Search Results (62)

Modern utilities face unprecedented pressures as trends in digital transformation and democratized energy choice empower consumers to engage in peak shaving, flexible load management, and adopt grid automation and intelligence solutions. A powerful confluence of architectural, technological, and socio-economic forces is transforming the U.S. electricity market, triggering significant changes in electricity production, transmission, and consumption. Utilities are embracing digital twins and repurposed Utility 2.0 concepts—distributed energy resources, microgrids, innovative electricity market designs, real-time automated monitoring, smart meters, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced data and predictive analytics—to foster operational flexibility and market efficiency. This analysis qualitatively evaluates how digitalization, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs), and adaptive strategies to mitigate rebound effects collectively advance smart duck curve management. By leveraging digital platforms for real-time monitoring and predictive analytics, utilities can optimize energy flows and make data-driven decisions. BESS technologies capture surplus renewable energy during off-peak periods and discharge it when demand spikes, thereby smoothing grid fluctuations. This review explores the benefits of targeted digital transformation, BESSs, and managed rebound effects in mitigating the duck curve problem, ensuring that energy efficiency gains translate into actual savings. Furthermore, this integrated approach not only reduces energy wastage and lowers operational costs but also enhances grid resilience, establishing a robust framework for sustainable energy management in an evolving market landscape. Full article

As electric vehicles (EVs) continue to advance toward widespread adoption, innovations in power electronics are playing a pivotal role in improving efficiency, performance, and sustainability. This review presents recent progress in bidirectional converters and regenerative braking systems (RBSs), highlighting their contributions to energy recovery, battery longevity, and vehicle-to-grid integration. Bidirectional converters support two-way energy flow, enabling efficient regenerative braking and advanced charging capabilities. The integration of wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride, further enhances power density and thermal performance. The paper evaluates various converter topologies, including single-stage and multi-stage architectures, and assesses their suitability for high-voltage EV platforms. Intelligent control strategies, including fuzzy logic, neural networks, and sliding mode control, are discussed for optimizing braking force and maximizing energy recuperation. In addition, the paper explores the influence of regenerative braking on battery degradation and presents hybrid energy storage systems and AI-based methods as mitigation strategies. Special emphasis is placed on the integration of RBSs in advanced electric vehicle platforms, including autonomous systems. The review concludes by identifying current challenges, emerging trends, and key design considerations to inform future research and practical implementation in electric vehicle energy systems. Full article

Background/Objectives: For those with comorbid mild traumatic brain injury/post-traumatic stress disorder (mTBI/PTSD), deficits are common with regard to recognition of emotion expression in others. These deficits can cause isolation and suicidal ideation. For mTBI/PTSD, there is a dearth of information regarding effective treatment. In pilot work, we developed and tested an innovative treatment to improve recognition of both affect (facial expression of emotion) and prosody (spoken expression of emotion). Methods: We enrolled eight Veterans with mTBI/PTSD and administered eight treatment sessions. Measures included the following: Florida Affect Battery (FAB), a test of emotion recognition of facial affect and spoken prosody; Attention Index of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS); and Emotion Recognition Test (ERT), a speed test of facial emotion recognition. Results: There was a significant treatment response according to the FAB (p = 0.01, effect size = 1.2); RBANS attention index (p = 0.04, effect size = 0.99); and trending toward significance for the ERT (0.17, effect size 0.75). Participants were able to engage actively in all eight sessions and provided qualitative evidence supporting generalization of the training to interpersonal relationships. Conclusions: Our data show promising clinical potential and warrant future research, given the importance of developing novel interventions to train and restore recognition of emotion in Veterans with mTBI/PTSD. Full article

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

Amid the accelerating global transition toward a low-carbon economy, collaborative innovation within the new energy vehicle industry has emerged as a critical mechanism for advancing green technology diffusion and fostering industrial ecosystem sustainability. This study explores the evolutionary features of the cooperative network and the ways in which network embedding influences innovation performance by analyzing 2808 patents pertaining to battery technologies for new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China, which adopted the network embedding theory. The results show that (l) the innovation performance within China’s NEV battery technology innovation cooperation network exhibits significant variation, the industry is undergoing accelerated stratification, and a trend towards head concentration is evident; (2) network size amplifies the beneficial influence of structural holes and centrality on innovation performance; and (3) the mediating role of external knowledge search between network embeddedness and innovation performance is negatively moderated by relationship intensity. By extending the social network theory to the field of new energy vehicle batteries, this study reveals the special law of network embedding in the technology-intensive industry, elucidates the mediating mechanism of external knowledge search, and innovatively proposes the “innovation paradox” of relationship strength, confirming the innovation advantage of weak relationship cross-border reorganization in this field. Full article

