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Every year the pulp and paper industry consumes billions of metres cubed of water and produces huge amounts of highly polluted wastewater that needs to be treated. Conventional techniques of wastewater treatment require a high energy input and their environmental impact is debatable. Thus, the need to find new sustainable, environmentally friendly and efficient treatment techniques is urgent. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are the technology of the future since they simultaneously treat wastewater and produce clean energy. The historical development of this technology towards its application to wastewater treatment was described. The application of MFCs in pulp and paper wastewater treatment is a new and developing field of investigation that still needs to overcome many limitations before its use on an industrial scale. This article reviews the limits of conventional treatment methods and the current state of the art MFC systems for pulp and paper wastewater treatment. The paper provides an overview of the electrogenic microorganisms able to produce electricity from pulp and paper wastewater. The bacteria, isolated at different stages of pulp and papermaking, are best suited for electrogenic activity in harsh environments. It was shown that MFC technology fully meets the requirements of sustainable pulp and paper wastewater treatment and, in terms of the input-output energy balance, remains energetically and environmentally competitive when compared to conventional treatment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving high sustainability levels in the energy sector is at the heart of the United Nations and European Union goals. One of the main paths to achieve this is to adopt sustainable practices in energy supply chains (SCs). In this study, a systematic literature review has been carried out to analyze the triple-bottom-line of sustainability in the SCs of energy production. The main results show that the literature on the topic is scarce and unbalanced. For instance, the analysis of different energy sources is biased towards biomass. Moreover, key SC management aspects like inter-organizational coordination and certain stakeholder involvement i.e., customers, universities and/or research centers, are underrepresented in the analyzed literature. The study's main contribution is to identify and critically review the current key topics and gaps in the literature on sustainability in energy SCs. Based on the findings, a two-level research agenda is proposed that outlines six critical avenues that bring research, private actors, and decision-makers altogether to enhance the sustainability of energy SCs. The suggestions for future research included in the agenda are based on the gaps presented in the results of the literature review, as well as on the research directions highlighted in the analyzed literature. This study offers guidance to managers regarding best practices and fields of improvement, as well as to scholars by suggesting paths to fill gaps in the current body of literature and elaborate more sustainable energy SCs. [Display omitted] • The first holistic systematic literature review on SSCM in energy production. • Identifying and categorizing ninety-seven papers on the topic. • Outlining a set of key topics and gaps and proposing a future research agenda. • Helping decision-makers to assess and benchmark sustainability in the energy SC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas worldwide face a significant environmental challenge which is increasing municipal solid waste rate. Addressing its negative consequences necessitates advancements in waste management systems. Although the previous research focused on the static routing approach in the collection phase, this paper adds a dynamic municipal solid waste collection scheme to optimize vehicle routing, accounting for fluctuations in waste generation and changes in transportation systems. This study employs, for the first time, the application of a discrete choice model (DCM) to streamline the process of re-optimization in dynamic vehicle routing problems (DVRP). At each decision epoch, DCM is applied to determine the likelihood of choosing the next geographical zone to visit bins based on current waste generation levels and traveling costs. Moreover, the multi-compartment vehicles are considered to preserve waste segregation during transportation, thereby increasing operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. Another contribution of this paper is to determine visiting priority for each bin by adjusting the time window based on the threshold waste level. Hence, this paper proposes a framework for sustainable, efficient, and effective waste management practices by integrating the benefits of dynamic and multi-compartment routing. Furthermore, a hybrid Genetic and Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm has been designed to find the best solution for the studied problem as well as some of the latest and most proficient metaheuristic algorithms. Finally, the Best Worst Method is applied to find the best-proposed algorithm to solve the presented problem, indicating that the hybrid algorithm has the highest performance in providing high-quality route plans. [Display omitted] • Devoloping a dynamic approach for multi-compartment trucks for waste collection. • Applying time-dependent travel time to consider different traffic conditions. • Internet of Things is embedded in bins to have real-time data from bins. • Utilizing a discrete choice model to avoid re-routing after visiting each bin. • Determining bin visit priority based on waste thresholds and hazard levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper is an Editorial for the special issue (SI) of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER) devoted to the 12th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES), held from the 4th to 8th October 2017 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The key focus of RSER is to publish critical thinking across the wide field of renewable and sustainable energy. The journal publishes either pure review papers or research papers with a precise review element. Overall, the guest editors invited 36 papers presented on 12th SDEWES conference, of which 17 were accepted after rigorous peer review process. The SDEWES conferences present a continuous effort in gathering high level scientists and research papers across the field of sustainability and by now the amount of accumulated knowledge, through conference papers and special journal issues, is significant. Each SDEWES journal editorial presents a wider overview of special issue journal papers in order to maintain the continuation of knowledge generation on the main sustainability topics. The main topics covered in this RSER editorial include renewable energies with special focus on integration, markets and roadmaps, energy efficiency in buildings, industrial process and transport, bio based economy focused on bio based chemicals and biofuels, energy storage focused on batteries, thermal and geological storages and various sustainability assessments in several sectors and technologies. All were considered in light of the Circular Economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the economic and environmental aspects of installing PV facilities for residential electricity users. This paper explores, in a conservative approach, the installation of a PV capacity to compensate the consumption with the production for each moment, never feeding electricity into the utility network and without storage. The approach proposed is illustrated by applying different power PV capacities in alternative locations (Marseille, Madrid and Seville), using the hourly demand provided for the smart meters. Combining the load curve of each user, the irradiation and PV production of each location, the cost of equipments, the hourly emission in the whole market, the variable price of electricity for residential users and the energy needs to build a PV facility. The model calculates, for each individual the optimal PV power to install and the emissions avoided. The results show that, with the current cost of the PV facilities and variable prices of electricity, the PV are, from an economic and environmental point of view, profitable in all the locations analyzed. This initiative will be more profitable for private investors and, additionally, for the environment in the next three years. A massive installation of these facilities in Spain and France will contribute to achieving their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of the Paris agreement (COP-21), fulfilling, in Spain, the current legal restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has caused growing concern in the international community. The Kyoto Protocol was signed by a majority of the world with the clear intention of reducing emissions. