The perceived poor performance of publicly traded companies on their sustainability commitments and the quality of sustainability reporting has prompted stakeholders to consider the economic, environmental, and social impacts of corporate activities. Economic activities have led to various threats in the form of climate change, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, natural disasters, and other issues that have negatively impacted the environment and stakeholders. Companies are expected to report to stakeholders on their sustainability performance, but reality proves that present reporting falls below stakeholders’ expectations mainly due to its still voluntary nature. The present study aims to provide a literature review of the relationship between sustainability reporting and the role of companies governance, especially observing if climate change requirements and energy-needed changes are being accounted. Results highlight mixed evidence for the influence of board governance attributes, providing interesting insights for research advancement. The study has practical implications for businesses, regulators, governments, and other stakeholders in their policy deliberations and investment decisions. Further empirical studies are recommended to re-examine sustainability reporting using the variables identified as important factors and gaps in this study and other board characteristics to improve the generalizability of the results.

To improve the accuracy of short-term multi-energy load prediction models for integrated energy systems, the historical development law of the multi-energy loads must be considered. Moreover, understanding the complex coupling correlation of the different loads in the multi-energy systems and accounting for other load-influencing factors, such as weather, may further improve the forecasting performance of such models. In this study, a two-stage fuzzy optimization method is proposed for the feature selection and identification of the multi-energy loads. To enrich the information content of the prediction input feature, we introduced a copula correlation feature analysis in the proposed framework, which extracts the complex dynamic coupling correlation of multi-energy loads and applies Akaike information criterion (AIC) to evaluate the adaptability of the different copula models presented. Furthermore, we combined a NARX neural network with Bayesian optimization and an extreme learning machine model optimized using a genetic algorithm to effectively improve the feature fusion performances of the proposed multi-energy load prediction model. The effectiveness of the proposed short-term prediction model was confirmed by the experimental results obtained using the multi-energy load time-series data of an actual integrated energy system.

In response to the growing demand for high-strength and high-toughness materials in industries like aerospace and automobiles, there is a need for metal matrix composites (MMCs) that can simultaneously enhance strength and toughness. This paper focuses on the design configurations of MMCs, which include both the configurations resulting from reinforcements and the inherent heterogeneity of the matrix itself. The mechanical properties of MMCs are influenced by factors such as reinforcement content, shape, size, and spatial distribution within the composite architecture. Among them, Aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) are particularly significant in aerospace, electronics, and electric vehicles due to their potential for weight reduction and enhanced performance. However, the challenge lies in the inverse relationship between strength and toughness, hindering the widespread utilization and large-scale development of MMCs. The design configuration of composites plays a critical role in achieving concurrent improvements in strength and toughness. This review explores the advantages of toughness, toughening mechanisms, reinforcement distribution characteristics, and structural parameters in the design of composite architectures. Drawing inspiration from biological composites like bone, the development of synthetic composites with homogeneous structural designs provides insights into attaining exceptional strength and toughness in lightweight engineering structures. Additionally, understanding fracture behavior and toughening mechanisms in heterogeneous nanostructures is vital for advancing the field of metal matrix composites. Summarily, the design of composite architectures holds tremendous potential for tailoring AMCs with outstanding strength and toughness, addressing the requirements of lightweight engineering structures in various industries.

Bismuth sodium titanate thin films (BNT) were deposited on Pt/SiN substrates by Sol-Gel spin coating technique under O2 atmosphere. Microstructural, structural, and electrical properties of the obtained film were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy micrographs were used to analyze the microstructure of the films. Furthermore, EDX analysis revealed a Na-deficient composition for the obtained film. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy allowed the identification of a pure perovskite BNT phase. Dielectric, ferroelectric, and leakage current measurements revealed good frequency stability of the dielectric constant and dielectric losses for BNT thin film. The results are discussed in terms of Na-deficiency effects on the defect structure of BNT. Further, the film showed attractive electrostatic energy storage properties with energy density that exceeds 1.04 J/cm3 under E = 630 kV/cm.

Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaTiO3 (BNT-BT) thin films were prepared by both chemical solution (CSD) and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The microstructure, dielectric, and ferroelectric properties were investigated. High stability of the dielectric permittivity (∆ɛ/ɛ(150 °C) ≤ ± 15%) over a wide temperature range from room temperature to 300 °C was obtained. Distinctly, the CSD film showed high TCC stability with variation of ± 5% up to 250°C. Furthermore, the CSD film showed an unsaturated ferroelectric hysteresis loop characteristic of the ergodic relaxor phase, however the PLD one exhibited almost saturated loop signature of the coexistence of both ergodic and non-ergodic states. The energy storage properties of the prepared films were determined using the P–E loops obtained at different temperatures. The results showed that these films exhibit stable and improved energy storage density comparable to the ceramic capacitors. Moreover, the CSD film exhibited more rigidity and better energy storage density that exceeds 1.3 J/cm3 under low applied field of 317 KV/cm as well as interesting efficiency in a large temperature range. The obtained results are very promising for energy storage capacitors operating at high temperatures.

The study of photonic crystals has emerged as an attractive area of research in nanoscience in the last years. In this work we study the properties of a two-dimensional photonic crystal composed of dielectric rods. The unit cell of the system is composed of six rods organized on the sites of a C6 triangular lattice. We induce a topological phase by introducing an angular perturbation ϕ in the pristine system. The topology of the system is then determined by using the so-called k.p perturbed model. Our results show that the system presents a topological and a trivial phases, depending on the sign of the angular perturbation ϕ. The topological character of the system is probed by evaluating the electromagnetic energy density and analyzing its distribution in the real space, in particular on the maximal Wyckoff points. We also find two edge modes at the interface between the trivial and topological photonic crystals, which present a pseudospin topological behavior. By applying the Bulk-Edge correspondence, we study the pseudospin edge modes and conclude that they are robust against defects, disorder and reflection. Moreover, the localization of the edge modes leads to the confinement of light and the interface behaves as a waveguide for the propagation of electromagnetic waves. Finally, we show that the two edge modes present energy flux propagating in opposite directions, which is the photonic analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect.

Waste-to-Hydrogen (Wahh) is a process of converting waste into hydrogen gas through various methods such as thermal conversion, biological conversion, and chemical conversion. This process not only helps in managing waste but also provides a clean source of energy as hydrogen is a renewable energy source that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions during combustion. Wahh has the potential to provide a sustainable solution for energy generation and waste management in the current scenario of globally increasing energy demands. This study aims to examine the properties and energy efficiencies of various renewable fuels including fuelwood, biogas, biomethane, and biohydrogen with a specific focus on differentiating the characteristics of biohydrogen. The paper explores the emerging concepts of waste-to-hydrogen microgrids, biohydrogen refineries, biohydrogen prosumer networks, and a biohydrogen circular economy, as well as Public-Private-People Partnerships (4Ps) and the hydrogen-centric renewable energy revolution, which are taking shape in industrialized countries. The study presents a comprehensive feasibility analysis of these concepts in the context of Nepal. The results of this research will provide valuable insights into the potential for adopting these innovative technologies in Nepal and will contribute to the development of a sustainable and efficient energy system.

Artemisia absinthium (A. absinthium) leaf extract was successfully used to create zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), and their properties were investigated via several techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and UV–Vis spectroscopy. SEM analysis confirmed the spherical and elliptical shapes of the particles. Three different zinc peaks were observed via EDX at energies of 1, 8.7, and 9.8 keV, together with a single oxygen peak at 0.5 keV. XRD analysis identified ZnO NPs as having a hexagonal wurtzite structure with a particle size that decreased from 24.39 to 18.77 nm, and with an increasing surface area (BET) from 4.003 to 6.032 m2/g for the ZnO (without extract) and green ZnO NPs, respectively. FTIR analysis confirmed the groups of molecules that were accountable for stabilizing and minimizing the ZnO NPs, which was apparent at 3400 cm. Using UV–Vis spectroscopy, the band gap energies (Egs) for the green ZnO and ZnO (without extract) NPs were estimated, and the values were 2.65 and 2.79 eV, respectively.

Criticism has been directed towards the traditional methods of management accounting employed by organizations thus far, as they fail to adequately address the growing need for competitiveness and sustainable development in a globalized environment. This criticism stems from both economic factors, such as insufficient monitoring of material, energy, and escalating overhead costs, and environmental concerns, where inadequate attention is given to vital information regarding significant environmental aspects, impacts, risks, and damages arising from the organization's activities and processes. Additionally, these methods do not sufficiently support the implementation of a functional environmental management system (EMS). Drawing upon our research in EMS standardization following the international standards ISO 1400X, as well as our knowledge gained during the development of the Slovak Technical Standard (STN) for ISO 14051, this paper presents an innovative model of environmental management accounting. This model is based on the cost accounting of material and energy flows within organizations. It serves as an enhancement framework for organizations with an existing EMS built according to the EN ISO 14001 model, as well as for organizations lacking a formalized EMS based on this standard. Within this paper, we specify, decompose, and apply the new model, focusing on the cost accounting of material-energy flows in a hypothetical organization. We meticulously examine the ten key steps of the model's structure, particularly in terms of costing and the allocation of costs to material, energy, system, and waste management.

Many buildings built before the energy performance regulations are in a situation of thermal discomfort and energy inefficiency. The creation of intelligent environments advances towards new opportunities, based on real-time monitoring and on the development of sensors and technologies. Furthermore, the standards for building automation and electronic systems enable interoperability and interconnection between control devices and systems. The application of soft computing has significantly improved the energy efficiency, however, requires prior assessment to design the automation functions. Temperature, humidity, air quality, occupancy and energy consumption are the most common measured parameters, but the relationship with other operational variables such as occupancy or some building states remains as a research challenge. This article presents a methodology to develop the automatization of an existing large public building. The methodology consists of three stages: 1. Assessment and diagnosis to set appropriate actions using EN ISO 52120-1. 2. EN 50090 for open communication networks, and EN ISO 52120-1 to assign the technical building management. 3. System control deploying of low-cost and low-consumption input and output devices. It has been proved that it is possible to effectively automate an obsolete building with a low cost, open source system that can be easily applied in other buildings.

We present a theoretical modeling of a cylindrical tunable liquid crystal lens based on the modulation of the anchoring energy. This latter can be easily obtained by means of photoaligning techniques. The liquid crystal cell we propose exhibits strong anchoring at the top substrate and an anchoring energy with parabolic profile at the bottom substrate. The model describes the dependence of the focal length on the applied voltage and presents a theoretical study of lens aberrations. The results obtained are of general relevance and can be used to optimize the performances of every kind of liquid crystal lens with parabolic profile.

The utilization of wind energy has become increasingly popular in the United States and many European countries due to its abundant natural source and optimized design. While existing wind turbines are predominantly large-scale and not suitable for standalone or distributed power production, Lubbock County in West Texas offers a diverse range of renewable energy options to meet its energy needs. The region relies heavily on utility-scale wind energy sources to supply power to the Texas Grid, replacing conventional fossil fuel-based systems. Currently, standalone solar PV systems are the preferred choice for renewable energy generation. However, West Texas possesses an ample supply of wind energy that can be harnessed to establish a microgrid and provide standalone power to rural communities. By employing the latest technology and optimizing efficiency, even in low-scale generation, a 6 kW permanent magnet alternator-based distributed wind turbine has been designed. This paper focuses on analyzing the techno-economic aspects of implementing this wind turbine in a real-world scenario, taking into account wind attributes such as velocity and available power at the specific location.

