Search

Marangoni self‐propulsion refers to motion of liquid or solid driven by a surface tension gradient, and has applications in soft robots/devices, cargo delivery, self‐assembly etc. However, two problems remain to be addressed for motion control (e.g., ON–OFF) with conventional surfactants as Marangoni fuel: (1) limited motion lifetime due to saturated interfacial adsorption of surfactants; (2) in‐ situ motion stop is difficult once Marangoni flows are triggered. Instead of covalent surfactants, supra‐amphiphiles with hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts linked noncovalently, hold promise to solve these problems owing to its dynamic and reversible surface activity responsively. Here, we propose a new concept of 'supra‐amphiphile fuel and switch' based on the facile synthesis of disodium‐4‐azobenzene‐amino‐1,3‐benzenedisulfonate (DABS) linked by a Schiff base, which has amphiphilicity for self‐propulsion, hydrolyzes timely to avoid saturated adsorption, and provides pH‐responsive control over ON‐OFF motion. The self‐propulsion lifetime is extended by 50‐fold with DABS and motion control is achieved. The mechanism is revealed with coupled interface chemistry involving two competitive processes of interfacial adsorption and hydrolysis of DABS based on both experiments and simulation. The concept of 'supra‐amphiphile fuel and switch' provides an active solution to prolong and control Marangoni self‐propulsive devices for the advance of intelligent material systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is looking for clean and green energy as substitution for fossil fuels to minimize the greenhouse effect and climate changes threatening our existence. Solar energy, wind energy, and hydrogen gas‐based energy are few examples of promising sources of energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Hydrogen gas‐based energy is in focus today due to its availability in plenty of combined forms such as water, hydrocarbons, natural gases, etc. However, its storage and transportation are major challenges due to the low volumetric density and explosive nature of hydrogen. The scientific community is in search of suitable, economically viable, and energy‐efficient storage systems and transportation of hydrogen gas. Based on numerous studies, surface adsorption of hydrogen by high surface area nanoporous solids such as carbon and metal–organic framework (MOF)‐based nanofiber materials are most suitable for storage applications. Electrospinning process provides a gateway for the preparation of lightweight, highly porous nanofibers for efficient hydrogen adsorption. Herein, the production and use of electrospun polymer nanofibers and MOFs for the storage and transportation of hydrogen are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boilers using different fuels like HSD, LDO, coal, PNG and propane were taken into consideration in this study. Different parameters associated with boilers like economic factor, efficiency factor and the environmental impact factor were being calculated by taking measurements and collecting data from different plants in Odisha with variety of fuels. It is found that the most economical fuel is coal with a price index of 4.69 Rs/megacalorie and the most expensive fuel is LDO with a price index of 9.83 Rs/megacalorie. The most efficient boilers are propane‐fired boilers with an efficiency of 95.1% and least efficient boilers are coal‐fired boilers with an efficiency of 88.8%. PNG‐fired boilers had the lowest environmental impact around 1.0 and coal‐fired boilers had the highest around 6.0. A new concept of EEE impact index has been introduced which denotes the combined impact of Economic factor, Efficiency and Environmental factor. PNG was found to be the best fuel, having an EEE impact factor of 0.06 and LDO is the worst, having an EEE impact factor of 0.43. A case study was also carried out to convert a boiler from HSD‐fired to PNG‐fired, which was found to be very encouraging with a payback period of approximately 1 year. The IRR also calculated, it was around 120% making it very appealing to invest for a good financial gain. This can be used as a reference and guiding document for the industries to take decisions for fuel switching and achieve better sustainability by implementing this initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower comes with a lot of inestimable values. It is indubitably an eco‐system‐friendly resource that causes no harm to the natural state of the environment. This creates a better alternative to the heat energy radiating the earth. It is a cost‐efficient source of energy and it offers unique opportunities to have cost‐efficient tourism sector management in the EU region centers. The primary objective of this research is to determine the effect of hydropower output on tourism sustainability in the European Union (EU 27) states from 1990 to 2021. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) was adopted for this study. Findings from this study show that a significant increase in the tourism sector growth can occur in EU14 emerging economies using hydropower output and economic growth variables than in EU13 emerging economies. In addition, among other variables captured in this study, population density and good governance were seen to have a higher level of contribution to tourism sector growth in EU14 emerging economies than in EU13 emerging economies. It was also found that a significant increase in the tourism sector growth could be achieved in the EU13 emerging economies due to the high consumption of fossil fuels than in EU14 emerging economies. This finding implies that the EU27 could achieve sustainability in their tourism sector significantly through the substitution of fossil fuel output with hydropower. This will foster the attainment of Energy Union aims by 2030. It is also a good way to combat climate change and environmental pollution. Using the pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effect (DFE) methods, the