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This paper considers two pertinent research inquiries: 'Can an AI-based predictive framework be utilised for the optimisation of solar energy management?' and 'What are the ways in which the AI-based predictive framework can be integrated within the Smart Grid infrastructure to improve grid reliability and efficiency?' The study deploys a Deep Learning model based on Long Short-Term Memory techniques, leading to refined accuracy in solar electricity generation forecasts. Such an AI-supported methodology aids power grid operators in comprehensive planning, thereby ensuring a robust electricity supply. The effectiveness of this framework is tested using performance metrics such as MAE, RMSE, nMAE, nRMSE, and $ R^2 $ R 2 . A persistent model is utilised as a reference for comparison. Despite a slight decrease in predictive precision with the expansion of the forecast horizon, the proposed AI-based framework consistently surpasses the persistent model, particularly for horizons beyond two hours. Therefore, this research underscores the potential of AI-based prediction in fostering efficient solar energy management and enhancing Smart Grid reliability and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As countries pursue decarbonization goals, the rapid expansion of transmission capacity for renewable energy (RE) integration poses a significant challenge due to hurdles such as permitting and cost allocation. However, we find that large-scale reconductoring with advanced composite-core conductors can cost-effectively double transmission capacity within existing right-of-way, with limited additional permitting. This strategy unlocks a high availability of increasingly economically viable RE resources in close proximity to the existing network. We implement reconductoring in a model of the US power system, showing that reconductoring can help meet over 80% of the new interzonal transmission needed to reach over 90% clean electricity by 2035 given restrictions on greenfield transmission build-out. With $180 billion in system cost savings by 2050, reconductoring presents a cost-effective and time-efficient, yet underutilized, opportunity to accelerate global transmission expansion.

This work considers an industrial production site partially powered by a decentralised energy system based on intermittent renewable energy sources. Our objective is to simultaneous plan the industrial production and the energy supply in this site so as to minimise the total cost. A new way of modelling this combinatorial optimisation problem is proposed: it relies on the extension of a multi-product single-resource small-bucket lot-sizing model called the proportional lot-sizing and scheduling problem. This extension involves among others sequence-dependent changeover times overlapping multiple periods and energy-related constraints. Our numerical results show that the resulting mixed-integer linear programming model enables to obtain good-quality production and energy supply plans with a computational effort much smaller than the one required by a previously published large-bucket lot-sizing model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable power generation is the key to decarbonizing the electricity system. Wind power is the fastest-growing renewable source of electricity in the United States. However, expanding wind capacity often faces local opposition, partly due to a perceived visual disamenity from large wind turbines. Here, we provide a US-wide assessment of the externality costs of wind power generation through the visibility impact on property values. To this end, we create a database on wind turbine visibility, combining information on the site and height of each utility-scale turbine having fed power into the U.S. grid, with a high-resolution elevation map to account for the underlying topography of the landscape. Building on hedonic valuation theory, we statistically estimate the impact of wind turbine visibility on home values, informed by data from the majority of home sales in the United States since 1997. We find that on average, wind turbine visibility negatively affects home values in an economically and statistically significant way in close proximity ([Formula: see text]5 miles/8 km). However, the effect diminishes over time and in distance and is indistinguishable from zero for larger distances and toward the end of our sample.

China has committed to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2060 to combat global climate change, which will require unprecedented deployment of negative emissions technologies, renewable energies (RE), and complementary infrastructure. At terawatt-scale deployment, land use limitations interact with operational and economic features of power systems. To address this, we developed a spatially resolved resource assessment and power systems planning optimization that models a full year of power system operations, sub-provincial RE siting criteria, and transmission connections. Our modeling results show that wind and solar must be expanded to 2,000 to 3,900 GW each, with one plausible pathway leading to 300 GW/yr combined annual additions in 2046 to 2060, a three-fold increase from today. Over 80% of solar and 55% of wind is constructed within 100 km of major load centers when accounting for current policies regarding land use. Large-scale low-carbon systems must balance key trade-offs in land use, RE resource quality, grid integration, and costs. Under more restrictive RE siting policies, at least 740 GW of distributed solar would become economically feasible in regions with high demand, where utility-scale deployment is limited by competition with agricultural land. Effective planning and policy formulation are necessary to achieve Chinas climate goals.