Hydrogen powered vehicles use high-pressure reservoirs from which the gas is transferred to the low-pressure fuel-cell via a classical pressure reduction valve. In these systems no expansion work is recovered and the question is addressed of the potential to increase the global efficiency by using an expansion machine between the reservoir and the electrochemical reactor. This paper investigates the feasibility of such an expansion machine, evaluates the mechanical constraints in terms of forces, torques and produced power by numeric simulation. It further evaluates the energetic contribution to the whole conversion chain from the hydrogen reservoir to the common electrical network on board. A low energy contribution of the expansion system addresses the question of the real benefit of such an investment.

The free energy principle (FEP) is a mathematical and scientific principle that describes the relationship between the physical behavior of a dynamical system and the interpretation of such behavior as carrying out inference. It blurs the boundary between the ontological mode of the system of interest and the epistemological significance it acquires through its dynamic interaction with the environment. New materialism (or neo-materialism), despite lacking a single definition, refers to a range of emerging perspectives that attempt to dismantle the long-held divisions between ontology, epistemology, and even ethics, with the aim of achieving a comprehensive transformation of naturalized thinking. In this context, new materialism provides powerful tools to reframe some of the conceptual foundations of the FEP. This paper is the first in a series that aims to systematically construct a neo-materialistic perspective for the FEP, exploring its wide-ranging implications. It serves as an introduction to the series, arguing for the justification of deploying new materialism to reframe the FEP and introducing some essential concepts to be utilized in developing a neo-materialistic account of the FEP.

The COVID-19 epidemic and the measures adopted to contain it have had a significant impact on energy patterns throughout the world. The pandemic and movement restrictions led to unpredictable fluctuations in power systems demand and the fuel price for a delayed period. Monkeypox, another viral disease, appeared during the post-COVID period. It is assumed that the outbreak of monkeypox is unlikely due to the implication of preventive measures experienced by COVID-19. At the same time, the probability of an epidemic cannot be blindly overlooked. This paper aims to examine and analyze historical data to look at how much petroleum fuel was used for generating power and how the price of petroleum fuel changed over seven years, from January 2016 to August 2022. This period covers the time before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the pandemic, and after the pandemic. Several time-series forecasting models, including all four benchmark methods (Mean, Naïve, Drift, and Snaïve), Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess (STL), Exponential Smoothing (ETS), and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) methods have been applied for both fuel consumption and price prediction. The best forecasting method for fuel price and consumption has been identified among these methods. The paper also utilizes the ARIMAX model by incorporating multiple exogenous variables, such as monthly mean temperature, mean fuel price, and mileage of vehicles traveling during a certain period of pandemic lock-down. It will assist in capturing the non-smooth and stochastic pattern of fuel consumption and price due to the pandemic by separating the seasonal influence and thus provide a prediction of the consumption pattern in the event of any future pandemic.

Solar energy is a renewable and sustainable source of energy, and it has been used in addition of specified technologies, such as solar cooling. The demand for cooling continues to increase in line with environmental changes and a greater desire for human comfort. This study primarily aimed to analyze the performance of an evaporative cooling system powered by solar energy and assess the economic and environmental impact of this system. In this system, hot, dry incoming air is used to evaporate water, thus transforming part of its sensitive heat into latent heat without any variation in enthalpy or total heat. The outputted air then has a lower temperature and a greater humidity, thus providing a more comfortable, healthier environment for its users. To achieve this study’s objectives, numerical code was developed and implemented in MATLAB. The obtained results reveal that the efficiency of the evaporative cooler exceeds 90%, with maximum efficiency being reached at a high wet-bulb depression, while minimum efficiency was observed when the dry air has a high relative humidity and a low dry-bulb temperature.

The battle of currents between AC and DC reignited as a result of the development in the field of power electronics. The efficiency of DC distribution systems is highly dependent on the efficiency of distribution converter, which calls for optimized schemes for efficiency enhancement of distribution converters. Modular solid-state transformers play a vital role in DC Distribution Networks and Renewable Energy systems (RES).This paper deals with efficiency-based load distribution for Solid State Transformers (SSTs) in DC distribution networks. Aim is to achieve a set of minimum inputs that are consistent with output while considering constraints and efficiency. As the main feature of modularity is associated with a three-stage structure of SSTs. This modular structure has been optimized using Ant Lion Optimizer (ALO) and validated by applying it EIA (Energy Information Agency) DC Distribution Network which contains SSTs. In the DC distribution grid, modular SSTs provide promising conversion of DC power from medium voltage to lower DC range (400V). The proposed algorithm is simulated in MATLAB and also compared with two other metaheuristic algorithms. The obtained results prove that the proposed method can significantly reduce input requirements for producing the same output while satisfying the specified constraints.

An energy model that correlates fan airflow, head, speed, and system power input is essential to detect device faults and optimize control strategies in fan systems. Since the application of variable frequency drives (VFDs) makes the motor efficiency data published by manufacturers inapplicable, the fan efficiency and drive (belt-motor-VFD) efficiency must be identified for each individual system to obtain accurate energy models. The objectives of this paper are to identify an energy model of existing VFD-motor-fan systems using available experimental data and demonstrate its applications in loose belt fault detection and virtual airflow meter development for optimal control. First, an approach is developed to identify the fan head, fan efficiency and drive efficiency curves using available fan head, speed, and system power input as well as temporarily measured airflow rate without measuring shaft power. Then the energy model is identified for an existing VFD-motor-fan system. Finally, the identified model is applied to detect the slipped belt faults and develop the virtual airflow meter. The experiment results reveal that the developed approach can effectively obtain the energy model of VFD-motor-fan systems and the model can be applied to effectively detect slipped belt faults and accurately calculate the fan airflow rate.

In this work we report recent theoretical calculations of a superconducting island in a strong vortex confinement regime. The obtained results reveal the evolution of superconducting condensate as a function of electron mean-free path (l) with the evolution of an applied magnetic field H0. The results of this study provide an insight about the emergent superconducting properties under such conditions, using the Ginzburg-Landau numerical simulations where spatial variation of thickness d on island, omnipresent in these kind of structures grown on Si (111), is taken into account. These results offer a new route to tailor superconducting circuits by using the controlled bombardment, in order to explore the impact on vortex distribution, phase of order parameter, number of vortices, free energy and the first H1 and second critical field H2.

The development of technology that combines supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries by externally connecting them in parallel is ongoing. This study examines the correlation between the volume ratio and electrical characteristics of a cell made by internally connecting a battery capacitor with Li4Ti5O12 as the anode active material and a supercapacitor in parallel. It was found that increasing the volume occupied by the battery capacitor in the cell led to increased cell energy and resistance, resulting in decreased output characteristics. Conversely, increasing the volume occupied by the supercapacitor in the cell led to a decrease in the IR drop during discharge and cell temperature when evaluating cycle characteristics with a current of 20C. The study also examined the behavior of the current distributed during the charging and discharging process based on the volume ratio of the supercapacitor and the battery capacitor. Analyzing the correlation between the volume ratio and electrical characteristics of supercapacitors and battery capacitors could potentially lead to the development of a new type of energy storage device.

As a manifestation of technological innovation achievements, patents reflect the frontier of technological development in the field. This paper constructs a multi-entity patent collaboration network and analyzes its evolution patterns to provide a reference for innovation organizations to grasp the general direction of innovation development and select partners. Based on the data of collaboration patents of two and three organizations in China's new energy vehicles (NEV) industry from 2008 to 2021, this paper constructs higher-order interaction collaboration innovation networks in different periods to analyze the spatial evolution of networks and patent cooperation activities. The results show that the generalized degree distribution of nodes and edges conforms to the power-law distribution. The two-dimensional simplex networks gradually form triangle groups centered on the core nodes, and the importance of key edges is beginning to emerge. Key organizations and partners, including State Grid Corporation of China, Tsinghua University, and China Electric Power Research Institute, will largely determine the direction for the future development of cooperation innovation. The study also reveals that Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, and Shanghai are in central positions in the cooperative innovation network, based on their cooperation breadth and depth measures. Additionally, key links formed by Beijing as hubs are not only the center of information exchange but also function as bridges that connect to other regions.

In this work, we report the electric energy storage properties of (1-x)Bi0.5(Na0.8K0.2)0.5TiO3-xBi0.2Sr0.7TiO3 (BNKT-BST; x = 0.15-0.50) relaxor ferroelectric ceramics enhanced via a domain engineering method. A rhombohedral–tetragonal phase, the formation of highly dynamic PNRs, and a dense microstructure are confirmed from XRD, Raman vibrational spectra, and microscopic investigations. The relative dielectric permittivity (2664 at 1 kHz) and loss factor (0.058) were gradually improved with BST (x=0.45). The incorporation of BST into BNKT can disturb the long-range ferroelectric order, lowering the dielectric maximum temperature Tm and inducing the formation of highly dynamic polar nano-regions. In addition, the Tm shifts toward high temperature with frequency and a diffuse phase transition, indicating relaxor ferroelectric characteristics of BNKT-BST ceramics, which is confirmed by the modified Curie Weiss law (γ=1.83). The rhombohedral–tetragonal phase, fine grain size, and lowered Tm with relaxor properties synergistically contribute to a high recoverable energy density Wrec of 0.81 J/cm3 and a high energy efficiency η of 86.95% at 90 kV/cm for x = 0.45.

There is an international concern for reducing energy consumption and protecting the environment in the construction industry. The energy efficiency of a building depends on the thermal resistance of concrete, and utilizing concrete products with elevated thermal resistance can enhance this aspect. This study analyzes the impact of perlite, as an addition, on the physico-mechanical properties of concrete, with the aim of identifying perlite concrete products that will respond to the improvement of the heat transfer resistance of the building envelope. The study examines the effect of replacing different amounts of concrete aggregates with perlite in percentages of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 100%. The results show that substituting sand with perlite improves the thermal performance of concrete, but its mechanical properties are negatively affected. The research carried out highlighted that perlite can be successfully introduced in the production of concrete blocks used for external non-bearing wall panels, the outstanding feature being the reduction of energy consumption in buildings. Overall, the paper identifies an efficient and environmentally friendly way of using perlite in the construction industry, enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings while minimizing the environmental footprint caused by the construction industry.

Histone deacetylases (HDAC) represent promising epigenetic targets for several diseases including different cancer types. The HDAC inhibitors approved to date are pan-HDAC inhibitors and most show a poor selectivity profile, side effects and especially hydroxamic acid based inhibitors lack good pharmacokinetic profiles. Therefore, the development of isoform-selective non-hydroxamic acid HDAC inhibitors is a highly regarded field in medicinal chemistry. In this study, we analyzed different ligand-based and structure-based drug design techniques to predict the binding mode and inhibitory activity of recently developed alkylhydrazide HDAC inhibitors. Alkylhydrazides have recently attracted more attention as they have shown promising effects in various cancer cell lines. In this work, pharmacophore models and atom-based quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models were generated and evaluated. The binding mode of the studied compounds was determined using molecular docking as well as molecular dynamics simulations and compared with known crystal structures. Calculated free energies of binding were also considered to generate QSAR models. The models created show a good explanation of in vitro data and were used to develop novel HDAC3 inhibitors.

