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Abstract: The pulp and paper industry is one of the most energy-intensive industries worldwide. In 2007, it accounted for 5% of total global industrial energy consumption and 2% of direct industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An energy audit is a primary step toward improving energy efficiency at the facility level. This paper describes a plant-wide energy audit aimed at identifying energy conservation and CO2 mitigation opportunities at a paper mill in Guangdong province, China. We describe the energy audit methods, relevant Chinese standards, methods of calculating energy and carbon indicators, baseline energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the audited paper mill, and nine energy-efficiency improvement opportunities identified by the audit. For each of the nine options, we evaluate the energy conservation and associated CO2 mitigation potential. The total technical energy conservation potential for these nine opportunities is 967.8terajoules (TJ), and the total CO2 mitigation potential is equal to 93,453tonnes CO2 annually, representing 14.4% and 14.7%, respectively, of the mill’s total energy consumption and CO2 emissions during the audit period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract In 2011, the Danish government published an energy strategy for Denmark where one of the main targets are that Denmark should be a fossil-free society by 2050. Calculations show, that in order to reach this goal it is necessary to reduce the energy consumption of the existing building stock by 50% on average. Since a 50% reduction is obviously not possible for all buildings, those that can should aim for a so-called "deep energy renovation", i.e. reducing the energy consumption to a level corresponding to that of new buildings or even more. This paper describes two case studies where multi-story apartment buildings have undergone deep energy renovation. "Traneparken" where the expected energy use after renovation aimed at a level corresponding to that of a new building according to the Danish Building Regulations from 2015. "Sems Have" where the aim was to go even further and meet the requirements expected for new buildings in 2020, i.e. corresponding to the Danish "nearly zero energy"-definition according to the EPBD. The paper reports on calculations and measurements of energy savings, the economy of the projects and looks at the added benefits or co-benefits that residents, housing association and society in general have achieved in addition to significant energy savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy consumption has promoted a continuous development for economy and society, but it has also brought serious environmental pollution problems which endanger public health. In order to focus on the impact of PM 2.5 emissions from future energy consumption on human health better, this paper estimated PM 2.5 emissions caused by energy consumption in Beijing in 2020,2025 and 2030 by setting the baseline scenario, emission reduction scenario, intensified emission reduction scenario and the data of the base year 2015, which will be 162.6 thousand tons, 195.9 thousand tons and 235.9 thousand tons in the baseline scenario, 143.1 thousand tons, 151.8 thousand tons and 160.9 thousand tons under the emission reduction scenario, and 132.6 thousand tons, 130.2 thousand tons, 127.9 thousand tons under the intensified emission reduction scenario. Finally the paper measured the number of different health effect ends caused by PM 2.5 emissions and the economic loss. The results showed that there was a rapid increase, a mild increase and a moderate decrease in energy consumption and PM 2.5 emissions in Beijing under the three scenarios from 2015 to 2030. Besides, under the same scenario and the same concentration level baseline, the number of the internal medicine (over the age of 15) was the largest, and the economic loss caused by total death rate was the biggest. This article provides suggestions to reduce PM 2.5 emissions and public health effect ends for Beijing in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides further arguments why Jacobson and Delucchi’s (JD) critiques of my paper are misplaced. It also provides additional references to work that reached different conclusions than Jacobson et al. Work by JD and others is useful in identifying the plethora of assumptions required to conclude that intermittent renewables can now be economically substituted for all current uses of fossil fuels throughout the entire economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refrigerators are a common appliance in developed and emerging economies around the world. These appliances consume significant energy globally and improving their efficiency is an important aspect of future climate change mitigation. It is widely understood that the energy consumption of household refrigerating appliances is strongly influenced by room temperature and many analysts have identified ambient temperature as the most important factor in normal use. Room temperature has two main effects on the energy consumption of refrigerating appliances. Firstly, the temperature difference between the compartment and the room dictates the heat gain into the appliance through the wall insulation and door seals. A second effect is that a change in room temperature affects the condensing temperature. An increase in room temperature reduces overall refrigeration system efficiency by increasing the difference between the evaporating and condensing temperature. This paper examines laboratory data for 111 appliances where energy consumption is measured at four ambient temperatures from 10 °C to 40 °C. Field data for 235 appliances in homes is also examined. This is more complex to analyse, but it does provide useful information on underlying energy changes due to changes in room temperature during normal use. This paper determines the ratio of energy at 16–32 °C (energy conditions in IEC62552-3) and explores the shape of the energy curve at intermediate temperatures in order to develop a generalised energy curve as a function of temperature for the refrigerating appliances measured. The field data gave highly comparable shape data to that measured in the laboratory. The results provide a useful method to estimate the likely power consumption of different appliance types under a wide range of operating conditions, even where limited data is available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) has dual aims to reduce emission production and stimulate adoption of long-term abatement technology. Whilst it has generally achieved its first aim, its issues are hindering the accomplishment of the second. Several solutions have been proposed to improve ETS’s efficacy, yet none of them have considered the advancement of Industry 4.0. This paper proposes a novel ETS model customised for Industry 4.0 integration. It incorporates blockchain technology to address ETS’s management and fraud issues whilst it utilizes a reputation system in a new approach to improve ETS efficacy. Specific design of how the blockchain technology and reputation system are used to achieve these objectives is showed within this paper. The case study demonstrates the inner working of reputation-based trading system—in which reputation signifies participants performance and commitment toward emission reduction effort. Multi-criteria analysis is used to evaluate the proposed scheme against conventional ETS model. The result shows that the proposed model is a feasible scheme and that the benefits of its implementation will outweigh its drawback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The allocation of carbon emission quotas is recognized as a fundamental and critical step towards the establishment of an effective nationwide carbon emissions trading (CET) market in China. This paper aims to examine the quota allocation pertaining to China's east coastal areas. These regions are pioneers in reformation and the domestic heavy emitters. In this paper, a multi-criteria decision analysis model is proposed. This model is based on the principles of efficiency and equity. In order to reflect the true efficiency of carbon emissions, a weighted Russell direction distance model is employed. Three criteria, namely capacity, responsibility and potential, are used to evaluate the degrees of equity. Furthermore, different situations are set to evaluate the related indicators. The results indicate the following: (1) Industrial provinces have less carbon emission quota increments. (2) The Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone has notably improved energy efficiency, and future quota increments correspond with the zone's current carbon emissions. (3) Circum-Bohai Sea Economic Zone will be a major buyer of carbon emission quotas, while Pan-Pearl River Delta Economic Zone currently receives surplus quota. (4) The overall allocation of quotas converts from uneven to even as a result of GDP growth. These results provide a reference for collaborative regional reductions in carbon emissions and for the construction of a CET market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-third of global energy demand as well as CO 2 emissions is accounted to industrial processes. In particular, over 30% of total industrial energy consumption is attributed to the iron and steel, cement and refining industry. The aim of the present paper is to review crosscutting