In the past two decades, we have witnessed an unprecedented acceleration of the energy transition in China. The implications of the ongoing energy transition will reverberate across the established energy, economic, and environmental systems. This study constructed a new comprehensive evaluation index system to evaluate the energy transition in 30 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2019. We found that the average score of China's provincial energy transition in 2019 (0.518) was higher than that in 2000 (0.410); the average score of provincial energy transition from 2000 to 2019 was only 0.445. During this period, Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Fujian, andIEA 2011 Guangdong were the top five provinces in terms of average scores, and Tianjin, Ningxia, Shanxi, Shanghai, and Hainan were the five provinces with the lowest average scores. We also found that provincial energy transition has significant peer-group characteristics, including region, income level, provincial energy trade, and international energy trade. Moreover, compared with the energy transition measured by comprehensive evaluation, the energy transition measured by energy structure underestimated the quality of energy transition in the eastern and central regions. It overestimated the quality of energy transition in the western region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents and analyses three plant configurations of the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology. All the solutions are based on using the OTEC system to obtain hydrogen through an electrolyzer. The hydrogen is then compressed and stored. In the first and second layouts, a Rankine cycle with ammonia and a mixture of water and ethanol is utilised respectively; in the third layout, a Kalina cycle is considered. In each configuration, the OTEC cycle is coupled with a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer and the compression and storage system. The water entering the electrolyzer is pre-heated to 80 °C by a solar collector. Energy, exergy, and exergo-economic studies were conducted to evaluate the cost of producing, compressing, and storing hydrogen. A parametric analysis examining the main design constraints was performed based on the temperature range of the condenser, the mass flow ratio of hot and cold resource flows, and the mass fraction. The maximum value of the overall exergy efficiency calculated is equal to 93.5% for the Kalina cycle, and 0.524 €/kWh is the minimum cost of hydrogen production achieved. The results were compared with typical data from other hydrogen production systems. [Display omitted] • An OTEC based offshore hydrogen production system is analysed by exergo-economics. • Three different OTEC cycles are compared: two Rankine and Kalina. • System includes OTEC, electrolyzer, H 2 compression, water desalination and heating. • Kalina cycle is the best performing, with 93.5 %, 83–87% for Rankine. • The cost of H 2 from Kalina OTEC is estimated at 17.3 €/kg (0.52 €/kWh). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere, primarily driven by fossil fuel combustion, is a major contributor to global warming and one of the most pressing environmental challenges of the 21st century. In response, the development of sustainable energy technologies, such as hydrogen (H₂) production, has become crucial in the global transition to a low-carbon economy. In this study, we explored the catalytic activity of cobalt-modified niobium-based catalysts for hydrogen generation through the hydrolysis of NaBH₄. The catalysts were characterized using XRD, FTIR, XPS, SEM-EDX, and N₂ adsorption-desorption. XRD analysis revealed that the synthesized Nb₂O₅ (Nb₂O₅ Synt.) and Nb₂O₅/Co (Nb₂O₅/Co Synt.) exhibited amorphous structures, while the commercial Nb₂O₅ (Nb₂O₅ Com.) and its Co-modified composite displayed orthorhombic phases. The Nb₂O₅/Co Synt. catalyst achieved a surface area of 33.1 m2/g, significantly surpassing that of the commercial Nb₂O₅. The Nb₂O₅/Co Synt. catalyst exhibited superior catalytic activity, yielding 250 mL of hydrogen in 60 min, in contrast to other catalysts that showed no activity under identical conditions. This enhanced activity was attributed to the presence of surface hydroxyl groups and metallic Co nanoparticles, following the Langmuir-Hinshelwood bimolecular mechanism. Temperature was identified as a critical factor in the H₂ production rate, with a calculated activation energy of 11.37 kJ/mol. Moreover, the Nb₂O₅/Co Synt. catalyst demonstrated excellent reusability, maintaining stable performance after multiple reaction cycles, highlighting its potential for sustainable hydrogen production. [Display omitted] • Novel cobalt-modified niobium oxide catalyst for hydrogen production. • Critical role of hydroxyl groups in catalytic activity maintenance. • Comprehensive study of reaction parameters for optimized hydrogen generation. • Catalyst stability and reusability in multiple cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since renewable energy is rapidly growing in the active distribution networks, the integrated energy system coupled with energy storage is a promising way to address the intermittent issues of renewable sources. This paper proposes an optimal planning model for the hydrogen‐based integrated energy system (HIES) considering power to heat and hydrogen (P2HH) and seasonal hydrogen storage (SHS) to take full advantage of multienergy complementarity. To tackle the unstable factors introduced by renewable sources and varying loads, we apply robust optimization and stochastic programming theory to improve the robustness of the planning results. Meanwhile, we also consider the N‐1 contingency constraints to make the technology selection, capacity allocation, and economic operation more reliable. The complex constraints resulting from producing two independent binary variables are converted into mixed integer linear constraints, which can be solved effectively using the nested column‐and‐constraint generation algorithm. Numerical simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of the P2HH and SHS in reducing the total cost of the HIES planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biohydrogen represents a highly feasible and environmentally sustainable fuel alternative for the world's growing energy needs. However, technological advancements are still required for large-scale hydrogen utilization, particularly in determining the most advantageous technological path for recovering affordable and renewable hydrogen. Researchers have conducted numerous studies to determine the optimal technology for producing large-scale biohydrogen. However, no comprehensive systematic and bibliometric review presents an overview of the various production modes, i.e., the photo and dark fermentation techniques. This paper reviews recent research on biohydrogen production using dark and photofermentation modes, spanning over two decades, using Scopus data. The review highlights the growing push to integrate hydrogen production into larger bioenergy systems, focusing on improving the core processes and removing obstacles. Techniques like co-digestion and two-stage anaerobic digestion can increase production yields. The review also highlights the possibility of combining waste treatment with energy production to address environmental issues. Incorporating dark- and photo-fermentation processes in commercial hydrogen production shows greater potential for commercial use, potentially increasing yield. The study concluded by identifying challenges for the various modes of production and ways to overcome them. It also provided pertinent information on potential future research directions. • This study reviewed research work on dark and photo fermentation. • The bibliometric review approach was used to review over two decades of research. • The study identified challenges in both processes and proposed strategies to address them. • Co-digestion and two-stage anaerobic digestion can increase production yields. • China leads the publishing world with 3455 publications on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis calls for a reassessment of infrastructure's role in the energy transition. This urgency has catalysed an expanding green finance paradigm, which is reshaping the roles of states and private actors through the creation of green infrastructural projects. This article examines Thailand's northeast province, an emerging renewable energy hub, to explore how Cold War‐era geopolitical and military infrastructures are being repurposed as green assets. These upgrades, both technological and financial, align with reframing their historical political roles. The study reveals how infrastructure transformation involves shifts in the actors and mechanisms of financing. Once converted into green assets, these infrastructures serve as eco‐temporal fix, allowing the military junta to address political instability while promoting a green future. The article ultimately shows how speculative processes in transforming infrastructure enable financial capital accumulation and reinforce political legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]