In the presence of aquatic plants in streams, a variety of flow structures have been reported. Re-sults of earlier investigations indicated that the hydrodynamic features of flows in rivers, and streams are influenced by a wide range of submerged and non-submerged vegetation. In the pre-sent study, eight experiment runs were conducted in two artificial pools built in a laboratory flume to assess the flow structures across vegetation cover. The slopes for entrance and exit sec-tions of these two pools are of 5 and 10 degrees, respectively. A patch of artificial grass covered the entire pool area over the gravel bed. The effect of stream flow velocity was investigated by considering two aspect ratios of 2 and 2.7. Also, distributions of flow velocity, Reynolds normal and shear stresses, turbulence intensities, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), and higher-order mo-ments of velocity fluctuations have been investigated. By means of quadrant analysis, it is found that the skewness coefficients of velocity profiles are significant parameters to evaluate. Based on skewness values for the bursting processes, along the pool entrance section with a smaller slope, the contribution of sweep motion occurs in a more restricted zone above the canopy, and this im-plies that the ejection motion occurs in a pool entrance section with a higher slope. Immediately above the vegetation canopy, the dominant process is the sweep motion of bursting events. Whereas, at the upstream boundary of the vegetation patch, an outward motion with slightly pos-itive value occurs; and around the downstream boundary of the vegetation patch, the isotropic turbulence appears at the boundary of the vegetation and gravel bed. Over the vegetation canopy in the pool, less mixing eddies result in lower Reynolds shear stress values, and thus the turbulent flow becomes weak with lower turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). Because of the shallow flow in an artificial channel with an aspect ratio less than five and the availability of vertical non-zero ve-locity components, secondary currents become stronger in the channel. Consequently, there is a divergence from a linear dispersion of Reynolds shear stress.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in autonomous electric vehicle (AEV) within the specified region. It elaborates on the progress and comparative analysis of diverse subsystems, including energy storage, cell balancing for battery systems, vehicle charger layouts, electric vehicle motor mechanisms, and braking systems. Furthermore, this paper showcases several prototype autonomous electric vehicles as conclusive study findings.

The transportation sector is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles (EVs) have gained popularity as a solution to reduce emissions, but the high load of charging stations poses a challenge to the power grid. Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems (N-RHES) present a promising alternative to support fast charging stations, reduce grid dependency, and decrease emissions. However, the intermittent problem of renewable energy sources (RESs) limits their application, and the synergies among different technologies have not been fully exploited. This paper proposes a predictive and adaptive control strategy to optimize the energy management of N-RHES for fast charging stations, considering the integration of nuclear, photovoltaics, and wind turbine energy with a hydrogen storage fuel cell system. The proposed dynamic model of a fast-charging station predicts electricity consumption behavior during charging processes, generating probabilistic forecasting of electricity consumption time-series profiling. Key performance indicators and sensitivity analyses illustrate the practicability of the suggested system, which offers a comprehensive solution to provide reliable, sustainable, and low-emission energy to fast-charging stations while reducing emissions and dependency on the power grid.

Self-healing ceramic composites are promising smart materials for high-temperature applications. To better understand their behaviors under service conditions, numerous studies have been performed both experimentally and numerically, and kinetics parameters such as activation energy and frequency factor are reported to be indispensable for investigating healing phenomena. Here, we propose a method for determining the kinetic parameters of self-healing ceramic composites based on the oxidation kinetics model of strength recovery. These parameters are determined by an optimization method using experimental strength recovery data under various healing temperatures and times and microstructural features on the fractured surfaces. Alumina and mullite matrix-based self-healing ceramic composites, such as Al2O3/SiC, Al2O3/TiC, Al2O3/Ti2AlC (MAX phase), and mullite/SiC, were selected as target materials. The theoretical strength recovery behaviors of the cracked specimens obtained from the determined kinetic parameters were compared with the experimental results. The determined parameters are within the previously reported range, and the predicted strength recovery behaviors are reasonably agreed with the experimental values. The proposed method can also be applied to other self-healing ceramics with matrices reinforced with different healing agents to evaluate oxidation rate, crack healing rate, and theoretical strength recovery behaviors for designing self-healing materials used in high temperature applications. Furthermore, the healing ability of composites can be fairly discussed regardless of the type of strength recovery test.

The present work was aimed at the investigation of effect of High Energy Ball Milling (HEBM) time on the sintering kinetics, structure, and properties of heavy tungsten alloy (HTA) W-7%Ni-3%Fe. The HTA samples were obtained from the nanopowders (20-80 nm) by conventional liquid phase sintering (LPS) in hydrogen and by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) in vacuum. The HTA density was shown to depend on the HEBM time non-monotonously that originates from the formation of non-equilibrium solid solutions in the W-Ni-Fe systems during HEBM. The SPS kinetics of the HTA nanopowders was shown to have a two-stage character, the intensity of which depends on the Coble diffusion creep rate and on the intensity of diffusion of the tungsten atoms in the crystal lattice of the -phase. The kinetics of sintering of the initial submicron powders have a single-stage character originating from the intensity of the grain boundary diffusion in the -phase. The dependencies of the hardness and of the yield strength on the grain sizes were found to obey the Hall-Petch relation. The hardness, strength, and dynamic strength in the compression tests of the fine-grained tungsten alloys obtained by SPS and LPS were studied.

It is often claimed that Einstein is wrong about quantum mechanics. However, when comparisons are made with respect to theoretical foundations rather than experimental results Einstein’s theories are found to be superior. Although quantum mechanics correctly predicts what it is possible to observe (the emissions) it ignores the other half of natural phenomena, what cannot be observed (the absorptions), thereby violating the conservation laws. By describing only one-half of radiation processes conceptual difficulties such as wave function collapse, infinite paths, and inscrutable mathematics seem to be insoluble mysteries. The deficiencies are corrected by introducing Hamilton’s principle S = ∫ Ldt and applying the methods of quantum field theory to derive relativistic equations of motion. The calculus of variations is used to show that the wave function represents an incomplete equation of motion because it equals twice the allowable action minimum.

We still do not have satisfactory answers about the inflationary and accelerating expansions of the universe, the missing mass problem, and the origins of the four fundamental forces and the quantum phenomena. Here, we introduce a new model of matter and space and a postulate on a constant of motion, and then show that an equation of motion derived from the constant of motion could provide new understandings of the above problems. For example, we show that there is a natural inflation scenario and that the co-moving distance to the closest accelerating supernova is clearly given as $c/(\sqrt{3} H)$ ($\sim$8.1 billion ly). In addition, we show that, in a system including a proton and an electron, the equation of motion has eight acceleration terms, some of which are suspected to be responsible for the four fundamental forces and the galaxy rotation anomaly. From further discussion, we conjecture that in order to understand the gravitational and strong interactions and the quantum phenomena, it is necessary to consider the expansion of the universe. The lensing mass distribution is explained, based on another postulate on a method of representing superposition.

Plastic waste constitutes one of the most important sources of pollution worldwide. Despite the growing recycling trend, nowadays there are no effective technologies that can compensate for the continuous increase in plastic production. Polyesters and polyamides are one of the most produced single-use plastics, mainly used in manufacturing textiles and soft drinks bottles. Today, only a very low fraction of these polymers can be recycled. It can be done by exploiting two leading technologies: mechanical and chemical recycling. Mechanical recycling represents, nowadays, the most used industrial application. However, it can treat a very narrow range of waste materials due to the impossibility of removing dyes and the deterioration of mechanical properties due to the incompatibility of different plastic materials. Another critical limit of this recycling technology is the limited number of recycling loops that can be done due to the thermal degradation that occurs during the extrusion process. The second possibility is chemical recycling, which allows the depolymerization of the original product to recover the monomers directly. The main drawbacks are the long reaction times and the many solvents needed to achieve high-purity products. Therefore, chemical recycling is economically feasible, only for big companies that can produce the virgin polymer in situ. In this work, a new technology has been patented. This process is constituted of three main steps. The first one is the distillation-assisted cyclodepolymerization (DA-CDP), introduced as a modification of the CDP process. In this unit, cyclic oligomers together with high molecular weight compounds have been produced. Then, after polymer purification, it is possible to achieve the same molecular weight of the initial polymer in less than 30 minutes, exploiting the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) in the next step.

Human and animal waste, including waste products originating from human or animal digestive systems such as urine, feces, and animal manure, have constituted a nuisance to the environment. Inappropriate disposal and poor sanitation of human and animal waste often cause negative impacts on human health through contamination of the terrestrial environment, soil, and water bodies. Therefore, it is necessary to convert these wastes into useful resources to mitigate their adverse environmental effect. The present study provides an overview and research progress of different thermochemical and biological conversion pathways for the transformation of human- and animal-derived waste into valuable resources. The physicochemical properties of human and animal waste are meticulously discussed as well as nutrient recovery strategies. In addition, a bibliometric analysis is provided to identify the trends in research and knowledge gaps. The results reveal that the U.S.A, China and England are the dominant countries in the research areas related to resource recovery from human or animal waste. In addition, researchers from the University of Illinois, the University of California Davis, the Chinese Academy of Science and Zhejiang University are front runners in research related to these areas. Future research should be centred on developing technologies for the on-site recovery of resources, exploring integrated resource recovery pathways, and exploring different safe waste processing methods.

Inspired by Dirac's large number hypothesis (LNH), Zeldovich proposed a relation between the cosmological constant (CC), the mass of a proton, the Planck constant and Newton's gravitational constant. Zeldovich's formula suggests that the substance which is responsible for CC may interact with elementary particles. Since Newton's gravitational constant and the Planck constant appear in Zeldovich's formula, these interactions may be related to gravitational phenomena and quantum phenomena. Following this clue, we propose a liquid droplet model of electron. Applying the Laplace's equation, Zeldovich's formula of CC is derived. Weinberg proposes a relation between the mass of a pion, the Planck constant, the Hubble constant, Newton's gravitational constant and the velocity of light in vacuum when discussing cosmological models with a varying constant of gravitation. Weinberg pointed out that this relation may not merely be regarded as a meaningless random combinations of these fundamental constants in physics. The Weinberg's relation is derived based on the critical mass density formula in the Friedmann model of the universe and Zeldovich's formula.

This paper presents a comprehensive review that highlights the characteristics of non-isolated step-up converters based on high boost voltage lifting techniques. The paper categorises the high boost techniques: multistage/multilevel, switched capacitor, voltage multiplier, voltage lift, switched inductor, and magnetic coupling. The paper also discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages for each category such as cost, complexity, power density, reliability and efficiency. The number of passive and active components, voltage gain, voltage stress, switching frequency, efficiency and power rating are also compared. Although the paper considers coupling inductors in the context of the non-isolated converter, the focus of the entire article is on the non-isolated high voltage step-up techniques. The key contribution in this paper is the review of high boosting techniques rather than the DC /DC converters. This allows divergence of new ideas and new power converters that will help provide highly efficient and flexible power converters for several applications where the sending end voltage is very low as photovoltaic systems. In addition, many applications and control techniques of DC/DC converters are summarised in this paper.

This paper evaluates an architectural design using an Energy Consumption consideration of Natural Ventilation in a hot dry climate (Khartoum State), at dwellings design applied. Method was used analysis of Autodesk IEVS software natural ventilation and energy consumption simulation. It resulted that to cooling, by natural ventilation in dwelling design used to get indoor temperature at the comfortable level during the summer. The Best-Case Situation of natural ventilation with consider of energy saving Based on the CFD simulation analysis, the performance of internal air velocity is approximately 0.7m/s. The wind velocity starts to slow down towards the rear of the apartment spaces. Approximately 95% of the internal areas have average air velocity between 0.43 m/s to 0.9 m/s. Internal Air flow pattern single floor house plan at Khartoum (Alazhari City); showing the internal air velocity of 0.7m/s near the window opening positions with the wind directions in the details and pressure of the air as worst-case situation, with velocity and temperature of the air with average 22o as a best-case situation. during a year. Architectural design process in the urban area of Alazhari City for dwelling towards to saving energy was applied and determined into an urban planning neighbourhood at Khartoum.

