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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 9149

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Peter Strachan

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Guest Editor

Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland AB10 7QE, UK
Interests: 100% renewable energy transition; environmental planning and management; corporate and community ownership models; the social acceptance of energy transitions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Leslie Mabon

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering and Innovation, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
Interests: politics of knowledge in environmental governance and management, transitions for carbon-intensive coastal regions

Dr. Anita Singh

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Guest Editor

Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland AB10 7QE, UK
Interests: labour markets in the energy sector, oil and gas economics, renewable energy, economics of energy transitions, sustainability, and climate change

Dr. Theresia Sumarno

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Guest Editor

Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland AB10 7QE, UK
Interests: renewable energy and electricity, gender and energy, energy transition, climate change, energy policy, climate change, carbon tax, energy taxation and management, energy fiscal policy, fossil fuel subsidy policy, and environment

Dr. Fredrik Von Malmborg

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Guest Editor

Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
Interests: ecological modernisation theory, new institutionalism, transaction cost theory, communicative action theory, discourse analysis, and theories of lobbying and the policy process to understand EU energy and climate policy and strategy, management for sustainability in the private and public sector, sustainable regional development, and industrial ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent environmental and geopolitical events have underlined the need for an urgent transition to a fully clean and renewable energy system. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the dependency of many nations on fossil fuel energy sources produced by authoritarian states, and of the need to transition energy systems completely away from fossil sources to ensure energy security and stability.

At the same time, extreme weather events such as the heat faced in the Northern Hemisphere and the flooding seen in Australia in the summer of 2022 illustrate the need for immediate and rapid reductions in emissions under a climate emergency. Hence, there are multiple imperatives and rationales for a rapid and complete move to clean and renewable energy systems; there is also a growing recognition in the scholarly literature that a transition of this nature is possible at a global and national level. What is thus required is an understanding of the social, political and economic conditions that will enable a rapid shift to 100% clean energy, as well as demonstrations of what can be learned from cases where these changes are already happening globally in a way that can support upscaling, innovation and localisation.

The aim of this Special Issue is, therefore, to illustrate pathways and strategies that may support the rapid deployment of 100% clean and renewable energy systems, encompassing energy storage as well as production. We are particularly interested in the societal dimensions that are associated with turning the rhetorical and technical aspects of 100% clean energy into practice, including (but not limited to):

-Policy and governance for climate action on clean energy (SDG 7);
-Policy, economic, technical, and social aspects of transitioning to clean renewable energy sources;
-Policy diffusion and localization for 100% clean energy across geographical and socio-cultural contexts;
-Potential for innovation and for learning and upscaling from existing best practice examples of clean and renewable energy;
-Corporate and community ownership models of energy provision;
-Just transition initiatives for workers and communities previously reliant on high-emitting industries, which focus on transitioning to 100% clean and renewable energy.

Prof. Dr. Peter Strachan
Dr. Leslie Mabon
Dr. Anita Singh
Dr. Theresia Betty Sumarno
Dr. Fredrik Von Malmborg
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

climate action
renewable energy
energy storage
energy transition pathways
just transition

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 15014 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integration of Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energy in Indonesia’s Electrical Grid

by Ahmad Amiruddin, Roger Dargaville, Ariel Liebman and Ross Gawler

Energies 2024, 17(9), 2037; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17092037 - 25 Apr 2024

Viewed by 491

Abstract

As the global transition toward sustainable energy gains momentum, integrating electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage, and renewable energy sources has become a pivotal strategy. This paper analyses the interplay between EVs, energy storage, and renewable energy integration with Indonesia’s grid as a test case. A comprehensive energy system modeling approach using PLEXOS is presented, using historical data on electricity generation, hourly demand, and renewable energy, and multiple scenarios of charging patterns and EV adoption. Through a series of scenarios, we evaluate the impact of different charging strategies and EV penetration levels on generation capacity, battery storage requirements, total system cost, renewable energy penetration, and emissions reduction. The findings reveal that optimized charging patterns and higher EV adoption rates, compared to no EVs adoption, led to substantial improvements in renewable energy utilization (+4%), emissions reduction (−12.8%), and overall system cost (−9%). While EVs contribute to reduced emissions compared to conventional vehicles, non-optimized charging behavior may lead to higher total emissions when compared to scenarios without EVs. The research also found the potential of vehicle to grid (V2G) to reduce the need for battery storage compared to zero EV (−84%), to reduce emissions significantly (−23.7%), and boost penetration of renewable energy (+10%). This research offers valuable insights for policymakers, energy planners, and stakeholders seeking to leverage the synergies between EVs and renewable energy integration to pursue a sustainable energy future for Indonesia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions to Air Pollution and Global Warming)