The declining trend of battery aging has strong nonlinearity and volatility, which poses great challenges to the prediction of battery’s state of health (SOH). In this research, an innovative framework is initially put forward for SOH prediction. First, partial incremental capacity analysis (PICA) is carried out to analyze the performance degradation within a specific voltage range. Subsequently, the height of the peak, the position of the peak, and the area beneath the peak of the IC curves are retrieved and used as health features (HFs). Moreover, improved ensemble empirical mode decomposition based on fractal dimension (FEEMD) is first proposed and utilized to decompose HFs to reduce the nonlinearity and fluctuations. Additionally, a bidirectional gated recurrent unit with an attention mechanism (BiGRU-AM) is constructed for the prognosis of these sub-layers. Finally, the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed prognosis framework are validated using two battery datasets. The results of three groups of comparative experiments demonstrate that the maximum root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) values reach merely 0.55% and 0.59%, respectively. This further demonstrates that the proposed FEEMD outperforms other benchmark models and can offer a reliable foundation for the health prognosis of lithium-ion batteries. Full article

Today, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widespread and play a vital role in advancing portable electronics (laptops and mobile phones), green energy technology (electrical vehicles), and renewable energy systems. There is about 30% off-spec scrap LIB production during manufacturing. This trend has caused the accumulation of a huge number of spent LIBs. In addition to containing chemicals that are harmful to the environment, these batteries also contain critical metals; their recycling will greatly help to maintain a green and sustainable economic transition. Therefore, this issue has forced researchers to seek cost-effective and eco-friendly strategies for recycling LIBs. The pretreatment of waste batteries is an essential part of LIB recycling. This article aims to comprehensively review the basic structure of LIBS and existing pretreatment methods in recycling critical metals from LIBs, with a special focus on recent innovations. This manuscript has been prepared to help researchers conduct cutting-edge and novel research in LIB pretreatment and recycling. This approach not only helps researchers to understand the concepts, but also helps to identify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different pretreatment methods. Also, in addition to mentioning the existing research limitations, suggestions for future research perspectives and less investigated areas that need further research have been presented. Full article

Energy communities led by local citizens are vital for achieving the European energy transition goals. This study examines the design of a regional energy community in a rural area of Spain, aiming to address the pressing issue of rural depopulation. Seven villages were selected based on criteria such as size, energy demand, population, and proximity to infrastructure. Three energy valorization scenarios, generating eight subscenarios, were analyzed: (1) self-consumption, including direct sale (1A), net billing (1B), and selling to other consumers (1C); (2) battery storage, including storing for self-consumption (2A), battery-to-grid (2B), and electric vehicle recharging points (2C); and (3) advanced options such as hydrogen refueling stations (3A) and hydrogen-based fertilizer production (3B). The findings underscore that designing rural energy communities with a focus on social impact—especially in relation to depopulation—requires an innovative approach to both their design and operation. Although none of the scenarios alone can fully reverse depopulation trends or drive systemic change, they can significantly mitigate the issue if social impact is embedded as a core principle. For rural energy communities to effectively tackle depopulation, strategies such as acting as an energy retailer or aggregating individual villages into a single, unified energy community structure are crucial. These approaches align with the primary objective of revitalizing rural communities through the energy transition. Full article