technologies and measures adopted to improve energy efficiency in the main Italian industrial sectors regulated by the recent EU legislation on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC-IED). In fact, 2010/75/EU Directive on industrial emissions, a general improvement on the entire environmental performance of the industrial installations is pursued by taking into account relevant environmental issues, such as emissions into water, air, soil as well as energy efficiency, waste production, recovering and recycling, restoration of the site upon definitive cessation of activities. Moreover, according to 2010/75/EU Directive, IPPC permits should be based on Best Available Techniques (BAT) aimed to reach an adequate level of environmental protection and should establish all the necessary measures including operating conditions, emission limit values for relevant polluting substances as well as monitoring requirements. Thus, in the present paper an assessment of Best Available Techniques (BAT) related to energy efficiency in the main Italian industrial installations is carried out on the base of the analysis on the IPPC permits released by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, and made available on its web site. As a result a significant improvement in energy efficiency was assessed. In fact, many process units were upgraded, by major revamping or even by replacing the process completely with one showing better performances. Finally, since energy efficiency is at its best at the beginning of the life cycle of the plant, operators, whenever necessary, periodically monitor and measure the actual energy performance of their own installations for process control and maintenance purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel research work on the potential benefits of using, a unique and sustainable energy source - the human-power. The paper discusses the benefits and the practicality of using human-power as a domestic energy source to power electrical and electronic devices and explores the benefit of its use in a more diverse perspective for possible change in behaviour and energy savings for improved sustainability in the society. The economic and sustainability gains of using Human-Powered Products (HPPs) are investigated. Two studies have been conducted, the first is a study which involves assessing the environmental impact of a human-powered products via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); and the second is a case study called Home User Study (HUS), where the technology is experimentally tested. The human-powered system is used to explore the real benefits and life-cycle analysis towards assessing the sustainability of such products. The Home User Study (HUS) has been conducted to explore the in-situ use of human-powered systems using a new prototype that has been built and deployed. The study has used a monitoring device to measure the outcome of the interaction between the user and human-powered products. The results interestingly have revealed various other forms of benefits beyond renewable energy that could add extra motives for using human-powered products, such as health benefits. The paper also puts an emphasis on the opportunity of using Human-Powered Products which can be perceived as a great viable solution against counter measuring social issues such as physical inactivity and increasing sedentary behaviour. The results of the theoretical study indicate that Human-Powered Products (HPP) do not offer significant financial savings. The results of the HUS indicate that using human-powered products for health prospective outweigh the benefit gained from the prospective of energy savings and renewable energy. Based on the findings of this study, the paper suggests an approach that shows how the implementation of Human-powered systems could provide the opportunity to sustainable energy generation and energy savings, but in all cases they can be retained through a motivational drive in improving the health benefit via encouraging physical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main problems for adopting smart thermostats is consumers’ expectations about smart thermostats. Generally, the interfaces in smart thermostats and smart devices in the energy market are designed without consideration for the expectations of the customers or are not adjusting their operation according to the consumers’ expectations and behavior. Moreover, the business model does not consider one part of the product as the main link between customers and value propositions. This study shows a structure for creating a smart interface based on consumers’ expectations and shows an extension of the CANVAS business model. Furthermore, the paper re-defines the term “smart” in electric devices as the ability to adjust the system in order to reach the expectations of the consumer and to save energy. This term is not only defined in terms of saving energy but also it includes the customer’s expectations. If the system is only smart to control the temperature and save energy, the customer’s expectations may not always be achieved; thus, the smart devices are not successfully adopted in households. The design is based on artificial neural networks and a fuzzy logic controller to achieve the consumer’s expectations. The results show the interface operation on each block. The classification systems have to operate to detect changes in the customer’s market segment. The fuzzy logic controller tries to reach the customer’s expectations in order to move the customer into the energy saving market. This expectation interface tries to motivate designers to focus on consumer’s expectations for smart devices in the energy market. Not only are the energy requirements important to design a smart thermostat, but also the consumer’s expectations to create a successful smart thermostat in the electric market. Smart thermostats can reduce the consumption of electrical energy, but they need to be accepted. This interface provides an effective manner to connect the consumer’s expectations with the consumption of energy. This papers shows a proof of concept about intelligent interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy poverty can be understood as the inability of a household to secure socially and materially the necessitated level of energy services in the home. This condition is described as either energy or fuel poverty and it has been recognized by the EU's so called “Third Energy Package”. The work in this field has identified a number of household-level factors that influence the likelihood of experiencing domestic deprivation, with particular emphasis being placed on understanding how education levels correlates to the phenomenon. In that perspective, and in order to study the dynamics of energy poverty in Greece, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed mainly by means of in-situ interviews and, in exceptional cases, in remote sessions. The evidence presented in this paper is based on a comprehensive study of 762 questionnaires mainly for Western Macedonia (43.6%) and Central Macedonia (42.6%), Greece. Using the quantitative data gathered, we measure the energy vulnerability concerning the quality of the housing–dwelling, the heating system, indoor thermal comfort and the net-income. The research is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to analyze residential energy, habitants’ behavior, and attitudes in the middle of the economic crisis in North Greece. It has been determined, that the middle class has become the most vulnerable class in that sense. A further scope of this paper is not only to present this data, which prove that domestic energy deprivation appears not only in Southern but also in Northern Greece, but also to discuss measures that can be adopted in order mitigate energy and social vulnerability of the middle class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, model predictive control (MPC) is employed to resolve the energy management problem of a plug-in hybrid electric bus (PHEB). Dynamic programming (DP), as a global optimization method, is inserted at each time step of the MPC, to solve the optimization problem regarding the prediction horizon. A multi-step Markov prediction model is constructed to forecast the near future driving velocities for the MPC. The battery SOC is restrained to fluctuate near a reference trajectory to ensure the global performance of MPC. Three novel restraining methods are proposed and compared in this paper. The resultant fuel economy performance with different SOC constraint methods are evaluated. Simulation results indicate that by restraining the battery SOC adaptively to the control variables gains the best fuel economy performance, and the fuel consumption of MPC is 8.7% less than a ruled based strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power split configurations exhibit potential on decreasing fuel consumption. However, how to select the best power split configuration among all the possible configurations still need to be explored. In this paper, a one-dimensional searching ECMS (Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy) is developed to evaluate fuel consumption for input power split configuration. Additionally, a battery degradation model based on experimental data is applied to evaluate the battery degradation for input power split configuration. According to one-dimensional searching ECMS and battery degradation model, the impact of different input