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Special Issue "Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Franco
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Guest Editor

Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Constructions Engineering (DESTEC), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: applied thermodynamics; heat transfer; renewable energy; solar energy; geothermal energy; energy efficiency; energy systems optimization
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Prof. Dr. Tomonobu Senjyu
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Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
Interests: high-efficiency energy conversion system; renewable energy in small islands; optimization of power system operation and control
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The problems of energy and sustainability are often considered together in the important topic of “energy sustainability”. This does not always lead to clear solutions. The concept of sustainability is usually directly connected with the use of renewable energies. This is because the concept of sustainability is often connected with the idea of reducing the environmental impacts of energy systems and the energy transition from a world based on fossil fuels to a renewable-energy-based world. This is surely important, but the question generally appears to be much more complex.

In general, we think that the concept of energy sustainability leads to a re-framing of the energy problem towards a balanced mix of different solutions, including technological improvement, the use of sources consistent with their thermodynamic properties, the selection of opportune energy carriers and suitable approaches to define efficiency measures with rebound control, and environmental impacts and careful management of the energy–water–environment nexus.

In general, the concept of energy sustainability is deeply linked to a complex framework in which eco-efficiency and savings policies are combined with specific technological systems and solutions aimed at sustainability but also good practices, technical improvements, and careful energy management. The use of Information and Communication Technologies in connection with energy use could be an important element to support this transition.

The objective of this Special Issue is to frame, with a series of different contributions coming from different disciplinary areas, a series of ideas to promote the concept of energy sustainability in the various sectors of use (industrial, civil/residential, and transport), with respect to the various energy uses (electricity, thermal energy, and mobility). These include specific systems but also practices and methodological approaches aimed at improving energy sustainability, careful management of the energy sources and of the energy–water–food–environment nexus, and growth and sustainable behavior in the different specific fields of application.

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Franco
Prof. Dr. Tomonobu Senjyu
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 papers will be 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 1900 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 energy use
energy accounting and management
renewable energy
energy quality
energy and well-being
energy and environment
eco-efficiency measures
energy and ICT
energy and water

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

Open AccessArticle

A Framework for Integration of Smart and Sustainable Energy Systems in Urban Planning Processes of Low-Income Developing Countries: Afghanistan Case

Najib Rahman Sabory

Tomonobu Senjyu

Mir Sayed Shah Danish

Mikaeel Ahmadi

Hameedullah Zaheb

and

Mustafa Halim

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8428; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158428 - 28 Jul 2021

Viewed by 439

Abstract

Population growth and city expansion in developing countries require traditional urban planning practices to be transformed in order to tackle climate change and follow Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agendas. Almost every expert in the urban sector believes that future cities should be sustainable, smart, and environmentally friendly, where energy is one of the most critical factors to achieve these goals. They also agree that smart and sustainable energy provision for cities requires a comprehensive and responsive legal and policy framework to be in place at the national level. However, this research’s findings reveal a lack of such frameworks for this group of countries. Considering the challenges and unique nature of Low-Income-Developing (LID) countries, there should be a framework based on the realities in these countries. In this research, key challenges of urban and energy sectors of LID countries, specifically Afghanistan, are identified, and a framework for the integration of sustainable and smart energy in the urban planning processes for LID countries is proposed. To make it easily replicable and adaptable for LID countries, the proposed framework is studied and analyzed around Afghanistan’s urban and energy sectors. This is one of the few frameworks of its kind for LID economies to the best of the authors’ knowledge. This framework lays a solid foundation for sustainable and smart energy integration in the urban planning process of developing countries. This study highlights that sustainable and smart energy systems could ensure climate change mitigation and economic growth enhancement but require close cross-sectoral coordination and policy maker’s commitments and involvement. This research will help many existing and emerging cities in the LID countries’ worldwide use and benefit from the proposed framework in their urban planning processes. It also enables policymakers, urban planners and designers, municipalities leadership, and other stakeholders of the urban, energy, and environment sectors to work together and make smart and rational decisions for the future of their cities and lead them towards smart and sustainable cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability)

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Open AccessArticle

Implementation of Different MPPT Techniques in Solar PV Tree under Partial Shading Conditions

Neelakandan Ramesh Babu

and

Eklas Hossain

Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7208; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137208 - 28 Jun 2021