The reduction of harmful emissions is shaping trends across many industries, including architecture and building. With rising ecological awareness and the threat of climate change, architects, construction engineers, and developers are focusing on innovative solutions to minimize the construction sector’s environmental impact. This paper presents a technical and management approach system using renewable energy sources, based on an existing single-family house with known energy consumption. The aim is to achieve energy independence by relying solely on on-site electricity generation and storage, while remaining connected to water and sewage infrastructure. Utilizing renewable energy sources enhances self-sufficiency and investment profitability. The study evaluates the house’s energy consumption to optimally select electricity supply solutions, including a small wind farm and photovoltaic installation integrated with appropriate electricity storage. This is crucial due to the air heat pump used for heating and domestic hot water, which requires electricity. An hourly simulation of the system’s operation over a year verified the adequacy of the selected devices. Additionally, two different locations were analyzed to assess how varying climate and wind conditions influence the design and performance of off-grid energy systems. The analysis showed that solar and wind systems can meet annual energy demand, but limited storage capacity prevents full autonomy. Replacing the heat pump with a biomass boiler reduces electricity use by about 25% and battery needs by 40%, though seasonal energy surpluses remain a challenge. This concept aligns with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Full article

The performance and scalability of energy storage systems play a key role in the transition toward intermittent renewable energy systems and the achievement of decarbonization targets through means of resilient electrical grids. Despite significant research and technology advancements, the scalability of innovative energy storage systems remains challenging due to the scarcity of raw materials (used for the production of energy storage media, cathodes, anodes, separators, conductive agents, and electrolytes). The European Commission has identified certain raw materials as both economically important and subject to supply risks, designating them as critical and strategic raw materials. In this review, a comprehensive analysis is conducted regarding 28 raw materials and rare earth elements which are essential for the production of batteries, supercapacitors, and other storage systems, emphasizing their criticality, strategic importance, supply chain vulnerabilities, and associated environmental and social impacts. This study also addresses potential substitute materials for energy storage devices and innovations that make these devices recyclable. Future trends are briefly discussed, including advancements in alternative chemistries and innovations to improve energy density in advanced batteries and supercapacitors, paving the way for hybrid energy solutions. Full article

The transition to electric vehicles is a critical step toward achieving carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability. This shift relies on advancements across multiple technological domains, driving the need for strategic technology intelligence to anticipate emerging technology convergence opportunities. To address this challenge, this study aimed at providing an analytical framework for identifying technology convergence opportunities using node2vec graph embedding. A dual-level prediction framework that combines similarity-based scoring and machine learning-based classification was proposed to systematically identify new potential technology linkages between previously unrelated technology areas. The patent co-classification network was used to generate graph embeddings, which were then processed to calculate edge similarity among unconnected nodes and to train the classifier model. A case study in the EV market demonstrated the framework can reliably predict future patterns across disparate technology domains. Consequently, advancements in battery protection, thermal management, and composite materials emerged as relevant for future technology development. These insights not only deepen our understanding of future innovation trends but also provide actionable guidance for optimizing R&D investments and shaping policy strategies in the evolving electric vehicle market. The findings contribute to a systematic approach to forecasting technology convergence, supporting innovation-driven growth in the evolving EV sector. Full article

As the global ecological environment faces serious challenges and extreme climate change threatens the survival of humankind, the promotion of green development has become the focus for all countries in the world. As one of the world’s major greenhouse gas emitters, China has put forward the “twin goals” of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and is committed to promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of its cities. As the core of economic and social development, cities are the main source of carbon emissions. In response to the dual challenges of carbon emission control and traffic growth, it is particularly important to promote the development of green transportation. With the acceleration of urbanization, urban traffic pollution is becoming more and more serious. As a zero-emission transportation mode, electric vehicles have become a key way to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets. In order to deeply analyze the research status of electric vehicles in the field of the green and low-carbon transformation of urban transportation in China and to explore the research hot spots, evolution trends, and their roles and strategies in the construction of green transportation networks, this paper uses the CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Tableau analysis tools to review and analyze the 2460 articles and reviews in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOS) and 2650 articles and reviews in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), including the “publication volume and publication trend”, “subject citation path”, “countries cooperation and geographical distribution”, “author cooperation and institution cooperation”, “keyword co-occurrence and keywords clusters”, and the “evolution trend of research hot spots in timeline”. The results show that: (1) Since 2010, the research focus on electric vehicles has gradually increased, and especially in the past three years, the number of such publications has increased significantly. (2) China holds the lead in research output regarding electric vehicles and related fields, but its international cooperation needs to be strengthened. (3) In recent years, the research has focused on “energy transformation”, “energy-saving technology”, “carbon emissions”, “battery recycling”, and other relevant topics. The promotion and development of electric vehicles will continue to usher in new opportunities concerning technological innovation, policy support, and market expansion. Finally, based on the research hot spots and evolution trends of electric vehicles in the field of urban green transportation and low-carbon transportation in China, this paper discusses the key paths and strategies for electric vehicles to promote the transformation of urban transportation in China to green and low-carbon types and looks forward to future research directions. The research in this paper can provide theoretical support and practical guidance for China to promote electric vehicles, build low-carbon cities, and realize green transportation. It is expected to act as a useful reference for relevant policy formulation and academic research. Full article