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18 pages, 4384 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Approach to Forecasting the Structure of Energy Generation in the Age of Energy Transition Based on the Automated Determination of Factor Significance

by Igor V. Ilin, Oksana Yu. Iliashenko and Egor M. Schenikov

Energies 2024, 17(1), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17010068 - 21 Dec 2023

Viewed by 673

Abstract

In the age of energy transition that we are going through today, many research studies discuss how to develop various approaches to making forecasts aimed at obtaining quantitative assessments of the technical and economic indicators of the energy industry. This paper considers the adaptation of a comprehensive approach to forecasting the structure of energy generation based on the factor and trend approach and using autoregressive and multifactor models that apply a linear regression tool with ridge regularization. To implement this approach, we propose a tool for automated selection of the factors that have the most significant impact on the change in the structure of energy generation. This approach allows us to forecast the dynamics of electricity generation by different types of generating facilities as affected by the key factors in energy transition in the short, medium, and long term. As a result, we obtained quantitative relationships for the energy generation structure. Over the next 10 years, the share of generation using renewable energy sources will increase to 10%, and the share of thermal power plants, on the contrary, will decrease to 50%, despite the growth in demand for electricity. Also, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 30%. We have also provided scientific justification for the sufficient reliability of the forecasts we present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions to Air Pollution and Global Warming)

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19 pages, 459 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of a Special Economic Zone Management on the Development of Modern Sectors and Technologies in a Polish Metropolis: The Smart City Context

by Grzegorz Kinelski, Karolina Mucha-Kuś, Jakub Stęchły, Zbigniew J. Makieła, Jacek Kamiński and Magdalena Stefańska

Energies 2023, 16(6), 2825; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062825 - 18 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1500

Abstract

The development of the high-tech sector has so far been studied within the cities, leaving their functioning within the special economic zones in the context of metropolitan belonging unexplored. The main purpose of the article is to determine whether the economic zone has a positive impact on the economic development of cities, which in the context of this research, has been operationalized with the use of computer-aided systems. The authors purposefully choose a Metropolis GZM, Poland (GZM), and Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSEZ). The importance of the high-tech sector in the GZM depends on the development of business in the region. Innovative specializations of cities located in the KSEZ were examined from the point of view of their perception by users of these new technologies, i.e., city residents. The research was conducted among over 1000 inhabitants of 16 cities in the GZM Metropolis. The results show correlations between the existence of modern businesses in metropolitan cities and their development of useful technologies, perceived from the perspective of residents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions to Air Pollution and Global Warming)

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21 pages, 8201 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Miller Cycle and Net-Zero Fuel(s) to Diesel Engine: Effect on the Performance and NOx Emissions of a Single-Cylinder Engine

by Motong Yang and Yaodong Wang

Energies 2023, 16(5), 2488; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16052488 - 06 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2098

Abstract

Diesel engines play a very significant role in the automotive industry, but the total emissions of diesel engines are more than 1.8 times that of petrol engines. It is therefore important for diesel engines to control emissions. Theoretically, the Miller cycle can be used to achieve NOx reductions by changing the effective compression ratio, while it has become increasingly popular in recent years with the increasing maturity of current turbocharging technology. Based on Ricardo WAVE software, this paper analyses the NOx emissions and engine performance of diesel engines by modelling and simulating their operation under different loads with two types of Miller cycles (EIVC and LIVC) at different degrees. Simulation of engines operating under different loads allows a more comprehensive study of the effects of the Miller cycle on the engine, and a specific analysis in the context of the actual engine operating environment. The result is that both versions of the Miller cycle are most effective in reducing NOx emissions at 10% load, showing a maximum reduction of 21% for EIVC and 37% for LIVC. However, as the Miller cycle decreases engine power, the paper further investigates the application of turbocharger systems in the EIVC Miller cycle, with results showing a 32% increase in brake power at 10% load and −25% EIVC Miller cycle degree. Both ethanol-fueled diesel-cycle and Miller cycle engines were also analyzed, and a reduction in NOx emissions was observed, as well as hydrogen engine performance and NOx emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions to Air Pollution and Global Warming)

