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Energy-Efficient Buildings, a step towards Sustainability in Pakistan
109-124Views:309With every passing year, energy consumption in the world is increasing drastically. Most of the energy comes from fossil fuels which are also depleting in a fast manner. Buildings consume a significant amount of energy all over the world and the demand for energy is also increasing unremittingly in buildings. Developed countries are taking profound measures in order to make buildings energy efficient and sustainable by achieving nearly zero energy stage. Pakistan is facing a serious energy crisis from the past few decades. The building sector in Pakistan deserves special attention in this regard since the energy consumption in buildings in Pakistan is feverishly high. Many types of research have been carried out in Pakistan by the United Nations and Energy Department of Pakistan in order to devise applicable methods that not only provide thermal comfort to the occupants but also make a building energy efficient. Renewable energy also plays an important role in compensating building energy demands. It is easy to achieve nearly zero energy state in a good energy efficient building if it is coupled with renewable energy sources then it will make it self-sufficient in energy demand. A survey is also carried out to determine the thermal comfort of the occupants in different types of areas. Also, solar energy analysis is also taken into account to highlight the solar power potential in Pakistan. Several recommendations have also been suggested to implement energy efficiency measures in Pakistan.
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Examination of the Relationship between Renewable Energy and Economic Performance
234-243Views:208Many countries are making considerable efforts to achieve solutions to environmental problems that we face today and developing renewable energy resources is one of the potential long-term solutions that constitute an absolute priority from a sustainable development perspective. The usage of renewable energy is one of the critical future challenges to reduce greenhouse gas emission and decrease energy dependency at the same time. Thus, replacing traditional energy sources with renewable ones, like Hydropower and wind power to produce electricity instead of fossil fuel. The objective of this study is to find a relationship between renewable energy consumption, macroeconomic factors, and the environment. There is a reliable and significant (at 1% significant level) association between REC with GHG and GDP and a relatively strong association with EC.
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The Relationship Between Renewable Energy Consumption, Net Energy Import, Greenhouse Gas Emission and Human Cap
58-71Views:169The measures to improve energy efficiency and increase of renewable energy production and consumption should be encouraged in the interest of sustainable development. Many factors can influence the use of renewable energy such as the level of economic development of an economy, nationals’ and the main economic actors’ environmental awareness, energy import dependency, ratio of the urban population, and government subsidization intensity among the others. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption and net energy import as a percentage of energy use less production, greenhouse gas emission per capita and human capital using by OECD countries data from 1990 to 2014. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between net energy import and renewable energy consumption, and also negative relationship can be shown between the amount of greenhouse gas emission per capita and renewable energy consumption. However, we identified a positive relationship between human capital and renewable energy consumption for energy importer countries above a certain level of human capital.
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Municipal Geothermal Systems: Evaluation of Three Hungarian Cases
81-93Views:128Geothermal energy holds great potential for a sustainable future, as it is a clean and weather-independent form of energy. In addition to energy production, it can also serve the population of a region through direct use. In this paper, three municipal geothermal systems (Szarvas, Nagyszénás, Békéscsaba) in the same Hungarian region which have been recently installed or expanded are presented and analysed. Here, the direct usage of geothermal energy for heating purposes is a very important issue. The three systems show several differences and to some extent face different challenges in the various phases of the projects. Particular attention has been paid to engineering solutions to the problems that arise. The challenges, such as technical difficulties during installation, maintenance difficulties, or problems arising during operation are introduced. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of similar geothermal systems were summarized, based on the relevant literature. These points were evaluated by their appearance and characteristics in the examined systems. This study aims to provide insights, based on recently gained experiences, into geothermal projects, thus providing feedback and practical information for researchers and practitioners.
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The green methanol - playing a role in sustainable energy management
249-258Views:163Global energy demand is constantly increasing, so the energy sources we use, and the efficiency of energy use are of paramount importance for the future of humanity. Methanol can play a key role in the sustainable use of natural resources, in the efficient and smooth transition from a fossil oil-based energy system as well as in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Long-term thinking will result in an increase in the use of renewable energy sources, which will favour the spread of green methanol technology and thus the use of a carbon-neutral fuel. The raw materials for the production of green methanol may include municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide and the methanol has many uses, both as fuel and chemical feedstock. It also provides an opportunity to chemically store excess renewable energy from intermittent sources, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The price of electricity used for electrolysis is the main determinant of the economical production of green methanol, so the reduction of the cost of solar and wind energy greatly contributes to the competitiveness of carbon-based production.
