load levelling applications in the industrial sector including advanced self-consumption optimization strategies for renewable energies. First, the paper describes a monitoring campaign with high resolution measurements on machine, plant and factory level. Second, technical and economic simulation models for the components (battery, power conversion system and energy management) and the integrated system (including total investment costs, conversion losses, state of charge estimation) are presented. The innovative features of the system are described, including a multi-criteria optimizing energy management based on an adaptive dynamic programming algorithm, battery condition monitoring and a hybrid battery storage approach. Third, results of the optimizing design process are presented. The optimal type and power rating of converters and switches and the optimal system topology are determined and discussed for an application example. Simulation results for three DC-DC and five DC-AC converter topologies and two different energy management concepts are discussed and compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Electrical Storage systems are used since many decades in stand-alone applications. Recently, their use in grid connected renewable energies installations increases not only the flexibility of these systems but also their complexity. The optimization of their operation in these systems is necessary for cost effectiveness and is a technical and scientific challenge. The research and development projects are increasing worldwide to tackle different aspects of these new solutions. This paper presents advanced analysis of some of these systems based on new approaches of data analytics. Four PV-Storage systems have been monitored for three years and an original diagnostic and prognostic tool is developed for the analysis of the performance and defaults of such systems. In addition, the generic approach presented in this paper allowed to have a feedback on the performance of grid connected PV-storage systems with two different storage technologies: Li-ion and NaNiCl2. The efficiency analysis includes the performance of batteries and power conversion systems. So, the objective here is to compare the usage and the performance of electrical storage systems along time within each power plant and also between the monitoring power plants using experts' knowledge and data processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Solutions towards the development of a low carbon energy system have until recently largely focussed on the electricity sector. However, interactions between energy vectors (e.g. heat, electricity and gas) may contribute to increase the penetration of renewable energies, lower CO 2 emissions, and improve energy efficiency by offering, amongst others, additional grid flexibility resources. Multi-energy systems that use synergies between energy vectors are thus gaining in relevance and attention. They rely on the existence of technologies interfacing the energy systems (e.g. CHP plants) and on the regulatory framework, the market design and more generally the organization of the energy system as a whole. Flexibility generated by the synergies may especially provide services by contributing to ensure the offer-demand balance at any time, as well as grid security and stability. Based on a comparison of case studies in UK, Germany and US/California, the paper analyses services provided to the electricity grid by multi-energy systems and examines how involved parties share roles and responsibilities. The analysis is conducted in the light of the regulatory framework in the above-mentioned countries that strongly influences the development of potential services. Identified services are associated to the corresponding market and service layers (e.g. energy, balancing or even capacity) in which they are providing flexibility. The paper relies on a methodology previously developed to analyse and characterize existing and potential future market designs for the electricity system taking into account the specificities met in different countries. The aim of this methodology is to build an integrated and coherent vision of the different roles, functions and interactions within the system. The methodology has been further developed and applied to multi-energy systems. The analysis contributes to a whole-system perspective of flexibility services for electricity systems and underlying market structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In view of the fact that the internal corrosion of well bore is becoming more and more serious in the development of oil and gas fields in China, this paper develops an in-situ monitoring technology suitable for downhole deep corrosion rates, which including inductive corrosion probe, downhole data real-time transmission system, pressure and temperature sensor, etc. This paper introduced the development process of corrosion probe, the composition and function of each module. The device is based on the underground environment design. Through high temperature and high pressure test, the device can work steadily and reliably in the environment of 60 MPa and 125 ℃. Using this device to measure the corrosion rate of 20# in urban tap water and compare with the data measured by the hanging sheet method, it is proved that the device can reflect the actual corrosion rate. The monitoring instrument has been tested in Sheng li oilfield, the temperature and pressure sensors can work normally, and the corrosion rate obtained is in line with the actual situation of the environment and achieves good results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Verifying the amount of CO 2 geological storage is the key to evaluating CO 2 emission reduction effect of CCUS projects. This paper based on the examples in China, according to the characteristics of different CO 2 -EOR projects, proposes a methodology for evaluating the amount of CO 2 geological storage. The key of the method is evaluating CCUS chain from capture, transportation, EOR with storage, and finance. The evidence from different steps of CCUS must confirm each other so that it helps us to determine the amount of CO 2 storage in case of missing some evidence. Further, based on this method, this paper evaluates the actual CO 2 -EOR with geological storage project in China. The method proposed in this paper will not only help third parties compile enterprise greenhouse gas emission reports and inventories, but also helps government to subsidize CO 2 emission reduction enterprises. It will be useful for industries that implementing CCUS projects to provide key evaluation parameters and carry out necessary monitoring technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Energy is the blood of modern society and energy system plays an increasingly important role in urban development, especially in the background of a new round of energy reform. The construction of a new-generation of urban energy systems is becoming an important breakthrough to solve the bottleneck of urban development and to improve the