Mechanical recycling of solid plastic wastes on a small-scale level can be accomplished with the correct approaches. Thermoplastics are mostly considered for mechanical recycling because of their physical properties and ease of reprocessing. This paper reviews the mechanical reprocessing techniques of selected thermoplastics (polyethylene terephthalate and polyolefins) since they constitute a significant proportion of plastics used commercially. Furthermore, necessary considerations for effective operation of small-scale plants, including energy requirements of machinery and optimisation in order to improve efficiency and product quality, are discussed. A clearer understanding and addressing of the process-related challenges will lead to successful establishment and management of small-scale mechanical recycling facilities to benefit communities. Efficient small-scale mechanical reprocessing establishments have become essential in reducing the environmental impacts of solid plastic wastes and for energy conservation.

The concept of green energy is now at the forefront of development discourse, with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 11, and 12 all aimed at promoting green energy consumption to combat the three planetary crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Similarly, issues regarding Africa’s natural resource curse have caused a stir in the growth and development literature for some time now and there is no sign that it will die out. This study, the first of its kind, simultaneously assesses the impact of green energy consumption and Africa’s natural resources rents on economic growth by applying the Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) estimator and the dynamic panel models of the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) and Mean Group (MG) estimators on data from 1990 to 2020 for 24 selected African countries. The results show that green energy consumption has a short-run growth-limiting effect and a long-run growth-enhancing effect in Africa. The study also found evidence of the natural resource curse phenomenon in Africa. The study, therefore, calls for the advancement and usage of green energy for both domestic and industrial production in Africa. The study further calls for a revamp in the global tax policy to curb illicit financial activities and strengthening institutional quality for transparency and accountability in the entire value chain of natural resource management in Africa.

Hydrogen-bond (H-bond) energies in 310-helices of short alanine peptides were systematically examined by precise DFT calculations with the negative fragmentation approach (NFA), a modified method based on the molecular tailoring approach. The contribution of each H-bond was evaluated in detail from the 310-helical conformation of total energies (whole helical model; WH3-10 model), and the results were compared with the property of H-bond in a-helix from our previous study. The H-bond energies of the WH3-10 model exhibited tendencies different from those exhibited by the -helix, in that they depended on the helical position of the relevant H-bond pair. H-bond pairs adjacent to the terminal H-bond pairs were observed to be strongly destabilized. The analysis of electronic structures indicated that structural characteristics cause the destabilization of the H-bond in 310-helices. We also found that the longer the helix length, the more stable the H-bond in the terminal pairs of the WH3-10 model, suggesting the action of H-bond cooperativity.

This paper presents the implementation of a control strategy based on fuzzy logic artificial intelligence (AI) for speed regulation of an electromagnetic frequency regulator (EFR) prototype, aiming to eliminate the dependence on knowledge of physical parameters in the most diverse operating conditions. Speed multiplication is one of the most important steps in power generation wind. Gearboxes are generally used for this purpose. However, they have a reduced lifespan and a high failure rate and are still noise sources. The search for new ways to match the speed (and torque) between the turbine and the generator is an important research area to increase the energy, financial and environmental efficiency of wind systems. The EFR device is an example of an alternative technology that this team of researchers has proposed. It counts the fact of taking advantage of the main advantages of an induction machine with the rotor in a squirrel cage positively. In the first studies, the EFR control strategy consisted of the conventional PID controllers, which has several limitations widely discussed in the literature. This strategy also limits the EFR's performance, considering its entire operating range. The simulation program was developed using the Matlab/Simulink platform, while the experimental results were obtained in the laboratory emulating the EFR-based system. The EFR prototype used has 2 poles, a nominal power of 2.2 kW, and a nominal frequency of 60 Hz. Experimental results were presented to validate the efficiency of the proposed control strategy.

This study quantified effluents generated during processing in three industry types, estimated the energy potential from the quantified effluents in form of biogas generation, and determined the economic viability of the biogas recovered. Data were procured from relevant scientific publications to quantify the effluents generated from the production processes in the industry types examined using industrial process calculations. The effluent data generated was used on the 2-module biogas energy recovery model to estimate the bioenergy recovery potential within it. Economic and financial analysis was based on cash flow comparison of all costs and benefits resulting from its activities. The effluents generated average daily biogas of 2559 Nm³/gVS, having a daily potential combined heat and power of 0.52 GWh and 0.11 GWh respectively. The Life Cycle Analysis and cost-benefit analysis show the quantity of avoided emissions from using the effluents to generate heat and power for processes, and also the profitability of the approach. Conclusively, the study shows the use of biomass effluents to generate biogas for CHP is a viable one based on the technologies of a reciprocating engine, gas turbine, microturbine, and fuel cell. However, it is recommended that the theoretical estimation be validated using a field-scale project.

Generalisation from the local 4-dimensional spacetime form for a proper time interval provides an alternative basis for a unified theory contrasting with the more familiar approach of appending extra dimensions of space. In both cases the main goal is to derive a structure of matter that accounts for empirical observations from the properties of the additional components. Previous work has focussed upon the direct and significant connections that this new approach makes with the Standard Model of particle physics while also providing a link with dark matter models. In this paper we elaborate on how a further sector of generalised proper time, incorporating the key component of negative pressure, can account for the apparent dark energy fuelling the accelerating large-scale expansion of the universe. Through comparison with existing dark energy models we elucidate the elementary composition of this sector, its potential relation to an effective cosmological constant term, and the nature of possible interaction with the visible and dark matter sectors.

The rapid industrial growth in solar energy is gaining increasing interest in renewable power from smart grids and plants. Anomaly detection in photovoltaic (PV) systems is a demanding task. In this sense, it is vital to utilize recent advances in machine learning to accurately and timely detect different anomalies and condition monitoring. This paper addresses this issue by evaluating different machine learning techniques and schemes and showing how to apply these approaches to solve anomaly detection and detect faults on photovoltaic components. For this, we apply distinct state-of-the-art machine learning techniques (AutoEncoder Long Short-Term Memory (AE-LSTM), Facebook-Prophet, and Isolation Forest) to detect faults/anomalies and evaluate their performance. These models shall identify the PV system's healthy and abnormal actual behaviors. Our results provide clear insights to make an informed decision, especially with experimental trade-offs for such complex solution space.

The article deals with the current state of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the urban area of building clusters. There are many requirements, such as those set by the EU (FIT 55, decarbonisation in 2050, full electromobility in 2035, or mandatory annual reductions in energy consumption and CO2 production) or societal requirements, such as stable energy supply and its optimisation while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. This inspired us to design an energy model of a building (EMB) with smart grid implementation in a decentralized sustainable energy system. Simulation model studies were carried out to show the possibility of their application in the process of fully satisfying energy needs in terms of reducing their environmental impact. A decentralized photovoltaic system (microgrid) connected to a distribution grid. The main objective is to propose an original methodology for the design of smart "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings" (NZEB) and a subsequent solution for energy sustainability. This has led us to use HOMER, PV*SOL, Monte Carlo and DesignBuilder software which were chosen from the range of options that were and are available. Subsequently, a synthesis of the selected software solutions was carried out and a new model - the "Energy Model of a Building" (EMB) - was proposed in the process of integration with the energy performance of buildings, as an original optimization basis for designing smart buildings and smart areas, and even cities. The proposed EMB has been verified and evaluated within the experiment.

The novel Ionized Gas Thermoelectric Generator (IG-TEG) system that has been studied theoretically showing capabilities to continually extracting energy from the thermal energy of the ambient air, at low temperatures within the standard room temperature and below. This system does not need a temperature gradient in order to work, unlike the other TEGs that use Seebeck effect, and therefore this new system can be utilized for cooling purposes, by extracting energy instead of wasting energy in compressing the gas for cooling. This novel system was designed based on Static Ratchet Potential (SRP), which is known as a spatially asymmetric electric potential produced by an array of positive and negative electrodes. The ratchet potential produces electrical current from random Brownian Motion of charged particles that are driven by thermal energy. Ratchet potential was studied and investigated by several researches in the fields of sensing and energy harvesting. The main ratchet potential system parameter is the particles transportation, this parameter was studied under the condition of flashing ratchet potentials, and was analyzed based on several methods. In this study, a different approach is pursued to estimate particles transportation, by evaluating the charged particles distribution, and applying the other conditions of the SRP.

An interesting physical phenomenon was recently observed when a fresh-water basin is covered by a thin ice film that has properties similar to that of a rubber membrane. Surface waves can be generated under the action of wind on the air-water interface that contains an ice film. The modulation property of hydro-elastic waves (HEWs) in deep water covered by thin ice film blown by the wind with a uniform vertical profile is studied here in terms of the air-flow velocity versus a wavenumber. The modulation instability of HEWs is studied through the analysis of coefficients of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with the help of the Lighthill criterion. The NLS equation is derived using the multiple scale method in the presence of airflow. It is demonstrated that the potentially unstable hydro-elastic waves with negative energy appear for relatively small wind speeds, whereas the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability arises when the wind speed becomes fairly strong. Estimates of parameters of modulated waves for the typical conditions are given.

(1) Background: Due to the high proportion of disadvantaged students in a rural school in Taiwan and the gap between students’ concepts and practices of environmental protection and sustainable energy, four science and mathematics teachers in this school planned an engineering-centered PjBL of sustainable energy curriculum in a Makers Club to enhance students’ creativity, engineering skills, practices of environmental protection and sustainable energy, and learning attitudes; (2) Methods: This study is four-year action research. Teachers and students initiated the idea from rebuilding an old fan in a classroom; (3) Results: The students in the Makers Club improved their engineering skills and created various green-power generation devices (evolved from ventilation ball generator, hydropower, ocean current power generators to tiny, 3D-printing wind power generators). They turned environmental protection and sustainable energy concepts into actions during practices and won awards from science and engineering fairs every year. This creative and supportive atmosphere spread from the club to the whole school and improved the students’ practices of environmental protection and learning attitudes after long-term implementation; (4) Conclusions: The design principles of the engineering-centered PjBL of sustainable energy curriculum played a critical role and were outlined at the end of the study.

This letter aims to show the connection between the sinc approximation for high-energy absorption cross section and the shadow radius of the spherically symmetric black hole. This connection can give a physical interpretation of the absorption cross section in the eikonal limit parameters. Moreover, the use of this alternative way, one can extract its shadow radius from the absorption cross section in high energy limits to gain more information about the black hole spacetime. Our results indicate that the increasing the value of the shadow radius of the black hole, exponentially increase the the absorption cross section of the black hole in high-energy limits which can be captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration.