power split configurations on fuel consumption and battery degradation is investigated. Simulations show that configuration T1 has fuel consumption and battery degradation advantages for PHEV city bus application in China. These advantages are observed because the system efficiency operation points of configuration T1 are closer to the high efficiency area than the system efficiency operation points of other input power split configurations. Furthermore, according to the lever model and one-dimensional searching ECMS method, a power split configuration selection method is provided in this paper. The simulation results based on configuration selection method still indicate that configuration T1 appears to have the best fuel economy for PHEV city bus application. Moreover, configuration T5, with a lever length close to 0, exhibits the worst fuel consumption and battery degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over-capacity problem in refining sector and energy security for oil supply are critical issues for China’s oil industry. As governmental intervention plays a significant part in current and future development of oil industry, over-capacity problem would not be solved without macro-regulatory. Though China is promoting large-scale strategic reserve of crude oil, there is rare quantitative evaluation on the capability of the oil industry in dealing with import disruption. In this paper, a system dynamic model is established for oil supply chain analysis. Based on the model, a quantitative measurement is proposed to evaluate the over-capacity extent of refining industry. The over-capacity extent is classified into three levels, according to varied demand fluctuation the supply chain is expected to deal with. By comparing the modeling results and historical data of 2012 and 2013, we conclude that over-capacity in China’s refining industry is in the severest level. The measurement reveals the driven-force of over-capacity from supply chain perspective, and demonstrates a quantitative method to figure out the proper capacity of energy supply industry. Second, the model simulates how oil supply chain responds to crude oil import disruption and the subsequent impacts. The modeling results indicate that the current configuration of China’s oil supply system is able to maintain sustainable supply under a less-than-180-day crude oil import disruption. The model provides a supply chain perspective in looking into energy security issues, and reveals the relationship between strategic petroleum reserve and the capability to cope with supply risks. In summary, the system dynamic model proposed in this paper is applicable for analysis on capacity planning and reserve strategy design of oil supply chain, providing valuable suggestion for the future development of China’s oil industry. The design concept and method of the model can be used for analysis of other energy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are long lasting issues and need continuous research to improve efficiency evaluation and performance monitoring of economies. The static and dynamic aspects of efficiency need to be dealt with simultaneously to thoroughly analyze the performance of economies. This paper aims at conducting a static and dynamic analysis of energy and CO 2 emissions efficiency of major economies. In this paper, we applied slacks based model of Tone (2001) with the treatment of undesirable output in objective function and constraint assuming free disposability of undesirable output and built a dashboard. The results can be summarized by saying that the larger economies with intensive production strategy, larger secondary industry, and weaker carbon tax laws are more likely to be inefficient. China, India, and Russia have the greatest potential for improvement in both energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions efficiency. The suggested dashboard has the ability to dig out the potential for efficiency improvement of countries like the USA, which mostly appear at the efficient frontier with other techniques. Concluding it can be suggested that economies in lower ranks of dashboard need stricter policy measures to cut energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and encourage a shift from fossil fuels to other renewable resources of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency policies play a key role in the transformation to a ‘green energy economy’. In this paper, we take stock of the impacts of the existing energy efficiency policy instruments in Germany and review the energy, environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the country’s latest energy efficiency and climate strategies for the year 2020. We find evidence supporting the findings of other studies that enhanced green energy policies will trigger tangible economic benefits in terms of GDP growth and new jobs even in the short term. Whereas policy makers have already acknowledged and implemented this conclusion in the case of renewable energies, our paper shows that striving for more ambitious energy efficiency policies represents a similar win–win strategy, which should be exploited to a much larger extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the industrial sector's high energy use and vast potential for energy saving, many national governments have established voluntary or negotiated agreements that set quantitative energy-saving targets for individual industrial enterprises. The most commonly used energy-saving targets worldwide are volume and energy intensity targets. Since 2006, the Chinese government has set mandatory, enterprise-level energy-saving targets in terms of the “amount of energy saved”; this represents a unique category that differs from both volume and energy intensity targets. Based on first-hand data collected at ten case enterprises, this paper represents one of the first attempts to verify the reliability of the amount of energy saved data reported by the Chinese government and to rigorously and systematically investigate the inherent weaknesses of the amount of energy saved targets through a comparison with the mainstream categories of energy-saving targets. The ten case enterprises reported four different types of amount of energy saved. While all of the case enterprises claimed full achievement of their amount of energy saved targets, four enterprises exaggerated their performance by violating the National Standard for Calculating the Amount of Energy Saved of Enterprises. The paper thus hypothesizes that the National Top-1000 Enterprise Program's alleged achievement of performance 65% higher relative to its amount of energy saved target is likely an overestimation. Although amount of energy saved targets constitute an innovative energy-saving indicator, they do not represent a step forward from conventional volume and intensity targets because of the following four weaknesses: 1) amount of energy saved targets provide limited potential for comparison given the different types of amount of energy saved and the different calculation methods, 2) they generate uncertain environmental outcomes as it is possible to meet a portion of an amount of energy saved target through production volume expansion, 3) they are difficult to enforce due to the complexity of data verification on the part of local government agencies, and 4) they are poorly correlated with the national target for reducing energy intensity. Amount of energy saved targets should therefore be replaced with “double-control” targets that impose both volume and intensity targets on industrial enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting energy efficiency is one of the top priorities of the EU energy strategy. Manufacturing is identified there as one of the sectors holding the potential for substantial energy efficiency improvements. This paper therefore examines factors impacting firms' decisions to invest in energy efficiency and clean technologies. Drawing on the energy efficiency gap literature, the impact of three groups of factors is analysed, namely economic (firm-specific characteristics and market drivers), organisational, and regulatory. Employing probit and bivariate probit models on a panel data set for 848 Slovenian manufacturing firms over 7 years (2005–2011), the paper finds that decisions to invest in energy efficiency and in clean technologies are impacted by similar, yet not identical factors. The following factors significantly increase the likelihood of both energy efficiency and clean technology investments: share of energy costs, market share, and export orientation. Importantly, other types of investments (except for investments in the expansion of existing capacities) do not crowd-out energy efficiency or clean technology investments. On the other hand, foreign ownership and managers' expectations of future demand only impact energy efficiency investments, while clean technology investments are influenced by managers' expectations of the future business condition of the firm. Further, the economic and financial crisis reduces the likelihood of clean technology investments, but not energy efficiency investments. This is explained by the fact that investments in energy efficiency represent a cost-effective solution for the firm. The same argumentation can be used to explain why high energy costs also play an important role for investments in clean technology. In addition, the likelihood to invest is found to be importantly influenced by industry-specific