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a part of the Kyoto Protocol and allows industrialized countries to reduce their emission by making contribution to developing countries. In this study, several research papers related to sustainability and multi-criteria analysis of energy projects were reviewed and classified based on their focus, motivation and contribution to achieve a comprehensive summary. Additionally, this paper presents a review of multi criteria decision methods and sustainability indicators under five pillars: technical, economic, social, environmental, and risk. Moreover, sustainability analysis of worldwide CDM concentrated solar power (CSP) projects was performed by using MAUT method. The analysis was repeated based on several scenarios including different criteria and criteria weights. The purpose of this research is proposing a framework and providing an understanding for decision makers to evaluate the sustainability of CDM energy projects. This work can provide perceptions to future installations and further insights for the development of sustainable CDM energy projects around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, sustainability is one of the most important subjects in architecture and urban design. Sustainable design strategies reduce energy consumption of buildings and environmental pollution. Moreover, these strategies improve the microclimatic conditions of urban spaces. In this regard, courtyard design is an efficient sustainable strategy to improve thermal and microclimatic conditions of urban spaces. For 5000 years, courtyards have been developed to adapt to severe climatic conditions, particularly in hot and arid climates. Inaccurate courtyard thermal estimations may occur due to the complexity of optimal thermal design and insufficient tools for simulating the thermal conditions of indoor and outdoor spaces simultaneously. In the last four decades, researchers have recommended several methods to study the thermal function of courtyards. Although the variety of the modelling particularities makes it difficult to obtain appropriate results that encompass all influential factors of courtyard climatic performance, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the papers of this type of building form. The main goal is to clarify if and how the construction of courtyards can decrease energy consumption and improve the microclimate of buildings. The present study focuses on the impact of courtyard design factors (such as proportion, orientation, geometry, opening characteristics, and material) and its components (such as shading devices, vegetation, and water pool) on energy consumption, indoor and outdoor temperatures, solar radiation, and natural ventilation in different climates. Regarding the researchers’ frameworks in the reviewed papers, three main categories are identified: 1- those examining the microclimatic function of courtyards, 2- those based on the thermal function of courtyards, and 3- those that incorporate an integrative approach (considering the thermal and microclimatic functions of courtyards simultaneously). Afterward, the paper reviews the role of three main climatic factors — solar gain, humidity, and natural ventilation — in each category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid energy systems have proven their efficacy in improving energy sustainability. This paper focuses on the design and evaluation of various hybrid energy systems for hot water production in the experimental plant of the Laboratory for Quality Control in Buildings. The experimental facility was created to test and control various systems for energy supplies in buildings. In this work, three thermal installations were investigated: (1) a combined boiler cogeneration system, (2) a combined boiler solar collector system, and (3) a combined boiler heat pump system. After configuring each system in the laboratory, defining the control, and running the experimental essay, the corresponding data were obtained and treated. The exergy concept matches very well with the goal of promoting new systems that efficiently integrate renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. The exergy analysis and its extended assessments, the exergoeconomic and the exergoenvironmental, were applied to the designed systems. The results show that DHW production by the combined boiler solar thermal collector system is the most expensive in terms of the exergy cost index (about 33.29 kWh ex /kWh ex). DHW production by the combined boiler cogeneration system offers the lowest exergy unit cost (about 21.15 kWh ex /kWh ex). Based on economic and environmental indexes, DHW production by the combined boiler solar thermal collector system is the most suitable option. Its unit exergoeconomic cost is around 2.15 €/kWh ex , and its exergoenvironmental unit impact is equal to 9.35 kg CO 2 /kWh ex. [Display omitted] • Three hybrid thermal systems for DHW production are configured experimentally. • Exergy-based analyses are used as a tool for internal cost sharing. • The optimal exergy cost of DHW is 21.15 kWh ex /kWh ex by cogeneration boiler system. • The ideal exergoeconomic cost of DHW is 2.15 €/kWh ex by boiler solar collector system. • The best exergoenvironmental cost is 9.35 kgCO 2 /kWh ex by boiler solar collector system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in biodiesel production have led to a surplus of crude glycerol, which represents a major bottleneck in the biodiesel production chain and has created new challenges to its sustainable use. Although there is a wide range of potential uses for crude glycerol, they are limited by its degree of purity, which affects its physical, chemical and biological properties. This paper presents a review and analysis of patents related to the use of glycerol in the period from 1993 to 2015, showing the quantity and diversity of work related to the search for alternatives to add value to glycerol. It was found that 85.7% of the filed patents fell into four categories of applications: 1) manufacture of chemical products; 2) production of polymer compounds; 3) production of biofuels and biogas; and 4) purification and use of glycerol. In this regard, the development of new technologies for the use of glycerol, without the need for traditional purification steps, are fundamental. This paper portrays the efforts that have been made in this direction and the obstacles that still have to be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lighting system design is a significant component of building and is considered as an important aspect when addressing sustainability of buildings. Achieving sustainability in buildings would tackle through energy conservation and waste savings. In most of the industrialised countries, rising energy costs make indoor artificial lightings as a significant contributor. Thus, visual comfort within the indoor environment could be affected by an energy-saving strategy. This paper organises a systematic state of the art review of indoor lighting simulation related to the buildings research. Simulation allows artificial objects and dynamical role variations to optimise the maximal use of lighting systems in buildings. Thus, it allows equivalent lighting system design and the synthetic environment in a virtual world. This strategy makes it possible to design and select the subjective state of the physical and virtual well-being of the visual comfort in the buildings. The main objective of this paper is to find out the most popular simulation tool adopted for the simulation of lighting in the building prototypes by various researchers. The simulation platforms are categorised in simple tools and integrated tools. The survey comprises of seventy papers which were thoroughly reviewed. It is observed that various relevant studies were carried out by different researchers in the energy savings and lighting in buildings and their prototypes were found during the survey. This research can positively aid the researchers and energy managers in deciding the feasible simulation tool for simulating their respective prototypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the editorial for the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews joint special issue devoted to the research work discussed and presented at the 11th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES), held from the 4th September to the 9th September 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal and the 2nd South East European (SEE) SDEWES Conference held from June 15th to June 18th, 2016 in Piran, Slovenia. This special issue is in line with the journal's aim of publishing research from across the ever-broadening field of renewable and sustainable energy with a strong review element. Previous SDEWES conference special issues have gathered a significant knowledge base in the field of sustainable development that reflects the continuous research efforts of the SDEWES research community. Therefore, this editorial provides not only an overview of the papers published in this particular special issue, but also a wider overview of the current trends in the domain of sustainable and renewable energy. This year's special issue focuses particularly on the benefits of the bio-based economy, energy security issues, fossil fuel thermal plant alternatives and environmental constraints, district heating and cooling together with cross sector energy efficiency and energy conservation issues. Sustainable transport systems, the issue of fuel poverty in urban neighbourhoods and renewable energy to support development of peripheral rural areas, optimising passive building design for hot climates and solar-powered heating and cooling are further topics featured in this special issue. In the process of selecting papers for this special issue, the guest editors invited in total 23 extended manuscripts for consideration for publication. After a rigorous review process by expert reviewers overseen by the guest editors a total of 16 articles were accepted for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighbourhood is widely recognised as a fundamental building block of a city, and a good starting point to create a truly sustainable community. Green neighbourhood is also broadly defined as being moderately dense, mixed-use, designed at a human scale, active and public transportation oriented and literally “green”. A green neighbourhood assessment system is a tool that evaluates sustainability performance of a given neighbourhood against a set of criteria. This paper evaluates 20 major international green neighbourhood assessment systems in according to their sustainability coverage and features. Sustainability aspects used in this paper include transportation, infrastructure, ecology, resources, energy, community, location, economy and building. The results of this study show that community, resources and ecology are the three major sustainability aspects that applied in 18, 17 and 16 out of 20 assessment systems respectively. However, after assessing the sustainability aspects by their weightings in the assessment systems, the differences among them are reduced and their rate of importance in all the assessment systems became closer. Ecology, energy, transportation, resources and economy receive the highest weightings after affecting by their weightings and incredibly community dropped to the very low importance of weightings. Regarding regional distribution of the systems around the world, initiative of green neighbourhood assessment system was first started in United Kingdom and European Union in 2000 and 2004 respectively and this trend reached to United States in 2005. Meanwhile, LEED (ND) with 