The sustainable management of Land - Water - Energy - Food (LWEF) nexus requires an envi-ronmental characterization that allows the comparison of complex interlinkages between nexus resources and livelihoods. This complexity makes this characterization difficult coupled with limited study in quantifying sustainability of LWEF nexus and its linkage with livelihood. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the link between sustainable LWEF nexus and livelihoods. We used analytical hierarchy process and pairwise comparison matrix in combina-tion with weighting model. The result of composite LWEF nexus index was 0.083 representing, low sustainability. This could be linked with nexus resources consumption, use, and manage-ment. From the analysis of the weight of land, water, energy and food nexus resources, the highest weight was observed for food. The focus of on food production only shows no clear synergy on provisioning, supporting or regulating nexus resources to address livelihoods. The result further showed that LWEF nexus resources have strong correlation with livelihoods. This was evidenced by social (r>0.8, P<0.01), natural (r>0.3, P<0.05) and physical (r>0.6, P<0.01) liveli-hood indicators showed strong positive correlation with LWEF nexus resources. From this re-sults, it was observed that managing nexus resources not only provide a significant contribution to achieve sustainable LWEF nexus, but also be effective for enhancing livelihood through food security. This could be attained by strong evidence based policy to ensure sustainable use of nexus resources. The results provided by this study would serve as the foundation for future study, policy formulation and implementation.

The classical uncertainty principle inequalities were imposed as a mathematical constraint over the general relativity geodesic equation. In this way, the uncertainty principle was reformulated in terms of the proper space-time length element, Planck length and a geodesic-derived scalar, leading to a geometric expression for the uncertainty principle (GeUP). This re-formulation confirmed the necessity for a minimum length for the space-time line element in the geodesic, dependent on a geodesic-derived scalar which made the expression Lorentz-covariant. In agreement with quantum gravity theories, GeUP required the imposition of a perturbation over the background Minkowski metric unrelated to classical gravity. When applied to the Schwarzschild metric, a geodesic exclusion zone was found around the singularity where uncertainty in space-time diverged to infinity.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), used in civilian applications such as emergency medical deliveries, precision agriculture, wireless communication provisioning, etc., face the challenge of limited flight time due to their reliance on the on-board battery. Therefore, developing efficient mechanisms for in-situ power transfer to recharge UAV batteries hold potential in extending their mission time. In this paper, we study the use of far-field wireless power transfer (WPT) technique from specialized, transmitter UAVs (tUAVs) carrying Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antennas for transferring wireless power to receiver UAVs (rUAVs) in a mission. The tUAVs can fly and adjust their distance to the rUAVs to maximize energy transfer. The use of MIMO antennas further boost the energy reception by narrowing the energy beam toward the rUAVs. The complexity of their dynamic operating environment increases with the growing number of tUAVs, and rUAVs with varying levels of energy consumption and residual power. We propose an intelligent trajectory selection algorithm for the tUAVs based on a deep reinforcement learning model called Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) to optimize the energy transfer gain. Simulation results demonstrate that with the use of PPO, the system achieves a tenfold flight time extension compared to no wireless recharging. Further, PPO outperforms the benchmark movement strategies of ’Traveling Salesman Problem’ and ’Low Battery First’ when used by the tUAVs.

We have an unprecedented ability to map the Earth’s surface as deep learning technologies are applied to an abundance of high-frequency Earth observation data. Simple, free, and effective methods are needed to enable a variety of stakeholders to use these tools to improve scientific knowledge and decision making. Here we present a trained U-Net model that can map and delineate ground mounted solar arrays using publicly available Sentinel-2 imagery, and that requires minimal data pre-processing and no feature engineering. By using label overloading and image augmentation during training, the model is robust to temporal and spatial variation in imagery. The trained model achieved a precision and recall of 91.5% each and an intersection over union of 84.3% on independent validation data from two distinct geographies. This generalizability in space and time makes the model useful for repeatedly mapping solar arrays. We use this model to delineate all ground mounted solar arrays in North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay watershed to illustrate how these methods can be used to quickly and easily produce accurate maps of solar infrastructure.

The objective of this article: analysis of research trends on the topic "Materials Science for Energy Engineering" for the period 2012-2021. Materials and methods: bibliometric analysis of data from the Scopus abstract database.Results. It is shown that this topic is developing faster than the general energy topics.The key feature of the research trends is a significant increase in work on the development of materials for renewable energy and a decrease in the number of publications related to nuclear power.The primary goal of many studies is to increase the efficiency of renewable energy production through the use of new materials.The importance of the topic is evidenced by the emergence of new journals that quickly entered the first quartile of the abstract databases Scopus and Web of Science, for example: ACS Applied Energy Materials.There has been a significant increase of interest in perovskite solar cells, layered semiconductors, triboelectric nanogenerators, cobalt compounds, sulfur compounds, and oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction during Electrolysis.Publications on electric batteries are well represented in all time intervals. The focus is on electrode materials and battery efficiency.

Renewable methanol, obtained from CO₂ and hydrogen provided from renewable energy, has been proposed as a way to close the CO₂ loop. In industry, methanol synthesis using the catalyst CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ occurs at a high pressure. We intend to make certain modification on the traditional catalyst in order to work at lower pressure, maintaining high selectivity. Therefore, three heterogeneous catalysts have been synthesized by co-precipitation in order to improve the activity and the selectivity to methanol under mild conditions of temperature and pressure. Certain modifications on the traditional catalyst Cu/Zn/Al₂O₃ were employed such as the modification of the synthesis time and the addition of Pd as a dopant agent. The most efficient catalyst among those tested was a palladium-doped catalyst, 5% Pd/Cu/Zn/Al₂O₃. This had a selectivity of 64% at 210C and 5 bar.

The change in the value of the breaking energy is discussed here for selected steel grades used in building structures after subjecting the samples made of them to episodes of heating in the steady-state heating regime and then cooling in a simulated fire conditions. These changes were recorded based on the instrumented Charpy impact tests, in relation to the material initial state. The S355J2+N, 1H18N9T steels and also X2CrNiMoN22-5-3 duplex steel were selected for detailed analysis. The fire conditions were modelled experimentally by heating the samples and then keeping them for a specified time at a constant temperature of: 600°C (first series) and 800°C (second series), respectively. Two alternative cooling variants were investigated in the experiment: slow cooling of the samples in the furnace, simulating the natural fire progress, without any external extinguishing action, and cooling them in water mist simulating an extinguishing action by a fire brigade. The temperature of the tested samples was set at the level -20oC and alternatively at the level + 20oC. The conducted analysis is aimed at assessing the risk of sudden, catastrophic fracture of load-bearing structure made of steel degraded as a result of a fire previously occurred with different development scenarios.

The need for quick and easy deflection calculations of various prefabricated slabs causes that simplified procedures and numerical tools are used more and more often. Modelling of full 3D finite element (FE) geometry of such plates is not only uneconomical but often requires the use of complex software and advanced numerical knowledge. Therefore, numerical homogenization is an excellent tool, which can be easily employed to simplify a model, especially when accurate modelling is not necessary. Homogenization allows for simplifying a computational model and replacing a complicated composite structure with a homogeneous plate. Here, a numerical homogenization method based on strain energy equivalence is derived. Using the method proposed, the structure of the prefabricated concrete slabs reinforced with steel spatial trusses is homogenized to a single plate element with an effective stiffness. There is a complete equivalence between the full 3D FE model built with solid elements combined with truss structural elements and the simplified homogenized plate FE model. The method allows for the correct homogenization of any complex composite structures made of both solid and structural elements, without the need to perform advanced numerical analyses. The only requirement is a correctly formulated stiffness matrix of a representative volume element (RVE) and appropriate formulation of the transformation between kinematic constrains on RVE boundary and generalized strains.

This hypothesis is the result of my conviction that science will oneday prove everything in space and time is part of a unification. In "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking wrote, "If everything in the universe depends on everything else in a fundamental way, it might be impossible to get close to a full solution (of the universe's puzzles) by investigating parts of the problem (such as general relativity and quantum mechanics) in isolation." The goal: to establish a “proof of concept” to which equations can be added. It’s concluded the Steady State, Big Bang, Inflation and Multiverse theories all ultimately fail and a topological model including bits (binary digits), Mobius strips, figure-8 Klein bottles and Wick rotation works better. The failed cosmologies have impressive points leading to the idea that they’re all necessary stepping-stones. For example, the Big Bang is seen here as violation of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics but its supposed origin from quantum fluctuations is reminiscent of bits switching between 1 and 0. The topological hypothesis has potential to explain dark matter, dark energy, and electromagnetic-gravitational union. Finally, the article introduces what is called vector-tensor-scalar geometry - and extensions of Einstein's Gravity and Maxwell's Electromagnetism.

The use of different primary energy sources in human society has led to two major polluting emissions in the environment: energy (mostly heat), and chemical substances (mostly carbon dioxide). In this paper, the total global anthropogenic emissions of heat to the atmosphere during the industrial era (years 1850-2018) were determined and their effect on the change of global atmospheric temperature was calculated. The concept of a theoretical three-phase Earth reactor was introduced to estimate global atmospheric temperature increase caused by anthro-pogenic heat emissions. The resulting calculations closely approximated the actual atmospheric temperature change recorded during the last 170-year period. These results suggest that the temperature change of the atmosphere (global warming) is entirely due to anthropogenic heat emissions.

The Vacuum Energy Parameter (VEP) of standard cosmology denotes the fraction of the critical density attributed to the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Astrophysical evidence sets the numerical range of VEP at 0.692 +, - 0.012, yet the root cause of these values is currently unknown. Drawing from the stochastic interpretation of early-Universe cosmology, we develop here a derivation of the VEP based on classical diffusion theory and the Langevin equation. Predictions are shown to be in reasonable agreement with observations.

Brazil, Russia, China, India, and the Republic of South Africa (BRICS) represent developing economies facing different energy and economic development challenges. The current study aims to forecast energy consumption in BRICS at aggregate and disaggregate levels using the annual time series data set from 1992 to 2019 and to compare results obtained from a set of models. The time-series data are from the British Petroleum (BP-2019) Statistical Review of World Energy. The forecasting methodology bases on a novel Fractional-order Grey Model (FGM) with different order parameters. This study contributes to the literature by comparing the forecasting accuracy and the forecasting ability of the FGM(1,1) with traditional ones, like standard GM(1,1) and ARIMA(1,1,1) models. Also, it illustrates the view of BRICS's nexus of energy consumption at aggregate and disaggregates levels using the latest available data set, which will provide a reliable and broader perspective. The Diebold-Mariano test results confirmed the equal predictive ability of FGM(1,1) for a specific range of order parameters and the ARIMA(1,1,1) model and the usefulness of both approaches for energy consumption efficient forecasting.

We reduplicate the Book “Dark Energy” by M. Li, X-D. Li, and Y. Wang, given zero-point energy calculation with an unexpected “length’ added to the ‘width’ of a graviton wave just prior to specifying the creation of ‘gravitons’, using the Rosen and Israelit model of a nonsingular universe. In doing so we are in addition to obtaining a wavelength 10^30 times greater than Planck’s length so we can calculate DE, may be able to with the help of the Rosen and Israelit model have a first approximation as to the arrow of time, and a universe with massive gravity. We have left the particulars of the nonsingular starting point undefined but state that the Rosen and Israelit model postulates initial temperatures of 10^-180 Kelvin and also a value of about Planck temperature, at 10^-3 centimeters radii value which may satisfy initial conditions asked by t’Hooft for describing an arrow of time. A key assumption is that the DE is formed at 10^-3 cm, after an expansion of 10^30 times in radii, from the Planck length radius nonsingular starting point. The given starting point for DE in this set of assumptions is where there is a change in the cosmic acceleration, to a zero value, according to Rosen and Israel, with time t = 1.31 times 10^-42 seconds. Which may be where we may specify a potential magnitude, V, which has ties into inflaton physics. The particulars of the model from Rosen and Israelit allow a solution to be found, without discussion of where that nonsingular starting point came from, a point the author found in need of drastic remedies and fixes.

