Article
Thermodynamics
Lauren Janicke, Destenie Nock, Kavita Surana, Sarah M. Jordaan
Summary: Inefficiencies in the transmission and distribution of electricity can result in compensatory electricity generation and air pollution. This study estimates the air pollutants associated with aggregate and non-technical losses at national and subnational scales using life cycle assessments and uncertainty analyses. The global analysis indicates significant emissions, such as 1 Gigatonne of CO2eq. Investments in T&D infrastructure can enhance the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy in a decarbonized system.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Malgorzata Kida, Sabina Ziembowicz, Piotr Koszelnik
Summary: Few studies have been conducted on the decomposition of plastics in the environment and their potential to increase greenhouse gas emissions. This research examined the presence and emission of phthalic acid esters and greenhouse gases from various plastic materials in the aquatic environment. The results showed that the degradation of microplastics leads to a reduction in material mass and conversion to methane and carbon dioxide.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Zoe Le Hong, Naomi Zimmerman
Summary: The study found that the diffusion of connected and autonomous vehicles, along with the increase of electric vehicles, can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Metro Vancouver. However, simulation results also show that if autonomous driving results in an increase in personal vehicle use, even with 85% electric vehicles, it may only lead to a 6% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. The impact of vehicle kilometers traveled per autonomous vehicle was found to be significant in emission reduction.
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART D-TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Karen Daniela Hernandez, Oscar Arnulfo Fajardo
Summary: This study estimated the emissions of air pollutants from fixed sources in Bogota, and proposed emission reduction measures under different scenarios. The results showed that implementing emission reduction measures can significantly decrease the levels of pollutants in the atmosphere by 2030.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chenxi Lu, W. Neil Adger, Karyn Morrissey, Shaohui Zhang, Sergey Venevsky, Hao Yin, Taochun Sun, Xuanren Song, Chao Wu, Xinyu Dou, Biqing Zhu, Zhu Liu
Summary: This study assesses the health co-benefits of implementing different transport scenarios in Beijing. By reducing air pollution and carbon emissions, substantial improvements in health can be achieved. The results show that older individuals and men benefit the most, highlighting the importance of targeted interventions.
LANCET PLANETARY HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Zarook Shareefdeen, Afsana Alam Mishu
Summary: This manuscript reviews the major air pollutants emitted from W2E plants and their associated health effects, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of classical and innovative air pollution control technologies used in W2E plants.
CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Alessandro Flammini, Pan Xueyao, Francesco Nicola Tubiello, Sally Yue Qiu, Leonardo Rocha Souza, Roberta Quadrelli, Stefania Bracco, Philippe Benoit, Ralph Sims
Summary: Fossil-fuel-based energy use in agriculture leads to emissions of CO2 and non-CO2 gases. This study focuses on emissions generated within the farm gate and from fisheries, providing data on energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions from 1970 to 2019. The results show that annual emissions from energy use in agriculture reached 523 million tonnes (MtCO2eq yr(-1)) in 2019, and when including electricity, they were 1029 MtCO2eq yr(-1), with a 7% increase since 1990. The use of electricity and indirect emissions has become the largest source of emissions from energy use in agriculture since 2005.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Leandro Paulino, Marilin Flores, Cristina Munoz, Jose Doerner, Erick Zagal, Jaime G. Cuevas
Summary: Different intensities of land use affect soil gas fluxes, but the effects of soil use intensity on CO2 fluxes are not significant. Soil water content and nitrate have a significant impact on soil gas fluxes.
JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Quentin M. Tenailleau, Cecile Tannier, Gilles Vuidel, Patrice Tissandier, Nadine Bernard
Summary: Teleworking is seen as a potential key lever in reducing air pollution, but assessing its atmospheric outcomes is challenging when data is incomplete. By introducing techniques to evaluate the impact of increasing teleworking rates, researchers found that data accuracy strongly influences the estimated quantity of air pollutant emissions.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Miroslaw Szwed, Witold Zukowski, Krzysztof Misztal, Rafal Kozlowski
Summary: This paper presents the results of a study conducted within a cement plant in Ozarow, southeastern Poland, which found that the energy stored in fossil fuels is released through combustion and is a fundamental process in cement production. However, this combustion leads to the emission of greenhouse gases and dust. The chemical composition of Scots pine needles was determined using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy, revealing the presence of anthropogenic particles.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Noah Scovronick, David Anthoff, Francis Dennig, Frank Errickson, Maddalena Ferranna, Wei Peng, Dean Spears, Fabian Wagner, Mark Budolfson
Summary: The co-benefit of air quality motivates reduced emissions and requires global cooperation to prevent runaway temperature rise under different climate policy regimes. Even in the self-interested case, air quality co-benefits may lead to high levels of mitigation in certain regions, expanding the range of possible policy outcomes.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Nilanjan Das, Ayan Mondal, Sudipto Mandal
Summary: The study of gas emissions in the mangrove ecosystem reveals seasonal variations in methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide fluxes, with pneumatophore numbers increasing and making transpiration easier. The most critical environmental factor is the soil nitrate content, which will provide valuable information to environmental managers.
STOCHASTIC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND RISK ASSESSMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Carlos E. Souto-Oliveira, Marcia T. A. Marques, Thiago Nogueira, Fabio J. S. Lopes, Jose A. G. Medeiros, Ilca M. M. A. Medeiros, Gregori A. Moreira, Pedro Leite da Silva Dias, Eduardo Landulfo, Maria de F. Andrade
Summary: Recently, wildfires have caused significant damage to ecosystems worldwide and have had long-range impacts on urban areas through the transport of smoke plumes. A comprehensive analysis was conducted to investigate how smoke plumes from wildfires in the Pantanal and Amazon forests, as well as sugarcane harvest burning in the state of Sao Paulo, were transported and injected into the atmosphere of the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo (MASP), leading to worsened air quality and increased greenhouse gas levels.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Rui Feng, Xuekun Fang
Summary: This study provides an overview of China's multipronged national-scale regulations to decelerate climate change and improve air quality, by concurrently reducing atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of strategies. These measures have helped China achieve its climate goals and established a roadmap for the future, benefiting both air quality enhancement and global warming mitigation.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Erika Garcia, Jill Johnston, Rob McConnell, Lawrence Palinkas, Sandrah P. Eckel
Summary: This study evaluated the benefits of using low-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on respiratory health and air quality in California, and found a slower adoption rate of ZEVs in areas with lower educational attainment. The results showed that the adoption of ZEVs was associated with improvements in air quality and a decrease in asthma-related emergency department visits, but the adoption gap among low-income populations threatens the equitable distribution of these benefits.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jeffrey S. Rutherford, Evan D. Sherwin, Arvind P. Ravikumar, Garvin A. Heath, Jacob Englander, Daniel Cooley, David Lyon, Mark Omara, Quinn Langfitt, Adam R. Brandt
Summary: Recent studies have shown that methane emissions from oil and gas production in the United States are typically 1.5-2 times higher than official estimates, with equipment leaks being the main cause of the discrepancy. By developing a new inventory-based model, more accurate estimates of methane emissions can be made to guide mitigation policies effectively.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Julien Walzberg, Alberta Carpenter, Garvin A. Heath
Summary: Excluding social factors underestimates the impact of lower recycling prices on PV material circularity, emphasizing the importance of considering social factors in future studies. While used modules can only satisfy one-third of the US demand during 2020-2050, changing customer attitudes about used PV can boost module reuse.