Viewed by 444

Abstract

This paper presents the design and analytical modeling of the proposed solar photovoltaic standalone system under varying environmental conditions. The proposed system consists of a unique structure of a solar PV-tree, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique, and DC–DC converter. The output voltage acquired from the solar PV tree is low. A DC–DC boost converter is utilized to step-up the required amount of voltage level. In this paper, the appropriate duty cycle is obtained for extracting the optimum power from the solar PV tree by using various MPPT mechanisms such as perturb and observe (P&O), incremental conductance (INC), and a radial basis function network (RBFN)-based neural network (NN). The proposed solar photovoltaic tree-based energy harvesting system is designed and validated by using MATLAB/SIMULINK software and real-time application. The simulation results of the above-mentioned three techniques are compared with each other in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed system with RBFN. The RBFN-MPPT provides a significant improvement in tracking efficiency of 6.0% and 5.72% as compared with the P&O method and the INC method at 1000 W/m² irradiance condition. From the simulation and real-time results, it is concluded that the RBFN-based NN provides better tracking efficiency and less oscillation as compared with the other two algorithms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability)

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Open AccessArticle

Optimization of the Biomethane Production Process by Anaerobic Digestion of Wheat Straw Using Chemical Pretreatments Coupled with Ultrasonic Disintegration

Yasmine Ryma Ouahabi

Kenza Bensadok

and

Abdeldjalil Ouahabi

Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7202; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137202 - 27 Jun 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 628

Abstract

Biomass is an attractive energy source that can be used for production of heat, power, and transport fuels and when produced and used on a sustainable basis, can make a large contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a suitable technology for reducing organic matter and generating bioenergy in the form of biogas. This study investigated the factors allowing the optimization of the process of biogas production from the digestion of wheat straw (WS). The statistical analysis of the experiments carried out showed that ultrasonic processing plays a fundamental role with the sonication density and solids concentration leading to improved characteristics of WS, reducing particle size, and increasing concentration of soluble chemical oxygen demand. The higher the sonicating power used, the more the waste particles are disrupted. The optimality obtained under mesophilic conditions for WS pretreated with 4% w/w (weight by weight) H₂O₂ at temperature 36 °C under 10 min of ultrasonication at 24 kHz with a power of 200 W improves the methane yield by 64%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability)

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

CFD Investigation of Vehicle’s Ventilation Systems and Analysis of ACH in Typical Airplanes, Cars, and Buses

Behrouz Pirouz

Domenico Mazzeo

Stefania Anna Palermo

Seyed Navid Naghib

Michele Turco

and

Patrizia Piro

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6799; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126799 - 16 Jun 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 573

Abstract

The simulation of the ventilation and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of vehicles could be used in the energy demand management of vehicles besides improving the air quality inside their cabins. Moreover, traveling by public transport during a pandemic is a concerning factor, and analysis of the vehicle’s cabin environments could demonstrate how to decrease the risk and create a safer journey for passengers. Therefore, this article presents airflow analysis, air changes per hour (ACH), and respiration aerosols’ trajectory inside three vehicles, including a typical car, bus, and airplane. In this regard, three vehicles’ cabin environment boundary conditions and the HVAC systems of the selected vehicles were determined, and three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling. The analysis of the airflow patterns and aerosol trajectories in the selected vehicles demonstrate the critical impact of inflow, outflow, and passenger’s locations in the cabins. The CFD model results exhibited that the lowest risk could be in the airplane and the highest in the bus because of the location of airflows and outflows. The discrete CFD model analysis determined the ACH for a typical car of about 4.3, a typical bus of about 7.5, and in a typical airplane of about 8.5, which were all less than the standard protocol of infection prevention, 12 ACH. According to the results, opening windows in the cars could decrease the aerosol loads and improve the low ACH by the HVAC systems. However, for the buses, a new design for the outflow location or an increase in the number of outflows appeared necessary. In the case of airplanes, the airflow paths were suitable, and by increasing the airflow speed, the required ACH might be achieved. Finally, in the closed (recirculating) systems, the role of filters in decreasing the risk appeared critical. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability)

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Open AccessArticle

Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Approach for a Cost-Effective and Sustainable Energy System Considering Weight Assignment Analysis

Keifa Vamba Konneh

Hasan Masrur

Mohammad Lutfi Othman

Hiroshi Takahashi

Narayanan Krishna

and

Tomonobu Senjyu

Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5615; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105615 - 18 May 2021