quality of urban development in the future. From the perspective of the relationship between energy and cities, this paper analyzes the current situation and existing problems of urban energy system. Taking the research of energy system in Xiong'an New District as an opportunity, this paper explores the operation structure and implementation path of the new-generation urban energy system in Xiong'an New District. In this paper, it is considered that the new-generation energy system in Xiong'an New District will be electricity-centered, smart grid as the platform, energy transregional transmission combined with local development, optimal scheduling among multiple energy categories, and "source-grid-load-storage" high-efficiency interaction as well as the unified open market. The proposal of the new generation of urban energy system cannot only point out the direction for the planning and construction of the energy system in Xiong'an New District, but also help to solve the general problems in the urban energy system and promote the trend of energy transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The kindergartens, characterized by large scale and daytime usage, possess evident typicality and necessity for the application of low cost solar energy. As the main learning place for school-age children, the indoor air quality of kindergarten has significant influence on children's physical health. To verify the effects of a new flat plate solar air collector system (SACS) with metallic heating panels on the improvement of indoor living environment in kindergarten buildings, the indoor temperature, humidity and air quality in kindergarten were tested and investigated in this paper. Two indoor activity units with the same conditions in kindergarten of Shandong Jianzhu University, were selected as the test rooms. The working conditions of solar air collector in these two test rooms were taken as the reference variable. The systematic monitoring and analysis of air quality parameters such as temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentration in 12 reasonably distributed sampling positions were carried out during the continuous five days. The results show that the SACS possesses evident auxiliary heating function for indoor air. The maximum value of the average temperature raise nearly reaches 15%. The preheated air near the air outlet exhibits 10°C higher temperature than outdoor air. Besides, the system leads to slightly lower indoor humidity. In addition, the value of indoor CO 2 concentration significantly decreases up to 800 ppm due to the filtration of the system. Instead of air conditioning to a certain extent during transition seasons, this system can effectively reduce the building energy consumption. It can provide children a more healthy and comfortable indoor air environment through the effective use of green solar energy. The research results in this paper can provide important reference for the wide application of solar air collector system in the special building environment of kindergartens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Identifying the trends and distributions of regional carbon emission efficiency would be crucial for achieving the goal of low carbon cities. This paper evaluates and decomposes the carbon emission efficiency of Chinese cities by using the methods of global data envelopment analysis. The results reveal that there is a trend of improvement for the carbon emission efficiency in Chinese cities during the research period, meanwhile there appears to be some regional disparities. Subsequently, the effect of technological progress on urban carbon emission efficiency is more significant than that of efficiency improvement. Finally, this paper also investigates some influencing factors of the urban carbon emission efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates the factors influencing industrial carbon emissions. The primary aim is to find a solution to mitigate CO 2 emissions from fossil combustion with rapid economic development and urbanization in coal principally consumed areas. The paper analyzes the effects of 7 factors on industrial carbon emissions and intensity in 18 cities in Henan Province from 2005 to 2015. The factors including energy structure, the index of industrial agglomeration, proportion of state-owned enterprises, proportion of collective enterprises, degree of industrialization, urbanization, foreign investment. The study establishes six panel models to analyze the influencing mechanism before and after the implementation policy on industrial clusters and carbon reduction. The results show that the carbon locking of energy structure has a path dependence. The increase of industrial agglomeration has a huge capacity of space spillover, which has broken the high carbon lock of coal to some extent. The degree of enterprise concentration to mitigate industrial carbon emissions needs to be improved. The inhibitory effect of foreign investment on carbon emissions has begun to highlight, but it has a certain policy directivity. Urbanization and industrialization have a phased impact on industrial carbon emission and emission intensity. The spatial interaction between industrial carbon emissions and its influencing factors provide new solutions to reduce carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the process of urbanization, the rational project of urban scale is conducive to the improvement of electricity intensity, and the establishment of green cities and environment-friendly society. This paper selects the data of 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province from 2005 to 2015, and establishes a dynamic panel model to conduct threshold regression analysis. The results show that there is an inverse U-shaped nonlinear relationship between the urban scale and the electricity intensity. In other words, as the urban scale expands, the electricity intensity increases firstly and then decreases. From the perspective of optimizing electricity intensity, this paper discusses the rational city scale under the optimal conditions of electricity intensity, and provides practical reference and decision support for the construction of a modern large-scale city during the process of urbanization in Jiangsu Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The lifetime of automotive fuel cells is one of the key issues that restrict their commercialization. Previous research results have shown that frequent changing load conditions are the main reason leading to its life attenuation. At present, the dynamic response characteristics and mechanism of fuel cells are not yet clear. The control and structural design for the key components of the long-life, high-dynamic response fuel cell systems requires theoretical guidance. To solve this problem, this paper studies the dynamic response characteristics and distribution quality of reactant gas in the process of load change. In this paper, a three-dimension, five serpentine channels, single-phase model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) single cell is built. A