Narrow Results

This chapter carries out an investigation on the consumption of energy and emission of CO₂ in 16 Students’ halls of residence (hostels) in Lagos, Nigeria, to gain an understanding on the status, impacts and performance of energy use in public student residences. The use of energy in Nigeria was highlighted and the continuously evolving built environment was shown to have an impact on the electricity infrastructure of the nation. Residential buildings were shown to significantly impact energy supply around the world. Methods of benchmarking were applied for the identification of variables capable of impacting on the consumption of energy in the buildings, these methods also identified the variables that significantly correlated with the energy consumption. The energy usage intensity (EUI) was characterized and with EUI acting as an indicator for building energy performance (BEP), the derived annual benchmark range of EUI was derived and given as 93.61–147.1kWh/m². The CO₂ emission levels were calculated using an emission factor and correlation analysis was carried out to show that floor area, number of occupants and number of rooms all had significant correlation with the CO₂ emissions.

From both a regulatory and development perspective, these are active, encouraging times for the expansion of energy storage resources (“ESRs”) in the United States. From a significant ruling of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) to the presentation and implementation of aggressive state initiatives, rapid ESR deployment continues unabated while ESR technology costs continue to decline precipitously. Undeniably, ESRs have arrived as a credible, useful component of a resilient and efficient grid. This chapter explores common ESRs and how they contribute to grid stability, the impact of regulatory agencies on the development of markets to compensate ESRs, how states are playing a pivotal role in advancing the development of ESRs, and the major factors that should be considered in the financing of ESRs.

In response to the sustainability challenges that the Los Angeles region is facing due to the climate crisis and an increasing population, UCLA launched the first university-led Grand Challenge in 2013 — the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, thriving in a hotter Los Angeles. The long-term goals of this Grand Challenge are to transition Los Angeles County to 100% renewable energy, 100% local water, and enhanced ecosystem health by the year 2050. UCLA is leading this effort by coordinating research across disciplines, educating and training students to be the next-generation of problem solvers, and engaging stakeholders to create policy recommendations, technology breakthroughs, and partnerships that result in scalable urban sustainability solutions. Los Angeles County’s diversity in sustainability challenges, landscapes, and cultures make solutions implemented in Los Angeles relevant for megacities across the globe.

“The verdict is in. The world must act now to curb the cataclysmic effects of climate change. In NJ, we set a path to 100% clean energy by 2050, signed sweeping clean energy legislation and are protecting our land & water. Our children deserve nothing less.” — NJ Governor Murphy, November 24, 2018…

The news about climate change is increasingly bleak. Already, deep and consequential changes in the Earth’s systems, including the oceans, forests, and atmosphere, are occurring as a consequence of fossil fuel emissions. Looking ahead, scientists warn that the window of opportunity is rapidly closing for taking actions that could keep global average temperature increase to less than 2 Celsius degrees (C°) above the preindustrial era, the limit many scientists believe is needed to prevent potentially catastrophic effects of climate change. This chapter describes the scenarios for transitions in energy, agriculture, and land use that together are sufficient to limit global average temperature increase to 1.5–2 C°. These changes are not inevitable but will require urgent and extraordinary efforts to align policies, overcome financial bottlenecks, and speed market adoption of new solutions. Our assessment in the RMI Positive Disruption report/paper indicates that such changes may still be within reach, provided that enough subnational, national, international, and especially private-sector and civil-society actions can be launched and aligned to take full advantage of globally scaled production and deployment of clean energy technologies.

The World Nuclear Industry Report (WNISR) is an annual assessment of the status and trends in the commercial nuclear industry. The report has, for the past 15 years, monitored global construction, operation and closure of reactors and makes comparisons with the developments of renewable energy and the implications for climate change.