184 certificates/projects is the main well-known systems in the world followed by Envirodevelopment in Australia and SPeAR in the United Kingdom with 100 certificates/projects each. It is also found that the highest certification fee (minimum) is LEED (ND) with US$30,000 followed by Green Star (Communities) and CASSBEE and the highest evaluation fee (maximum) goes back to DGNB followed by LEED (ND) and Green Star (Communities). Future research can be conducted on the implementation of several green neighbourhood assessment systems on actual projects and compare their capabilities in measuring the rate of greening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address issues of energy security and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, substantial amounts of corn-derived ethanol are being used in U.S. gasoline. Currently, ethanol comprises 10% of the U.S. gasoline pool (E10), but there is interest in increasing this – possibly doubling the amount currently used. Production of corn ethanol raises several concerns with respect to environmental and ecological impacts. This paper reviews the available literature regarding impacts on biodiversity, land use change (LUC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and overall sustainability. A companion paper addresses impacts on water, soil, and air quality. We emphasize recent information appearing since comprehensive reports on these topics were issued by the U.S. EPA and NRC/NAS in 2011. The principal environmental and ecological concerns arise from the intensive agricultural activities associated with corn cropping. Expansion of these activities promotes regional mono-culture, which is accompanied by reduced plant and animal biodiversity, and diminished ecosystem functions and services. Extensification of corn cropping into Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands is occurring, which raises concerns about erosion, nutrient runoff, and other adverse environmental impacts. Estimating the impacts of increased ethanol on GHG emissions requires sophisticated life cycle assessment (LCA) modeling approaches to account for emissions resulting from land use change (LUC). Although considerable uncertainty remains, recent regulatory modeling by EPA and CARB estimate modest GHG reductions of about 20% from corn ethanol as compared to gasoline. Being a major commodity in global food/feed markets, displacing large amounts of corn to produce ethanol strengthens demand and increases prices. To date, these effects have been small, but there are growing concerns about increased use of staple food products to produce fuels within the context of an expanding global population that faces severe calorie shortages. Tradeoffs regarding environmental, ecological, and social impacts raise questions about the overall sustainability of such an approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation sector is characterized by a high consumption of fossil fuels and a strong environmental impact. Promoting electric vehicles is an alternative to reduce and limit them move towards the sustainability of the automobile sector. In a short period of time, world car manufacturers have built, marketed and sold a million electric vehicles, and a million drivers got used to these new low carbon advanced technologies. Comparatively, this figure represents approximately the average annual sales of conventional vehicles in Spain. The main problem is the battery autonomy, since its maximum range does not exceed 250 km, a restriction that limits the trip. Spain belongs to the group of countries which have longest trip average around 80 km. Then the problem is how to understand electric mobility, for that the types and modes of charging, the types of electric vehicles, and the available charging systems all interact with one another in the charging systems for electric vehicles, which will be specifically analysed. Alternative charging methods are also presented, and the agents involved in the charging process in accordance with applicable regulations are identified. The objective of this article is to analyse the charging of electric vehicles in Spain and to assess the current situation to be able to propose potential improvements or implementation strategies. This paper determines that it is necessary to develop public policies for a structured implementation of charging stations in public places and in common-use areas within large shared spaces, such as parking areas and residential areas in order to improve electric mobility in Spain. This paper also illustrates the need to legislate standards for charging electric vehicles to maximize their implementation in Spain, with the goal of implementing electric vehicles on a larger scale and ultimately allowing society to benefit from the advantages of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews methods that measure mineral resource depletion based on cumulative exergy consumption approaches. It focuses on the exergy replacement cost (ERC), which measures the amount of exergy society would have to consume in order to re-concentrate an extracted and processed mineral to the point that it can be once more exploited by future generations. The ERC, which was originally only suitable for non-fuel minerals, was adapted and extended in 2016, by changing the focus of the ERC from the chemical composition of the resource to its function, to include fossil fuel depletion. This paper discusses the impact of these new developments and identifies conceptual and methodological weaknesses that need to be addressed for the ERC to find widespread use in exergy analysis and in order to assess the sustainability of mineral policy from the grave to the cradle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GCC experience is the only successful Arab experience at the level of regional cooperation in the Arab region. This success can only be enshrined by the Council's ability to continue. Also, these countries succeeded in promoting a rapprochement between their States and the Arab region and its surroundings. The three wars in the area posed significant challenges to the Gulf Cooperation Council. Arabian Gulf authorities have sensed the need to develop a strategic partnership focus on the defense and the sustainability of the GCC countries, and their well-being. Climate change has sparked a war; all the wealth and luxury enjoyed by the people of the Gulf States will be affected by climate change. The impact of climate change appears in many forms, including an increase in the average ambient temperature in the region with severe decrease in precipitation. The area climate is rapidly changing because of human activities from year to year and decade to decade. The Arabian Gulf region is interested in climate change on several levels, and there is a growing awareness in the area. The potential for climate change is affecting many sectors and systems, like distilled water processing, food security, renewable energies and public health. This paper will discuss these issues in this paper. The information presented in this article aims to give a review and discussion of the effect of climate change in the GCC to the researchers; decision makers, politicians, and engineers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources have become a very important issue due to environmental and sustainability concerns. In addition, most renewable energy electricity generation (RES-E) projects are characterized by considerable uncertainty and sequential decision-making. These projects’ net present value (NPV) is very often close to zero, which renders them a good candidate for the application of real options valuation methodology of investment project appraisal. This paper examines the real options valuation of a potential onshore wind farm project in Serbia. The binomial tree model spans a 15 year period consisting of a 2 year investment period and a 13 year operating period, the first 12 years of which are protected by Feed-in-Tariffs according to local renewable energy regulations. The authors examine a multi-phased compound (nested) path-dependent real option consisting of mutually exclusive options - a sequential option to invest as well as expand, repower, contract and abandon options. Volatility, which is calculated by means of a Monte Carlo simulation according to the logarithmic-present-value-returns approach, shows predominant sensitivity to the capacity factor simulated with the rescaled Weibull's probability distribution. The final binomial tree results show that the proposed sequence of options increases project value by transforming higher risk and lower return in the initial discounted cash flow model, to lower risk and higher return in the RO model. This paper contributes to the existing literature in at least two ways: it presents in-depth analysis of the real option application to the RES-E project and provides decision-makers with sophisticated tool for improving strategic thinking, capital budgeting and decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current climate change is calling for a drastic reduction of energy demand as well as of greenhouse gases. Besides this, cities also need to adapt to face the challenges related to climate change. Cities, with their complex urban texture and fabric, can be represented as a diverse ecosystem that does not have a clear and defined boundary. Multiple software tools that have been developed, in recent years, for assessment of urban climate, building energy demand, the outdoor thermal comfort and the energy systems. In this review, we, however, noted that these tools often address only one or two of these urban planning aspects. There is nonetheless an intricate link between them. For instance, the outdoor comfort assessment has shown that there is a strong link between biometeorology and architecture and urban climate. Additionally, to address the challenges of the energy transition, there will be a convergence of the energy needs in the future with an energy nexus regrouping the energy demand of urban areas. It is also highlighted that the uncertainty related to future climatic data makes urban adaptation and mitigation strategies complex to implement and to design given the lack of a comprehensive framework. We thus conclude by suggesting the need for a holistic interface to