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Rapid vehicle and powertrain development has become essential to for the design and implementation of vehicles that meet and exceed the fuel efficiency, cost, and performance targets expected by today’s consumer while keeping pace with reduced development cycle and more frequent product releases. Recently, advances in large-scale additive manufacturing have provided the means to bridge hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimentation and preproduction mule chassis evaluation. This paper details the accelerated development of a printed range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, by paralleling hardware-in-the-loop development of the powertrain with rapid chassis prototyping using big area additive manufacturing (BAAM). BAAM’s ability to accelerate the mule vehicle development from computer-aided design to vehicle build is explored. The use of a hardware-in-the-loop laboratory is described as it is applied to the design of a range-extended electric powertrain to be installed in a printed prototype vehicle. The integration of the powertrain and the opportunities and challenges it presents are described in this work. A comparison of offline simulation, HIL and chassis rolls results is presented to validate the development process. Chassis dynamometer results for battery electric and range extender operation are analyzed to show the benefits of the architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are omnipresent in energy policy analysis. Even though IAMs can successfully handle uncertainty pertinent to energy planning problems, they render multiple variables as outputs of the modelling. Therefore, policy makers are faced with multiple energy development scenarios and goals. Specifically, technical, environmental, and economic aspects are represented by multiple criteria, which, in turn, are related to conflicting objectives. Preferences of decision makers need to be taken into account in order to facilitate effective energy planning. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tools are relevant in aggregating diverse information and thus comparing alternative energy planning options. The paper aims at ranking European Union (EU) energy development scenarios based on several IAMs with respect to multiple criteria. By doing so, we account for uncertainty surrounding policy priorities outside the IAM. In order to follow a sustainable approach, the ranking of policy options is based on EU energy policy priorities: energy efficiency improvements, increased use of renewables, reduction in and low mitigations costs of GHG emission. The ranking of scenarios is based on the estimates rendered by the two advanced IAMs relying on different approaches, namely TIAM and WITCH. The data are fed into the three MCDM techniques: the method of weighted aggregated sum/product assessment (WASPAS), the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method, and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). As MCDM techniques allow assigning different importance to objectives, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to check the impact of perturbations in weights upon the final ranking. The rankings provided for the scenarios by different MCDM techniques diverge, first of all, due to the underlying assumptions of IAMs. Results of the analysis provide valuable insights in integrated application of both IAMs and MCDM models for developing energy policy scenarios and decision making in energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper presents an investigation on the development of energy security level assessment technology. The system of energy security indicators, covering technical, economic and socio-political aspects, is introduced. The security indicator is a special index which gives numerical values to important issues for security of energy sector. In the paper, each indicator is described by presenting the title, comments, factual and threshold, pre-critical and critical state values. The integral characteristics of these indicators show the level of energy security and in order to identify it, a point system assessment scale is used. The methodology developed in this paper is applied for the assessment of the Lithuanian energy security level in different scenarios. At first, indicator groups are constructed and group weights are determined. The weights of indicators within each group are established in two ways: when all weights are equal and one indicator is dominating. Taking into consideration the assessment of indicators by points, their weights in groups and group weights, the Lithuanian energy security level was determined according to separate indicator blocks. The security level of each indicator and each indicator block, and total security level are presented as the results. The indicators that have the highest impact on the security level increase or decrease are determined as well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As a representative of many emerging economies, BRICS’ economies have been greatly developed in recent years. Meanwhile, the proportion of energy consumption of BRICS to the whole world consumption has increased. Therefore, it is significant to analyze and compare the energy efficiency among them. This paper firstly utilizes a Super-SBM model to measure and calculate the energy efficiency of BRICS, then analyzes their present status and development trend. Further, Bootstrap is applied to modify the values based on DEA derived from small sample data, and finally the relationship between energy efficiency and carbon emissions is measured. Results show that energy efficiency of BRICS as a whole is low but has a quickly increasing trend. Also, the relationship between energy efficiency and carbon emissions vary from country to country because of their different energy structures. The governments of BRICS should make some relevant energy policies according to their own conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are being renewed across Europe. • Old and renewed EPCs for Swedish multifamily buildings are matched