projected calculations were seen to be valid. The study, therefore, recommended that EU27 countries should prioritize hydropower in their pursuit of renewable energy production as this will help them to achieve sustainability in their tourism sector and become secure in their energy need now and in the future time. The government, Politicians, and all other concerned stakeholders in the EU27 countries should strive towards replacing fossil fuels with hydropower. This will help to ensure sustainability in their tourism sector and there will be security in the energy sector of these EU27 Countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here the development of a rotating molecular switch based on metal‐catalyzed reversible (de)‐hydrogenation. Under an argon atmosphere, acceptorless dehydrogenation induces a switch from an alcohol to a ketone, while reversing to a hydrogen pressure switches back the system to the alcohol. Based on a tolane scaffold, such reversible (de)‐hydrogenation enables 180° rotation. The absence of waste accumulation in a switch relying on chemical stimuli is of great significance and could potentially be applied to the design of efficient complex molecular machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial NAD+‐dependent protein deacetylase Sirtuin3 (SIRT3) has been proposed to mediate calorie restriction (CR)‐dependent metabolic regulation and lifespan extension. Here, we investigated the role of SIRT3 in CR‐mediated longevity, mitochondrial function, and aerobic fitness. We report that SIRT3 is required for whole‐body aerobic capacity but is dispensable for CR‐dependent lifespan extension. Under CR, loss of SIRT3 (Sirt3−/−) yielded a longer overall and maximum lifespan as compared to Sirt3+/+ mice. This unexpected lifespan extension was associated with altered mitochondrial protein acetylation in oxidative metabolic pathways, reduced mitochondrial respiration, and reduced aerobic exercise capacity. Also, Sirt3−/−CR mice exhibit lower spontaneous activity and a trend favoring fatty acid oxidation during the postprandial period. This study shows the uncoupling of lifespan and healthspan parameters (aerobic fitness and spontaneous activity) and provides new insights into SIRT3 function in CR adaptation, fuel utilization, and aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limiting global warming to 1.5–2.0°C in line with our climate commitments will require decarbonization of residential buildings. The traditional approach starts with major energy efficiency upgrades to the building envelope followed by switching to low‐carbon fuel sources for space and water heating. Building envelope retrofits have been a policy goal for over two decades in Canada and elsewhere, yet historical rates and associated emission reductions fall far short of what is required if we are to meet our climate targets. Alternatively, we propose direct fuel switching to electric heat pumps for space and water heating in regions with low‐carbon electricity. Using a database of 44,463 home energy profiles in Waterloo Region, Canada, we modeled the energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission impacts of building envelope retrofits and direct electrification. While all retrofit plans achieved significant energy efficiency gains (17‐40%), so did direct electrification (70%) and building envelope retrofits plus electrification combined (70‐80%). Only plans that included electric heat pumps achieved greenhouse gas emission reductions of 90% or more. Compared to the conventional approach, direct electrification with heat pumps may be a simpler, more effective, and more realistic approach for policies aiming to decarbonize the residential sector. Key Messages: Direct electrification of residential space and water heaters with heat pumps is a simple and effective approach to decarbonization.Building envelope retrofits should be required as the first step toward electrification only in the most energy‐inefficient homes.Electricity infrastructure must be modernized to accommodate direct electrification of residential buildings and other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In face of an accelerating climate change, the reduction and substitution of fossil fuels is crucial to decarbonize energy production. Gas turbines can operate with versatile fuel sources like natural gas and future fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. Furthermore, thermal efficiencies above 60% can be achieved using non‐oxide silicon‐based ceramic components. However, water vapor is one of the main combustion products leading to rapid corrosion because of volatilization of the protective SiO2 layer at 1200 °C. An in situ generated Yb2Si2O7 double layered environmental barrier coating system composed of silazanes and the active fillers Yb2O3 and Si processed at 1415 °C for 5 h in air protects a Si3N4 substrate very effectively from corrosion. It exhibits a dense microstructure with a total thickness of 68 µm, overcomes 15 thermal cycling tests between 1200 and 20 °C and shows almost no mass loss after very harsh hot gas corrosion at 1200 °C for 200 h (pH2O = 0.15 atm, v = 100 m s−1). The excellent adhesion strength (36.9 ± 6.2 MPa), hardness (6.9 ± 1.6 GPa) and scratch resistance (28 N) demonstrate that the coating system is very promising for application in the next generation of gas turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compression ignition (CI) engines have good performance but more exhaust emissions. Dual fuel (DF) engines have better performance and lower emissions compared to CI mode. Also, the scarcity of fossil fuels made the researchers to find alternative fuels to power CI engines. Therefore, the present work aims to use hydrogen (H2) and honne oil biodiesel (BHO) to investigate the performance of CI engines in DF mode. Also, it aims to compare the performance of CI engines in various DF modes, namely induction, manifold injection, and port injection. First, the CI engine was fuelled completely by diesel fuel and BHO. The data were gathered when the engine ran at a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm and at 80% load. Second, the CI engine was operated in various DF modes and data were generated. CI engine operation in DF mode was smooth with biodiesel and H2. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of 32% and 31.1% was reported with diesel and biodiesel, respectively, for manifold injection due to low energy content and high viscosity of biodiesel. These values were higher than CI mode and other DF modes. Fuel substitution percentage for DF manifold injection was 60% and 57% with diesel and biodiesel, respectively. Smoke, hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were lower than conventional mode, but a reverse trend was observed for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. Heat release rate (HRR) and peak pressure (PP) were higher than conventional mode due to the fast combustion rate of hydrogen. The shortest ignition delay (ID) period was noticed for traditional diesel fuel, but it was longer for BHO biodiesel due to its higher viscosity and lower cetane number. On the contrary, the presence of hydrogen led to an increment in the combustion duration (CD) owing to the scarcity of oxygen in CD. Consequently, the paper clearly showed that the injection way of hydrogen plays a respectable role in the engine characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A data‐driven strategy considering sensor reliability and cost is presented for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) fault diagnosis. An increase of pressure drop in the flow field is a reliable indicator of PEMFC flooding fault. Still, it highly depends on the pressure measurement accuracy of the stack inlet and outlet. The abnormal sensor will mislead the diagnosis results, and an extra pressure sensor in the outlet means higher system cost. Thus, the related behavior is investigated. The throttle opening set, one of the control signals, is chosen to replace the cathode pressure drop. The throttle opening set, the stack voltage, and cell voltage monitoring (CVM) standard deviation are employed as diagnostic features, and the support vector machine (SVM) is used as the classifier. Compared to the approach using single‐cell voltages, the strategy mentioned above minimizes extra sensors and avoids the computation load of dimensionality reduction. High accuracy in diagnosing flooding and dehydration via identifying experimental data of different fault severity verifies the effectiveness of the presented strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) utilizes large amounts of fuel for thermogenesis, but the mechanism by which fuel substrates are switched in response to changes in energy status is poorly understood. We have now investigated the role of Kruppel‐like factor 15 (KLF15), a transcription factor expressed at a high level in adipose tissue, in the regulation of fuel utilization in BAT. Materials and Methods: Depletion or overexpression of KLF15 in HB2 differentiated brown adipocytes was achieved by adenoviral infection. Glucose and fatty acid oxidation were measured with radioactive substrates, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity was determined with a colorimetric assay, and gene expression was examined by reverse transcription and real‐time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Results: Knockdown of KLF15 in HB2 cells attenuated fatty acid oxidation in association with downregulation of the expression of genes related to this process including Acox1 and Fatp1, whereas it increased glucose oxidation. Expression of the gene for pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4), a negative regulator of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, was increased or decreased by KLF15 overexpression or knockdown, respectively, in HB2 cells, with these changes being accompanied by a respective decrease or increase in pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activity. Chromatin immunoprecipitation showed that Pdk4 is a direct target of KLF15 in HB2 cells. Finally, fasting increased expression of KLf15, Pdk4 and genes involved in fatty acid utilization in BAT of mice, whereas refeeding suppressed Klf15 and Pdk4 expression. Conclusions: Our results implicate KLF15 in the regulation of fuel switching between glucose and fatty acids in response to changes in energy status in BAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an ex post evaluation of Iran's energy subsidy reform of main law, definitions, its aims and scope, its effectiveness, and problems. Based on an assessment of policy reports, actual data, peer‐reviewed studies, and regression models, this study suggests evidence that the removal of energy subsidies in Iran was effective in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions only in the first 2 years of policy implementation. But, over the next years, the demand for energy commodities increased because of the incomplete implementation of the policy. Besides some local and international economic, social, and political challenges, the policy was not completed in the subsequent years because the government did not prepare its preliminary theoretical framework and requirements in the three stages of legislation and transparency – implementation and management, control, and adjustment of the negative policy impacts. Moreover, the decline in environmental emissions occurred mainly due to fuel switching, as natural gas consumption in power plants, industries, and transport, and rather the use of renewable energies, increased substantially. Likewise, at the time of removal of energy subsidies, the government introduced a cash transfer scheme until the present. This compensation scheme has had significant burdens on the government budget and reaches the trillions of rials each year, while in the first year of the policy, it improved the socioeconomic welfare. The econometric results showed that removing energy subsidies is an effective policy in reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Iran. This study provides important policy recommendations for sustainable energy security and economic development in Iran. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption of energy is a determinant of the socioeconomic status of many citizens across the globe. The majority of rural households in India are dependent on biomass fuels. Existing data on the factors affecting fuel switching in rural India are insufficient to analyze a behavioral change among families. This paper evaluates the influence of four variables income, education, cost of fuel, and clean fuel supply on fuel adoption decisions. To understand the study population's behavioral change, a Household Survey is conducted in 20 villages (in India's rural district). Along with field observation, data are also collected on energy usage at the household level using a formal questionnaire. Binary logistic regression is applied to establish a link between the variables. Both biomass fuels and Liquefied Petroleum Gas are used mostly for cooking. The prevalence of energy stacking behavior is observed even among middle and upper‐income families. Modest evidence for the "energy ladder" hypothesis is seen, however, a "switch over" to cleaner fuels is not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth in Asia has increased in the past three decades and has heightened energy demand, resulting in rising greenhouse gas emissions and severe air pollution. To tackle these issues, fuel switching and the deployment of renewables are essential. In the present paper, we discuss the environmental regulations, mainly carbon pricing, implemented in Asia and discuss their achievements. Empirical studies using microdata have shown that carbon pricing in Asia can reduce carbon emissions by promoting energy efficiency. At the macro level, we observe some evidence of fuel switching from coal to natural gas among major emitters. However, more carbon pricing is necessary in Asia if we aim for the decarbonization of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement, the world must reach net‐zero carbon emissions around mid‐century, which calls for an entirely new energy system. Carbon pricing, in the shape of taxes or emissions trading schemes, is often seen as the main, or only, necessary climate policy instrument, based on theoretical expectations that this would promote innovation and diffusion of the new technologies necessary for full decarbonization. Here, we review the empirical knowledge available in academic ex‐post analyses of the effectiveness of existing, comparatively high‐price carbon pricing schemes in the European Union, New Zealand, British Columbia, and the Nordic countries. Some articles find short‐term operational effects, especially fuel switching in existing assets, but no article finds mentionable effects on technological change. Critically, all articles examining the effects on zero‐carbon investment found that existing carbon pricing scheme have had no effect at all. We conclude that the effectiveness of carbon pricing in stimulating innovation and zero‐carbon investment remains a theoretical argument. So far, there is no empirical evidence of its effectiveness in promoting the technological change necessary for full decarbonization. This article is categorized under:Climate Economics > Economics of Mitigation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationship between energy consumption, industrialization, urbanization, economic growth, and financial development in India from 1980 to 2017. The ARDL bound testing; Johansen & Juselius cointegration approach and Gregory & Hansen structural break cointegration technique confirm the long‐run relationship exists among variables. The result of long‐run analysis indicates that the industrialization, urbanization and economic growth play a vital role in increasing energy consumption in India. However, financial development indicates negative relation to energy consumption. The coefficient of error correction term is negative and statistically significant at 1% confidence level, it means last‐period's deviation from a long‐run equilibrium. It is clear from the results of Toda‐Yamamoto Causality, there is a unidirectional causality running from industrialization to energy consumption. However, there is bidirectional causality showing between energy consumption and urbanization, economic growth and energy consumption, and urbanization and Economic growth. Urbanization facilitates fuel switching, as decentralized rural energy sources like traditional wood‐burning are replaced by centralized energy sources. From the above findings, we argue that proper awareness should be made at the urban center regarding use of energy saving equipments and public infrastructure should be improved to harness the effect of urban agglomeration. As rapid development of energy intensive‐industries and economic activity in Indian economy, there is need of energy efficient technology in industry in order to reduce energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare sustainably managed with unmanaged forests in terms of their contribution to climate change mitigation based on published data. For sustainably managed forests, accounting of carbon (C) storage based on ecosystem biomass and products as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is not sufficient to quantify their contribution to climate change mitigation. The ultimate value of biomass is its use for biomaterials and bioenergy. Taking Germany as an example, we show that the average removals of wood from managed forests are higher than stated by official reports, ranging between 56 and 86 mill. m3 year−1 due to the unrecorded harvest of firewood. We find that removals from one hectare can substitute 0.87 m3 ha−1 year−1 of diesel, or 7.4 MWh ha−1 year−1, taking into account the unrecorded firewood, the use of fuel for harvesting and processing, and the efficiency of energy