take into account this multi-dimensional problem. With the help of such a platform, a positive loop in urban design can be initiated leading to the development of low carbon cities and/or with the use of blue and green infrastructure to have a positive impact on the mitigation and adaptation strategies. • Reviewed assessment methods for the urban environment. • Critically analysed papers working on urban climate and energy demand, outdoor thermal comfort and the urban energy systems. • Demonstrated the links between the processes. • An integrated workflow is proposed for assessment of the urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many ports and terminals endeavor to enhance energy efficiency as energy prices have increased through years and climate change mitigation is a key target for the port industry. Stricter environmental regulations are adopted by authorities to limit pollutants and GHG emissions arising from energy consumption. Increasingly, port operational strategies and energy usage patterns are under scrutiny. To ingrain sustainability and environmental protection of ports, the use of innovative technology appears as a critical conduit in achieving a transition from a carbon-intensive port industry (dependent on fossil fuels) to a low-carbon port model by harnessing renewable energy, alternative fuels (e.g. LNG, hydrogen, biofuel), smarter power distribution systems, energy consumption measurement systems. In this context, this paper conducts a systematic literature review to analyze operational strategies (e.g. peak shaving, operations optimization), technology usage (e.g. electrification of equipment, cold-ironing, energy storage systems), renewable energy, alternative fuels and energy management systems (e.g. smart grid with renewable energy) for improving the energy efficiency and environmental performance of ports and terminals. Research gaps and future research directions are identified. Analysis shows that there is a great potential for ports to achieve further energy efficiency and researchers have many impactful research opportunities. • A detailed literature review on energy efficiency in ports and container terminals is conducted. • Operational strategies such as optimization of port operations and peak shaving methods are presented. • Technologies such as electrification of equipment, cold-ironing, energy storage systems, smart grid, microgrid are reviewed. • Renewable energy and clean fuel use in ports are presented. • Methods regarding energy consumption and emission measuring/assessment are detailed for ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charcoal is an important source of renewable energy with great industrial importance as a bio-thermo-reducer in the production of pig iron and steel. To increase the quality and yield of charcoal, it is necessary to invest in the continuous improvement of carbonization kilns and in the control of the carbonization process. However, studies to characterize the technologies currently used in the production of charcoal are lacking. This paper aims to fill this research gap by searching for patent documents of kilns used worldwide in the production of charcoal. A total of 172 carbonization kiln patents have been found and most of them contain technological improvements. The following were emphasized: information on the structure of the kiln, means of mechanizing the loading and unloading of kiln, the reuse of gases and vapors from the carbonization process, control of the carbonization process, rapid cooling of the produced charcoal while it is still inside the kiln, and possible advantages of adopting such technologies. However, despite these technological advances, most of the world's charcoal production still comes from low-technology, traditional kilns, resulting in lower yield and variable charcoal quality. Also discussed are the reasons for the lack of consolidation in the production environment of technologies proposed by kiln patents, considering the fact that they could increase the yield and quality of charcoal and, consequently, reduce the demand for wood. • A total of 172 carbonization kiln patents were selected. • The reuse of the gases from the carbonization process is highlighted in 60% of patents. • Many patents show technological improvements. • No more advanced technology appears to be consolidated. • The adoption of kilns with better technology depends technical and economic barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Net-zero emission and self-sustaining carbon-neutral have been widely encouraged and intensively explored in wastewater treatment, as the wastewater industry accounts for approximately 1.6% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, how to achieve net-zero GHG emission in wastewater treatment from a biological standpoint is still lacking. In this paper, the status of GHG (i.e. nitrous oxide (N 2 O), methane (CH 4) and carbon dioxide (CO 2)) production and emission in wastewater treatment was comprehensively reviewed. Generally, N 2 O emission contributes the majority of the total GHG emissions from wastewater treatment, and the dissolved N 2 O and CH 4 in the effluent should be paid more attention for the further GHG mitigation. Based on the newly identified microbial communities capable of nitrogen removal with less GHG emissions, several alternative integration systems for GHG mitigation were discussed. Coupling denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation with anammox process shows high nitrogen removal performance and low GHG emissions, which is regarded as a more promising integration system for GHG mitigation. Moreover, the novel strategies to manage N 2 O and CH 4 as energy sources were also demonstrated, aiming to offset certain carbon footprint in wastewater treatment and thus attain net-zero GHG emission. In addition, future challenges and perspectives of above integration systems and strategies were discussed to facilitate the development of environmentally sustainable wastewater treatment. Finally, a prospective hybrid system integrating emission reduction and energy recovery was proposed as an example for achieving net-zero GHG emission from wastewater treatment. [Display omitted] • Status on GHG production and emission in each treatment unit is quantified. • Autotrophic microorganisms play important roles in mitigating GHG emission. • CH 4 is more feasible than N 2 O for energy recovery from mainstream wastewater. • Net-zero GHG emission integrates both emission reduction and energy recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have begun to realize first-hand that the causes and effects of telework are much more complex than immediately apparent. While reduced commuting to work is widely beneficial (environment, economy, health, etc.), the impacts of telework are widespread (e.g., long-term urban planning considerations, home and office utilization, demand on communication networks, etc.). This paper aims to review and structure a large body of literature and emerging research from COVID-19-induced teleworking to address the complex relationships and energy impacts of telework on the four domains of homes, transportation, offices, and information and communication technologies (ICT). A systematic search was conducted on databases and the results were categorized. At the centre, we identified many relationships between homes and transportation, as teleworking gives teleworkers to have more flexibility in terms of location. Furthermore, the relationships between offices and homes are important since the operating costs of offices are on the teleworkers' side. Accordingly, cause and effect relationships were mapped out between and within domains. The outcome demonstrates that researchers and policymakers need to consider widespread implications of telework. As a result, it is essential to study items in each domain, intrarelationships in each domain, and most importantly the relationships between domains to capture and quantify the impacts of teleworking comprehensively. • Telework primarily impacts energy use in four domains of homes, offices, transportation, and ICT. • Comprehensive studies on telework should study four domains simultaneously. • Interrelationships between domains are important determinants of teleworking impacts. • There is a major literature gap on interrelationships between domains. • Teleworkers' behavior and decisions are a significant source of uncertainty for energy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas have been used as the major sources of energy in the recent past. However, the negative environmental impacts associated with the emission of the greenhouse gases from these conventional energy sources forced to realize the importance of renewable energy resources. At the same time, the average annual exponential rate of population growth in India needs increasing amounts of fresh-water for the basic necessities. This might result in water scarcity as the overall population in India is expected to increase to 1.60 billion by 2050. It has been forecasted that, by the year 2040, India will rank 40th in the world in terms of water scarcity. To meet the rising fresh-water demand, desalination is an intelligent and sustainable option for India, which has a very long coastline measuring 7517 km. In this paper, an attempt has been made to provide a comprehensive review of water scarcity in India and suggest a possible solution, which is implementing desalination technologies coupled with renewable resources. The paper reviews the ground water scenario in India and the global desalination market. We summarize the energy consumption in various desalination processes and provide a brief outlook of the desalination techniques in India. Apart from this, desalination using non-conventional sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy is discussed. In addition, factors affecting the environment due to desalination and the potential counter measures are presented. This review aims to provide an awareness of the projected water crisis in India, in the coming decades, and is also aimed to help the policy makers for selecting an appropriate desalination technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy will be a crucial ingredient in the transition to a more sustainable future. The renewable energy sector