Article
Energy & Fuels
James Hyungkwan Kim, Andrew D. Mills, Ryan Wiser, Mark Bolinger, Will Gorman, Cristina Crespo Montanes, Eric O'Shaughnessy
Summary: This study analyzes the impact of various strategies on the net value of grid-connected PV electricity in the United States, finding that maximizing generation (such as solar tracking plus oversized PV arrays) in conjunction with storage can yield the largest net value gains at high penetrations.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Dev Millstein, Mark Bolinger, Ryan Wiser
Summary: The past decade of wind power growth was supported by improved capacity factor and reduced costs. However, recent research suggests that the influence of technology may have been overstated by ignoring positive surface wind speed trends. Improved site quality and technological factors, rather than higher wind speeds, have driven the improvement in capacity factors.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mark Bolinger, Greta Bolinger
Summary: This study provides updated estimates of power and energy densities for utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) plants, and finds that the power and energy densities have increased over time for both fixed-tilt and tracking plants. The previous benchmarks published nearly a decade ago significantly overstate the land requirements of utility-scale PV.
IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Arpit H. Bhatt, Yimin Zhang, Ryan Davis, Garvin Heath, Vikram Ravi
Summary: The development of advanced biofuel production facilities is still in its early stages and may face challenges in obtaining air permits due to being novel emission sources. In this study, we analyze the emissions of an advanced biorefinery that produces renewable diesel blendstock from lignocellulosic biomass and provide insights for developers and regulators to mitigate investment risks and develop permitting strategies.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ryan Davis, Arpit H. Bhatt, Yimin Zhang, Eric C. D. Tan, Vikram Ravi, Garvin Heath
Summary: This article introduces an established design case that simulates the conversion of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass into renewable diesel blend-stock. The study provides key mass and energy balance results and highlights the significance of this research in supporting cleaner production, evaluating air emissions and life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, and identifying optimization opportunities.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Maninder P. S. Thind, Garvin Heath, Yimin Zhang, Arpit Bhatt
Summary: This paper introduces a framework and metrics for estimating the impact of emission sources on regulatory compliance and human health. The framework includes a pollutant's characterization factor and three new metrics, which can be applied to various pollutants, energy source sectors, source types, and spatial modeling domains. A case study of fine particulate emissions is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the framework.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Hao Cui, Garvin Heath, Timothy Remo, Dwarakanath Ravikumar, Timothy Silverman, Michael Deceglie, Michael Kempe, Jill Engel-Cox
Summary: Recycling is an important strategy in the circular economy, particularly for photovoltaics. However, there is a lack of cost estimates and process information for recycling c-Si PV modules. This study provides detailed cost estimates for two proposed recycling processes and discusses approaches to reduce costs and increase recycling rates.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark Bolinger, Ryan Wiser, Eric O'Shaughnessy
Summary: Learning curves play a significant role in power sector planning. By improving upon existing learning curves, we determine the overall learning rates for wind and solar energy and conclude that learning based on the levelized cost of energy provides a more comprehensive view. Future reductions in the cost of energy may be underestimated.
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Garvin A. Heath, Dwarakanath Ravikumar, Brianna Hansen, Elaine Kupets
Summary: This article reviews the research on the circular economy of solar PV and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and finds that neither industry has achieved a circular economy but they are moving towards increased circularity. Future research should explore other circular economy strategies, consider economic, environmental, and policy aspects more comprehensively, leverage digital information systems to accelerate the circular economy, and continue studying the circular economy aspects of LIB and PV markets.
JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Arpit Bhatt, Vikram Ravi, Yimin Zhang, Garvin Heath, Ryan Davis, Eric C. D. Tan
Summary: Boilers are crucial for industrial facilities as they provide process heat, with most of them historically burning fossil fuels. However, there is now a growing interest in using renewable fuels to reduce carbon emissions. These boilers are significant sources of air pollutant emissions, making it essential to characterize these emissions for air permits and ensuring air quality protection.
JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Mark Bolinger, Dev Millstein, Will Gorman, Patrick Dobson, Seongeun Jeong
Summary: Studies indicate that a diverse mix of zero-carbon resources, including geothermal energy, will be crucial for decarbonizing the U.S. electricity sector. However, geothermal deployment has been slow compared to wind, solar, and storage due to its historically lower net value. Although the market value of geothermal may improve in the future, it is unlikely to overcome the cost gap with other, lower-cost resources, which calls for policy intervention and continued research and development investments to sustain the geothermal industry.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Ryan Wiser, Dev Millstein, Mark Bolinger, Seongeun Jeong, Andrew Mills
Summary: The significant increase in wind turbine size has been driven by a goal of reducing energy costs, but as wind energy becomes more cost competitive, the importance of taller towers and larger rotors has grown. Research shows that taller towers and larger rotors can enhance the value of wind energy in the electricity system, providing potential benefits and cost savings.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mark Bolinger, Eric Lantz, Ryan Wiser, Ben Hoen, Joseph Rand, Robert Hammond
Summary: As the size of wind turbine rotor increases, its specific power decreases. In land-rich but capacity-constrained wind power markets like the United States, developers prefer turbines with lower specific power to maximize energy output. Geospatial analysis suggests that there is likely to be continued demand for low-specific-power turbines in the future, especially as wind penetration grows.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shitong Fang, Houfan Du, Tao Yan, Keyu Chen, Zhiyuan Li, Xiaoqing Ma, Zhihui Lai, Shengxi Zhou
Summary: This paper proposes a new type of nonlinear VIV energy harvester (ANVEH) that compensates for the decrease in peak energy output at low wind speeds by introducing an auxiliary structure. Theoretical and experimental results show that ANVEH performs better than traditional nonlinear VIV energy harvesters under various system parameter variations.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Wei Jiang, Shuo Zhang, Teng Wang, Yufei Zhang, Aimin Sha, Jingjing Xiao, Dongdong Yuan
Summary: A standardized method was developed to evaluate the availability of solar energy resources in road areas, which combined the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Geographic Information System (GIS). By analyzing critical factors and using a multi-indicator evaluation method, the method accurately evaluated the utilization of solar energy resources and guided the optimal location selection for road photovoltaic (PV) projects. The results provided guidance for the application of road PV projects and site selection for route corridors worldwide, promoting the integration of transportation and energy.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Chang Liu, Jacob A. Wrubel, Elliot Padgett, Guido Bender
Summary: The study investigates the effects of coating defects on the performance of the anode porous transport layer (PTL) in water electrolyzers. The results show that an increasing fraction of uncoated regions on the PTL leads to decreased cell performance, with continuous uncoated regions having a more severe impact compared to multiple thin uncoated strips.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Marcos Tostado-Veliz, Xiaolong Jin, Rohit Bhakar, Francisco Jurado
Summary: In this paper, a coordinated charging price mechanism for clusters of parking lots is proposed. The research shows that enabling vehicle-to-grid characteristics can bring significant economic benefits for users and the cluster coordinator, and vehicle-to-grid impacts noticeably on the risk-averse character of the uncertainty-aware strategies. The developed pricing mechanism can reduce the cost for users, avoiding to directly translate the energy cost to charging points.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Duan Kang
Summary: Building an energy superpower is a key strategy for China and a long-term goal for other countries. This study proposes an evaluation system and index for measuring energy superpower, and finds that China has significantly improved its ranking over the past 21 years, surpassing other countries.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Fucheng Deng, Yifei Wang, Xiaosen Li, Gang Li, Yi Wang, Bin Huang
Summary: This study investigated the synergistic blockage mechanism of sand and hydrate in gravel filling layer and the evolution of permeability in the layer. Experimental models and modified permeability models were established to analyze the effects of sand particles and hydrate formation on permeability. The study provided valuable insights for the safe and efficient exploitation of hydrate reservoirs.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Hao Wang, Xiwen Chen, Natan Vital, Edward Duffy, Abolfazl Razi