It is desirable to upgrade previous evolutionary theories, which have remained incomplete and controversial for decades. Here we employ the concept of carbon-based entities (CBEs), which include methane, amino acids, proteins, organisms, and other entities containing relatively many carbon atoms. We deduce the driving force, mechanisms, steps, modes, tempos of CBE evolution, through integration of biology, physics, and chemistry using logics for complex issues. We hence establish the Carbon-Based Evolutionary Theory (CBET). The CBET suggests that evolution is the increase in hierarchy, diversity, fitness of CBEs under natural selection and driven by thermodynamics due to the chemical effect of the thermodynamic features of the Earth on CBEs. It provides better explanations for life origin, macroevolution events, natural selection, sympatric speciation, and evolution tempos than previous evolutionary theories. It reveals the evolutionary basis of multiple important social notions, including diversity, collaboration, altruism, obeying rules, and proper increase in freedom. It refutes some wrong notions in thermodynamics, including negative entropy (negentropy) and that biological order is equal to thermodynamic order, which have misled many people. The CBET is supported by its deduction and application. It could be a rare bridge linking laws of thermodynamics, evolution of life, and development of human society, and could have great significance in various sciences.

This paper proposes a mathematical model to simulate Day-ahead markets of large-scale multi-energy systems with high share of renewable energy. Furthermore, it analyses the importance of including unit commitment when performing such analysis. The results of the case study, which is performed for the North Sea region, show the influence of massive renewable penetration in the energy sector and increasing electrification of the district heating sector towards 2050, and how this impacts the role of other energy sources such as thermal and hydro. The penetration of wind and solar is likely to challenge the need for balancing in the system as well as the profitability of thermal units. The degree of influence of the unit commitment approach is found to be dependent on the configuration of the energy system. Overall, including unit commitment constraints with integer variables leads to more realistic behaviour of the units, at the cost of increasing considerably the computational time. Relaxing integer variables reduces significantly the computational time, without highly compromising the accuracy of the results. The proposed model, together with the insights from the study case, can be specially useful for system operators for optimal operational planning.

The paper addresses an analysis of the efficiency and profitability of the operation of a photovoltaic installation located in the geometric centre of Europe (near Białystok, Poland), where the intensity of solar irradiation is not too high compared to other European countries. It is calculated that in that place average solar irradiation being lower even by approx. 26 kWh than that for the whole Europe, which results in a 26% drop in the economic potential of the utilisation of solar energy for its conversion. A case study and an economic analysis show that without minimum funding amounting to 50% of the investment costs paid for the modernisation of a central heating system assisted by PV cells, the time of return of pecuniary expenditures exceeds 7 years. Apart from the Simple Pay-Back Time SPBT, discount indicators determined in the paper also include the net present value NPV and the internal rate of return IRR. Moreover, a direct ecological effect has been determined for such an investment.

In the development of power systems it is indicated very often, that transformation of power systems should be carried out in accordance with the idea of energy democracy. This will develop energy communities, that are trying to meet energy needs by using local renewable generation sources. This may result with a temporary low load on the MV lines connecting the community grid and the power system. Such state may cause incorrect operation of power protection systems. This can cause an extended protection operation time, due to decision algorithms inactivity at low values of measurement currents. Therefore, the detailed MV lines overcurrent digital protection model and a dynamic model of the power network were developed. The simulation results are showing that the settings of the parameters activating the protection decision algorithms affect their operation time in dynamic conditions. The conclusion is that the development of the power protection automatics must be carried out in the same time (preferably in advance) with the change of the power system operation model. This is very important for future power systems with high penetration energy communities and renewable generation sources.

The current paper aims to study the impact properties of additively manufactured Maraging steel (1.2709) using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) processing. The specimens were manufactured using 3Dsystems ProX 300 equipment under constant specific power input, or Andrew Number. The interactions between the build strategy and parameters, such as Hatch spacing and Scan speed was, and the impact strength and fracture were investigated. The Impact energy anisotropy was also investigated parallel and perpendicular to the build direction. Instrumented impact testing was performed, and the fractography supported that the fusion zone geometry dictated the fracture behaviour. The influence from gaseous elements such as Nitrogen, Oxygen and Hydrogen was found insignificant at the levels found in the printed material.

The current need to develop sustainable power sources has led to the development of ocean-based conversion systems. Wells turbine is a widely used converter in such systems which suffers from a lack of operational range and power production capacity under operational conditions. The profile named IFS which is concave in the post-mid-chord region, can produce significantly larger lift forces and show better separation behavior than the NACA profiles. In the present study, we tested this profile for the first time in a Wells turbine. The performance of six different blade designs with IFS and NACA profiles were evaluated and compared using a validated computational fluid dynamic model. Although the substitution of the NACA profile with the IFS profile in all cases increased the torque generated, the most efficient power generation and the largest efficient range were achieved in the design with varying thickness from the hub with a 0.15 thickness ratio reaching to the ratio of 0.2 at the tip. The operational span of this design with the IFS profile was 24.1% greater and the maximum torque generation was 71% higher than the case with the NACA profile. Therefore, the use of the IFS profile is suggested for further study and practical trials.

A characteristic feature of lightweight constructions is their low thermal mass which causes high internal temperature fluctuations that require high heating and cooling demand throughout the year. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) is effective in providing thermal inertia to low thermal mass buildings. The aim of this paper is to analyse the thermal behaviour of two proposed lightweight buildings designed for homeless people and to investigate the potential benefit achievable through the use of different types of PCM in the temperate climatic conditions of Christchurch, New Zealand. For this purpose, over 300 numerical simulations have been conducted using the simulation software DesignBuilder®. The bulk of the simulations were carried out under the assumption that the whole opaque building envelope is equipped with PCM. The results showed significant energy saving and comfort enhancement through the application of PCMs. Thereby, annual energy saving of over 50 % was reached for some of the PCMs considered. Additionally, the effectiveness of single, PCM-equipped structure components was investigated and substantial benefits between 19 and 27 % annual energy saving were achieved. However, occupant behaviour in terms of ventilation habits, occupancy of zones etc. remains one of the biggest challenges in any simulation work due to insufficient data.

Establishing an accurate mathematical model is the foundation of simulating the motion of marine vehicles and structures, and it is the basis of modeling-based control design. System identification from observed input-output data is a practical and powerful method. However, for modeling objects with different characteristics and known information, a single modeling framework can hardly meet the requirements of model establishment. Moreover, there are some challenges in system identification, such as parameter drift and overfitting. In this work, three robust methods are proposed for generating ocean hydrodynamic models based on Bayesian regression. Two Bayesian techniques, semi-conjugate linear regression and noisy input Gaussian process regression, are used for parametric and nonparametric gray-box modeling and black-box modeling. The experimental free-running tests of the KVLCC2 ship model and a multi-freedom wave energy converter (WEC) are used to validate the proposed Bayesian models. The results demonstrate that the proposed schemes for system identification of the ship and WEC have good generalization ability and robustness. Finally, the developed modeling methods are evaluated considering the aspects required conditions, operating characteristics and prediction accuracy.

The energy loss of photons due to the cosmological red shift is interpreted, here, as a periodical process of transferring electromagnetic field energy into the space. The transferred energy portions are independent on photon energy if this transfer occurs with their frequency. The amounts of periodically released energy are so small that the related ultra-long wave length photons have to be understood as perfectly delocalized. Thus, the described point of view bridges the quantum micro cosmos with the macro cosmos. It is proposed to regard this energy exchange as a typical property of universal time arrow and to interpret the “large numbers”, in particular the dimensionless reciprocal of product of Hubbles constant and Planck time as the fundamental parameter describing cosmic evolution.

Expansion tube is ideal energy absorber which dissipates kinetic energy through plastic deformation and friction. There is an urgent need to understand the influence of key parameter, e.g. semi angle, tube material, and friction coefficient, on the mechanical response and energy absorption characteristics of expansion tube. In the present work, the material properties of the tubes were tested under quasi-static loading condition, and the numerical simulations were carried out by using commercial software ABAQUS. Based on the validated finite element simulation, all the semi angle, tube material, and friction have significant effects on the energy absorption capacity of expansion tube. The expansion tube with high tensile stress of parent material have high energy absorption capacity, while the specific energy absorption is linear with the tensile stress/density of tube material. This work would give a guidance to the structural design and parent materials selection for expansion tubes.

Though inland ships share a small portion of the total global CO₂ emission from shipping, from the individual country’s economic and environmental perspective, this is very important. In order to reduce CO₂ emission from the sea going ships by increasing energy efficiency, International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a generalized Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) in 2011. However, due to the variation in the environmental, geographic and economic conditions, a generalized EEDI cannot be established in a similar fashion as established by IMO. Shallow and restricted water effects, different fuel qualities (to reduce operational cost), increase in engine power requirement, reduction in carrying capacity, cargo availability, etc. forbid the use of existing EEDI formulation for inland waterways. So, an EEDI formulation based on revised parameters has been proposed for the inland ships of Bangladesh. This paper focuses on the implementation of the revised EEDI formulation by performing a sensitivity analysis of different ship design parameters. Based on the analysis, suggestions were made on how to design inland oil tankers of Bangladesh using the revised EEDI formulation for reducing CO₂ from the current level. Keeping the same speed and capacity, those vessels were redesigned based on those suggestions. The CFD analysis of those redesigned vessels using ‘Shipflow’ has shown a total resistance reduction of 10-13%.

In this study we investigate the formation of dynamical energy cascades in higher order KdV-type equations. In the beginning we recall what is known about the dynamic cascades for the classical KdV (quadratic) and mKdV (cubic) equations. Then, we investigate further the mKdV case by considering a richer set of initial perturbations in order to check the validity and persistence of various facts previously established for the narrow-banded perturbations. Afterwards we focus on higher order nonlinearities (quartic and quintic) which are found to be quite different in many respects from the mKdV equation. Throughout this study we consider both the direct and double energy cascades. It was found that the dynamic cascade is always formed, but its formation is not necessarily accompanied by the nonlinear stage of the modulational instability. Direct cascade structure remains invariant regardless the size of the spectral domain. In contrast, the double cascade shape can depend on the size of the spectral domain, even if the total number of cascading modes remains invariant. Results obtained in this study can be potentially applied to plasmas, free surface and internal wave hydrodynamics.

While there is overwhelming evidence for dark matter (DM) in galaxies and galaxy clusters, all searches for DM particles have so far proved negative. It is not even clear whether only one particle is involved or a combination or particles, their masses not precisely predicted. This non-detectability raises the possible relevance of modified gravity theories – MOND, MONG, etc. Here we consider a specific modification of Newtonian gravity (MONG) which involves gravitational self-energy, leading to modified equations whose solutions imply flat rotation curves and limitations of sizes of clusters. The results are consistent with current observations including that involving large spirals. This modification could also explain the current Hubble tension. We also consider effects of dark energy (DE) in terms of a cosmological constant.