requires a variety of financial support mechanisms in order to further consolidate and expand. Currently, the most prominent renewable energy support mechanisms are feed-in tariffs and renewable energy auctions. Although these mechanisms have been used and analyzed extensively in Western countries and, more recently, economies in transition, they have rarely been examined in the Arab Gulf region. Yet, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have undertaken important steps towards renewable energy adoption, which could be greatly facilitated with the use of financial support mechanisms. This paper analyzes the feasibility of feed-in tariffs and renewable energy auctions adoption in GCC. Based on an extensive meta-analysis of the literature on these two mechanisms in both developed and developing countries, the paper identifies a set of conditions necessary for success and evaluates the presence of favorable these conditions in the GCC context. Our findings reveal that while conditions that would ensure political feasibility are largely absent for both types of mechanisms, auctions could be a more successful strategy at the moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become a critical perspective in managing firms via a holistic approach by considering economic, environmental and social dimensions of firms. With the rising significance of sustainable development, the theories of sustainability in firms have evolved during the past six decades. This article offers a critical review of the evolving theories linking sustainability to firms, and discusses their implications for future renewable energy research. The relationships among different theories are critically analysed, and the directions for future research are discussed. The paper shows that, the main theories linking sustainability to firms, in a chronological order, are: 1) Corporate Social Responsibility, 2) Stakeholder Theory, 3) Corporate Sustainability, and 4) Green Economics. Currently various innovative approaches and new theories emerged, such as Co-evolution Theory and Multi-level Perspective, reflecting three directions of theory development, namely 1) shifting from "what" to "how", 2) growing use of interdisciplinary approach, and 3) towards broader systems. Renewable energy studies associated with firms and future research opportunities in this area are also critically analysed. The comprehensive review offered in this paper provides a useful reference for policy makers, corporate managers and researchers interested in corporate sustainability and renewable energy related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first reviews the potential causality from biomass energy to CO 2 emissions and economic development within relevant literature. Later, the paper examines statistically the impacts of biomass energy consumption on CO 2 emissions and GDP in the US. To this end, paper observes environmental and economic implications of biomass fuel usage throughout energy literature and launches asymmetric causality test to confirm/disconfirm the literature output. The findings of the tests indicate that biomass energy consumption per capita mitigates CO 2 emissions per capita and increases GDP per capita. Eventually, upon its output, this research asserts that biomass energy consumption can be an efficient policy tool for environmentally sustainable development in the US, and, that, hence, biomass production technologies and biomass consumption need to be promoted in other countries as well as in the US. On the other hand, analyses underline the fact that policy makers should consider as well some potential constraints of biomass energy usage such as land use constraints and carbon leakage from biomass production. Therefore, although this paper explores the remedial impact of biomass on environment and growth, one may suggest also that further possible works consider the effects of biomass sources in detail to minimize the some worsening influence of biomass usage on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy management problems associated with rapid institutional, political, technical, ecological, social and economic development have been of critical concern to both national and local governments worldwide for many decades; thus, addressing such issues is a global priority. The main of objective of this study is to provide a review on the application and use of decision making approaches in regard to energy management problems. This paper selected and reviewed 196 published papers, from 1995 to 2015 in 72 important journals related to energy management, which chosen from the “Web of Science” database and in this regard, the systematic and meta-analysis method which called “PRISMA” has been proposed. All published papers were categorized into 13 different fields: environmental impact assessment, waste management, sustainability assessment, renewable energy, energy sustainability, land management, green management topics, water resources management, climate change, strategic environmental assessment, construction and environmental management and other energy management areas. Furthermore, papers were categorized based on the authors, publication year, nationality of authors, region, technique and application, number of criteria, research purpose, gap and contribution, solution and modeling, results and findings. Hybrid MCDM and fuzzy MCDM in the integrated methods were ranked as the first methods in use. The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review was the important journal in this paper, with 32 published papers. Finally, environmental impact assessment was ranked as the first area that applied decision making approaches. Results of this study acknowledge that decision making approaches can help decision makers and stakeholders in solving some problems under uncertainties situations in environmental decision making and these approaches have seen increasing interest among previous researchers to use these approaches in various steps of environmental decision making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the multidimensional role that hydropower can potentially play in achieving a more sustainable energy supply system, this paper reviews a series of published economic, environmental and social indicators that are often used to characterize this energy source. Getting the right balance between measures assessing benefits and costs is often a challenge in complex evaluations. The current paper argues that present studies sometimes set system boundaries too narrowly so that they omit key factors associated with hydropower. In particular, the role that hydroelectric resources can play to stabilize the overall electrical grid, and thus to leverage investments in other intermittent renewables, is only rarely accounted for in sustainability assessments. Based on a broad literature review, the authors articulate two key recommendations for future assessments: first, that such assessments should reflect on policy issues as well as environmental challenges with respect to existing hydropower potential within the current framework; second, that system boundaries should be extended not only to allow broad hydrological, ecological and geological assessments, but also to reasonably estimate hydro's potential benefits to the functioning of the overall electrical grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the European Green Deal and the Recovery Plan for Europe, CSP can play its role, by providing dispatchable and flexible energy when other renewable technologies cannot. The aim of this paper is to identify the potential socioeconomic, social and environmental impacts associated to the future deployment of CSP projects in Spain, taking into account the global value chain. Based on an extended multiregional input-output model developed by the authors, this paper identifies the country and sector-origin of nine sustainability indicators for the two dominant CSP technologies (parabolic trough and central receiver). The research considers the deployment of a 200 MW CSP power plant in Spain to compare the sustainability impacts of these two technologies under three different scenarios regarding the country-origin of the main components. The results show that central receivers have more positive economic impacts, both in terms of value added and employment creation, and lower negative environmental and social impacts than the parabolic trough alternative. The economic and environmental impacts of the CSP deployed in Spain depend on the origin of components, with the highest negative environmental impacts occurring when the components come from China and the lowest when they come from Germany. The same occurs for the social impacts and supply risks, which are lower when Germany supplies the main components. The scenario in which Spain supplies all the components performs better than the Chinese supply scenario in terms of social risks, whereas no major differences among them were found on supply risks. • CSP deployment in Spain will have socioeconomic benefits, mostly retained in Europe. • CSP electricity has low silver extraction and carbon and water footprints compared to other energy sources. • Chinese penetration in the European CSP market worsens the sustainability of plants. • The best sustainability performance occurs in the European cooperative scenario. • There are tradeoffs between the sustainability impacts driven by the CSP investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper describes the use of a ‘User-Perceived Value Game’ to explore the value of development initiatives as perceived by villagers in 119 interview settings in seven Ugandan villages. Based on the findings from the game, a ‘User-Perceived Value Framework’ is developed, consisting of 64 value categories. This is depicted graphically as a ‘User-Perceived Value Wheel’ supported by a ‘Key Phrase Wheel’, both can be modified using computer-assisted software developed by one of the authors. The aim is to understand the reasons why something is perceived by the end user to be important. This will lead to an improved understanding of how a development initiative can be better tailored for lower-income markets. The initiative can then be marketed appropriately, which will result in user acceptance because the initiative will be perceived