Electricity production by biomass steam gasification using a high efficiency technology and low environmental impact

The need to safeguard our planet by reducing carbon dioxide emissions has led to a significant development of research in the field of alternative energy sources. Hydrogen has proved to be the most promising molecule, as a fuel, due to its low environmental impact. Even if various methods already exist for producing hydrogen, most of them are not sustainable. Thus, research focuses on the biological sector, studying microalgae, and other microorganisms’ ability to produce this precious molecule in a natural way. In this review, we provide a description of the biochemical and molecular processes for the production of biohydrogen and give a general overview of one of the most interesting technologies in which hydrogen finds application for electricity production: fuel cells.

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Renewable Energy and Energy Saving: Worldwide Research Trends

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132313261 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 13261

Author(s):

Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Energy Saving ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Research Trends ◽

Important Resource ◽

Industrial Sectors

Energy is a very important resource for the development of the residential and industrial sectors, and it should be used with high efficiency, low environmental impact, and at the lowest possible cost [...]

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Insights from Past Trends in Exergy Efficiency and Carbon Intensity of Electricity: Portugal, 1900–2014

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12030534 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 534

Author(s):

Laura Felício ◽

Sofia T. Henriques ◽

André Serrenho ◽

Tiago Domingos ◽

Tânia Sousa

Keyword(s):

World War I ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Carbon Intensity ◽

Renewable Electricity ◽

World War ◽

Residential Sector ◽

Electricity Use ◽

Low Efficiency

We use the societal exergy analysis to identify periods and factors controlling efficiency dilution and carbon deepening of electricity in Portugal from 1900 to 2014. Besides estimating the carbon intensity of electricity production, we propose a new indicator, the carbon intensity of electricity use, which quantifies CO2/kWh of electricity derived useful exergy. Results show final to useful efficiency dilution until World War I (50% to 30%) due to a decrease in share of the high-efficiency transport sector and from mid-1940s to 1960 and mid-1990s onwards (58% to 47% and 47% to 40%) due to an increase in share of the low efficiency commercial and residential sector. Decarbonization from 1900 to mid-1960s, with carbon intensities of electricity production and use dropping respectively from 12.8 to 0.2 and from 33.6 to 0.4 kg CO2/kWh due to an increase in thermoelectricity efficiencies and an increase in share of hydro. Then, a period of carbon deepening until 1990 with carbon intensities tripling due to a shift in shares from hydro to thermoelectricity and more recently a period of decarbonization with carbon intensities decreasing to 0.35 and 0.9 kg CO2/kWh, due to the increase in renewable electricity despite a dilution in final to useful efficiency.

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Development and Assessment of an Over-Expanded Engine to be Used as an Efficiency-Oriented Range Extender for Electric Vehicles

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13020430 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 430 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

F. P. Brito ◽

Jorge Martins ◽

Francisco Lopes ◽

Carlos Castro ◽

Luís Martins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electric Vehicles ◽

Hybrid Electric Vehicles ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Range Extender ◽

Charging Time ◽

Consumption Reduction ◽

Light Duty Vehicle ◽

Brake Dynamometer ◽

Very High

A range extender (RE) is a device used in electric vehicles (EVs) to generate electricity on-board, enabling them to significantly reduce the number of required batteries and/or extend the vehicle driving range to allow occasional long trips. In the present work, an efficiency-oriented RE based on a small motorcycle engine modified to the efficient over-expanded cycle, was analyzed, tested and simulated in a driving cycle. The RE was developed to have two points of operation, ECO: 3000 rpm, very high efficiency with only 15 kW; and BOOST: 7000 rpm with 35 kW. While the ECO strategy was a straightforward development for the over-expansion concept (less trapped air and a much higher compression ratio) the BOOST strategy was more complicated to implement and involved the need for throttle operation. Initially the concepts were evaluated in an in-house model and AVL Boost® (AVL List Gmbh, Graz, Austria), and proved feasible. Then, a BMW K75 engine was altered and tested on a brake dynamometer. The running engine proved the initial concept, by improving the efficiency for the ECO condition in almost 40% in relation to the stock engine and getting well over the required BOOST power, getting to 35 kW, while keeping an efficiency similar to the stock engine at the wide open throttle (WOT). In order to protect the engine during BOOST, the mixture was enriched, while at ECO the mixture was leaned to further improve efficiency. The fixed operation configuration allows the reduction, not only of complexity and cost of the RE, but also the set point optimization for the engine and generator. When integrated as a RE into a typical European light duty vehicle, it provided a breakthrough consumption reduction relatively to existing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in the market in the charge sustaining mode. The very high efficiency of the power generation seems to compensate for the loss of efficiency due to the excess electricity production, which must be stored in the battery. The results indicate that indeed it is possible to have an efficient solution, in-line with the electric mobility sustainability paradigm, which can solve most of the shortcomings of current EVs, notably those associated with batteries (range, cost and charging time) in a sustainable way.

