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Considerable amount of energy is being consumed in the buildings worldwide. Space and water heating have big share in building energy consumption, account for 53.2% and 28.1% in Japanese residential and commercial buildings at 2015, respectively. Solar heating is a reliable and mature technology that experienced its remarkable success in Japan during late-1970s and early-1980s. However, during last 30 years, the number of installations in Japan is decreased, even after 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and energy challenge in Japan. This study is presenting a historical review on the solar heating market status, policy, and research trends in Japan with focus on the Japan’s glorious solar heating market at 1980’s. The reasons and barriers for further deployment of solar thermal technology are investigated and suggestions are presented.

High Temperature Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT-ATES) has developed from a demonstration stage to a mature technology over the past decades. The specific storage capacity costs are lower by a factor of 20 compared to above-ground storage systems. Depending on geology, system configuration and temperature level, medium deep aquifers (approx. 400 m – 1,000 m) enable seasonal heat storage from 1 GWh/a up to 100 GWh/a. Typical heat recovery factors are in between 60 – 80 %. However, only three systems have been built and reached normal operation in Europe. Moreover, although substantial parts of the subsurface in Germany, for example, are suitable for ATES systems, over 10 years have passed since the most recent project has been put into operation. Despite substantial advantages and a great potential of bridging the gap between constant production and seasonally varying demand, ATES is quite complex and conditional. Critical hydro-geological conditions (e.g. permeability, porosity, mineralisation) as well as relevant ordinances and regulations from the mining and local water authorities should be complied with. In addition, geothermal projects are not always supported by public acceptance as drilling boreholes today is a sensitive and emotional topic. This contribution deals with an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate all parameters (geology, legal classification, public acceptance, water chemistry, applications/revenue models and drilling technology) affecting a cost-effective operation of ATES systems in North Germany. One main objective is to identify possible locations for ATES in the North German Basin and to derive generalizable success factors. Preliminary results and an overview of the project supported by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy are presented. The project consortium consists of Leuphana University of Luneburg and GeoDienste GmbH, supported by GeoEnergy Celle e.V.

The wind effect on the Fresnel technology is one of the main design stresses for the metallic structure, primary reflectors, receivers and solar tracking system. Therefore,in order to quantify its impact and compare it to a more mature technology(the Parabolic Trough),a first study of the wind load on a Linear Fresnel Reflector(LFR)collector with an air-stable absorber tube receiver (with protective cover glass) has been undertaken. The drag, lift and momentum coefficients of the receiver and primary reflectors have been calculated using a bi-dimensional CFD model based on the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. The impact of the transversal wind speed has been studied. Moreover, the interaction between the receiver and the primary reflectors has been quantified. Finally, a comparison to Parabolic Trough collectors has been made, which confirms the much lower windload of LFR technology for an equal mirror aperture area, and thus the much lighter structures required for resisting these wind loads and/or the larger operation range with respect to wind speed.

The most mature technology for CO2 capture is absorption with suitable solvents, be it physical or chemical. However, important issues still need to be addressed. Two of the most prominent are: a) the large energetic costs involved, and b) the need for capture plants to operate flexibly. Recently, considerable research efforts have been devoted to both the identification of optimal solvents, and the development of improved capture plant process configurations and operating conditions. These two aspects are generally regarded as the main drivers that can bring down the costs associated with solvent-based CO2 absorption processes. Additionally, an understanding of the dynamic behavior of capture plants is imperative in order to design CCS chains that will be increasingly subjected to variable electricity demand. This work introduces a predictive dynamic modelling framework for solvent-based CO2 absorption, part of the gCCS system modelling environment for CCS chains. The framework aims to serve as a platform to address the issues abovementioned, among others. Applications to optimization and dynamic studies are presented.

High speed electric trains involve a mature technology certain to become the sustainable system for rapid long distance and high volume passenger and freight transportation in the Americas. Many countries have high speed trains, and the costs are low. Estimating the possible travel times is easy, and travel times are shown for a number of sample trips. For many trips it will be faster, cheaper, and much more comfortable to go by train than by plane or car. Tourists will have many tourist attractions only a short train trip apart. The longest passenger trip shown, from Anchorage in Alaska to Rio Gallegos in southern Argentina, will take about 55 hours.

The post combustion capture process using the traditional amine based solvent absorption process is a very mature technology that suffers from a high energy penalty being taken on the power plant and requires significant capital investment that causes us a high increase in the cost of electricity. An advanced solid-based adsorption is discussed in this work as well as a techno-economic evaluation methodology in order to compare the advantages of this novel process to the conventional process. Some indications of the expected technical and economic benefits of the process are also discussed.

Topics on energy crises, environment protection have appeared in international conference time and again, usage of renewable energy is a popular subject, and wind power generation is the industry with relatively low cost and mature technology, which is developed by many governments as an important industry. The article first introduces current situation of China's wind power generation briefly, and then describes its own features and problems differing from other countries in the world in detail. Finally, we put forward a proposal to develop wind power generation in Chinese pattern way, and meanwhile we give some advices and methods.

This paper presents technology applications and policy options related to energy storage in energy systems or grids. Energy storage technologies are promising tools to achieve a low-carbon future since they allow for the decoupling of energy supply and demand. Energy storage technologies could potentially be deployed across the supply, transmission, distribution and demand portions of an energy system or grid. The services they provide are either based on a power application or an energy application; and they range from long-term seasonal storage to short duration spinning and non-spinning reserves. In terms of energy storage technologies, pumped storage hydropower systems are a mature technology and comprise over 99% of the current total global installed capacity of energy storage technologies, which is evaluated at over 141 GW. In order to achieve widespread deployment, policy options should seek to enable compensation for the multiple services performed across the energy system.