to have personal value to the user and therefore the user will care for its upkeep. The paper concludes with a brief application of the ‘User-Perceived Value Wheel’ to demonstrate how this tool can be used to better understand the true sustainability drivers behind rural electrification development initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review paper is devoted to elaborating the status of different energy policy planning studies and the evaluation of various GHG mitigation studies. It includes, some of the major developments in global energy scenario, status of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, issues in the implementation of Kyoto protocol and GHG mitigation, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and energy scenario especially pertaining to the residential, industrial and commercial energy sector in the initial sections. The later part of this paper highlights the salient contributions in various literatures pertaining to energy demand forecasting in residential, commercial and industrial sector, GHG estimation methodologies, and GHG mitigation studies in various sectors. The success and difficulties in implementing various policy planning practices were also discussed in the paper. Most of the prominent literature in the area of energy demand and consumption analysis towards effective implementation of GHG mitigation is described. In the end, a comprehensive comments and recommendations based on the study were furnished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive review on the status of renewable energy developments and hydrogen economy in the Middle East and North Africa region. This region is heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its domestic energy supply and is also considered a global energy exporter. In this regard, an overview of the current state of energy sector in the region is provided. Moreover, the region possesses great potential for renewable energy exploitation due to its climatic advantages. Therefore, the current status of renewable energy utilization within the region's various countries is reviewed by presenting several operational renewable energy-based plants and future projects for deployment of renewable power in the region. Green hydrogen is an important sustainable clean fuel, and its utilization is essential for both environmental preservation and energy security. Thus, the status of hydrogen production and utilization in the region is discussed considering the various operational systems and future hydrogen generation projects. The concept of source, system and service is also incorporated which considers the utilization of clean energy sources for sustainable hydrogen production through environmentally benign pathways. The potential deployment opportunities for the renewable hydrogen production are also discussed based on available renewable sources in the region. Moreover, this paper discusses the challenges of increasing renewable energy utilization in the region. Furthermore, this paper provides a road map for achieving renewable hydrogen economy including a reduction in domestic utilization of oil and gas sources, subsidization of renewable production sector, and financial support to hydrogen production and transportation infrastructure. • Providing an overview of the status of energy sector in the region. • Providing an overview of the status of renewable energy utilization in the region. • Discussing the challenges and opportunities of renewable and hydrogen energy development in the region. • Providing a road map for renewable hydrogen development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biobased products are complete or partial derivatives from naturally occurring/growing materials such as agricultural, plants, and forest materials and serve as an alternative to traditional product derivatives of petroleum. Technically, biobased product counterparts can replace almost every fossil resource-based industrial material. Adopting life cycle analysis and circular economy concepts has also accelerated the move towards biobased products. It meets the criteria for easy recycling and can facilitate the shift from linear fossil-based productions to a greener circular economy. In line with the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER) policy, this Virtual Special Issue (VSI) published two types of articles, high-quality review papers and original research papers with a strong review component. After a rigorous peer-review process, 32 articles were accepted and published in this VSI. This editorial overview these articles and examines their contribution to the field. This RSER VSI has contributed with new insights on value-added biobased products from various bioresources to their applications, technical challenges and advancement in a sustainable manner. • VSI is focused on the recent development of biobased biorefineries. • Greener technologies offering biobased products. • Sustainable bioprocesses and bioproducts development from bioresources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the electric utility is witnessing a paradigm shift from conventional mineral-based transformer oils that are exhausting, ecologically unsafe, and verified hazardous to natural esters that are renewable, environmentally friendly, and safe. Day-by-day, the pressures to decrease liability risks of utility transformers filled with mineral oils are rising whereas there are challenges to increase network efficiency and implement more "eco-friendly" alternatives in the electric utility. In the past 30 years, there has been a reappearance of natural ester-based transformer oils due to their biodegradability and fire safety credentials. Meanwhile, new vegetable oils rarely used so far in utility transformers are also being researched for their dielectric performance. Coconut oil is one such new vegetable oil recently studied and found to have good dielectric and physicochemical properties for use in the transformer. This paper examines and relates vegetable oils, particularly coconut oil, with mineral oil in terms of eco-toxicity properties and biodegradability. It also discusses the sustainability aspects and market potential of coconut oil, and concisely presents the eco-mark schemes to promote environmental conservation. In short, this paper provides electric utility, transformer manufacturers, and users about the environmental safety and prospect of transformer oil based on oil extracted from "coconut". • Eco-toxicity and biodegradability of vegetable oil, esp. coconut oil, are compared with mineral oil used for transformers. • Coconut oil is fully biodegradable and a sustainable resource with low environmental impact. • From worker health and fire safety aspects, coconut oil is safe and considered to be non-toxic. • Need to encourage value addition and product diversification in coconut oil for non-traditional purposes like transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Global concerns for pressing fossil fuel demand with concurrent emissions deliberated India to direct policies for rapid adoption of clean energy methods as sustainable solutions. Responsiveness for affordable electricity access to its residents induced implementation of off-grid and consumer driven energy models like Community Energy (CE), playing significant role in meeting national energy demand in developed countries. It is evident from energy secured nations that centralized planning and electrification is not alone sufficient for meeting energy security. Renewable CE model is predicted to emerge as an effective system of clean energy access to off-grid communities while reducing emissions vividly. In past few years, cases of renewable CE system have been reported in India as well. Hence, it becomes pertinent to assess the extent of CE projects in Indian context, however a comprehensive landscape of such projects is currently lacking. This paper attempts to profile the status of CE projects with their scope and relevance to ensure national energy security. Six diversified case studies of CE projects are analysed by applying actor network theory. Role of community participation in implementation of these projects and its socio-economic impact on localized growth is represented by reviewing detailed case-studies. Qualitative analysis reveals parameters across diversified CE projects in India leading to an assessment framework for sustainable replication in other regions. Insights provide basis to identify associated challenges and incentives with CE projects, policy implications in interest of developers, end users, beneficiaries, promoters and towards emission reduction. Highlights • ANT critically analyses diversified CE projects and builds grounded concept for actor interactions in different capacity. • Analytical parameters derived define replicability of CE projects in Indian context. • Cross-case comparison highlights socio-techno-economic markers responsible for operational sustainability of CE projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents a review of the exergy and sustainability index of solar thermal systems. The review includes exergy analyses of solar collectors, solar drying systems and photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems. Solar collectors, the most essential components of solar thermal systems, receive solar energy and convert it into thermal energy. The PVT collector is a popular means of harvesting solar energy. A PVT collector can generate electrical and thermal energies simultaneously. Experimental and theoretical approaches for a PVT air collector with a ∇-corrugated absorber are investigated in this study. A steady-state energy analysis of the PVT air collector is performed to predict photovoltaic (PV) and air outlet temperatures. Experimental results are in close agreement with the results of the theoretical study. The percentage errors of PV and air outlet temperatures between experimental and theoretical values are 5.49% and 3.75%, respectively. The PVT exergy efficiency of the PVT air collector with a ∇-corrugated absorber is 13.36% and 12.89% for the theoretical and experimental study, respectively. Furthermore, a sustainability index is proposed. The sustainability index of the PVT air collector is 1.168 and 1.148 for the theoretical and experimental