The article on the Climate Science Special Report: 4th U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA4), Volume I, summarizes the basis and the requirements for developing U.S. national climate assessments. The reader is referred to that material, as it is not repeated here. Instead, the focus in this chapter is on NCA4, Volume II, which is an assessment of climate-related impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States. NCA4, Volume II (USGCRP, 2018), was published on November 23, 2018, and the entire assessment report is available at NCA2018.globalchange.gov…

Wind turbines and Solar Photovoltaic (PV) electric energy generators are the lowest cost producers of electricity available in 2019, costing about half as much as a new coal plant’s electric energy (Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, 2018). They have the important characteristic of delivering electricity without releasing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂). Yet, almost all experts and plans for the future say that wind and solar will not be dominant contributors to electricity generation for the next couple of decades. They say we must continue fossil fuels with their associated greenhouse gases because of problems with renewable generators…

The following sections are included:

• Prelude
• Single Particle Acceleration and Focusing Limits in Structures: Laser-driven Plasma Wakefields, Structured Nanomaterials and Crystals
• Quantum Sensors of the “Dark” Universe and Weak Processes
• Outlook
• Acknowledgments
• References

Senegal is located in West Africa with a population close to 16 million inhabitants unequally distributed on a land of 196,722 km² area. In the 2000s, a national energy information system (known as SIE-Sénégal) aiming at monitoring and forecasting the energy demand and the efficient planning of the energy infrastructure was put in place in the Ministry of Oil and Energies. A lot of data were recorded of which some are analyzed and presented here for a better understanding of the energy system of Senegal. In the period 2000–2013, the energy demand has been increasing reaching 3.72 Mtoe in 2013. The demand is covered by imported fossil fuels and traditional biomass. The energy consumption has been increasing in the same period from 1.69 Mtoe in 2000 up to 2.56 Mtoe in 2013. The energy pattern shows a lion’s share for the residential sector followed by the transport and industrial sectors. In the residential sector, firewood is the main fuel, and electricity is deemed marginal. The transport sector is dominated by the road subsector where diesel oil represents 81% of the energy use. In the industrial sector, more than 80% of energy used is from fossil origin and the share of coal is becoming significant.

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) acknowledge the interlinkages between human well-being, economic prosperity, and a healthy environment, and hence, are associated with a wide range of topical issues that include the securities of water, energy, and food (WEF) resources, poverty eradication, economic development, climate change, health, among others. As SDGs are assessed through targets to be achieved by 2030 and monitored through measurable indicators, nexus planning was applied as a transformative approach to monitor and assess progress toward SDG in 2015 and 2018 using South Africa. WEF nexus-related SDGs that were evaluated include Goals 2 (zero hunger), 6 (clean water and sanitation), and 7 (affordable and clean energy). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to integrate indicators for each of the reference years. Resource management and implementation of WEF-related SDGs improved by 31% (from 0.155 to 0.203) between 2015 and 2018 in South Africa but remained marginally sustainable. The assessment provided an evidence-based support framework for improved and effective management strategies to meet set SDG targets. The connections between the WEF nexus and SDGs strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration among stakeholders, unpack measures for cooperative governance and management, and supporting outcomes that arise from different cross-sectoral interventions. As food production, water provision, and energy accessibility are the major socio-economic and environmental issues currently attracting global attention, the method enhances climate change adaptation.

The chapter focuses on the energy transition as a necessary prerequisite for developing a green economy. The features of the new energy transition are based on the introduction and use of clean technologies, such as renewable energy and hydrogen. The urgency of taking drastic measures to transition to green energy is connected with the speedy solution to climate problems on the planet. The countries are actively taking measures to decarbonize economic processes; businesses are adopting business strategies that include reducing the negative impact on the environment and introducing green technologies. The paper analyzes current trends in the energy sector to identify the readiness of a new energy transition to the principles of a green economy.

Arguably, to nourish or take care of the needs of all of humankind — sustainable and affordable access to clean water, safe sanitation, and clean air, together with a sufficiency of energy, food, and shelter — should be universally available. Yet, many humans do not enjoy such access or availability, even though it has been 70 years since the 1948 United Nations (UN) declaration on human rights proclaimed “that all human beings are equal, and have inherent rights.” However, only food and shelter were explicitly mentioned in the initial declaration. Others were recently added to the UN list, but not air and energy. Nevertheless, basic human needs do not have to be declared as a human right before national actions are taken. Today’s key driver is the UN 2030 Agenda, a plan to eradicate all global poverty and set the world onto a “sustainable and resilient path,” through the achievement of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted by all UN members, the 2030 Agenda in essence, is a 21^st century version of the 1948 proclamation. The SDGs explicitly detail, or implicitly in the case of clean air, all the necessary needs for the nourishing of tomorrow. To achieve the plan will likely require, at least, changes in national cultural values, eliminating inequalities and disparities, developing more appropriate governance strategies, and meaningful technical innovation. In this chapter, these requirements are discussed against a backdrop of presently known deficiencies in global nourishment needs.

