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Selected Papers from International Conference on Innovations in Energy Engineering & Cleaner Production (IEECP'21&22)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 31093

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Interests: metal-sulfur batteries; solid-state electrolytes; Li-ion batteries; supercapacitors
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Guest Editor
Qingdao University of Science & Technology, 99 Songling Road, Qingdao 266061, China
Interests: developing of novel nanopromoters for gas hydrate formation and novel facilities
CanmetENERGY Research Centre in Devon, Natural Resources Canada, Devon, AB T9G 1A8, Canada
Interests: fundamentals and scale-up of cleaner oil recovery and mineral processing technologies; colloidal and interfacial phenomena at micro-scale; synthesis of polymer materials; renewable and bio energy; nanotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Electronics and Control Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Interests: green communications; internet of things; cognitive radio networks; cooperative communication; molcular communication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source since the beginning of the century and the demand growth with the fast development in industrial and transportation sectors. In the industrial sector, biomass makes up approximately 98 percent of the renewable energy use, with nearly 60 percent derived from biomass wood, about 32 percent from biofuels, and nearly 7 percent from biomass waste. In the transportation sector, renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, have increased significantly during the past decade. The ethanol transportation fuel is expected to be the fastest growing renewable energy type with an average annual rate of approximately 9.7 percent over the next 30 years. The International Conference on Innovations in Energy Engineering and Cleaner Production (IEECP) aims to investigate innovation applications and the last research in the areas of energy production, alternative and renewable energy supply, energy savings analysis, cleaner production, optimization of energy processes and the environmental impacts.

Last year, the IEECP Annual Conference was held virtually in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, California, USA, from 29–30 July, 2021. This year, the IEECP Annual Conference will take place virtually in Oxford, United Kingdom, from 21-22 July, 2022, and is being supported by Sustainability. We encourage the authors who have presented an article at IEECP’21&22 and who feel that their contribution is within the scope of interest of the journal Sustainability to apply via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload/.

The selected authors will be asked to submit an original and essential extension of the IEECP paper, to be considered for publication no later than November 30th. More details can be found at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/instructions#preparation. The accepted papers, after a normal process of peer review by experts in the field, will be published in Sustainability.