and compared. • A three-step method is developed to ensure that matched EPCs are comparable. • Novel quantitative, building-specific analyses of change in energy use are enabled. • Future applications of matched EPCs include evaluation of renovations and policies. Energy Performance Certificates are currently one of the most extensive data sources about the energy performance of the EUs building stock and consequently provide support for researchers and policy makers in energy regulation. As Energy Performance Certificates are being renewed, there are new possibilities to study energy performance development over time and to evaluate the building-specific effect of energy policies and measures. This paper aims to explore this possibility. In Sweden, owners of multifamily buildings had to obtain their first Energy Performance Certificate no later than the end of 2008, and with a period of validity of 10 years many owners have now obtained a second Energy Performance Certificate for their building(s). This enables unprecedented quantitative, building-specific evaluations of the change in energy performance over time. However, comparability between old and new Energy Performance Certificates must be assured. This study develops a novel three-step method to attain comparability between old and renewed Energy Performance Certificates. Results show that while many pairs of Energy Performance Certificates were considered comparable, procedural changes in methods for determining heated floor area in Swedish Energy Performance Certificates caused an overestimation of energy performance improvement of approximately 7 kWh/m2 per building which had to be corrected for. The results of this paper indicate that old and renewed Energy Performance Certificates can be utilised to successfully map development of energy performance and enable evaluation of the impact on energy performance from policies and measures that have been carried out between the two points of audit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China’s wind industry has grown rapidly over the past decade. Continued growth in this industry is critical for China’s domestic energy security and the global environment. However, little is known about the microeconomic drivers that move wind energy development in China. Based on a survey of experts in Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, this paper finds that the most important drivers of wind energy investment in China are perceived to be those that can have an immediate impact on a wind energy developer’s cash flow: government financial assistance, easy and inexpensive transmission access, wind energy cost decline, and a high feed-in-tariff. A renewable portfolio standard, tax incentives and international research and development cooperation are seen as less important. These findings underscore the importance of reducing the financial risk in wind energy development. However, none of the key drivers is directly tied to energy output, which suggests that China’s wind energy policies must be modified to incentivize energy output, rather than just installed capacity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper estimates the affordability of increased energy costs for Chinese companies due to the possible introduction of carbon pricing policies. The data were collected from 121 valid respondents in Taicang, China, using a multiple-bounded discrete choice (MBDC) format. Estimations indicate that a mean of 8.5% in energy cost increase would be acceptable for the surveyed companies on the whole. Companies from chemical and dyeing industries expressed a slightly higher affordability, with the mean of acceptable energy cost increase being 9.8% and 9.4% respectively. Econometric analysis identified two determinants of affordability for companies. One is the current energy price level, having a significant but negative relationship with affordability. The other is the energy management strategies of companies, significantly and positively associated with affordability. Calculations indicate that the mean of affordable energy cost increases for companies roughly equals a carbon price of 60 CNY/t-CO2 (about 9 USD/t-CO2). This result may be used as a referendum during the development of carbon tax policy and the establishment of a domestic carbon emissions trading scheme in China from the perspective of individual companies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is a growing need to site new power generating plants that use cleaner energy sources due to increased regulations on air and water pollution and a sociopolitical desire to develop more clean energy sources. To assist utility and energy companies as well as policy-makers in evaluating potential areas for siting new plants in the contiguous United States, an adaptation of a geographic information system (GIS)-based multicriteria decision analysis approach is presented in this paper. The presented approach has led to the development of the Oak Ridge Siting Analysis for power Generation Expansion (OR-SAGE) tool. The tool takes inputs such as population growth, water availability, environmental indicators, and tectonic and geological hazards to provide an in-depth analysis for siting options. To the utility and energy companies, the tool can quickly and effectively provide feedback on land suitability based on technology specific inputs. However, the tool does not replace the required detailed evaluation of candidate sites. To the policy-makers, the tool provides the ability to analyze the impacts of future energy technology while balancing competing resource use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Asia’s largest biofuels producers are currently Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and India. This paper first examines the current status of biofuels in these countries, including the national development targets, strategies, incentives and policies. It then identifies the fundamental driving forces behind the development and promotion of these industries and considers their economic, social and environmental impacts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]