To achieve China’s goal of “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”, the energy transition and development are of vital importance and urgent, and there are still many major issues that need to be studied urgently. In this context, based on the existing literature, this article combs and reviews the latest developments in the application of structural equation modeling methods in the energy industry from the dimensions of energy safety production, energy consumption behavior, energy enterprise economy, and new energy development, and believes that Has broad application prospects in the future energy transition.

Supercapacitors and fuel cells are essential energy devices for the implementation of a real renewable energy economy. The development of highly efficient and low-cost electrode materials is one of the major challenges to improve these devices. Biomass-derived carbon materials are postulated as a very interesting alternative, as they can be obtained from inexpensive precursors and abundant resources obtained directly from nature. However, they commonly exhibit an underdeveloped porous structure and a lack of controlled surface functionalities that limit their real application. Therefore, it is essential to apply different approaches to modify and design their properties to fit the requirements of energy storage and conversion devices. This chapter attempts to provide a broad overview of the most promising strategies that can be followed to design biomass-derived carbon materials with highly efficient performance in energy applications, such as supercapacitors and fuel cells.

The paper investigates the KCC (structural) stability of the second-order extension of the brain-stimulated Parkinson tremor dynamical system. After a brief presentation of the known linear stability results of the model, are determined and studied the KCC-invariants. It is emphasized that the spectral properties of the second KCC-invariant provide practical information for the behavior of the investigated model. The semispray of the second-order differential system associated to the basic SODE is evidentiated.

This paper applies the energy limit concept to the stability problem of structures and structural systems. New concepts such as, the energy capacity that measures accumulated energy in the structure before failure and virtual large displacements that lead to significant plastic deformations are introduced and defined. Proposed theory considers full load cycle, from the initiation of the instability until complete collapse of the structure. New equations for the determination of critical loads are derived, presented, and compared to known results. Proposed new equations take into consideration simultaneous effects of axial, bending, shear and torque deformations. The results of the study are substantiated by comparison with examples with known answers.

Polygonal knots are embeddings of polygons in three space. For each n, the collection of embedded n-gons determines a subset of Euclidean space whose structure is the subject of this paper. Which knots can be constructed with a specified number of edges? What is the likelihood that a randomly chosen polygon of n-edges will be a knot of a specific topological type? At what point is a given topological type most likely as a function of the number of edges? Are the various orderings of knot types by means of "physical properties" comparable? These and related questions are discussed and supporting evidence, in many cases derived from Monte Carlo explorations, is provided.

We define a scale-invariant energy function for polygonal knots in ℜ³ based on the minimum distances between segments. The energy is bounded below by 2π (minimum crossing number of the knot type). For each knot type, there exists an ideal number of segments, from which can be made an ideal conformation of the knot having minimum energy among all polygons realizing that knot type. Results leading to this include the following: The energy of an n-segment polygon is greater than n; if energy is bounded then ratios of edge lengths and angles are bounded away from zero; changing knot type requires passing an infinite energy barrier. We implement an algorithm, with the feature that preserving knot-type is guaranteed, to discover local energy-minimizing conformations for a given number of segments, and present some of these examples.

Emerging advanced wireless ad hoc networks make it possible for network resources to be utilized anywhere and anytime. However, compared with traditional infrastructure-based networks, wireless ad hoc networks are relatively unstable and unreliable due to the underlying wireless medium and infrastructure-less nature. Existing techniques compensate for the instability of wireless links by employing either packet retransmissions, network coding, opportunistic routing, thick (or multiple) paths, or route fixes (using alternative routes). This chapter seeks to compare these techniques in terms of energy cost, the increment of reliability, and various other metrics.