Sustainability

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alfonso Chinnici

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Guest Editor

Centre for Energy Technology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Interests: Solar thermal, Alternative fuels, Hydrogen Energy, Combustion, Multi-phase flows, Heat Transfer, Chemical Reactor Development, CFD, Fluid-dynamic, Laser diagnostics

Dr. Mehdi Jafarian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Centre for Energy Technology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Interests: Solar thermal energy storage, Carbon capture and storage, Chemical looping, Energy systems, Energy management, Transport phenomena, Thermodynamics, Multi-phase reactions

Dr. Maurizio Troiano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: entrained-flow gasification of solid fuels; dynamics of multi-phase flows; fluidization and fluidized bed systems; chemical reaction engineering; reactor design and operation; heterogeneous reaction kinetics; fluidized bed machining of mechanical parts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Innovation in clean energy technology is essential to contribute to global efforts to reduce GHG emissions and for the establishment of a prosperous, low-carbon economy. To achieve a rapid deployment of renewables into the energy market, it is necessary to develop technologies that are both efficient and can achieve the same economies of scale that have been achieved in established processes. Presently, renewable, clean technologies are being deployed widely throughout the globe and include large-scale and residential solar PV, concentrated solar thermal, wind, hydro, biomass, wave energy, geothermal, green fuels utilisation (including hydrogen and bio-fuels), storage technology, and their mix. As the costs of these technologies continue to fall, uptake is expected to increase, creating new ways to generate, store and produce clean energy for heat and/or power generation and to drive energy-intensive processes. This special issue aims to report the latest technological advancements in the development and demonstration of new clean, renewable energy technologies able to provide cost-effective CO₂ mitigation and low-cost energy generation. The issue will contain a synthesises of the current progress status in technology development, key techno-economic benefits and challenges as well as present barriers, drivers, opportunities, enablers and pathways for a rapid deployment of these new technologies. Original research and reviews articles on smart utilisation of renewable fuels (e.g. hydrogen, biomass, bio-fuels) including clean combustion technologies, concentrated solar thermal for heat and power, innovation in storage (thermal, chemical, thermo-chemical) and other energy forms (wind, hydro, PV, geothermal) are welcome.

Dr. Alfonso Chinnici
Dr. Mehdi Jafarian
Dr. Maurizio Troiano
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

Renewable Energy
Renewable fuels
Solar Thermal
Energy storage
Clean Combustion
Biomass
Wind energy
Hydrogen
Wave energy
Geothermal
Efficiency
Low-carbon economy
GHG reduction
PV
Power generation
Heat
Carbon Capture
Hybrid systems

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2596 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study of Oscillating Surge Wave Energy Converter Performance: A Case Study for Southern Coasts of the Caspian Sea

by Erfan Amini, Rojin Asadi, Danial Golbaz, Mahdieh Nasiri, Seyed Taghi Omid Naeeni, Meysam Majidi Nezhad, Giuseppe Piras and Mehdi Neshat

Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10932; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910932 - 1 Oct 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4217

Abstract

The search for renewable energy supplies for today’s global energy demand, particularly ocean wave energy for coastal areas, has become undeniably widespread in the last two decades. The Caspian Sea represents an immense opportunity for using ocean renewable energy, especially considering its long shoreline. In this study, the locations with maximum potential wave energy were chosen in the central, eastern, and western zones of the Caspian Sea’s southern coasts. Accordingly, the wave and bathymetric data were used as the input to calculate the oscillating surge wave energy converter’s flap geometric dimensions based on previous studies. Then, the geometric model was designed, and then the wave energy converters were modeled in the Wave Energy Converter Simulator (WEC-Sim) module in the MATLAB software. Furthermore, eight models in each sea state were simulated to find the best value of the PTO damping coefficient, which led to the highest capture factor. Finally, all the external forces on the WEC’s flap and the converter’s power output results were compared, taking into account the effects of the flap height on the total power output. It was found that Nowshahr port has more potential than the Anzali and Amirabad ports, as the converter’s absorbed power proved to be 16.7 kW/m (Capture factor = 63%) at this site. Consequently, by conducting a comparative analysis between the selected sites, the excitation, radiation damping, and power take-off forces were scrutinized. The results show that the highest applied forces to the converter’s flap occurred at Nowshahr port, followed by the Anzali and Amirabad ports, due to the directional characteristics of the waves at the central coasts of the Caspian Sea. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Trends in Development and Demonstration of Clean Energy Technologies for Sustainable Energy Production)

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Review

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19 pages, 1980 KiB

Open AccessReview

Artisan Brick Kilns: State-of-the-Art and Future Trends

by Hugo Valdes, Juan Vilches, Gabriel Felmer, Mariela Hurtado and Juan Figueroa

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7724; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187724 - 18 Sep 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5630

Abstract

A large part of the global brick manufacturing industry has evolved based on knowledge transmitted from generation to generation without developing a consistent scientific approach. The purpose of this article is to contribute to this approach by discussing the state-of-the-art and future trends of the design and construction of artisan brick kilns (ABK). The methodology proposed for this study is based on a systematic literature review whereby main question is: What research exists on brick kilns? Based on the results of this review, it is recommended that appropriate emerging technologies that should be incorporated to ABKs for either medium or small enterprises should be: mechanical fans, envelope thermal insulation, organic waste of uniform size as fuel, automatic control of process variables and computer simulations of phenomenological processes. This should be accompanied by technical training for the brick-makers and greater access to financing funds. The technologies reviewed throughout the paper will allow for a more thermally efficient design of kilns, which will emit less hazardous greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Trends in Development and Demonstration of Clean Energy Technologies for Sustainable Energy Production)

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