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This paper comprehensively examines passive and active energy retrofit strategies as a highly effective approach for reducing building energy consumption and mitigating CO2 emissions while enhancing comfort and sustainability. The paper further examines energy simulation software and assesses the integration of renewable energy systems in building to improve energy efficiency. The review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, ensuring a rigorous and comprehensive analysis. In addition, the study utilized bibliometric analysis with VOSviewer to provide valuable insights into the research trends and influential publications in building energy retrofits. Bibliometric analysis reveals strong collaboration among 17 authors, emphasizing their significant contributions. Keywords like energy retrofitting and efficiency are prominent, indicating their importance in academic literature. Findings show passive strategies are more effective in reducing energy consumption, though a combined approach with active strategies can yield optimal results. Retrofitting presents challenges, such as substantial initial costs and regulatory barriers. User acceptance is crucial, considering potential disruptions. The review highlights the importance of energy simulation software, with tools like EnergyPlus, eQUEST, and IES VE identified for evaluating and identifying cost-effective retrofit measures in building performance. By providing comprehensive insights into the various strategies and tools available for retrofitting buildings to achieve energy efficiency and sustainability goals, this review serves as an authoritative resource for building owners, managers, and professionals in the building industry. It offers invaluable guidance for informed decision-making and facilitates implementing effective, energy-efficient, and sustainable building retrofitting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increasing energy consumption, there has been a significant expansion in worldwide trade, leading to the emergence of severe environmental issues. This situation is further compounded by the non-negotiable requirement to simultaneously mitigate environmental degradation and achieve economic progress. To ensure a healthier future, it is imperative to identify and address the factors that contribute to environmental contamination. The purpose of this study is to examine how Malaysia's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are affected by energy consumption, economic growth, and the economic complexity index (ECI). Time series data from 1997 to 2020 are used in this study, along with the autoregressive distributed lag model. The environmental Kuznets curve theory holds true in Malaysia, according to the study's findings, and energy use has a negative impact on CO2 emissions. There is also evidence suggesting that a higher ECI is linked with increased levels of CO2 emissions over a prolonged period. Malaysia's main export, electrical and electronic goods, generates substantial CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process. The outcomes of this research have important ramifications for environmental strategies concerning the mitigation of CO2 emissions. The electrical and electronics industries can implement energy-efficient technologies and practices in manufacturing processes. This would include upgrading to more efficient machinery, optimizing production schedules, and reducing idle times. It is also crucial to work with governments and industry bodies to advocate for policies that support sustainable manufacturing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Malaysia, wetland rice is cultivated over two cropping seasons: the main season, from June to November, and the off-season, from January to June. The aim of this study was to investigate tillage operations in rice production in relation to actual field operations and under real field conditions for two rice cultivation seasons. The results showed that 80.7%, 17%, and 2.3% of the total time was spent on the actual operation, turning time, and reversing time, respectively. The results also showed that the mean effective field capacity, field efficiency, and fuel consumption were 1.2 ha/h, 80%, and 7.6 L/ha, respectively. The distribution of energy used in the first, second, and third tillage passes amounted to 37%, 33%, and 30% of the total energy, respectively. Fuel, machinery, and total GHG emissions were 62.4, 7.6, and 70 kg CO2eq/ha, respectively. Fuel represented the highest contributor of energy expenditure and GHG emissions. The distributions of GHG emissions in the first, second, and third tillage passes were 37%, 32%, and 31% of the total GHG emissions. The results reveal that carrying out minimum-tillage operations led to a reduction in environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A medium-sized combine harvester has been recently deployed to harvest newly introduced high-value glutinous rice in Malaysia. Thus, efficient utilisation of combine harvesters during harvest is essential to minimise operating costs and grain loss. This study evaluated a medium-sized combine harvester's performance and energy consumption for harvesting glutinous rice. The experiment was carried out on a one-hectare paddy field with three sub-plots using a central composite design (CCD). A time-motion study was conducted during the harvesting operation to determine the combine harvester's performance parameters, which included field operating speed (FS), field efficiency (FE), theoretical field capacity (TFC), effective field capacity (EFC), grain throughput capacity (GTC), fuel consumption (FC) and field machine index (MI). The energy expended during the operation, which included machinery energy (ME), fuel energy (FCE), human energy (HE), and total energy (TE) input, were also computed. The average FS, FE, TFC, EFC, FC, and MI values were 2.42 km/h, 59.78%, 0.56 ha/h, 0.33 ha/h, 14.89 l/ha, and 0.30, respectively. The mean values of ME, FCE, HE, and TE were 305.35, 711.69, 3.62, and 1020.66 MJ/ha, respectively. The combine harvester achieved an average grain throughput capacity (GTC) of 1796.91 kg/h, demonstrating its effectiveness in handling glutinous rice harvesting. The average time distribution for the harvesting operation, such as effective harvesting time, turning/reversing time, and