The extensive use of lithium-ion batteries and other energy storage systems (ESS) in recent years has resulted in a critical need for effective thermal management solutions that ensure safe and reliable operations. Carbon-based materials (C-bMs) are a promising candidate for addressing the thermal challenges in ESS due to their unique thermal, electrical, and structural properties. This article provides a concise overview of C-bM thermal management solutions for improved battery safety. The key thermal management requirements and failure modes associated with battery systems are highlighted, underscoring the importance of effective battery thermal management (BTM). Various forms of C-bMs, including graphite, graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon foams, nanodiamonds, and graphdiyne, are examined for their potential applications in battery thermal management systems. The recent innovations and advancements in C-bM thermal management solutions, such as phase change composites, heat pipes, and thermal interface materials, are highlighted. Furthermore, the latest research trends focus mainly on the development of hybrid battery thermal management solutions, carbon-based aerogels, and complex C-bM structures with tailored thermal pathways for optimized thermal management. Most of the current innovations are still at the laboratory scale; hence, future research efforts will be focused on developing integrated multi-functional C-bMs, sustainable and scalable manufacturing techniques, self-healing C-bMs composites, intelligent C-bMs, and further explorations of uncommon C-bMs. These advancements are bound to enhance performance, sustainability, and application-specific adaptations for BTM. This article provides valuable insights for researchers, and stakeholders interested in leveraging C-bMs for BTM. Full article

With the rapid development of the electric vehicle (EV) industry, the importance of battery management systems (BMS) in ensuring the safety, reliability, and efficiency of batteries has significantly increased. This study explores the technological development trends and market layout of EV BMS through patent analysis, focusing on patent quantity, geographic distribution, and technical classification. By integrating the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy weight method, a patent value evaluation model was constructed to identify key patents and assess their quality across four dimensions: technical, market, economic, and legal. The results reveal that BMS patents are primarily concentrated in China, the United States, and South Korea, with major contributors including LG Energy Solution, BYD, and Hyundai. While BMS patent applications grew rapidly from 2015 to 2020, the pace has slowed since 2021, indicating a possible shift in market focus. The analysis identified 14 high-quality patents, mainly focused on battery safety and compactness, while fewer patents addressed battery lifespan extension and anti-interference capabilities. The study suggests that although significant progress has been made in BMS technology, there is still substantial room for innovation, particularly in areas such as battery lifespan management, charging efficiency, and intelligent energy scheduling. This research provides valuable insights for future technological innovation and market decision-making in the EV BMS sector. Full article

The massive production and utilization of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has intensified concerns about raw material shortage and end-of-life battery management. The development of effective recycling/reusing strategies, especially for the valuable active positive electrode materials, has attracted much interest from both academia and industry. This study presents a comprehensive patent analysis on the recycling technologies of spent LIBs. We screened and examined 672 patent filings associated with 367 application families, covering the period from 1994 to 2024. The analysis reveals an explosive growth in patenting activity since 2020, with China and the United States leading in geographical coverage. Hydrometallurgy continues as the most patented recycling technology, followed by direct regeneration, separation, and pyrometallurgy. Key innovations focus on improving leaching efficiency, developing novel purification methods, and exploring various relithiation strategies. The study also highlights the significant involvement of both companies and academic institutions in driving innovation. Our findings provide insights into the technological landscape, identify emerging trends, and lead to the discussion of potential future developments in LIB positive electrode recycling. This analysis serves as a valuable resource for researchers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers working towards sustainable energy storage solutions and circular economy strategies in the battery sector. Full article