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Sustainability
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Energy Efficiency: The Key to Sustainable Development
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Energy Efficiency: The Key to Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2025) | Viewed by 2101

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mykola Radchenko

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Conditioning and Refrigeration, Machinebuilding Institute, Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, 54025 Mykolayiv, Ukraine
Interests: thermal engineering (combined cooling, heat and power–trigeneration and polygeneration); marine engineering and power plants; refrigeration and air conditioning; heat recovery; energy conversion; combustion engines and power plants greening; heat and mass transfer (two-phase flows); heat exchangers
Dr. Victoria Kornienko

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Heat Engineering Department, Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, Heroes of Ukraine Avenue 9, 54025 Mykolayiv, Ukraine
Interests: marine engineering and power plants; thermal engineering; heat recovery; exhaust boilers (low temperature condensation, economizers); combustion engines and power plants greening; emulsion fuels
Prof. Dr. Andrii Radchenko

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Turbine Department, Machinebuilding Institute, Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, 54025 Mykolayiv, Ukraine
Interests: trigeneration and integrated power plants; marine engineering and power plants; thermal engineering (combined cooling; heat and power-trigeneration); heat recovery; energy conversion; combustion engines and power plants greening; combustion engine's and electrical motor's cooling
Prof. Dr. Marcin Kruzel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Koszalin University of Technology, 75-620 Koszalin, Poland
Interests: heat transfer; heat exchangers; phase-change materials; 3D printing; TPMS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce a new Special Issue of Sustainability entitled “Energy Efficiency: The Key to Sustainable Development”. Growing energy demand, global warming, and shortage of fossil fuels are real problems for Sustainable Development that require urgent solutions. The key solution to these problems lies in rational designing accompanied by forecasted management adaptable to conflicting challenges and constraints for sustainable energy saving and environmentally friendly operation of conventional energy plants, as well as renewable energy plants, as boosting or autonomous ones to cover the unsustainable patterns of gap between consumption and production with minimum emissions due to innovative cross-disciplinary approaches, hypotheses, and concepts at the core of perfect strategies and advanced trends in sustainable energetics through thermal stabilization and greening of energy plants, combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP), or trigeneration, including refrigeration and air conditioning, polygeneration as a whole for stationary and transport applications, conversion of heat emissions to different types of energy by applying highly efficient energy transformers, heat exchangers with mitigated instabilities and enhanced heat transfer, regeneration and thermal storages, alternative fuels, renewable resources, and other advanced findings.

This Special Issue has a wide scope and covers a broad range of Energy Efficiency to provide Sustainable Development-related topics.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Sustainable designing and operation;
  • Energy management;
  • Polygeneration;
  • Energy conversion;
  • Sustainable refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, and heat exchangers;
  • Renewable energy;
  • Combined power plant;
  • Alternative fuels and working fluids.

Prof. Dr. Mykola Radchenko
Dr. Victoria Kornienko
Prof. Dr. Andrii Radchenko
Prof. Dr. Marcin Kruzel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable designing
  • energy management
  • polygeneration
  • refrigeration
  • air conditioning
  • energy conversion
  • heat exchanger
  • renewable energy
  • combined power plant
  • greening
  • alternative fuels
  • working fluids

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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23 pages, 2660 KiB  
Article
Transitioning Hochschule Geisenheim University: A Shift from NET Source to NET Sink Regarding Its CO2 Emissions
by Georg Ardissone-Krauss, Moritz Wagner and Claudia Kammann
Sustainability 2025, 17(5), 2316; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17052316 - 6 Mar 2025
Viewed by 772
Abstract
Various Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) set themselves goals to become carbon neutral through the implementation of different reduction strategies such as the replacement of fossil-fueled vehicles with electric cars. However, even if all reduction measures are taken, residual GHG emissions will still remain. [...] Read more.
Various Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) set themselves goals to become carbon neutral through the implementation of different reduction strategies such as the replacement of fossil-fueled vehicles with electric cars. However, even if all reduction measures are taken, residual GHG emissions will still remain. Therefore, most HEIs have to compensate for the remaining emissions by, for example, buying carbon credits. However, due to growing criticism of carbon credit purchases, HEIs need to explore options for establishing carbon sinks on their own premises to offset their remaining, unavoidable emissions. This study aimed to assess the CO2 footprint of Hochschule Geisenheim University (HGU) as an exemplary HEI, identify emission hot-spots, and investigate the potential of biomass utilization for achieving carbon neutrality or even negative emissions. The analysis found that HGU’s main emissions were scope 1 emissions, primarily caused by on-site heat supply. The research determined that conversion to a wood chip-based heating system alone was insufficient to achieve climate neutrality, but this goal could be achieved through additional carbon dioxide removal (CDR). By operating a pyrolysis-based bivalent heating system, the study demonstrated that heat demand could be covered while producing sufficient C-sink certificates to transform HGU into the first carbon-negative HEI, at a comparable price to conventional combustion systems. Surplus C-sink certificates could be made available to other authorities or ministries. The results showed that bivalent heating systems can play an important role in HEI transitions to CO2 neutrality by contributing significantly to the most urgent challenge of the coming decades: removing CO2 from the atmosphere to limit global warming to as far below 2 °C as possible at nearly no extra costs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency: The Key to Sustainable Development)
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Review

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20 pages, 305 KiB  
Review
Air Conditioning Systems in Vehicles: Approaches and Challenges
by Daria Sachelarie, George Achitei, Andi Iulian Munteanu, Adrian Sachelarie, Andrei Ionut Dontu, Gabriel Dumitru Tcaciuc and Aristotel Popescu
Sustainability 2025, 17(12), 5257; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125257 - 6 Jun 2025
Viewed by 542
Abstract
Automotive air conditioning systems improve passenger comfort and safety while keeping pace with changing environmental and technological requirements. This review evaluates the historical development, technological progress, and future trends of automotive air conditioning systems, primarily focusing on passenger vehicles, where cabin comfort and [...] Read more.
Automotive air conditioning systems improve passenger comfort and safety while keeping pace with changing environmental and technological requirements. This review evaluates the historical development, technological progress, and future trends of automotive air conditioning systems, primarily focusing on passenger vehicles, where cabin comfort and individualized thermal control are essential. The analysis examines the transition from early, energy-intensive cooling systems typically operating at a coefficient of performance (COP) of around 1.5 to modern, environmentally friendly alternatives that achieve COP values of approximately 3.0 or higher, highlighting the impact of regulatory measures such as the Kigali Amendment. A particular focus is placed on comparing refrigerants, especially the transition from HFC-134a to HFO-1234yf, with a discussion of their ecological impact and compliance with regulations. Innovative technologies, including adsorption cooling, AI-enhanced climate control, and the integration of renewable energy, are being explored as potential solutions to current challenges. Initially, 121 articles were reviewed, with 84 chosen for detailed examination based on their relevance, methodological soundness, and contributions to the field. The results reveal the trade-offs among efficiency, cost, and sustainability, highlighting the need for ongoing innovation to balance energy usage and environmental stewardship. Future studies should focus on creating refrigerants with extremely low global warming potential, improving battery efficiency in electric vehicles, and utilizing AI for tailored climate control. By tackling these issues, the automotive sector can offer more sustainable and efficient air conditioning options that align with consumer expectations and environmental regulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Efficiency: The Key to Sustainable Development)
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