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15 pages, 12945 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Malaysia’s Electricity Decarbonisation Pathways: Exploring the Role of Renewable Energy Policies Using Agent-Based Modelling

by Kazeem Alasinrin Babatunde, Moamin A. Mahmoud, Nazrita Ibrahim and Fathin Faizah Said

Energies 2023, 16(4), 1720; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16041720 - 09 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1967

Abstract

Coal’s rising prominence in the power industry has raised concerns about future CO₂ emissions and energy reliability. As of 2017, it is estimated that Malaysia’s existing natural gas production can only be maintained for another 40 years. Consequently, the carbon intensity of electricity production has increased due to the increasing share of coal-fired plants and electricity infrastructure inefficiencies. To summarise, energy industries have been the highest emitters of CO₂ emissions, with a 54-percent share. In response to these challenges, the government implemented a series of renewable energy (RE) policy measures. Whether these policies are sufficient in driving Malaysian energy decarbonisation is yet to be seen. In this study, we simulated different scenarios from 2015 to 2050 with an agent-based model to explore the roles of renewable energy policies towards emission reduction in the energy sector. The simulation results reveal that when all renewables initiatives were implemented, the share of RE increased to 16 percent, and emissions intensity fell by 26 percent relative to its level in 2005, albeit with increasing absolute carbon emissions. This milestone is still far below the government’s 45 percent reduction target. The simulation results demonstrate that renewable energy policies are less effective in driving Malaysian electricity towards desired low-carbon pathways. Furthermore, it is evidenced that no single approach can achieve the emission reduction target. Therefore, a combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy policy measures is unavoidable to decarbonise the electricity sector in Malaysia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions to Air Pollution and Global Warming)

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13 pages, 4135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Exploratory Study of Direct Injection (DI) Diesel Engine Performance Using CNSL—Ethanol Biodiesel Blends with Hydrogen

by Thanigaivelan Vadivelu, Lavanya Ramanujam, Rajesh Ravi, Shivaprasad K. Vijayalakshmi and Manoranjitham Ezhilchandran

Energies 2023, 16(1), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16010415 - 29 Dec 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1520

Abstract

The emissions from direct injection (DI) diesel engines remain a serious setback from the viewpoint of environmental pollution, especially for those who have been persuaded to use biofuel as an alternative fuel. The main drawbacks of using biofuels and their mixtures in DI diesel engines are increased emissions and decreased brake thermal efficiency (BTE) compared to using neat diesel fuel. The current study analyses the biodiesel made from cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) using a single-cylinder, direct-injection diesel engine to validate the engine’s performance and discharge characteristics. In addition to the improved CNSL and a twin-fuel engine that runs on hydrogen, ethanol was added to the fuel at rates of 5%, 10%, and 15%. The investigation was conducted using a single-cylinder direct injection diesel engine at steady-state settings, above the sustained engine speed (1500 RPM). Several performance parameters and pollutant emissions, such as hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NO_X) were tracked during this study. According to the experimental findings, the biodiesel mixture’s brake heat was reduced by 26.79% in comparison to the diesel fuel. The brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) declined with the addition of hydrogen to the CNSL mixture. An increase in the BTE with increasing concentrations of hydrogen in the CNSL fuel blend was observed. The best blends of ethanol and CNSL–hydrogen perceptibly increased the exhaust gas temperature and NO_X emissions, while also producing the fewest HC and CO emissions. The current research acts as a novel paradigm that makes it possible to comprehend the exergy related to mass or energy exchanges as a by-product of thermodynamic quality and quantity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage Solutions to Air Pollution and Global Warming)

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