Viewed by 537

Abstract

The need for inexpensive and sustainable electricity has become an exciting adventure due to the recent rise in the local population and the number of visitors visiting the Banana Islands. Banana Islands is a grid-isolated environment with abundant renewable energy, establishing a hybrid renewable energy-based power system may be a viable solution to the high cost of diesel fuel. This paper describes a dual-flow optimization method for electrifying the Banana Islands, a remote island in Sierra Leone. The study weighs the pros and cons of maintaining the current diesel-based power setup versus introducing a hybrid renewable energy system that takes backup component analysis into account. Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) software is used in the first optimization to optimally design the various system configurations based on techno-economic and environmental characteristics. A Multi-Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) Model that takes into account in the second optimization, the Combinative Distance-based Assessment System (CODAS) algorithm, and various methods of assigning weights to the attributes is used to rank the best configuration. The results show that the hybrid renewable energy system is a better option for electrifying the Banana Islands than the current stand-alone system. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method of weight assignment was found to be superior to the Entropy method. Biogas generator-assisted hybrid configurations outperformed diesel generator-assisted hybrid configurations. With an optimum design of 101 kW PV, 1 wind turbine, 50 kW biogas, 86 batteries, and a 37.8 kW converter, the PV-wind-biogas-battery system is rated as the best configuration. It has a net present cost (NPC) of $487,247, a cost of energy (COE) of $0.211/kWh, and CO₂ emission of 17.5 kg/year. Sensitivity analyses reveal that changes in the rate of inflation and the cost of storage have a significant effect on the overall cost of the configuration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Applications Characteristics of Different Biodiesel Blends in Modern Vehicles Engines: A Review

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9677; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179677 (registering DOI) - 28 Aug 2021

Viewed by 190

Abstract

Two main aspects of the transportation industry are pollution to the environment and depletion of fossil fuels. In the transportation industry, the pollution to the environment can be reduced with the use of cleaner fuel, such as gas-to-liquid fuel, to reduce the exhaust emissions from engines. However, the depletion of fossil fuels is still significant. Biodiesel is a non-toxic, renewable, and biodegradable fuel that is considered an alternative resource to conventional diesel fuel. Even though biodiesel shows advantages as a renewable source, there are still minor drawbacks while operating in diesel engines. Modern vehicle engines are designed to be powered by conventional diesel fuel or gasoline fuel. In this review, the performance, emissions, combustion, and endurance characteristics of different types of diesel engines with various conditions are assessed with biodiesel and blended fuel as well as the effect of biodiesel on the diesel engines. The results show that biodiesel and blended fuel had fewer emissions of CO, HC, and PM but higher NOx emissions than the diesel-fuelled engine. In the endurance test, biodiesel and blended fuel showed less wear and carbon deposits. A high concentration of wear debris was found inside the lubricating oil while the engine operated with biodiesel and blends. The performance, emissions, and combustion characteristics of biodiesel and its blends showed that it can be used in a diesel engine. However, further research on long-term endurance tests is required to obtain a better understanding of endurance characteristics about engine wear of the diesel engine using biodiesel and its blends. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Energy Sustainability)

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Feasibility Analysis of Self-Sustained Energy Supply in Ranches and Farms
Authors: Dr. Hua Li, Mariee Cruz, et al.
Affiliation: Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Abstract: Due to the increasing demand for food, it is expected that the agriculture sector will have a greater role in the future. As a result, there will be a higher energy demand to power all the agriculture related activities, such as harvesting crops or growing livestock. In Texas, the agriculture sector has a significant availability of lands that makes farms and ranches suitable for the possible energy generation through small scale wind turbines or solar panels or biofuel. In this project, a technical feasibility analysis was performed to determine potential for about 248,000 farms and ranches located in Texas to generate self-sustained energy through renewable energy sources. Geospatial and temporal data analyses were performed in order to estimate the energy potential and to understand the diverse trends surrounding them with data gathered from different databases. The results obtained through the geospatial analysis were studied using an in-depth numerical examination for the farms and ranches being considered. Based on the results, the majority of farms in Texas have higher solar energy potential than wind energy potential, making the installation of solar panels to be more viable. Even though there is less wind energy potential, thousands of farms and ranches still have a considerable amount of wind energy potential that would be sufficient to power up different agricultural activities.

Title: Wave power hotspot distribution and correlation pattern exploration in Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Dr. Hua Li and Chengcheng Gu
Affiliation: Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Abstract: The wave power rich area in U.S. is west coast which has as up as 240 TWh/year readily to be utilized, compared with the 84TWh/year in Gulf of Mexico. However, the activities in the Gulf of Mexico are thriving with a considerable quantity of oil and gas platforms operating in this area. Wave energy can provide a critical portion of clean power to substitute the un-efficiency gas turbines. Wave power density (wave energy flux) is one of the factors for assessing the potential and available wave power in a direct level. Identifying wave power hotspot distribution in Gulf of Mexico may have the correlations with different factors. Since the wave power behavior forecasting is not as easy as predict the possibility of wave movement from another uncompleted dataset. Hence, correlations between wave power hotspots and factors such as bathymetry, temperature or salinity will help the identification and classification of wave power hotspot distribution. The meteorological data from WAVEWATCH III will be visualized in images of wave density in 3-hour time step, which will be used for wave hotspot identification, classification and localization through deep convolutional neural network. Through improve the weight of training process, the finer accuracy will be increased. With the distribution of wave hotspot along with the realistic coordinate attached through the GIS mapping support, it is impossible to explore the correlations based on pattern recognition with several parameters’ distribution.

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