Summary: This study proposes a HVAC energy optimization model based on deep reinforcement learning algorithm. It achieves 37% energy savings and ensures thermal comfort for open office buildings. The model has a low complexity, uses a few controllable factors, and has a short training time with good generalizability.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Moyue Cong, Yongzhuo Gao, Weidong Wang, Long He, Xiwang Mao, Yi Long, Wei Dong
Summary: This study introduces a multi-strategy ultra-wideband energy harvesting device that achieves high power output without the need for external power input. By utilizing asymmetry, stagger array, magnetic coupling, and nonlinearity strategies, the device maintains a stable output voltage and high power density output at non-resonant frequencies. Temperature and humidity monitoring are performed using Bluetooth sensors to adaptively assess the device.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Tianshu Dong, Xiudong Duan, Yuanyuan Huang, Danji Huang, Yingdong Luo, Ziyu Liu, Xiaomeng Ai, Jiakun Fang, Chaolong Song
Summary: Electrochemical water splitting is crucial for hydrogen production, and improving the hydrogen separation rate from the electrode is essential for enhancing water electrolyzer performance. However, issues such as air bubble adhesion to the electrode plate hinder the process. Therefore, a methodology to investigate the two-phase flow within the electrolyzer is in high demand. This study proposes using a microfluidic system as a simulator for the electrolyzer and optimizing the two-phase flow by manipulating the micro-structure of the flow.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shuo Han, Yifan Yuan, Mengjiao He, Ziwen Zhao, Beibei Xu, Diyi Chen, Jakub Jurasz
Summary: Giving full play to the flexibility of hydropower and integrating more variable renewable energy is of great significance for accelerating the transformation of China's power energy system. This study proposes a novel day-ahead scheduling model that considers the flexibility limited by irregular vibration zones (VZs) and the probability of flexibility shortage in a hydropower-variable renewable energy hybrid generation system. The model is applied to a real hydropower station and effectively improves the flexibility supply capacity of hydropower, especially during heavy load demand in flood season.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zhen Wang, Kangqi Fan, Shizhong Zhao, Shuxin Wu, Xuan Zhang, Kangjia Zhai, Zhiqi Li, Hua He
Summary: This study developed a high-performance rotary energy harvester (AI-REH) inspired by archery, which efficiently accumulates and releases ultralow-frequency vibration energy. By utilizing a magnetic coupling strategy and an accumulator spring, the AI-REH achieves significantly accelerated rotor speeds and enhanced electric outputs.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yi Yang, Qianyi Xing, Kang Wang, Caihong Li, Jianzhou Wang, Xiaojia Huang
Summary: In this study, a novel hybrid Quantile Regression (QR) model is proposed for Probabilistic Load Forecasting (PLF). The model integrates causal dilated convolution, residual connection, and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) for multi-scale feature extraction. In addition, a Combined Probabilistic Load Forecasting System (CPLFS) is proposed to overcome the inherent flaws of relying on a single model. Simulation results show that the hybrid QR outperforms traditional models and CPLFS exceeds the best benchmarks in terms of prediction accuracy and stability.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Wen-Jiang Zou, Young-Bae Kim, Seunghun Jung
Summary: This paper proposes a dynamic prediction model for capacity fade in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). The model accurately predicts changes in electrolyte volume and capacity fade, enhancing the competitiveness of VRFBs in energy storage applications.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yuechao Ma, Shengtie Wang, Guangchen Liu, Guizhen Tian, Jianwei Zhang, Ruiming Liu
Summary: This paper focuses on the balance of state of charge (SOC) among multiple battery energy storage units (MBESUs) and bus voltage balance in an islanded bipolar DC microgrid. A SOC automatic balancing strategy is proposed considering the energy flow relationship and utilizing the adaptive virtual resistance algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy in achieving SOC balancing and decreasing bus voltage unbalance.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Raad Z. Homod, Basil Sh. Munahi, Hayder Ibrahim Mohammed, Musatafa Abbas Abbood Albadr, Aissa Abderrahmane, Jasim M. Mahdi, Mohamed Bechir Ben Hamida, Bilal Naji Alhasnawi, A. S. Albahri, Hussein Togun, Umar F. Alqsair, Zaher Mundher Yaseen
Summary: In this study, the control problem of the multiple-boiler system (MBS) is formulated as a dynamic Markov decision process and a deep clustering reinforcement learning approach is applied to obtain the optimal control policy. The proposed strategy, based on bang-bang action, shows superior response and achieves more than 32% energy saving compared to conventional fixed parameter controllers under dynamic indoor/outdoor actual conditions.