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Operational Feasibility Assessment of Geothermal Heat Harnessing Systems
46-53Views:171Renewable energy sources are now essential to establish sustainable development. This paper examines one kind of source the geothermal energy. For geothermal energy when combined with a heat pump COP can be used for evaluation. For solely geothermal sources different approach is needed thus in the paper, a new geothermal heat production coefficient is used to examine the operational feasibility. For the assessment, many hypothetical buildings were created to model their heat demands. Two types of calculation methods are used for heat demand calculation. Based on the results, the maximum depth of a geothermal borehole and economically critical qualitative coefficient was concluded.
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Sustainable Energy in Aviation with Reverse FMEA Analyses
29-40Views:121This research aims to identify and evaluate the key challenges and obstacles hindering the adoption of sustainable energy in the aviation industry. The outcomes and insights derived from this research will be synthesized to provide a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and suggestions for the adoption of sustainable energy in the aviation industry. The objective of this study is to help the aviation industry’s shift toward more sustainable energy sources in order to reduce its environmental footprint and mitigate the effects of climate change.
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Role of Biomass in Urban Energy Management
62-76Views:149When making decisions on the use of energy, both on building and on city level, biomass plays certainly a role in looking for sustainable solutions. This study starts with highlighting some key points regarding urban energy management, including world urbanization trends, heat island effect of big cities and energy hierarchy in energy management. With these in mind, it is worth considering, how the shading effect of surrounding biomass can mitigate the heating needs as a wind barrier in the winter or decrease the cooling load as shadowing element in the summer, both for buildings and whole cities. These can be further enhanced by biomass integrated in the buildings’ envelope: green roofs and green walls can have significant energy conservation effects, according the characteristics of their different types. Lastly, urban disposal of biomass can lead to renewable energy generation, both in case of biogas production and waste incineration. These shading, covering and fuel possibilities all underline the importance of biomass in urban energy management.
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The Alternative Use of Straw
331-343Views:151The problem addressed in this work is to examine the feasibility of using straw in innovative and alternative ways, focusing on aspects of cost sensitivity in subject areas of building investment and energy compsumption. I analysed the energy efficient performance of a straw bale building and compared that with those of a conventional construction, a newly-constracted building and a passive house. In my study I assessed the figures of costs of emboided energy, primary energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission. I made calculations in terms of energy costs for a lifespan of 50 years. Considering that straw-bale construction uses an excellent and sustainable insulation material, its energy use is by 25.38% less than that of conventional construction.
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Analysis of the Policy Background of Transport Related Use of Renewable Energy
124-129Views:114The EU energy policy prioritizes the following principles: sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply and addresses the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a priority. The related EU policy (including the White Paper on Transport) outlines these principles, identifies goals and opportunities for action. At company level methodological guidelines and standard procedures can be used to assess the carbon footprint of the organization, to generate efficiency goals and to prepare action plans. In the Hungarian policy framework, a comprehensive National Sustainable Development Framework Strategy defines the basic principles for the analysis of the sectorspecific or regional strategies. Sustainable Energy Action and Climate Plans (SECAPs) integrate energy and climate issues and include interventions and improvements for the better use of renewable energy sources in transport at municipal level. As a summary it can be stated that exploration of the policy background would needed to influence the use of renewable energy sources for transport and definition of the development goals can help economic organizations to transform their mobility patterns and reduce related carbon footprint.
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Opportunities in circular agriculture
17-23Views:260Water is the source of life. For the long-term preservation of water resources it is very important to develop sewerage and sewage treatment. Sewage sludge is not primarily a waste that needs to be disposed of but also a secondary raw material or a renewable energy source. Municipal sewage sludge, and sewage sludge composts, contain relatively large quantities of organic matter, so agricultural utilization can be a major potential of its use. The transition to sustainable agriculture is becoming more urgent and increasingly important as it can provide a solution that looks to the future. Sustainable agriculture should work according to natural law, so it should be self-sustaining, that means, cycles, where in to one process the waste created can be used as raw material in the other process. The beneficial effects of sludge on soil include increasing soil organic matter content, increasing soil fertility, nutritional capacity, microbiological activity, and complex fertilizing effects. However, when is applicated, there is always a problem with the occurrence and accumulation of toxic elements and drug residues. The traditional model of economic activity is the linear model. This model ignores the high economic social, and environmental costs of exploiting, transforming and removing of the resources therefore it is not sustainable in the long term. The circular economy offers an alternative model in which the products materials and resources are maintaned as long as possible and the amount of waste is significantly reduced or lost. It is also possible adapt the overtuned ecological, biological balance of agricultural production systems, with a closed loop circular model. According to this model, the development of tillage technologies and the restoration of organic materials and nutrient supply are possible.