conversion. Energy substitution ranges between 1.9 and 2.2 t CO2 equiv. ha−1 year−1 depending on the type of fossil fuel production. Including bioenergy and carbon storage, the total mitigation effect of managed forest ranges between 3.2 and 3.5 t CO2 equiv. ha−1 year−1. This is more than previously reported because of the full accounting of bioenergy. Unmanaged nature conservation forests contribute via C storage only about 0.37 t CO2 equiv. ha−1 year−1 to climate change mitigation. There is no fossil fuel substitution. Therefore, taking forests out of management reduces climate change mitigation benefits substantially. There should be a mitigation cost for taking forest out of management in Central Europe. Since the energy sector is rewarded for the climate benefits of bioenergy, and not the forest sector, we propose that a CO2 tax is used to award the contribution of forest management to fossil fuel substitution and climate change mitigation. This would stimulate the production of wood for products and energy substitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: An emerging framework for tropical ecosystems states that fire activity is either "fuel build‐up limited" or "fuel moisture limited", that is, as you move up along rainfall gradients, the major control on fire occurrence switches from being the amount of fuel, to the moisture content of the fuel. Here we used remotely sensed datasets to assess whether interannual variability of burned area is better explained by annual rainfall totals driving fuel build‐up, or by dry season rainfall driving fuel moisture. Location: Pantropical savannas and grasslands. Time period: 2002–2016. Methods: We explored the response of annual burned area to interannual variability in rainfall. We compared several linear models to understand how fuel moisture and fuel build‐up effect (accumulated rainfall during 6 and 24 months prior to the end of the burning season, respectively) determine the interannual variability of burned area and explore if tree cover, dry season duration and human activity modified these relationships. Results: Fuel and moisture controls on fire occurrence in tropical savannas varied across continents. Only 24% of South American savannas were fuel build‐up limited against 61% of Australian savannas and 47% of African savannas. On average, South America switched from fuel limited to moisture limited at 500 mm/year, Africa at 800 mm/year and Australia at 1,000 mm/year of mean annual rainfall. Main conclusions: In 42% of tropical savannas (accounting for 41% of current area burned) increased drought and higher temperatures will not increase fire, but there are savannas, particularly in South America, that are likely to become more flammable with increasing temperatures. These findings highlight that we cannot transfer knowledge of fire responses to global change across ecosystems/regions—local solutions to local fire management issues are required, and different tropical savanna regions may show contrasting responses to the same drivers of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replacing fossil fuels in the transport sector by renewable energy will help combat climate change. However, lowering greenhouse gas emissions by switching to alternative fuels or electricity can come at the expense of land and water resources. To understand the scale of this possible trade‐off, we compare and contrast carbon, land, and water footprints per driven km in midsize cars utilizing conventional gasoline, biofuels, bioelectricity, solar electricity, and solar‐based hydrogen. Results show that solar‐powered electric cars have the smallest environmental footprints per km, followed by solar‐based hydrogen cars, and that biofuel‐driven cars have the largest footprints. Key Points: Switching to alternative transport fuels entail land and water tradeoffsSolar‐powered electric cars have the smallest environmental footprints per kmBiofuel driven cars have the largest environmental footprints per km [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass has been promoted as a promising energy resource to mitigate global climate change. To evaluate the contribution of biomass utilization to climate change mitigation under the "Grain for Green" program in Northern Shaanxi, China, a soil carbon dynamic model and a life cycle assessment model were integrated to examine the benefits of using Caragana korshinskii Kom. as an energy crop. We found that the annual dry biomass output is maintained at 0.7 Tg during the simulation period (2020–2097). Due to the compensatory effect of biomass regrowth, the global warming potential of biomass‐derived CO2 emissions is approximately 0.045; therefore, the total annual biogenic CO2 emission is 57,211 ± 6,168 Mg CO2 eq. The total annual life cycle CO2 emissions approach 867,072 Mg CO2 eq yr−1. Under the scenario of no biomass removal, final carbon storage ranges from 15.7 to 19.3 TgC, and the highest carbon sequestration rate is 0.47 TgC yr−1. In comparison with the no biomass removal scenario, the carbon sequestration rate (close to 0 MgC yr−1) in the biomass utilization scenario indicates a carbon loss; however, a portion of the carbon loss (31.39–62.09%) can be offset by carbon emission reductions from the substitution of fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw is an important livestock bedding material facing increasing demand for alternative uses in Europe and is often transported long distances from arable to livestock regions. Alternative bedding materials cultivated directly on livestock farms could potentially avoid this transport and competition for use. For the first time, we applied consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) to account for the direct and indirect implications of miscanthus bedding production on livestock farms, considering displacement of fodder or livestock, and substitution of fossil fuels with straw in electricity generation. We modelled the effect of substituting straw with 'home‐grown' miscanthus bedding across seven beef and sheep farms. The consequences of displacing grass forage (or animal) production with home‐grown miscanthus bedding cultivation were evaluated via three farmer decision scenarios: buy extra concentrate feed (D1), utilize remaining pasture areas more efficiently (D2) and buy grass silage (D3). Electricity generated from displaced straw (bedding) substituted either natural gas or coal electricity. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken using 34 scenario permutations to represent combinations of feed and electricity substitution, miscanthus fertilization rates and yields, and the quality of displaced pasture. Consequential LCA indicates that miscanthus bedding production could be environmentally beneficial, under scenarios involving D2 and D3. However, greenhouse gas emissions and wider environmental burdens may be increased under D1 scenarios, owing to the environmental cost of additional concentrate feed production, and possible indirect land use change, outweighing the benefits from: (a) fossil electricity substitution with straw bioelectricity; (b) reduced animal emissions via improved digestibility of concentrate feed; (c) avoided straw transport. The ratio of the yield of miscanthus to replaced grass was found to be a critical determinant of D1 environmental outcomes. We conclude that if grass forage production can be better managed, the use of miscanthus as a bedding material on livestock farms provides environmental benefits via diversion of straw to bioenergy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lime is used for a wide range of processes and in a variety of products that are essential to our quality of life and to a sustainable European economy. This roadmap presents a reference pathway for the European lime sector to achieve negative CO2 emissions by 2050. It is estimated that by 2030, direct CO2 emissions will be achieved through fuel switch to decarbonized/low carbon energy vectors, as well as the first steps in the deployment of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS). By 2050, it is estimated that the European lime sector will deliver negative emissions. This will be achieved through full deployment of decarbonization technologies and techniques (crucially CCUS, fuel switch to decarbonized/low carbon energy vectors, and energy‐efficient/electrified kiln technologies) as well as by carbon removal from the atmosphere through lime carbonation during its use phase. The roadmap further explores the key prerequisites that will allow the industry to deliver a reduction in emissions. Altogether, this research demonstrates and quantifies the potential of the European lime sector to deliver net negative emissions by 2050, thus contributing to the overall carbon neutrality of European society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The performance of commercially available High temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT‐PEMFCs) cells was electrochemically (impedance spectroscopy, polarization curves, performance over time) and optically characterized ante and post mortem via micro‐computed tomography. Investigations on the performance gain, due to oxygen enrichment of cathode air and the capabilities of the commercial MEAs to switch and operate between pure hydrogen and synthetic dry reformate (78% H2 and 22% CO2), were carried out. Two experiments at constant load conditions were performed, Cycle 1 consisted of 12 h pure hydrogen operation followed by 12 h of synthetic reformate, while Cycle 2 was operated with 1 h of H2 followed by 5 h of synthetic reformate. The results revealed that oxygen enrichment improves mass transport from the gas flow channels to the cathode catalyst layer as well as catalyst utilization. Thus, oxygen concentration increase from 21% (air) to 30% at 0.3 A cm−2 developed a performance improvement of roughly 8%. Only marginally influence on fuel cell performance and degradation was observed in fuel switching experiments. A content of 22% CO2 had little influence on degradation, which could mainly be related to fuel dilution. Besides, micro‐computed tomography (µ‐CT) investigations revealed similar membrane and catalyst layer degradation for both kinds of fuel switching tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a modeling approach for estimating emissions (e.g., carbon dioxide) from nuclear, coal, natural gas, and hydropower generators in reaction to short-term changes to electricity demand. The modeling approach accounts for a set of operating constraints (OCs), including scheduled maintenance, forced outage, spinning reserves, fuel switching, seasonal output capacities, and seasonal hydro resource availability. It is found that these OCs are important to achieve reasonable estimates of electricity production by fuel type as well as associated emissions. This conclusion follows from an analysis of electric power generation by networks of power plants in Texas and New York in 2004 and 2005. The inputs to the model with operating constraints (OC model) developed in this article include hourly electricity demand, fuel costs, a list of power plants in the network, their basic generation characteristics, and the set of OCs developed in this article. Given these inputs, the OC model estimates the hourly amount of electricity generation by each power plant in the network, which leads to estimates of marginal resource consumption and emissions. Our central result is that historical annual and monthly generation by fuel type and efficiency are well estimated by the OC model and that the exclusion of OCs leads to poor estimates. This work can be combined with emerging work on wind and solar generation to provide a complete picture of contemporary grid dispatch and associated emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the possibilities for interfuel substitution in Australia in view of the need to shift towards a cleaner mix of fuels and technologies to meet future energy demand and environmental goals. The translog