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Comprehensive Evaluation of Energy-Saving Amorphous Alloy Transformer in Distribution Grid

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.953-954.900 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 953-954 ◽

pp. 900-906

Author(s):

Yun Cai Lu ◽

Wei Li ◽

Peng Wu ◽

Chao Wei

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impact ◽

Amorphous Alloy ◽

Energy Saving ◽

Economic Performance ◽

Noise Level ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Comprehensive Evaluation ◽

Safety Performance ◽

Distribution Grid ◽

Saving Effect

Firstly, this paper introduces the development of amorphous alloy transformer. According to the technical characteristics of amorphous alloy transformer and the application of Jiangsu power, the comprehensive evaluation about amorphous alloy transformer from the safety performance, the economic performance and the environmental impact are studied comparing with S11 type, S13 type and S15 type transformer. In the safety performance, overload capacity and over-excitation ability of amorphous alloy transformer is insufficient; in the economic performance, low no-load loss, high efficiency, energy saving effect of amorphous alloy transformer is obvious; in terms of environmental impact, the audible noise level of amorphous alloy transformer is higher than that of conventional transformer, and manufacturers need to study to reduce the noise level. Finally, the application recommends of amorphous alloy transformer is presented based on comprehensive evaluation.

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Renewable Energy: Myths, Legends, and Reality

ASME 2005 Power Conference ◽

10.1115/pwr2005-50044 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Charles A. Powell ◽

Thomas W. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Power Plants ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Paper Industry ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Electricity Pricing ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Industry Waste ◽

The Us

With many States setting goals in the 2010–2020 timeframe for increased U.S. electricity production from renewable energy sources totaling nearly 100,000 MW nationwide, innovative solutions are required; as well as the suspension of several myths of conventional wisdom concerning renewable energy. Since Wind, Hydro and Solar are “opportunity” energy supplies not necessarily available when electricity demands are high; there is a great need for a renewable, “dispatchable” energy source that would be available anytime. Building on the experience of the Pulp and Paper Industry, waste-wood fueled IGCC units of 100MW size are practical today; and new gasification technologies being developed for power plants promise high efficiency, and competitive electricity pricing. With these new IGCC technologies, the US Department of Agriculture estimates there is more than enough wood waste to meet the renewable energy goals currently being considered, cost-competitively and environmentally responsibly.

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Feasibility analysis of a new tree-shaped wind turbine for urban application: A case study

Energy & Environment ◽

10.1177/0958305x19888878 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (7) ◽

pp. 1230-1256

Author(s):

Ali Mostafaeipour ◽

Mostafa Rezaei ◽

Mehdi Jahangiri ◽

Mojtaba Qolipour

Keyword(s):

Wind Turbine ◽

Wind Power ◽

Urban Areas ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Levelized Cost Of Electricity ◽

Wind Turbine System ◽

Wind Power System ◽

Bandar Abbas

In this study, feasibility of a new wind power generation system for urban application in Hormozgan Province of Iran is investigated. The wind turbine system in this study is a novel, aesthetically pleasing, noiseless, pollution-free, potentially cost-effective, and high efficiency design called tree-shaped wind turbine (TSWT). Techno-economic evaluation is performed on eight urban areas in the province using the software HOMER. Multi-criteria decision making approaches are used to prioritize the areas in terms of the best location for installing such a new system. The results of techno-economic analysis examining a wind power system consisting of 25 TSWTs show that the most electricity production would occur for Jask city which is 529,450 kWh/yr. Also, the least amount of electricity which is 339,275 kWh/yr belongs to Bandar Abbas. Considering the most important criteria including electricity production, levelized cost of electricity, population, land price, environmental impact, and frequency of natural disasters, data envelopment analysis, and the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution are employed to rank the cities. The results are validated by two different methods. Finally, it is suggested that Sirik is the best location for using the aforementioned wind turbine.