characteristics, which captures the effect of industry differences in environmental regulation and other conditions. The paper adds to the existing literature in three important ways: it employs data on actual rather than intended investments; it examines investment decisions over a number of years, thereby allowing for an analysis of the impact of the recession on firms' decisions; and it examines relationships among different types of investments, accounting for a potential crowding-out effect. Based on the paper's findings, it can be concluded that the energy efficiency gap is less likely to exist in large and well-performing firms, implying that policy measures should primarily target less energy intensive, small and medium-sized enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a diverse region characterized by rapid economic growth, demographic change and urbanization. The dominance of energy supply from non-renewable resources in the region means that the increasing energy demand has implications for energy security, as well as adverse local and global environmental effects. Climatic conditions in the region are favorable for renewable energy (RE) resources, especially but not only wind and solar technologies. ASEAN countries differ strongly in terms of their national policy frameworks and progress in renewable energy development; the overall target of 23% renewables by 2025 is very ambitious under current policy frameworks. This paper identifies a gap between these national policies and local governance, especially in urban areas, which requires attention to ensure future target fulfilment. By employing a new combined correlation and decomposition approach at country and city levels, we investigate the determinants of RE expansion and explore the trend drivers in ASEAN countries from 1995 to 2013. An Impact Matrix is developed to position and interpret the relative push (e.g. policy) and pull (e.g. market) impacts on RE development, and to derive policy recommendations for countries and sectors. The results highlight that urban areas should be the focus of RE policy and governance in addition to rural areas. The tremendous impact of economic growth creates a great impetus for renewable energy development, but urbanization is the second pull for renewable energy extensions. Since the two effects are located in the first quadrant of the Impact Matrix, if strategists affect these factors, they will create the most powerful incentive for renewable energy growth. This confirms that if the strategic aim is to promote renewable energy market development, through policy and governance measures, the focus should be on urban areas, non-electricity sectors and the demand side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract There is increasing interest in the idea that energy efficiency has economic, environmental and social impacts beyond energy and cost saving - a 'multiple benefits' perspective. However, present EU-decision making on energy efficiency is based on assessment of a very narrow range of costs and benefits. This paper investigates whether and how advocates of energy efficiency have used multiple benefits to frame their interactions with policy-makers at EU and UK level, and to broaden the appeal of energy efficiency. Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with key practitioners from industry-backed or trade organisations and environment-focussed NGOs. All respondents regularly made use of multiple benefits arguments. Their experience is that these arguments are most persuasive when linked to the values and priorities of decision-makers and politicians, most of whom do not value energy efficiency as a benefit in itself. Different contexts and different benefits are more or less salient for different stakeholders. This framing sets energy efficiency decisions in a broad economic, environmental and social context. As such it requires more evidence than a simple focus on energy savings, and different sorts of evidence which can connect with a variety of decision makers. The importance of recognising differing contexts, actors, values, priorities has led to the development of an alternative visualisation of multiple benefits, which de-centres energy efficiency. Highlights • 'Multiple benefits' identifies economic, social and environmental impacts of energy efficiency. • Leading NGOs and trade associations use this framing to influence EU policy makers. • Multiple benefits arguments work best linked to values and priorities of policy makers. • Persuasive case studies as well as quantitative evidence are required. • A new visualisation of multiple benefits has been developed, which 'de-centres' energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Theses on China's low-carbon economy focus on the driving forces of carbon emissions, energy–carbon efficiency, and the carbon–economy nexus. Meanwhile, comprehensive frameworks that assess China's green economy and also analyze its driving forces are lacking. This paper constructs a green productivity index based on the Global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index to evaluate the development of the low-carbon economy in China. A panel vector auto-regression model is adopted to further analyze the endogenous interactions and dynamic relationships among aspects of the green economy and its influencing factors. Empirical results show that China has seen a balanced development of green economic growth in 2000–2016, achieved in a series of clear stages. To maintain the sustainable growth of the low-carbon economy in the future, China must rely more on technological progress. This research also makes some important discoveries that have not been found in previous studies: the impact of China's industrial structure and energy consumption structure on the green economy are short term, having a duration of impact of approximately four years. Finally, we provide an assessment of provincial green economy development and describe the corresponding policy implications. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • A comprehensive analysis of China's green economy. • A slack-based Global Malmquist–Luenberger index is adopted to calculate the Green Productivity Index in China. • The stage characteristics of green economic development are identified. • A panel vector autoregressive model is used to analyze the interactions among aspects of the environmental economic system. • The findings that the impact duration of energy structure, industry structure, and urbanization on the green economy is about four years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Beyond the definition and measurement of energy poverty, which have mainly attracted research interest over the last decades, attention has recently begun to turn to a broader notion of energy vulnerability. So far, this has mostly been approached on a theoretical base, suggesting the incorporation of broader socio-economic aspects into the energy poverty framework. However, the quantitative measurement of energy vulnerability is still an unexplored field of research. In this paper, the "Vulnerability Index" is developed, which, based on stochastic analysis, quantifies the vulnerability of a population to the energy poverty ratio, compared to a reference population. Moreover, Sensitivity Analysis quantifies the particular contribution of various parameters to the problem, by determining their weighting factors. As case study, the vulnerability of Greek mountainous regions with respect to the country level was studied. The results showed that households living in mountainous regions are more vulnerable versus those of the whole country, at 89.7%. It was also found that energy policy should focus on raising incomes of mountainous population and, afterwards, on energy saving measures and reduction of heating cost in mountains. The methodology suggested can address social inequalities of vulnerable population groups, in terms of energy poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The input–output model and ecological network analysis (ENA) are integrated. • The control and dependence conditions of economic sectors in China are analyzed. • The key regions and sectors for carbon mitigation of China are identified. Abstract In this paper, multi-regional input–output analysis (MRIO) and ecological network analysis (ENA) are combined to assess carbon flows within China and identify key regions and sectors in the context of spatial heterogeneity for effective carbon mitigation. An interregional carbon network model is established by articulating the directions and magnitudes of carbon flows based on MRIO. ENA is then used to unveil indirect carbon flows and mutual relationships among regions. The results show that the northwest is the largest controller for most regions in China. Most carbon emissions in the rest of China are induced by the east’s final demand and substantial consumption. In addition, at sectoral level, the control and dependence abilities vary by region in China. This study provides an integrated framework to investigate interregional carbon emission structure, identify efficient pathways for coordinated emission mitigation, and reduce global carbon inequality across regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to trace and quantify the sources of rebound effect for different energy sources in China. This paper decomposes the economy-wide rebound effect into 135 production sector-level rebound effects and five final demand