study, respectively. Highlights • The theoretical approach of photovoltaic thermal (PVT) air collector with ∇-corrugated absorber is presented. • The predicted results are consistent with the results obtained from the experiments. • The exergy and sustainability index for various mass flow rates and solar radiations are obtained. • The exergy and sustainability index of solar thermal systems are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among all the available solutions to the current high energy demand and consequent economic and environmental problems, solar energy, without any doubt, is one of the most promising and widespread solutions. However, conventional solar systems face some intractable challenges affecting their technical performance and economic feasibility. To overcome these challenges, increasing attention has been drawn towards the utilization of heat pipes, as an efficient heat transfer technology, in conventional solar systems. To the authors’ knowledge, despite many valuable studies on heat pipe solar collectors (mainly during the last decade), a comprehensive review which surveys and summarizes those studies and identifies the research gaps in this field has not been published to date. This review paper provides an overview of the recent studies on heat pipe solar collectors (HPSCs), their utilization in different domestic, industrial, and innovative applications, challenges, and future research potentials. The concept and principles of HPSCs are first introduced and a review of the previous studies to improve both energy efficiency and cost effectiveness of these collectors is presented. Moreover, a concise section is dedicated to mathematical modeling to demonstrate suitable methods for simulating the performance of HPSCs. Also, the latest applications of HPSCs in water heating, desalination, space heating, and electricity generation systems are reviewed, and finally, some recommendations for future research directions, regarding both development and new applications, are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to clean and affordable modern energy services has been widely recognised as a significant factor for enabling social and economic development. Stand-alone systems and mini-grids are presumed to play an important role in the provision of sustainable energy to those people who currently lack access. Accordingly, an increasing number of small-scale energy projects are being implemented in developing countries and emerging economies. However, despite the large number of energy development projects, only limited evidence exists about the actual contribution they make to sustainable development. This paper addresses this research gap by providing a systematic assessment of three selected impact pathways based on the evaluation of over 30 small-scale sustainable energy projects. Applying a theory-based evaluation approach in the form of a contribution analysis, the aim of this research is to better understand if and how these types of technical interventions can create development outcomes and impacts. The results show that technological issues are often not the most decisive factor in achieving development effects, but that embedding the technology in a set of actions that address social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies dealing with chemical products have to cope with large amounts of waste and environmental risk due to the use and production of toxic substances. Against this background, increasing attention is being paid to “green chemistry” and the translation of this concept into biobased chemicals. Given the multitude of economic, environmental and societal impacts that the production and use of biobased chemicals have on sustainability, assessment approaches need to be developed that allow for measurement and comparison of these impacts. To evaluate sustainability in the context of policy and decision-making, indicators are generally accepted means. However, sustainability indicators currently predominantly exist for low-value applications in the bioeconomy, like bioenergy and biofuels. In this paper, a review of the state-of-the-art sustainability indicators for biobased chemicals is conducted and a gap analysis is performed to identify indicator development needs. Based on the analysis, a clear hierarchy within the concept of sustainability is found where the environmental aspect dominates over economic and social indicators. All one-dimensional indicator-sets account for environmental impacts (50%), whereas two-dimensional sets complement the environmental issues with economic indicators (34%). Moreover, even the sets encompassing all three sustainability dimensions (16%) do not account for the dynamics and interlinkages between the environment, economy and society. Using results from the literature review, an indicator list is presented that captures all indicators currently used within sustainability assessment of biobased chemicals. Finally, a framework is proposed for future indicator selection using a stakeholder survey to obtain a prioritized list of sustainability indicators for biobased chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart grid solutions offer great potential for achieving more efficient integration of renewable energy in the distribution network. Numerous pilot projects have been launched to test smart grid solutions in real-life systems. However, the results observed are subject to the specific context of the demonstrators. Therefore, the conclusions drawn may not be directly applicable to the implementation of the same solutions in different locations or at a larger scale. The scalability and replicability analysis (SRA) of smart grid implementations aims to understand the effect of the context and to infer the impacts that may be expected from smart grid solutions. SRA is a very valuable tool to support policy-makers and the industry in shaping the strategy for sustainability and smart grid deployment. This paper reviews existing approaches and proposals for the SRA of smart grid solutions, and describes European research and demonstration projects that have dealt with SRA from various perspectives. Subsequently, a comprehensive methodology for the SRA of smart grid solutions is described in detail. The core of the SRA methodology is technical analysis based on simulation that lets the impact of smart grid implementations be quantified under different conditions. Additionally, the methodology incorporates the analysis of economic, regulatory and social aspects to identify drivers and barriers for scaling-up and replication of smart grid implementations. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is illustrated through its application to the case of medium voltage automation to improve the continuity of supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microalgae biofuel is one of the most promising renewable energy sources that can contribute to the replacement of fossil fuels globally because of its sustainability and its ability to reduce the carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere. However, the rigidity of microalgae of microalgae cell wall inhibits the extraction of lipids for biofuel production. To improve microalgae biofuel production, different pre-treatment techniques have been studied to evaluate their effectiveness on microalgae cell wall disruption. The main objective of this paper is to review the different pre-treatment technologies used in biofuel production from microalgae biomass and to critically discuss the current limitations and promising perspectives towards achieving economic and industrial scale production. Pre-treatment methods reviewed are categorized into mechanical techniques (e.g. high-pressure homogenizer and bead mills), physical techniques (e.g. ultrasonic and microwave methods), thermal pre-treatment techniques (e.g. autoclave and steam explosion), chemical techniques (e.g. catalytic and enzymatic), and combined techniques. Furthermore, comparisons of these techniques are discussed. The overall effect of the applications and methods on biofuel production together with energy consumption are critically examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research presented in this paper has two main objectives. First, it aims to generate an assessment tool for ranking and selecting the most sustainable domestic water-heating system (WHS) (with the lowest economic, environmental and social impact) that could be applied in any location and with any demand. Second, it aims to ascertain which WHS is the most sustainable in places with a climate and solar radiation like that of Barcelona, Spain, where a minimum solar contribution to domestic water heating is compulsory for new buildings and significant renovations. Multi-criteria decision analysis was employed to create the optimised flexible assessment tool. The Delphi method was followed to perform the surveys, and to provide the objectivity required in the identification of impacts, the definition of indicators and the assignment of weights. The most relevant criteria were determined: annual cost, material consumption, energy consumption, GHG emissions, space requirement, visual impact and occupational risks. The resulting tool was tested by analysing twelve domestic WHS, including two conventional systems, and ten combinations of five solar thermal technologies with two conventional systems as backup for a changing room in a sport centre located in Barcelona. The two conventional WHS studied were a natural gas-fired condensing boiler and an electric water heater. The five solar thermal technologies were: a flat plate with a harp design, a flat plate with a serpentine design, a heat-pipe evacuated tube, a direct-flow evacuated tube, and a direct-flow evacuated tube with CPC. The dynamic thermal simulation programme T*SOL was used to dimension the solar thermal systems. Two sensitivity analyses were carried out: one on weights and one on references. The tool proved very useful in the assessment of these systems, and could also help in decision-making processes to select the most sustainable WHS for other locations and domestic hot water demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 60% and 80% of global energy is consumed in urban areas and given the projected increase in world׳s urban population, this