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The significance of energy consumption in environmental impact of rare earth elements recovery from tailings and mining waste

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201910802011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 108 ◽

pp. 02011

Author(s):

Karolina Kossakowska ◽

Katarzyna Grzesik

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Rare Earth Elements ◽

Energy Use ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Electricity Production ◽

The European Union ◽

The Eu ◽

Lca Results ◽

Critical Raw Materials

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are identified as critical raw materials for the European Union economy. REEs are not currently produced in the EU, while there are several sources not properly addressed. Within the ENVIREE project tailings from New Kankberg (Sweden) and Covas (Portugal) were identified as rich in REEs and chosen for recovery processing. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was used to evaluate the environmental impact of REEs recovery. The aim of this study is the detailed analysis of several scenarios with different electricity production schemes of REE recovery. The study discusses the share of energy use in the overall impact on the environment, taking into account diversification in the electricity production structure among EU countries. The energy use is a significant contributor to the overall environmental impact of studied cases. Its share in the total environmental burden is reaching up to 47%. The results show that applying the average electricity scheme production for Europe may lead to biased LCA results. For the accurate LCA results the local production schemes of energy for certain countries should be chosen.

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Membrane separation of carbon dioxide in the integrated gasification combined cycle systems

Archives of Thermodynamics ◽

10.2478/v10173-010-0020-y ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 145-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Janusz Kotowicz ◽

Anna Skorek-osikowska ◽

Katarzyna Janusz-szymańska

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Membrane Separation ◽

Combined Cycle ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Energetic Cost ◽

Recovery Ratio ◽

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle ◽

Cycle Systems ◽

Integrated Gasification

Membrane separation of carbon dioxide in the integrated gasification combined cycle systemsIntegrated gasification combined cycle systems (IGCC) are becoming more popular because of the characteristics, by which they are characterized, including low pollutants emissions, relatively high efficiency of electricity production and the ability to integrate the installation of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Currently, the most frequently used CO2capture technology in IGCC systems is based on the absorption process. This method causes a significant increase of the internal load and decreases the efficiency of the entire system. It is therefore necessary to look for new methods of carbon dioxide capture. The authors of the present paper propose the use of membrane separation. The paper reviews available membranes for use in IGCC systems, indicates, inter alia, possible places of their implementation in the system and the required operation parameters. Attention is drawn to the most important parameters of membranes (among other selectivity and permeability) influencing the cost and performance of the whole installation. Numerical model of a membrane was used, among others, to analyze the influence of the basic parameters of the selected membranes on the purity and recovery ratio of the obtained permeate, as well as to determine the energetic cost of the use of membranes for the CO2separation in IGCC systems. The calculations were made within the environment of the commercial package Aspen Plus. For the calculations both, membranes selective for carbon dioxide and membranes selective for hydrogen were used. Properly selected pressure before and after membrane module allowed for minimization of energy input on CCS installation assuring high purity and recovery ratio of separated gas.

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Variant Analysis of the Structure and Parameters of SOFC Hybrid Systems

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.437.306 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 437 ◽

pp. 306-312 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jarosław Milewski ◽

Marcin Wołowicz ◽

Rafał Bernat ◽

Lukasz Szablowski ◽

Janusz Lewandowski

Keyword(s):

Hybrid Systems ◽

Hybrid System ◽

Main Parameter ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Variant Analysis

The paper presents a variant analysis of the structure of SOFC hybrid system. The systems are divided into two gropus: atmospheric and pressurized. The main parameter of such systems are indicated and commented. The comparison of various configurations is shown in a view of efficiency obtained. The ultra high efficiency (65% HHV, 72% LHV) of electricity production seems to be possible by systems like these.

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