components. The sector-level rebound is further decomposed into output effect and substitution effect. A two-stage decomposition method and a static computable general equilibrium model are developed to achieve this. Five types of energy-specific efficiency improvements are introduced, respectively, in all the production sectors. Results show that improving efficiency of using coal leads to the smallest macro-level rebound. For rebound decomposition, four findings are generalized. First, final consumption shows larger impact on the rebound of secondary energy sources than on primary energy sources. Second, production sectors that are big user of the efficiency-exposed energy source are expected to be key rebound contributor. Third, energy-producing sectors make negative rebound contribution. Results also show that, substitution effect is the predominant mechanism that triggers sector-level rebound. Policy implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reusable launchers have been studied under CNES contracts for more than 30 years, with early concepts such as STS-2000 or Oriflamme, more recently with very significant efforts devoted to Liquid Fly Back Boosters as with the Bargouzin project led with Tsniimash, TSTO with the Everest concept studied by Airbus-DS as prime contractor or the RFS Reusable First Stage concept of a large first stage associated to a cryotechnic second stage. These investigations, summarized in the first part of the paper, enabled CNES to identify clearly the technology requirements associated to reusability, as well as cost efficiency through detailed non-recurring costs and mission costs analysis. In parallel, CNES set in place development logic for sub-systems and equipment based on demonstrators, hardware test benches enabling maturation of technologies up to a TRL such that an actual development can be decided with limited risk. This philosophy has been applied so far to a large number of cases, such as TPTech and TPX for Hydrogen turbo pump, GGPX as demonstrator of innovative gas generator, HX demonstrator of modern cryotechnic upper stage with a dozen of different objectives (Thermal Protection, 20K Helium storage, measurements …). This virtuous approach, “learn as you test”, is currently applied in the phased approach towards scaled down reusable booster stage, whose possibility to be used as first stage of a microlaunch vehicle is under investigation. The selected technologies allow paving the way towards reusable booster stages for Ariane 6 evolutions or main reusable stage for a further generation of heavy launchers. The paper describes the logic behind this project, together with the demonstration objectives set for the various sub-systems as well as operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, the significant level of carbon emission in the atmosphere has increased the temperature of the Earth by 50% compared to the pre-industrial period. In recent years, considering renewable energy sources integrated with different energy systems such as cooling, heating, and power has become widespread around the globe as the ambition is to produce sustainable and clean energy. However, as the conventional methods for energy generation are highly reliable, their usage for supplying energy demands is inevitable. Therefore, in such renewable-based generation systems, the issues arising from uncertainties are the main challenges to the high penetration of these technologies. In this paper, the aim is to appraise such challenges in a multi-energy combined heat and power (CHP)-based microgrid integrated with power-to-gas (P-2-G) technology. In the proposed system, the downside risk constraint (DRC) approach as an effective risk management method is considered for risk assessment. The proposed model is a mixed integer linear program that is modeled as a multi-objective risk-based problem, for which the epsilon constraints method is used to achieve the optimal solutions for the objectives. According to the results, using P-2-G as an environmentally friendly tool can reduce approximately 55% of the emission cost. Further, the operating cost is increased nearly 13% to obtain a zero-risk condition for optimal management. [Display omitted] • Risk-constrained emission reduction and flexibility improvement in the fossil-fueled CHP-based multi-vector system. • A stochastic-based risk-aware multi-objective optimization framework with iterative solution mechanism. • Risk analysis with downside risk constraint (DRC) approach for the multi-vector uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a model for choosing the proper modular configuration of a point-focus concentrating thermo-photovoltaic (CPV/T) system according to the domestic user energy demands, is presented. The main aim is to evaluate several modular configuration solutions in terms of energy and economic performances and space occupied. First of all, the main CPV/T system components are chosen: optics, solar cells and tracking system. A point-focus system with parabolic mirrors, triple-junction cells and dual-axis tracking system is considered. The choice of the proper CPV/T system configuration is realized considering an equations system that defines the electric and thermal performances in terms of solar radiation, cells number and concentration factor. The choice model presented in this paper allows to configure, referring to different Italian zones, the CPV/T system under several working conditions minimizing spaces and costs. It is observed that CPV/T modules with a lower cells number allow high flexibility to satisfy the loads. The high concentration level determines interesting solutions related to a domestic application from the energy and economic point of view, above all in southern Italy, during the CPV/T system life cycle. Finally, CPV/T systems allow a significant reduction of CO 2 emissions due to the primary energy savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a one-dimensional, physics-based model of a valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) battery to examine the impact of demand response on uninterruptible power supply (UPS) availability in a datacenter. Datacenters are facilities that provide services such as cloud computing, web search, etc. They are also large electricity consumers. An energy-efficient 15 MW datacenter, for instance, may pay $1 m per month for electricity. Datacenters often utilize VRLA batteries to ensure high reliability in serving their computational demand. This motivates the paper's central question: to what extent does the use of datacenter UPS batteries for demand response affect their availability for their primary purpose (namely, emergency power)? We address this question using a physics-based model of the coupled diffusion-reaction dynamics of VRLA batteries. We discretize this model using finite differences, and simulate it for different datacenter battery pack sizes. The results show that for a typical datacenter power demand profile, a VRLA battery pack sized for UPS functionality can provide demand response with only a minimal loss of UPS availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing sustainable business models for high energy-consuming equipment (HECE) has attracted increasing attention. Product Service System (PSS) is one eminent candidate, in which assessing economic and environmental performance of PSS during the entire lifecycle of the equipment is of utmost importance. All the stakeholders should conclude their own benefits in advance. Yet, there is only few decision-making support tools for developing PSS of HECE, and the stakeholders can hardly apply them because of a lack of expertise. This paper articulates an evaluation tool which combines life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) to support the development of PSS for HECE. A framework is proposed to guide the evaluation procedure which consists of seven steps including goal and scope definition, system boundary determination, methods selection, scenarios construction, data collection, quantitative analysis and results interpretation. Air separation equipment (ASE), a typical HECE, is selected as a case study. The results show that extra economic benefits for both manufacturer and client are associated with increased investment, more environmental burdens and higher risk. Developing PSS might not always be a sustainable practice, e.g., gas supply service would lead to extra economic and environmental burdens due to frequent transportation. The suitable conditions for implementing different PSS modes are analysed and discussed. The case study demonstrates that the stakeholders can carry out LCA and LCC in a more efficient, convenient and comprehensive manner using our proposed evaluation tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic models for predicting human behavior have become an essential part of the development of demand planning strategies, as well as a high-resolution base information for building simulation software. Due to the close relationship between human presence and consumption, occupancy patterns allow for the recognition of activity peaks, and subsequently, potential maximum demand hours. This contributes to the improvement of control strategies, which combined with the active participation of consumers will drive to major energy savings. In this paper, a novel behavior model for nine economic sectors in Spain has been developed using a Markov Chain methodology that can easily be extrapolated to