cost function is estimated for the aggregate economy, the manufacturing sector and its subsectors, and the electricity generation subsector. The advantages of this work over previous literature relating to the Australian case are that it uses relatively recent data, focuses on energy-intensive subsectors and estimates the Morishima elasticities of substitution. The empirical evidence shown herein indicates weak-form substitutability between different energy types, and higher possibilities for substitution at lower levels of aggregation, compared with the aggregate economy. For the electricity generation subsector, which is at the centre of the CO2 emissions problem in Australia, significant but weak substitutability exists between coal and gas when the price of coal changes. A higher substitution possibility exists between coal and oil in this subsector. The evidence for the own- and cross-price elasticities, together with the results for fuel efficiencies, indicates that a large increase in relative prices could be justified to further stimulate the market for low-emission technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The paper uses an integrated assessment model, GCAM, to analyze two emission stabilization approaches for India - a conventional approach relying on carbon price to typically influence fuel switch and carbon capture and storage responses, and a sustainability approach that aims to conserve resources and deliver multiple dividends. An important feature of the sustainability approach is the focus on national policies to push solar and wind technologies. The paper concludes that sustainability push at a global level for renewable energy technologies is essential together with coordinated national policies and actions, if the 2 °C target is to be achieved with lower global welfare losses. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the peaks of oil and natural gas production. It discusses energy-use patterns and how it will change in response to Peak Oil. It also addresses opportunities for better energy efficiency, fuel substitution, and structural changes in the industrial sector. According to the author, Peak Oil is a phenomenon in which the worldwide oil production peaks and then starts to decline. Some analysts believe that the global production of natural gas will reach its peak not long after that of oil. The implications of Peak Oil for the economy include increase in fuel and oil prices, increase fuel switching and dual-fuel capability, and more frequent gas supply curtailments.

This article examines various greenhouse gas scenarios for the electricity supply industry in the coal-rich state of Queensland. The authors use a dynamic partial equilibrium model of the Queensland electricity system to examine the effects of four alternate policy scenarios: a business-as-usual case, a centrally planned gas-fired case, and two carbon tax scenarios– the first in which the merit order of coal and gas plant is reversed, and the second in which fuel switching is undertaken. The results indicate that no scenario is capable of delivering sufficient cuts in emissions to meet a‘Kyoto equivalent’ industry target. While fuel switching brought about the greatest reduction in emissions, the high cost of this scenario indicates that a more efficient outcome for the electricity supply industry in Queensland would be a broad-based Australia-wide approach to emissions abatement, so that carbon reductions can be accessed from industries capable of achieving lower cost emissions abatement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The member countries of the European Union plan to reduce their CO2 emissions in accordance with the international protocol agreed in Kyoto in 1997. The accepted options for doing this include fuel switching, improving energy efficiency, and the introduction of renewable energy sources. Geological storage of CO2 from fossil fuel use is also an option to reduce CO2 emissions, which does not require major changes in the energy infrastructure. Two projects are now under way in the European Union to study the potential for geological CO2 storage. The first project, known as GESTCO, will assess the potential CO2 storage capacity of the main sedimentary basins within Europe. GESTCO will examine in detail the geological storage potential and coincidence of CO2 emission sources to storage sites. In the North Sea the world's first commercial geological storage project has now been in operation for 3 years. The natural gas from the Sleipner West field contains about 9% CO2, which must be reduced to 2.5% before sale. The CO2 is stripped by an amine scrubbing plant and then injected into a deep saline reservoir about 800 m below the seabed. To date, about 3 million tonnes of CO2 have been injected. To monitor the storage of CO2 in the reservoir, a project entitled Saline Aquifer CO2 Storage commenced in April 1998. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential role for fuel substitution in electricity production in reducing carbon dioxide emissions over a ten-year time horizon. This is achieved by adding fuel substitution to output changes resulting from demand responses arising from a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. A time profile of adjustments is developed. The tax required for Australia to meet a 20 per cent reduction in emissions from 1993 levels is calculated and effects on inequality and social welfare are examined. The paper also examines the potential effect of a subsidy towards the use of low- emission fuels, financed from the carbon tax. A subsidy produces an improvement in emissions abatement and a lower tax required to reach the emissions target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on agricultural issues concerning the National Energy Plan in the United States. Problems to be posed by energy development programs; Impact of energy conservation and interfuel substitution on agriculture; Areas to be emphasized in energy and agricultural research.