Prof. Dr. Bo Jin
Prof. Dr. Fei Wang
Dr. Feng Lin
Dr. Saifur Rahman Sabuj
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
  • cleaner production
  • environmental sustainability
  • energy and AI
  • energy storage
  • sustainable building
  • energy economics
  • advanced energy systems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4598 KiB  
Article
Social Acceptance of a Thermal Architectural Implementation Proposal
by Esperanza García López and Christopher Heard
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4121; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054121 - 24 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1204
Abstract
The social acceptance of introducing an improved and sustainable roofing material in multicultural communities in Mexico was addressed. A case history of a community “La Cañada” in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico (19°19′02.81″ N, 99°22′23.21″ W, 3025 m above mean sea level), a village [...] Read more.
The social acceptance of introducing an improved and sustainable roofing material in multicultural communities in Mexico was addressed. A case history of a community “La Cañada” in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico (19°19′02.81″ N, 99°22′23.21″ W, 3025 m above mean sea level), a village very close to the eastern edge of Mexico City and representative of strong social and transcultural pressures similar to surrounding communities in Mexico City, is reported. The approach considered developing a double-layered roof to reduce the energy demand for space heating in this predominantly cold region, thus significantly contributing to indoor thermal comfort, reducing the need for cutting wood and helping to alleviate the accelerating impacts of deforestation in the area. Two parallel studies were used, whereby the then-current awareness levels of citizens and the factors impacting their commitment to energy sustainability were analysed using multicriteria social parameters, while the second study focused on the analysis of improved comfort when the proposed double roof was implemented, based on the feedback received from a pool of citizens who experienced living in the improved prototype dwellings. Results showed that while the level of awareness on energy efficiency was still low, the influence of media on their decisions and aspirations was strong and this could be constructively used to support the shift towards a more sustainable society and a “solar culture”. Moreover, the developed sustainable double-roof prototype has significantly improved indoor comfort and energy savings for heating, while demonstrating a fast and easy replicability potential in similar dwellings. Full article
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7 pages, 1759 KiB  
Article
Study of CZTSSe-Based Solar Cells with Different ETMs by SCAPS
by Lhoussayne Et-taya, Abdellah Benami and Touria Ouslimane
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1916; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031916 - 8 Feb 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3463
Abstract
Third-generation thin-film solar cells based on CZTSSe are highly promising because of their excellent optoelectrical properties, earth-abundant, and non-toxicity of their constituent elements. In this work, the performance of CZTSSe-based solar cells with TiO2, CdS, and ZnSe as electron transporting materials [...] Read more.
Third-generation thin-film solar cells based on CZTSSe are highly promising because of their excellent optoelectrical properties, earth-abundant, and non-toxicity of their constituent elements. In this work, the performance of CZTSSe-based solar cells with TiO2, CdS, and ZnSe as electron transporting materials (ETMs) was numerically investigated using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). The effect of the active layer’s thickness and electron affinity, different buffer layers, and the contour plot of the operating temperature versus thickness of the CdS buffer layer were studied. The results show that the optimum power conversion efficiency for CdS, TiO2, and ZnSe, as the ETMs, is 23.16%, 23.13%, and 22.42%, respectively. Full article
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11 pages, 2961 KiB  
Article
Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Methanol by Cu2O/TiO2 Heterojunctions
by S.-P. Cheng, L.-W. Wei and H.-Paul Wang
Sustainability 2022, 14(1), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010374 - 30 Dec 2021
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 4355
Abstract
The conversion of CO2 to low-carbon fuels using solar energy is considered an economically attractive and environmentally friendly route. The development of novel catalysts and the use of solar energy via photocatalysis are key to achieving the goal of chemically reducing CO [...] Read more.
The conversion of CO2 to low-carbon fuels using solar energy is considered an economically attractive and environmentally friendly route. The development of novel catalysts and the use of solar energy via photocatalysis are key to achieving the goal of chemically reducing CO2 under mild conditions. TiO2 is not very effective for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to low-carbon chemicals such as methanol (CH3OH). Thus, in this work, novel Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunctions that can effectively separate photogenerated electrons and holes were prepared for photocatalytic CO2-to-CH3OH. More visible light-active Cu2O in the Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunctions favors the formation of methanol under visible light irradiation. On the other hand, under UV-Vis irradiation for 6 h, the CH3OH yielded from the photocatalytic CO2-to-CH3OH by the Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunctions is 21.0–70.6 µmol/g-catalyst. In contrast, the yield of CH3OH decreases with an increase in the Cu2O fraction in the Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunctions. It seems that excess Cu2O in Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunctions may lead to less UV light exposure for the photocatalysts, and may decrease the conversion efficiency of CO2 to CH3OH. Full article
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15 pages, 1521 KiB  
Communication
Generation of Hydrogen and Oxygen from Water by Solar Energy Conversion
by Yuriy Shapovalov, Rustam Tokpayev, Tamina Khavaza and Mikhail Nauryzbayev
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13941; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413941 - 16 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3257
Abstract
Photosynthesis is considered to be one of the promising areas of cheap and environmentally friendly energy. Photosynthesis involves the process of water oxidation with the formation of molecular oxygen and hydrogen as byproducts. The aim of the present article is to review the [...] Read more.
Photosynthesis is considered to be one of the promising areas of cheap and environmentally friendly energy. Photosynthesis involves the process of water oxidation with the formation of molecular oxygen and hydrogen as byproducts. The aim of the present article is to review the energy (light) phase of photosynthesis based on the published X-ray studies of photosystems I and II (PS-I and PS-II). Using modern ideas about semiconductors and biological semiconductor structures, the mechanisms of H+, O2↑, e generation from water are described. At the initial stage, PS II produces hydrogen peroxide from water as a result of the photoenzymatic reaction, which is oxidized in the active center of PS-II on the Mn4CaO5 cluster to form O2↑, H+, e. Mn4+ is reduced to Mn2+ and then oxidized to Mn4+ with the transfer of reducing the equivalents of PS-I. The electrons formed are transported to PS-I (P 700), where the electrochemical reaction of water decomposition takes place in a two-electrode electrolysis system with the formation of gaseous oxygen and hydrogen. The proposed functioning mechanisms of PS-I and PS-II can be used in the development of environmentally friendly technologies for the production of molecular hydrogen. Full article
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18 pages, 5578 KiB  
Article
Studying Energy Performance and Thermal Comfort Conditions in Heritage Buildings: A Case Study of Murabba Palace
by Abobakr Al-Sakkaf, Eslam Mohammed Abdelkader, Sherif Mahmoud and Ashutosh Bagchi
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12250; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112250 - 6 Nov 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3393
Abstract
Heritage buildings are significant historical and architecture added value, which requires deep and precise preliminary brainstorming when considering upgrading or retrofitting these valuable buildings. In this study, we opted to highlight some passive design architecture interventions to improve the thermal comfort and the [...] Read more.
Heritage buildings are significant historical and architecture added value, which requires deep and precise preliminary brainstorming when considering upgrading or retrofitting these valuable buildings. In this study, we opted to highlight some passive design architecture interventions to improve the thermal comfort and the required cooling energy for buildings. The Murabba Palace in Riyadh was selected as a case study. DesignBuilder software was used to evaluate the energy performance of ten passive architectural design alternatives throughout different seasons in an attempt to improve the energy performance and thermal comfort of heritage buildings. The ten passive design scenarios encompassed double low-E glass, double reflected glass, double low-E glass and double wall with an air gap, double low-E glass and double wall with thermal insulation, double low-E glass and double wall with lightweight thermal insulation, double low-E glass and double wall with sprayed foam insulation, double reflected glass and double wall with an air gap, double reflected glass and double wall with thermal insulation, double reflected glass and double wall with lightweight thermal insulation, and double reflected glass and double wall with sprayed foam insulation. The results show that using double low-E glass and applying a double wall with polystyrene thermal insulation can enhance the thermal comfort inside the building and reduce the energy performance and CO2 emissions to 17% and 9%, respectively. Full article
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