unloading time, was 1.85 h/ha, 0.38 h/ha, and 1.05 h/ha, respectively. Based on the results, it is concluded that the medium-sized combine harvester is technically and economically suitable for harvesting glutinous rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the effects of densification at varied pelletization temperatures on the novel Malaysian Khaya senegalensis wood-derived pellets biomass fuel characteristics. The lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the biomass fuel characteristics of this species prompted the research. By addressing this knowledge gap, this study explores the impact of temperature variations on key fuel properties, contributing to the optimization of sustainable biomass fuel production in manufacturing and materials processing. Khaya senegalensis wood, grown and harvested in Malaysia, was pelletized at different temperatures to analyze the calorific value, volatile matter content, ash content, fixed carbon, bulk density, and moisture contents of the pellets. The experimental data revealed a significant relationship between temperature and these fuel properties. Pelletizing at 75 °C produced the highest calorific value of 19.47 MJ/kg and the maximum fixed carbon content of 10.04%. A low ash level of 4.26% was achieved via pelletizing at 75 °C. According to the results, 75 °C produced the best thermophysical properties. These findings provide valuable understanding of how pelletization temperature influences fuel pellet thermophysical properties, a critical aspect in optimizing fuel pellet production, storage, advancing renewable energy resource utilization, and, finally, promoting a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development has many dimensions, such as clean energy, green growth, and sustainable industry. Green finance has a key role in realizing these targets. The core focus of the existing paper is to demystify the influences of green finance, green energy on environmental dynamics in Malaysia covering the timeframe from 1990 to 2018. To this end, we employ the QARDL technique to peruse the effect of green finance, renewable energy, and economic growth on CO 2 emissions and ecological footprint separately. By doing so, we crosscheck the empirical outcomes and inspect the consistency of the analysis. Firstly, empirical results show that the ecological footprint model yields similar results to the CO 2 emissions model in terms of statistically significant quantile ranges and the magnitude of the coefficients. According to the overall results, GDP increases environmental degradation while green finance and renewable energy have a mitigating role. Finally, we confirm a significant EKC hypothesis for Malaysia. Based on these findings, we recommend Malaysian policymakers focus on energy efficiency, realize financial reforms and promote green energy through the financial system to achieve the 2050 net-zero emission target. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of 2022, roughly 79.8% of Malaysia's population resides in urban areas, increasing the population density of its cities. The hot and humid climate in Malaysia necessitates the constant use of air conditioning, especially in cities, resulting in high residential electric consumption and carbon emissions. The residential sector significantly contributes to global climate change, accounting for 27% of global energy consumption and 17% of carbon emissions. To address this concern, the local framework of the National Low Carbon Cities Masterplan (NLCCM) is advocating for a minimum 33% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 in urban settings, aligning with the commitments made at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15). The aim of this study was to determine the energy consumption and carbon emission of residential areas in a tropical city, as well as explore potential energy and carbon savings. Utilizing the Intelligent Communities Lifecycle–Intelligent Community Design (iCL-iCD) energy simulation software, a digital twin of Bertam City, Penang, was developed. This digital model included 65.4% residential housing, which, in the specific scenario under study, accounted for 36% of the city's electrical energy consumption for cooling purposes only. An early simulation of the residential areas of the city estimated the baseline energy consumption and carbon emissions to be 607 GWh and 314,736 tCO2e, respectively. Several energy-efficient measures were applied to the residential area of Bertam City, revealing a potential saving of 37.3% in both energy and carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing environmental impacts in transport motivates many studies to offer more sustainable freight services. However, most methodologies focus on impacts from fuel consumption, and approaches trying to integrate other transport components have not facilitated its application to actual and specific transport services. In this study, we present a harmonized approach to address the transport services with a holistic way to increase the knowledge about hotspots of the transport sector based on the life cycle assessment methodology. In this framework, vehicle manufacturing, fuel production, and infrastructure construction are the key transport components around the traffic process. Besides fuel usage, the operation and maintenance of vehicles and infrastructures are also included. We developed a tool to create the life cycle inventories for each transport component to be applied to specific transport services in any location with a comprehensive view and low uncertainty in the results. This approach was applied to road-freight services in Colombia, Malaysia, and Spain. The main results showed the nature and origin of the environmental impacts, which are highly influenced by the emissions control technologies, road characteristics, and traffic volume. The contribution of atmospheric pollutants per tonne-km can decrease by a quarter when Euro VI trucks on highways instead of conventional trucks on single-lane roads are used. However, these contributions are highly affected by fuel production due to the origin of biofuels. The proposed methodology provides relevant information to estimate transport impacts in the life cycle assessment of products with superior precision and identify strategies for systemically improving sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]