new method is created to describe the variation of fuel cell voltage and distribution of reactant gases under the condition of steady state and dynamic state. The effects of working pressure, stoichiometric ratio and variable loading amplitude on the performance of the fuel cell were analyzed in detail, and the gas distribution on the electrode surface under various operating conditions was quantitatively studied. The final conclusions have important guiding significance for the selection of fuel cell operation parameters and variable loading parameters and optimization of operating conditions. The research methods and conclusions of this paper will provide a reference for optimal control and structural design of high-dynamic-response fuel cells, providing a theoretical basis for long-life research of fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to high variability of energy demand in a whole year, optimizing the configuration and operation of a CCHP system will take very high and unfeasible computational time expenses. To overcome this problem, this paper presents a new and creative method to get few representative days that adequately preserve significant demand characteristics. Typical demand days are selected based on the use of k -means clustering algorithm and average method. A hypothetical CCHP system is optimized with mixed-integer linear programming algorithm (MILP) in order to confirm the selection of typical days in this paper. This paper also imitates traditional method. A case study of a Qingdao office building is discussed to demonstrate the proposed method. The results illustrate that the magnitude of Mean Absolute Percentage Errors (MAPE) between actual demand load and typical days load can affect actual operational effect. In conclusion, optimal number of typical days for actual CCHP operation can obtain very low MAPE and lowest annual total cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The battery model is the basis for battery status estimation, and its accuracy will have a direct impact on accuracy of status estimation. In the field of rail transit, the reasonable allocation of battery capacity in conjunction with the actual operating conditions of the train also requires to establish an accurate battery model. Current battery models rarely consider the effect of temperature on model parameters. However, in some areas, it is very likely to encounter extremely cold conditions while the train is in motion. Firstly, taking into account the effects of temperature on available battery capacity, open-circuit voltage, ohm resistance, and polarization parameters, this article constructed a new battery model suitable for low temperature and small rate discharge conditions based on the lithium iron phosphate battery that used in the project. Then, this paper built a battery model in Matlab/Simulink and verified the accuracy of it through simulation. After that, this paper used extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm to estimate the state of change (SOC) at different temperatures and carried out simulation verification. Simulation results showed that the battery model and the SOC estimation method established in this paper had higher estimation accuracy in low-temperature environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The most challenges for the hybrid energy storage system made up of the battery and super capacitor (SC) are the reasonable energy management strategy (EMS) and real-time implementation. Therefore, a variable-step multistep prediction MPC-based energy management strategy is proposed in this paper, which minimizes the system energy losses of the whole operating process and ensures the battery current and SC SOC in a suitable range. In addition, the neural networks (NN) are applied in this paper for real-time implementation, which are trained by using MPC optimization results. To do this, the loss models of the battery, SC and DC/DC converter are built and Simulation is carried out in MATLAB/Simulink, which shows that the proposed EMS can keep the SC SOC in a suitable range. At the same time, the proposed online energy management method can achieve excellent results of MPC optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Carbon emission trading, as an effective economic tool to deal with climate change issues, has received widespread attention in recent years. As a major carbon emitter, China plays an important role in global climate change. This paper uses the Vector Error Correction (VEC) model to explore the dynamic relationship between energy price, macroeconomic indicators, air quality, and carbon emission trading price. The results show that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between these selected indicators and carbon emission trading price. In addition, this paper also uses the Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model to analyze the carbon price fluctuation characteristics. It is found that there is a positive leverage effect on the price fluctuation of the selected carbon emission return series. External bad news will have a greater impact on carbon price fluctuation than good news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Capital formation has contributed the most towards Chinas' carbon emissions, but capital assets are ultimately used for production. This paper by using input-output model embeds carbon emissions from capital formation to rest of final demand categories and compares results with other two common methods. Our approach has led to embedding of more carbon emissions and increased intensity. The analysis is mainly based on China's 2012 input-output data and China Statistical Yearbook data. Under new approach, annual carbon consumption of rural households, urban households, government and foreign consumption significantly increased, urban households per capita annual carbon consumption is about 3.26 times of the rural households. Government's 94% carbon consumption is from other non-material production sector. China's total annual carbon export volume increased by48% under new approach. Some study limitations are also discussed in this paper. Our work is of certain reference value for understanding carbon emissions from the perspective of final consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In recent years, with the rapid expansion of urban power grids, the automatic voltage control (AVC) system develops some new characteristics. Based on the technology of big data analysis and mining, this paper expounds an AVC system for urban power network with high load density based on the integrated dispatch and operation mode. This paper introduces several different application modes, and shows the operation characteristics of the multi-point distribution mode and the integrated control mode. The big data mining technology is used to discovering the hidden troubles and defects in AVC system. This paper also presents some other AVC key technologies such as security check of remote control, self-adaption analysis method and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]