other locations. The model can generate daily occupancy profiles with a 10-min resolution for the selected sectors, distinguishing between the type of day and type of working hours. The results, which have been validated and compared with other works showing good accuracy, have highlighted the characteristic patterns and maximum occupancy hours of each studied sector. Furthermore, these simulated profiles have been used as input datasets for the estimation of consumption in some selected sectors, illustrating the potential link that can be established between occupancy profiles and energy usage by means of different modeling techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial systems management is nowadays increasingly devoted to improve the control of most critical production aspects. In this context, the performance of all the systems involved in production processes have to be measured and analysed in order to get better insights in terms of potential production and quality improvements as well as energy savings. In order to evaluate the performance of a certain system, a possible and effective way is to compare it with data from similar systems, thus to conduct a benchmark analysis. In the area of energy management, although the compressed air system (CAS) is one of the most important and energy consuming services within industrial plants, enterprises often have difficulties understanding and appreciating the entity of potential benefits coming from the improvement of its energy efficiency. The present paper aims at developing a new benchmark analysis for compressed air systems in industrial plants. The proposed methodology starts from the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) already available in the scientific literature for CASs’ energy performance and is mainly based on the analysis of a huge real dataset collected from over 15,000 energy audits made on a wide range of different companies, all related to produced quantity of compressed air and energy consumed by CASs. Collected data present some limitations and related improvements and corrective actions have been undertaken and are presented in the followings. Data analyses have been followed by complementary surveys regarding compressed air systems’ use, maintenance and monitoring practices performed within several Italian enterprises and aimed at enhancing and creating a more reliable baseline for benchmarking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the work by Mark Jacobson et al. of 100% renewables to the rigors of long-run utility system planning. This comparison to integrated resource planning (IRP) allows comparison between assumptions used by Jacobson to results from real-world planning studies. Seven criteria are proposed for designing such a study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study coming from an academic and industry partnership with the goals of exploring potential uses for UAS in distribution system operation and maintenance, establishing baseline costs and capabilities via equipment field tests, and simulating the cost benefits of increased maintenance. Existing UAS technology is shown to be capable of providing situational awareness for disaster response as well as increasing the number of maintenance inspections and speeding them up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Italian street lighting systems are obsolescent, considering the best available technology. Energy-efficiency improvements of street lighting systems are possible using Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, and many cities are investigating how to effectively implement LEDs in their systems. However, the initial costs of LED luminaires are considerably higher than the costs of other technologies, and investment costs may be a barrier to implementation. In this paper, it is discussed the adoption of LED luminaires to replace the conventional lamps in public-lighting systems of Rome (Italy); calculating possible savings of energy and costs. Based on this analysis, despite the cost of LED luminaires, the use of LED technology is economically advisable. Strategic options and flexibility are introduced in the project. Specifically, it is considered the possibility of splitting LED investment into five stages, deciding whether each part should be implemented. Real options are used to evaluate the economic cost-saving of such a project, considering uncertainty of the electricity price and multi-stage investment. The economic value obtained from real option analysis is higher of that obtained from net present value because the latter does not consider some flexibilities of the project. Taking into account the sources of uncertainty, real options provide results that are more realistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare for Spain from 1970 to 2012 and seeks to update valuation approaches to a number of items. Two approaches have proven particularly controversial over recent decades; the costs of energy depletion and of climate change. The valuation implications in measuring present welfare have proven problematic, as both include future sustainability consequences arising from resource depletion and environmental impacts. This study includes a ‘ transition cost ’ approach to energy depletion, a modified approach to costs of climate change and water pollution, and removes the cost of ozone depletion. The results illustrate that while GDP per capita increased significantly, the ISEW per capita shows a widening gap. Household labour contributes strongly, but income distribution, energy depletion and costs of climate change limit improvement. Sensitivity analysis shows that accumulating climate change costs and escalating energy depletion costs have significant effects. Nevertheless, the new valuation approaches do not alter conclusions that welfare has shown little improvement. The ISEW provides a useful alternative to current indicators such as GDP subject to awareness of limitations. It is a measure of welfare that uses sustainability accounting methods when estimating costs, but is not an indicator of whether welfare is actually sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key distinction between production-based and consumption-based accounting lies in the way in which trade-embodied emissions are allocated between producer and consumer regions. Yet, these two regions are not necessarily directly connected to each other in supply chains, due to spatial production fragmentation. To better understand the link from the production-based to the consumption-based regional carbon inventories, this paper defines the economic length of carbon transfer (ELCT) as the number of administrative border-crossing involved in the influence process of a region’s final demand on the carbon emissions of another region. Using a multi-regional input-output analysis framework for China, we propose an approach to calculating the ELCT related to a region’s production or demand for domestic consumption or international export. We find that the average ELCT in 2010 is 1.34 and that more than a quarter of interregional carbon transfer crosses provincial borders twice or more. The provincial and sectoral analysis of ELCT reveals that spatial production fragmentation is an important challenge to be conquered for successful implementation of consumption-based climate regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the energy metabolism of national economies is nowadays crucial for policymakers in order to define effective policies and to properly set energy efficiency targets. Energy accountings based on the traditional Production-based accounting method (PBA) allows to understand how primary energy is directly extracted, traded, transformed and used within each economy. On the other hand, Consumption-based accounting method (CBA) allows to understand the ultimate economic purposes of such energy flows. The information provided by the joint application of these approaches may provide useful and complementary insight on the national energy metabolism, allowing to identify hotspots for potential interventions from both the supply and demand side. This paper reviews PBA and CBA energy accounting methods, presenting a possible way for the joint use of their results, consistently represented by means of one unique Sankey diagram. This will be useful to have a comprehensive insight on the energy metabolism of national economies, supporting analysts and policymakers in the identification of energy efficiency hotspots. The method is applied to South Africa and to the neighbor country of Botswana, based on data provided by IEA energy statistics and the EORA26 Multi-Regional Input-Output model, taking into account non-renewable fossil energy (raw coal, crude oil and natural gas) and considering the reference year 2013. Results suggest that the joint use of PBA and CBA methods may provide useful information on the hidden energy links among national economies, helping analysts and policymakers in defining alternative energy efficiency policies. For this reason, the Authors argue that results of CBA should be provided alongside energy statistics based on the traditional PBA approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The special volume on green and sustainable chemistry and engineering has fourteen papers that were considered relevant to the present day issues and discussion, such as adequate use of raw materials and efficient energy, besides considering renewable sources