share is expected to further increase in the future. Continuity of energy supply in cities is affected by climate change and a growing array of other threats such as cyber attacks, terrorism, technical deficiencies, and market volatility. Determined efforts, acknowledging the interactions and interlinkages between energy and other sectors, are needed to avoid adverse consequences of disruption in energy supply. Resilience thinking is an approach to management of socio-ecological systems that aims to develop an integrated framework for bringing together the (often) fragmented, diverse research on disaster risk management. The literature on urban resilience is immense and still growing. This paper reviews literature related to energy resilience to develop a conceptual framework for assessing urban energy resilience, identify planning and design criteria that can be used for assessing urban energy resilience, and examine the relationship of these criteria with the underlying components of the conceptual framework. In the conceptual framework, it is proposed that in order to be resilient, urban energy system needs to be capable of “planning and preparing for”, “absorbing”, “recovering from”, and “adapting” to any adverse events that may happen in the future. Integrating these four abilities into the system would enable it to continuously address “availability”, “accessibility”, “affordability”, and “acceptability” as the four sustainability-related dimensions of energy. The paper explains different resilience principles associated with these abilities and sustainability dimensions. Also, different planning and design criteria were extracted from the literature and categorized into five themes: infrastructure; resources; land use, urban geometry and morphology; governance; and socio-demographic aspects and human behavior. Examination of the relationship of these criteria with the underlying components of the conceptual framework highlighted the complexity and multi-faceted nature of energy resilience. Exploration of the relevance of the identified criteria to climate change mitigation and adaptation revealed that most of the identified criteria can provide both mitigation and adaptation benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy storage (ES) is an important device to ensure operation stability and efficiency of a renewable energy based distributed energy generation (DEG) system. As such, many researchers have modelled the operation (scheduling) of energy storage in a DEG system, where it is mostly portrayed to operate on a daily cycle. In this paper, an analysis of the operation mode of energy storage is presented. Two modes of operation are defined, daily mode (DM) (ES operates in daily cycles) and weekly mode (WM) (ES operates in weekly cycles) which are modelled accordingly. This paper then attempts to analyse and compare between both modes in term of operation and cost. The analysis is performed through a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model programmed via the General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS). In general, with high capital cost of ES, it is advisable to program the ES to operate in a DM. The reason to this conclusion is mainly due to three factors, intermittency of renewable resources, varying weather conditions, and discharge rate of ES(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the challenges in developing a sustainable biodiesel industry especially in Malaysia. The challenges discussed in this paper are divided into three main sections covering issues before, during and after biodiesel processing. The pre-processing problems concern the feedstock market, legislation through policies, fuel–food competition, deforestation issue and alternative feedstock conflict. Problems with regards to the uncontrollable glycerol production and its global market crisis are also reviewed. Besides, some suggestions on poising back the glycerol market stability are reviewed through several upgrading processes and methods that can convert glycerol to its functional chemicals. The last section covers the social issue of biodiesel in obtaining people׳s acceptance and capability of this industry to cultivate the sustainable practices along the processing line. Moreover, challenges in verifying its commercial value by fulfilling the global biofuel standards are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the impact of electricity market opening on sustainability of electricity market models. The paper aims to identify what electricity market organization models are the best ones based on the established sustainability criteria. The sustainability criteria include the main sustainability aspects of power sector (economic, social, and environmental). The methodology has been designed to evaluate organisational models of electricity market, which allows performing an extensive evaluation, encompassing all aspects of sustainable development. The evaluation methodology, which has been designed for the evaluation of energy market organisation model, provides the basis for the identification of indicators that have the most significant impact on sustainability; also it lays down the premise for the establishment of critical values and possible changes and the analysis of reasons for the changes in sustainability. The paper applies developed model for sustainability assessment of electricity market models in several world countries having different electricity market organisation structures. The selection of 12 developed world countries (11 of them are OECD countries) from various continents was made based on availability of fully liberalized electricity markets in these countries. The proposed assessment allows to review and compare electricity market models in terms of achieving main targets of sustainable power sector development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities contribute around 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. There is currently a massive growth in urban areas internationally, especially in developing countries. Urban centers and cities should offer an effective answer to new problems arising from planning and expansion, according to criteria of sustainability. Decisions for sustainable cities planning and management should be taken on an evaluation of their consequences. Correspondingly, each strategy should be designed and undertaken with the right tools of study, analysis and prediction. This paper aims to offer an analysis of the aspects involved in designing sustainable cities. It involves an overview of published papers focusing on urban transport, building energy consumption, green areas planning, waste management and water supply on a city-wide scale. In order to give a broader concept of sustainability in cities, an analysis of other variables from a social point of view is also given. The discussion of this research reflects that the adoption of mechanisms to promote sustainable development is a matter not only of decision makers and designers, but also of users and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the problems facing researchers in the application of renewable energy systems is that the evaluation of the sustainability is extremely perplex. Decision making in energy projects requires consideration of technical, economic, environmental and social impacts and is often complicated. This paper presents a review of the current state of the art in decision support methods applied to renewable and sustainable energy throughout the literature in the field of energy planning. The selected papers were classified by their year of publication, decision making technique, energy type, the criteria used, geographic distribution and the application areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil crisis and the successful commercial exploitation of shale gas in America have made shale gas become the focus of global energy industry. Shale gas industry will be developed mainly in the future. Sichuan has natural geographical advantages and becomes the main battlefield of shale gas in China. So it is necessary and urgent to analyze the current situation of Sichuan shale gas. This paper introduces the status quo of shale gas in Sichuan, and systematically analyzes the industrial environment for developing Sichuan shale gas from four aspects of policy, economy, society, technology. Then the issues facing Sichuan are discussed. Finally, the paper puts forward some corresponding recommendations to provide certain references to the development of shale gas industry in Sichuan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic change, dramatic population increase and rapid industrial growth are major trends emerging in Malaysia. Climate change and depletion of fossil fuel along with the rise in petroleum prices have forced the Malaysian Government to rethink strategies to be more in line with other developed countries including the decision to embark on renewable energy (RE) resources as a better source of energy amongst the global energy mix. The Malaysian Government is making frantic efforts to make policies, RE programmes and incentives more effective so as to promote and develop the use of RE. Malaysia is rich with fossil fuel but these are fast depleting. Although RE is necessary, current RE resources are still not enough. Therefore, exploration into other resources must be considered in order to meet future energy demands. The objective of this paper is to identify the potential of available renewable energy resources in Malaysia as well as the country׳s current implementation strategies. This paper also discusses the different RE policies in Malaysia. In order to determine the potential of RE, various sources and published materials in conferences, international journals and information released by relevant government bodies and miscellaneous resources are used. This research has revealed that among all the renewable energy sources that are present in Malaysia, biomass and solar energy are the most prospective ones. Plus, renewable energy (RE) sources are quite advantageous as they are free from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and related global warming effects. They can also be applied in off-grid electricity generation for rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]