This article examines effects on major Australian macroeconomic and structural variables of simultaneous shocks to world oil and black coal prices. The illustrative numerical results have been produced with the short-run fuel substitution tax model, ORANI-LFT. The current version of that model reflects the Australian Government's pre-1988 oil regulatory framework, and the simulations reported in this study reflect the recent switch from significant dependence on crude oil levy revenue to petroleum products excise revenue. Empirical results show that combined world oil and coal price shocks lead to substantially different effects than would occur from an oil shock alone. A major implication of this, for a small open economy such as Australia, is that particular attention has to be paid to the interdependence of world energy markets, both when analysing the effects of such shocks and when formulating appropriate macroeconomic and energy policy responses. It is also pointed out how the model could be modified for investigating effects under deregulated oil market regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL) catalyze the conversion of long-chain fatty acids to fatty acyl-CoAs. Cardiac-specific ACSL1 temporal knockout at 2 months results in a shift from FA oxidation toward glycolysis that promotes mTORC1-mediated ventricular hypertrophy. We used unbiased metabolomics and gene expression analyses to examine the early effects of genetic inactivation of fatty acid oxidation on cardiac metabolism, hypertrophy development, and function., Methods and Results: Global cardiac transcriptional analysis revealed differential expression of genes involved in cardiac metabolism, fibrosis, and hypertrophy development in Acsl1 H-/- hearts 2 weeks after Acsl1 ablation. Comparison of the 2- and 10-week transcriptional responses uncovered 137 genes whose expression was uniquely changed upon knockdown of cardiac ACSL1, including the distinct upregulation of fibrosis genes, a phenomenon not observed after complete ACSL1 knockout. Metabolomic analysis identified metabolites altered in hearts displaying partially reduced ACSL activity, and rapamycin treatment normalized the cardiac metabolomic fingerprint., Conclusions: Short-term cardiac-specific ACSL1 inactivation resulted in metabolic and transcriptional derangements distinct from those observed upon complete ACSL1 knockout, suggesting heart-specific mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) signaling that occurs during the early stages of substrate switching. The hypertrophy observed with partial Acsl1 ablation occurs in the context of normal cardiac function and is reminiscent of a physiological process, making this a useful model to study the transition from physiological to pathological hypertrophy., (© 2018 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.)

Background: Long chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL) catalyze long-chain fatty acids (FA) conversion to acyl-CoAs. Temporal ACSL1 inactivation in mouse hearts (Acsl1(H-/-)) impaired FA oxidation and dramatically increased glucose uptake, glucose oxidation, and mTOR activation, resulting in cardiac hypertrophy. We used unbiased metabolomics and gene expression analyses to elucidate the cardiac cellular response to increased glucose use in a genetic model of inactivated FA oxidation., Methods and Results: Metabolomics analysis identified 60 metabolites altered in Acsl1(H-/-) hearts, including 6 related to glucose metabolism and 11 to cysteine and glutathione pathways. Concurrently, global cardiac transcriptional analysis revealed differential expression of 568 genes in Acsl1(H-/-) hearts, a subset of which we hypothesized were targets of mTOR; subsequently, we measured the transcriptional response of several genes after chronic mTOR inhibition via rapamycin treatment during the period in which cardiac hypertrophy develops. Hearts from Acsl1(H-/-) mice increased expression of several Hif1α-responsive glycolytic genes regulated by mTOR; additionally, expression of Scl7a5, Gsta1/2, Gdf15, and amino acid-responsive genes, Fgf21, Asns, Trib3, Mthfd2, were strikingly increased by mTOR activation., Conclusions: The switch from FA to glucose use causes mTOR-dependent alterations in cardiac metabolism. We identified cardiac mTOR-regulated genes not previously identified in other cellular models, suggesting heart-specific mTOR signaling. Increased glucose use also changed glutathione-related pathways and compensation by mTOR. The hypertrophy, oxidative stress, and metabolic changes that occur within the heart when glucose supplants FA as a major energy source suggest that substrate switching to glucose is not entirely benign., (© 2015 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.)