As the first initiative of its kind in Algeria, here is presented a solar-powered mobile “Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation” disinfection unit (UVGI) based on a special germicidal ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiator. The system was designed to disinfect several objects such as: medical tools, reusable masks, face-shields, gloves, phones, laptops, keys, money and many other portable devices that need to be disinfected/sterilized. It offers the advantage of complete autonomy through the built-in photovoltaic (PV) system that includes a solar panel, a gel battery, a charge controller and a power inverter. The system provides an extra 220V-50Hz outlet with 375VA maximum power to be used when energy is needed. The system is easily scalable to generate higher ultraviolet dosages by adding more UVC lamps. The chemical-free germicidal UVC sanitizing method employed by this device effectively disactivates a very wide range of microorganisms (microbes, bacteria and fungi and viruses including the actual SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 respiratory disease) and it has several advantages in comparison to chemical-based sanitizing methods. The total cost to make this open source device is below 1000 € and is easily customizable and scalable. This device is an open source, secure and fast equipment for objects and surface disinfection. The device will be fully automated by adding PIR sensors or remote control after further funding will be received.

This article presents a method of segmenting images with gray levels that uses Onicescu's information energy calculated in the context of the neutrosophic theory. Starting from the information energy calculation for complete neutrosophic information, it is shown how to extend its calculation for incomplete and inconsistent neutrosophic information. The segmentation method is based on calculation of thresholds for separating the gray levels using the local maximum points of the Onicescu information energy.

In this study, we investigate the formation of dynamical energy cascades in higher-order KdV-type equations. In the beginning, we recall what is known about the dynamic cascades for the classical KdV (quadratic) and mKdV (cubic) equations. Then, we investigate further the mKdV case by considering a richer set of initial perturbations in order to check the validity and persistence of various facts previously established for the narrow-banded perturbations. Afterwards, we focus on higher-order nonlinearities (quartic and quintic) which are found to be quite different in many respects from the mKdV equation. Throughout this study, we consider both the direct and double energy cascades. It was found that the dynamic cascade is always formed, but its formation is not necessarily accompanied by the nonlinear stage of the modulational instability. Direct cascade structure remains invariant regardless of the size of the spectral domain. In contrast, the double cascade shape can depend on the size of the spectral domain, even if the total number of cascading modes remains invariant. Results obtained in this study can be potentially applied to plasmas, free surface and internal wave hydrodynamics.

The gravitational charge should be the energy instead of mass. This modification will lead to some different results and the experiments to test are also presented. Especially, we propose a scheme to achieve the negative energy and gravitational repulsive force in the lab.

It is proposed that both human creativity and human consciousness are (unintended) consequences of the human brain’s extraordinary energy efficiency. The topics of creativity and consciousness are treated separately, though have a common sub-structure. It is argued that creativity arises from a synergy between two cognitive modes of the human brain (which broadly coincide with Kahneman’s Systems 1 and 2). In the first, available energy is spread across a relatively large network of neurons. As such, the amount of energy per active neuron is so small that the operation of such neurons is susceptible to thermal (ultimately quantum decoherent) noise. In the second, available energy is focussed on a small enough subset of neurons to guarantee a deterministic operation. An illustration of how this synergy can lead to creativity with implications for computing in silicon are discussed. Starting with a discussion of the concept of free will, the notion of consciousness is defined in terms of an awareness of what are perceived to be nearby counterfactual worlds in state space. It is argued that such awareness arises from an interplay between our memories on the one hand, and quantum physical mechanisms (where, unlike in classical physics, nearby counterfactual worlds play an indispensable dynamical role) in the ion channels of neural networks. As with the brain’s susceptibility to noise, it is argued that in situations where quantum physics plays a role in the brain, it does so for reasons of energy efficiency. As an illustration of this definition of consciousness, a novel proposal is outlined as to why quantum entanglement appears so counter-intuitive.

This paper presents a comparison between a kite model with a constant-length tether and a model based on a system identification algorithm. The concept of system identification is applied to predict the uncertainties related to the variation of the wind speed and the shape deformation of the tethered membrane wing during flight. A pole-placement controller is used to ensure that the kite follows the planned flight path. Thus, we can determine the required locations of the closed loop poles, and then enforce them by changing the controller's gains in real-time. The capability of the system identification algorithm to recognize sudden changes in the dynamic model, and the ability of the controller to stabilize the system in the presence of such changes are confirmed. Furthermore, the system identification algorithm is applied to determine the parameters of a kite with variable-length tether used in a flight test of the 20 kW kite power system of TU Delft. Experimental data of this test were compared with the system identification results in real-time and significant changes were observed in the parameters of the dynamic model which heavily affect the resulting response.

A new frontier in solar thermal panel technology can be a high vacuum collector, thick enough to be equipped with solar concentrators based on non-imaging optics, such as the Compound Parabolic Concentrators (CPC). The high vacuum technology guarantees higher operating temperatures thanks to the enhanced thermal insulation, which leads to pay particular attention to the absorber radiative emission. In this paper by means of numerical simulations we compare the efficiency of a flat selective solar absorber under high vacuum to the efficiency of a CPC under high-vacuum collector.

Buildings use 30-40 % of all energy resources and are thus their main consumers in modern society. Moreover, buildings require a vast amount of different raw materials. During the last two decades, several green building certifications have been created in order to consider social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability of buildings. One of the most famous and widely used of these certifications is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). So far, the use of LEED has concentrated in the US and other developed countries. One reason that restricts the use of this point-based system certification in developing countries is the limited data about its costs. In this study, the extra cost of the certification process will be evaluated besides the changes needed in the design of the building to reach the points required by LEED. At the first stage, the number of points the case study earns in its current format (Scenario 1) were found out, then the cost difference of getting either the Certified (Scenario 2) or Silver (Scenario 3) level LEED certification for the building was studied. It was found that besides some technical considerations, filling the criteria of the Certified and Silver level increases the total costs of construction by 3.4% and 5.9%. Further improvement of the building’s energy efficiency would enable the attainment of a higher-level certification. The results of the study could help to promote the use of green building certifications in Western Asia.

Excitotoxicity related to the dysfunction of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) has been indicated to play an integral role in the pathophysiology of multiple disease states, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. There is a notable gap in the market for novel NMDAR antagonists, however current methods to analyze potential antagonists rely on indirect measurements of calcium flux and hazardous radioligand binding assays. Recently, a fluorescent NMDAR ligand, N-adamantan-1-yl-dimethylamino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid, known as AM-DAN was developed by our group. Additional studies on this ligand is necessary to evaluate its potential as a biological tool in NMDAR research. Therefore, this study was aimed at conducting structural analyses, fluorescence experiments, high-accuracy NMDAR molecular modelling and NMDAR phencyclidine (PCP) site competition binding studies using AM-DAN. Results revealed that AM-DAN has appropriate structural properties, significant fluorescent ability in various solvents and is able to bind selectively and compete for the PCP-binding site of the NMDAR. Therefore, AM-DAN holds promise as a novel fluorescent ligand to measure the affinity of prospective drugs binding at the NMDAR PCP-site and may circumvent the use of radioligands.

Plants Microbial Fuel Cells (PMFC) is a new technology that generates electricity in a renewable, clean and sustainable way. In spite of these advantages, it still faces limitations in power generation and current density, reaching lower production values than other renewable technologies. Different studies maintain that the high resistivity of the cathode is the main limitation in the generation of energy; therefore, non-metallic materials to obtain a better performance are replacing the metallic electrodes. The implementation of these materials applied to PMFC requires a complex interdisciplinary work. Through three experimental tests using metallic electrodes for the extraction of electrons, this research study shows that the treatment of the substrate with natural materials, the volume plant roots, and substrate temperature and humidity control have a significant influence in the increase of the electric potential and the generated current.

Our goal in this paper is to study the relationship between the linear approximation of Einstein's equations to the Klein-Gordon’s equation. The part one presents what the Klein-Gordon’s equation and the integration of the theory of quantum information in it. The Part two deals with the Stress Energy tensor quantum, wherein the detail I linearized gravity of Einstein equation, and wherein I develop the tensor quantum energy pulse from the equivalence of equation einstein the linearized gravity and the Schrödinger equation relativistic described by Klein-Gordon’s equation.

We present simple relations for nuclear stability and nuclear binding energy with respect to three gravitational constants associated with electroweak, strong and electromagnetic interactions.

The complexity of Mixed-Integer Linear Programs (MILPs) increases with the number of nodes in energy system models. An increasing complexity constitutes a high computational load that can limit the scale of the energy system model. Especially in microgrid optimisation problems with multiple buildings and energy systems with a number of rival supply, distribution and storage technologies, methods are sought to reduce this complexity. In this paper, we present a new 2-Level Approach to MILP energy system models that determine the system design through a combination of continuous and discrete decisions. On the first level, data reduction methods are used to determine the discrete design decisions in a simplified solution space. Those decisions are then fixed, and on the second level the full dataset is used to extract the exact scaling of the chosen technologies. The performance of the new 2-Level Approach is evaluated for a case study of an urban energy system with six buildings and an island system based on a high share of renewable energy technologies. The results of the studies show a high accuracy with respect to the total annual costs, chosen system structure, installed capacities and peak load with the 2-Level Approach compared to the results of a single level optimization. The computational load is thereby reduced by more than one order of magnitude, while a significantly higher accuracy is reached in comparison to the common time series aggregation approach.

Energy and Environment Tax is used globally as a means of environment policy. Energy and Environment tax plays an important role as a driving force for the conversion to environmentally friendly energy. The basic tax principles considered in the design of energy and environmental taxation increases the efficiency of policy instruments. The purpose of this study is to evaluate South Korea’s energy and environmental taxation based on tax principles, namely, equity, efficiency, simplicity, flexibility, and accountability and to suggest directions for improvement. This study applied a methodology that provides policy implications, such as reviewing existing literature and comparing energy and environmental taxes. Results of this study show that South Korea’s energy and environmental taxation is negative in terms of equity, simplicity, and accountability. South Korea’s current energy and environmental tax is regressive to income classes and complex tax structures and it does not objectively measure the impact of energy and environmental taxation. However, energy and environmental taxation is evaluated positively in terms of efficiency and flexibility because it meets the greenhouse gas reduction policy and operates a flexible tax rate. The results of this analysis provide policy implications for reorganizing South Korea’s energy and environmental taxation

When considering implementation of shallow geothermal energy as a renewable source for heating and cooling of the building, special care should be taken in hydraulic design of borehole heat exchanger system. Laminar flow can occur in pipes due to usage of glycol mixture at low temperature or inadequate flow rate. This can lead to lower heat extraction and rejection rates of the exchanger because of higher thermal resistances. Furthermore, by increasing flow rate to achieve turbulent flow and satisfactory heat transfer rate can lead to increase the pressure drop of the system and oversizing of circulation pump which leads to impairment of seasonal coefficient of performance at the heat pump. Most frequently used borehole heat exchanger system in Europe is double-loop pipe system with smooth inner wall. Lately, development is focused on implementation of different configuration as well as with ribbed inner wall which ensures turbulent flow in the system, even at lower flow rates. At a location in Zagreb, classical and extended thermal response test was conducted on three different heat exchanger configurations in the same geological environment. With classic TRT test, thermogeological properties of the ground and thermal resistance of the borehole were determined for each smooth or turbulator pipe configuration. Extended Steady-State Thermal Response Step Test (TRST) was implemented, which incorporate series of power steps to determine borehole extraction rate at the define steady-state heat transfer conditions of 0/-3°C. Results show that heat exchangers with ribbed inner pipe wall have advantages over classic double-loop smooth pipe design, in terms of greater steady state heat extraction rate and more favorable hydraulic conditions.