for materials and energy; and changing economical canons towards circular economy. Businesses, governments and Society are facing a number of challenges to tread the sustainability path and provide wellbeing for future generations. This special volume relevance provides discussions and contributions to foster that desirable future. Chemicals are ubiquitous in everyday activities. Their widespread presence provides benefits to societies’ wellbeing, but can have some deleterious effects. To counteract such effect, green engineering and sustainable assessment in industrial processes have been gathering momentum in the last thirty years. Green chemistry, green engineering, eco-efficiency, and sustainability are becoming a necessity for assessing and managing products and processes in the chemical industry. This special volume presents fourteen articles related to sustainable resource and energy use (five articles), circular economy (one article), cleaner production and sustainable process assessment (five article), and innovation in chemical products (three articles). Green and sustainable chemistry, as well as sustainable chemical engineering and renewable energy sources are required to foster and consolidate a transition towards more sustainable societies. This special volume present current trends in chemistry and chemical engineering, such as sustainable resource and energy use, circular economy, cleaner production and sustainable process assessment, and innovation in chemical products. This special volume provides insights in this direction and complementing other efforts towards such transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aspiration of a circular economy is to shift material flows toward a zero waste and pollution production system. The process of shifting to a circular economy has been initiated by the European Commission in their action plan for the circular economy. The EU Ecodesign Directive is a key policy in this transition. However, to date the focus of access to market requirements on products has primarily been upon energy efficiency. The absence of adequate metrics and standards has been a key barrier to the inclusion of resource efficiency requirements. This paper proposes a framework to boost sustainable engineering and resource use by systematically identifying standardization needs and features. Standards can then support the setting of appropriate material efficiency requirements in EU product policy. Three high-level policy goals concerning material efficiency of products were identified: embodied impact reduction, lifetime extension and residual waste reduction. Through a lifecycle perspective, a matrix of interactions among material efficiency topics (recycled content, re-used content, relevant material content, durability, upgradability, reparability, re-manufacturability, reusability, recyclability, recoverability, relevant material separability) and policy goals was created. The framework was tested on case studies for electronic displays and washing machines. For potential material efficiency requirements, specific standardization needs were identified, such as adequate metrics for performance measurements, reliable and repeatable tests, and calculation procedures. The proposed novel framework aims to provide a method by which to identify key material efficiency considerations within the policy context, and to map out the generic and product-specific standardisation needs to support ecodesign. Via such an approach, many different stakeholders (industry, academics, policy makers, non-governmental organizations etc.) can be involved in material efficiency standards and regulations. Requirements and standards concerning material efficiency would compel product manufacturers, but also help designers and interested parties in addressing the sustainable resource use issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the penetration of smart grid into factories, energy-efficient production scheduling has emerged as a promising method for industrial demand response. It shifts flexible production loads to lower-priced periods to reduce energy cost for the same production task. However, the existing methods only focus on integrating energy awareness to conventional production scheduling models. They ignore the labor cost which is shift-based and follows an opposite trend of energy cost. For instance, the energy cost is lower during nights while the labor cost is higher. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for energy-efficient and labor-aware production scheduling at the unit process level. This integrated scheduling model is mathematically formulated. Besides the state-based energy model and genetic algorithm-based optimization, a continuous-time shift accumulation heuristic is proposed to synchronize power states and labor shifts. In a case study of a Belgian plastic bottle manufacturer, a set of empirical sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate the impact of energy and labor awareness, as well as the production-related factors that influence the economic performance of a schedule. Furthermore, the demonstration was performed in 9 large-scale test instances, which encompass the cases where energy cost is minor, moderate, and major compared to the joint energy and labor cost. The results have proven that the ignorance of labor in existing energy-efficient production scheduling studies increases the joint energy and labor cost, although the energy cost can be minimized. To achieve effective production cost reduction, energy and labor awareness are recommended to be jointly considered in production scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reassesses a recent case study on six bioethanol production processes in China, to develop a methodology that discriminates the most energy-efficient process. The original research explored the joint method of Life Cycle Assessment and Data Envelopment Analysis (LCA + DEA). However, DEA is sensitive to problems with a disproportionate number of variables to alternatives and LCA usually requires analysis with several inputs and outputs. The original research indicated two sources as being tied for energy efficiency, which is not relevant to decision-makers aiming to invest in the most efficient process. The method proposed here uses a combinatorial and probabilistic approach to improve discrimination and create scenarios for the reduction of inputs and the increase of outputs, even for efficient processes. Results show that the proposed method has better discriminatory power than the referenced paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to extract determinants of efficiency in an industrial-scale biogas project treating food waste in a major Asian megacity. The research involved a 4-step methodology combining statistical and operations research tools. The findings were as follows: (1) the project suffered from high variability and low performance across several important process parameters; (2) Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that approximately 40.51% of variability in the data could be explained by two principal components; (3) Data envelopment analysis (DEA) revealed that 47% of the decision making units (DMUs) were inefficient, and 73% of DMUs exhibited increasing returns to scale; (4) regression results showed that adjusted R 2 values ranged between 0.913 and 0.996 for the models of DEA efficiency, and significant explanatory variables were extracted based on type III sum of squares. This research is significant in the biowaste-to-energy literature in that it provides a robust method for identifying process bottlenecks in industrial-scale anaerobic digestion of food waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supporting environmentally-conscious design of moulds is the ultimate objective of the here presented advisory tool. Relying on a careful estimation of the energy used for the injection moulding process, the designer is guided towards the development of green(er) solutions. As shown by literature and through a preliminary LCA screening analysis, most of the environmental impacts of a mould are directly connected to the energy consumed during the injection phase. This paper proposes a guideline for a reliable and sensitive energy estimation of the injection moulding process, taking into account not only the part and the material to be moulded, but also the specifications of the mould, the injection moulding machine and the injection moulding process parameters. The accurate estimation of the energy consumed may radically improve the estimation of the overall environmental impacts of the mould and of the moulded product, and provide a value-added support for eco-driven decision making since the mould design phase. This work aims at contributing to the development of new methodologies to help injection moulding industry to develop more sustainable parts, moulds and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy consumption of the service sector in China is larger than the total energy consumption of Japan, great importance should be attached to the energy efficiency of Chinese service sector. Considering undesirable output and regional heterogeneity, a meta-frontier slack-based efficiency measure (MSBM) approach is adopted in this paper to measure the energy efficiency of Chinese service sector using provincial panel data of China during 1995–2013. The empirical results show that, the energy efficiency of the service sector in China is 0.62 and 0.85 under meta-frontier and group-frontier technologies. The eastern regions show the best performance in energy efficiency, the central region follows and the western region shows the poorest performance. Only the eastern region shows an increasing trend in the energy efficiency of Chinese service sector. The potential of energy efficiency improvement for Hainan, Guizhou, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Shaanxi are relatively high. Some policy recommendations are proposed to improve the energy efficiency of Chinese service sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the tourism industry, hotels and homestay facilities account for considerable amounts of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. Unlike other types of buildings, occupancy has significant fluctuations over time, while mostly being ignored or using a simple assumption based on energy use intensity or setting the occupancy levels. Due to the lack of occupancy rate information, great uncertainties exist in hotel operations, which leads to erroneous estimates of energy consumption in existing hotel buildings. This paper examines hotel operation practices in China with real occupancy rate data which is critical for reducing the uncertainty of estimating energy consumption patterns. Specifically, this study proposes a two-stage comprehensive and quantitative performance assessment approach for the homestay hotel building considering the system's energy and economic performance simultaneously. Regarding energy performance, there are two key facets to consider: renewable energy penetration and grid impact performance. Additionally, the economic performance (annual income and extra annual investment) of various energy portfolios is evaluated using break-even analysis. The impacts of large fluctuation in occupancy rate on electrical loads are considered and assessed in typical homestay hotels. The proposed assessment approach can comprehensively quantify the impacts of the photovoltaics (PV) areas and battery capacities on the system performance in terms of energy and economics. According to the results of the occupancy-based assessment, the ideal PV area and battery capacity are 400 m2 and 16 kWh, respectively, as opposed to the optimal energy portfolios (PV area 600 m2 and battery capacity 24 kWh) determined from conventional assessment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Industry uses around one third of the world’s energy, and accounts for about 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions. There is increasing economic and social pressure to improve efficiency and create closed-loop industrial systems, in which energy efficiency plays a key role. This paper describes some of the key concepts involved in modelling the energy flows in manufacturing, both for the building services and the industrial processes. Detailed dynamic energy simulation of buildings is well established and routinely used, working on a time series basis – but current tools are inadequate to model the energy flows of many industrial processes. There are also well-established models of manufacturing flows, used to optimise production efficiency, but typically not modelling energy, and usually representing production and material flows as event-driven processes. The THERM project has developed new software tools to model energy-related and other utility flows in manufacturing, incorporating these into existing thermal models of factory buildings. This makes it possible to map out the whole energy system, and hence to test efficiency measures, to understand the effect of processes on building energy use, to investigate recycling of heat or cooling into other processes or building conditioning, and so on. The paper describes some of the key concepts and modelling approaches involved in developing these models, and gives examples of some real processes modelled in factories. It concludes that such models are entirely feasible and potentially very useful, although to develop a tool which comprehensively models both energy and manufacturing flows would be a major undertaking. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Microturbines offer new perspectives in small-scale heat and power production however their profitability depends strongly on the yearly amount of running hours. The non-continuous heat demand often leads to a reduction in running hours. This paper proposes an alternative by recuperating the lost thermal power through the injection of heated water in the micro Gas Turbine (mGT). Water injection is considered a successful way to increase power and efficiency in industrial gas turbines and similar effects are expected for microturbines. This paper reports on a series of simulations of water injection performed on a Turbec T100 mGT. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential of water injection in the mGT cycle using an adiabatic black box method in the Aspen® process simulation tool. Past experiments with steam injection on the T100 demonstrated the potential of introducing steam/water in the microturbine cycle. Calculations revealed that the key parameters for maximum heat recuperation are stack and pinch temperature. Simulations showed that most of the exhaust heat can be recovered through injection of heated water after the compressor, resulting in an 18% decrease in fuel consumption and an absolute increase in electrical efficiency of 7%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyses the cost effectiveness of the implementation of some of the Best Available Technologies (BATs) and Innovative Technologies (ITs) in the European industry up to 2030. This is done using a bottom-up model that considers the main processes involved in each facility. The model described in the paper assumes the retrofitting/upgrade of each European facility with a BAT or IT as soon as the criterion for a capital budgeting decision is met. The paper details the effect on the savings in energy and CO2 emissions by European industry, assuming different levels of requirement in the payback period used as main capital-budgeting decision criterion. This approach reveals the full potential that some technologies under research (as the ones considered in the Ultra–Low CO2 Steelmaking project and Carbon Capture and Storage technologies, as well as other technologies that are not widely deployed (Direct Reduced Iron technologies), may have in the European industry. The starting point of the simulation is adjusted so that the CO2 emissions of each facility in the model have a counterpart in the emissions recorded for the benchmarking exercise of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. The results show that, by 2030, for a payback period of two years, the margin of improvement in CO2 emissions is around 20%. Whereas, by 2030, for a payback period of six years, the margin of improvement in CO2 emissions is in the range between 50% and 65%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There are many different aspects a production-planning model has to be able to handle to make a model adequate for the purpose. One aspect is the handling of start-ups and shutdowns for different processes. The production plan is likely to be changed when considering, for example, a cost connected to the start-up and/or shutdown of processes. Besides costs associated with start-ups and shutdowns, waste may be produced during the start-up and shutdown. However, there is also the possibility of carrying out soft start-ups and shutdowns or limiting the number of start-ups and shutdowns. Thus, start-ups and shutdowns have to be handled in an adequate way in models to produce reliable and accurate results. In optimisation tools, this may be dealt with by introducing certain constraints, including integers. In this paper, the implementation of alternative ways to consider start-ups and shutdowns are presented. This is done in the energy system optimisation tool reMIND, which deals with Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problems. The purpose of this paper is to show four alternatives to consider start-ups and shutdowns in optimisation models. This involves, in total, almost 50 constraints. Also, a simple dairy case study is included in the paper to visualise the effect of implementing the different alternatives to shutdowns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Policy makers have realized that without significant increases in the energy efficiency and notable reductions in the energy use of the household sector, it will be impossible to lower carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate the risks of climate change at the global level. The energy demand in residential buildings is influenced by several parameters, such as national economic growth, climate and weather, demographic structure, and technological development. In this paper, we analyze the determinants of electricity and natural gas consumptions in Italy during the period from 2004 to 2013. We provide estimates of price and income elasticities of the demand for both the energy sources in the residential sector. The role played by both energy price and household income is worth attention because it provides evidence for the occurrence of the direct rebound effect. Therefore, the economic drivers of the energy demand are important to improve the policies meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contrast the global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]