The energy efficiency of grinding depends on the appropriate selection of cutting conditions, grinding wheel and workpiece material. Additionally, the estimation of specific energy consumption is a good indicator to control the energy consumed during the grinding process. Consequently, this study develops a model of material removal rate to estimate the specific energy consumption based on the measurement of active power consumed in a plane surface grinding of C45K with different thermal treatments and AISI 304. This model identifies and evaluates the power dissipated by sliding, ploughing and chip formation in a industrial-scale grinding process. Furthermore, the instantaneous positions of the abrasive grains during cutting are described to study the material removal rate. The estimation of specific chip formation energy is similar to that described by other authors in laboratory scale, which allows to validate the model and experiments. Finally, the results show that the energy consumed by sliding is the main phenomenon of energy dissipation in industrial-scale grinding process, where it is denoted that sliding energy by volume unity decreases as the depth of cut and speed of workpiece increase.

Smart cities and smart technologies have been incorporated into several axes to increase the comfort of life. The connected building's concept was introduced for this reason. However, it was utilized in power management for better organizing, greater buildings management, and monetary savings. Cars technologies and the number of vehicles are also involved; Nowadays, each house has at least one car. Technological evolution helped to make those cars intelligent and connected. In the latest versions, the majority of those cars were equipped with several sensors, several communication protocols and a principal electrical control unit (ECU), especially for the electric vehicle model. This type of architecture was an essential element in a smart city, thus, it helps to manage power and decide when a vehicle needs to be charged. Based on the smart city concept and using possible network communication between buildings and vehicles, EVs can share their own information related to the powerful experience on a specific path. This information can be gathered in a gigantic database and used for managing the power inside these vehicles. In this field, we propose in this paper a new approach for power management inside an electric vehicle based on bi-communication between vehicles and buildings. The proposed approach is founded on two essential parts; the first is related to vehicles’ classification and buildings’ recommendation according to different car positions. Two algorithms, related to the SVC and neural network was employed in this work for implementing the final process. Different possibilities and situations were discussed for this approach. The proposed method was tested and validated using Simulink/Matlab application. The state of charge of the used battery was compared at the end of this work, for two specified cases, for showing the contribution of this approach.

In a recent Foundations of Physics paper [5] by the current author it was shown that, when the self-force problem of classical electrodynamics is properly solved, it becomes a plausible ontology underlying the statistical description of quantum mechanics. In the current paper we extend this result, showing that ordinary matter, thus represented, possibly suffices in explaining the outstanding observations currently requiring for this task the contrived notions of dark-matter, dark-energy and inflation. The single mandatory 'fix' to classical electrodynamics, demystifying both very small and very large scale physics, should be contrasted with other adhoc solutions to either problems. Instrumental to our cosmological model is scale covariance (and 'spontaneous breaking' thereof), a formal symmetry of classical electrodynamics treated on equal footing with its Poincare covariance, which is incompatible with the (absolute) metrical attributes of the GR metric tensor.

Solar radiation is closely related to the energy buildings consume for cooling, heating, and lighting purposes. Glazing is the only material of the building envelope that transmits solar radiation and needs to be appropriately designed to reduce energy cㅈonsumption. Currently, smart glass technology is being actively investigated and developed for effective solar radiation control. Among the various types of smart glass, electrochromic glazing is one of the most promising technologies, as it can adjust transmittance on its own, has a wider transmittance range in both the clear and darkened states, and consumes less electricity. Considering the importance of solar radiation adjustment in electrochromic glazing technology, this study attempted to develop an optimal control method for electrochromic glazing. Toward this goal, the solar radiation incident on vertical surfaces and outdoor temperature conditions were controlled in three regions with different climatic characteristics, and the annual cooling, heating, and lighting loads, discomfort glare, and interior illumination were analyzed. This approach enabled the optimal conditions with respect to visual comfort to be determined. Subsequently, the EDPI (Energy and daylight performance index) was used to optimize control conditions for each region, thereby producing integrated evaluations from results with different units and properties. The proposed control method will be utilized to develop a control algorithm and a control system to reduce building energy consumption.

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest operating detection system for the observation of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The detector allows detailed measurements of their energy spectrum, mass composition and arrival directions of primary cosmic rays in the energy range above $10^{17}$ eV. The data collected at the Observatory over the last decade show the suppression of the cosmic ray flux at energies above $4\times10^{19}$ eV. However, it is still unclear if this suppression is caused by the propagation of cosmic rays or rather by energy limitation of their sources. The other puzzle is the origin of UHECRs. Some clues can be drawn from studying the distribution of their arrival directions. The recently observed dipole anisotropy has an orientation which indicates an extragalactic origin of UHECRs. The Auger surface detector array is also sensitive to showers due to ultra high energy neutrinos of all flavours and photons, and recent neutrino and photon limits provided by the Observatory can constrain models of the cosmogenic neutrino production and exotic scenarios of the UHECRs origin, such as the decays of super heavy particles. In this paper the recent results on measurements of the energy spectrum, mass composition and arrival directions of cosmic rays, and future prospects are presented.

Production of energy is a main task of cancer cells metabolism, since costs of duplicating are enormous. Although energy is derived in cells by dismantling carbon to carbon bonds of any macronutrient, cancer nutritional needs for energetic purposes have been studied primarily as dependent on glycolysis. Since the end of the last century, awareness of dependence of cancer metabolism on amino acids not only for protein syntheses but also for matching energy needs has grown. The roles of specific amino acids, like glutamine, glycine and serine have been explored in different experimental conditions and reviewed. Moreover, there are epidemiological evidences that some amino acids used as supplement for therapeutic reasons (the branched chain ones) may reduce incidence of liver cancer, and some molecular mechanism has been proposed as functional to their protective action. On the contrary, metabolic signature of some pathology connected with increased risk of cancer, like prolonged hyperinsulinemia in insulin resistant patients, is signed by plasma elevated levels of the same branched chain amino acids, posing puzzling questions to clinicians. Most recently, peculiar formulations of amino acids, deeply different if compared to amino acids compositions normally present in foods, have shown the power to master epigenetics slowing growth or driving cancer cells to apoptotic death, while being even beneficial for normal cells and for animals health and life span. In this review, we will analyze and try to disentangle some of the many knots dealing with complexities of amino acids biology and linked to cancer metabolism.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) severing as the relay is an effective technology method to extend the coverage. It can also alleviate the congestion and increase the throughput, especially applied in UAV networks. However, since the energy of UAVs is limited and the resources in UAV networks are scarce, how to optimize the network delay performance under these constraints should be well investigated. Besides, the relationship among different resources, e.g. power and bandwidth, is coupled which makes the optimization more complex. This article investigates the problem of joint power and bandwidth allocation in UAV backhaul networks, which considers both the delay performance and the resource utilization efficiency. Considering the heterogeneous locations characteristics of different UAVs, we formulate the optimization problem as a Stackelberg game. The relay UAV acts as the leader and extended UAVs act as followers. Their utility functions take both the delay durance and the resource consumption into account. To capture the competitive relationship among followers, the sub-game is proved to be an exact potential game and exists Nash equilibriums (NE). The Stackelberg Equilibrium (SE) is proved afterwards. We utilize a hierarchical learning algorithm (HLA) to find out the best resource allocation strategies, which also reduces the computational complexity. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The world is progressing towards a more advanced society where end-consumers have access to local renewable-based generation and advanced forms of information and technology. Hence, it is in a current state of transition between the traditional approach to power generation and distribution, where end-consumers of electricity have typically been inactive in their involvement with energy markets and a new approach that integrates their active participation. This new approach includes the use of distributed energy resources (DER) such as renewable-based generations and demand response (DR), which are being rapidly adopted by end-consumers, where incentives are strong. This paper presents the role of DR aggregator to effectively integrate DER technologies as a new source of energy capacity, into the electricity networks using information communication technology and industry knowledge. This framework based on DR aggregators will facilitate renewable energy integration and customer engagement in electricity market efficiently. To this aim, advantages and disadvantages of DR aggregators are discussed in this paper from political, economic, social and technological (PEST) point of views. Based on this analysis, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis for a typical DR aggregator is presented.

Global financial investments in energy production and consumption are significant since all aspects of a country's economic activity, and development require energy resources. In this paper, we assess the investment trends in the global energy sector during, before and after financial crises of 2008 using two data sources: (1) Dealogic database providing cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and (2) fDi Intelligence fDi Markets database providing greenfield (GF) foreign direct investments (FDIs). We highlight the changing role of China and compare its M&A and GF FDI activities to those of the United States, Germany, UK, Japan and others during this period. We analyze the investments along each segment of the energy supply chain of these countries to highlight the geographical origin and destination, sectoral distribution, and cross‐border M&As and GF FDI activities. Our paper shows that while energy accounts for nearly 25% of all GF FDI, it only accounts for 4.82% of total M&A FDI activity in the period 1996-2016. China's outbound FDI in the energy sector started its ascent around the time of the global recession and had accelerated in the post-recession phase. In the energy sector, the development of China's outbound cross‐border M&As is similar to USA or UK, located mostly in the developed countries in the west, while their outbound GF investments are spread across many countries around the world. Also, China's outbound energy M&As are concentrated in certain segments (extraction, and electricity generation) while their GF covers all segments of the energy supply chain.

Urbanization and industrialization processes in Mongolia have been significant and rapid for the last half-century. During this period, changes in political and economic systems, growth in the population, and the occasional harsh climate conditions were subject to fluctuations in the natural resource usage. The total Ecological Footprint (EF) in Mongolia has increased from 6.8 million global hectares (gha) in 1961 to 14.6 million gha in 2012. However, Biocapacity (BC) has decreased from 50.6 million gha in 1961 to 39.0 million gha in 2012. The study shows that grazing land Footprint and carbon uptake land Footprint are the two major contributors of the recent intensified use of biological resources. To ensure stable economic development and sustainable use of natural resources, environmental planning is required to consider both the population’s pressure on the environment and the ecosystem’s regeneration capacity, simultaneously. We have proposed a few possible strategies for sustainable utilization of grazing land Footprint and carbon Footprint. For grazing land Footprint, efficient management of both herding practice and number of animals should be considered. In case of carbon Footprint, it is estimated that with the improved combustion efficiencies of coal-based power plants and the maximum use of renewable energy, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in Mongolia can be reduced up to 30% compared to the base line business as usual case in 2030.

High electricity demand for consumption at current supply level in Indonesia led to the rising cost of electricity bills. This factor is compounded by the fact that many electric generators in Indonesia still use fossil fuels, which contributes to the high basic generation cost. UBL is one of the universities that aim to be a green campus. Our research explores the possibility of installing motion sensor to contribute on the energy efficiency. Although mostly common in developed countries, the use of motion sensor for energy efficiency is still rare, especially in Indonesia. despite rising cost and supply shortages, Indonesian buildings are still of high energy consumption. our experiment shows that simple installation of commercially available motion sensors can contribute to reduce the electricity bill from the increase of energy efficiency. One of the efforts to lower energy demand in consumer side is to use the electricity efficiently, such as turning off lights in a room when it's not in use. This method can be simply done by turning the light switches for office and classrooms, but difficult to do in public spaces such as toilets and corridors. Our experiment shows that simple installation of commercially available motion sensors can contribute to reduce the electricity bill from the increase of energy efficiency. Automatic light switches experimentally installed in sample toilet room prove that electricity consumption from the lamps can contribute to the reduction of total weekly energy that translates into Green House Gas emission reduction.