Analysis of alternative energy sources for the united states Roadway Transportation System

Author(s):  
Mehran Z Irdmousa ◽  
Pamela Singh ◽  
Mohammad Seraj ◽  
Zain-Ul Abideen
1999 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-342
Author(s):  
IAN HIGGINSON ◽  
CROSBIE SMITH

Refrigeration has become so well established over the last 125 years that today a crude ice maker becomes a boon for primitive people in the jungle or desert. Only a total dislocation in energy sources will quickly loosen the connections between people and cooling. A few centuries ago, Hippocrates (460–377? B.C.) observed: ‘most men would rather run the hazards of their lives or health than be deprived of the pleasure of drinking out of ice’ … In the U.S.A. [today], 750 million frozen Eskimo Pies are sold annually and seven ice cream plants are said to be operating in Moscow … Like the men of Hippocrates, a lot of people will resist any curtailment in food and freezing operations. They have come to expect these for survival in our present social and industrial orders.These remarks, asserting the extent to which the people of the United States of America regarded refrigeration not as an optional luxury but as a necessity for survival even at the height of the energy crisis of the late 1970s, formed part of a contribution to a massive 11-volume international compendium, Alternative Energy Sources, produced in 1978 in response to Western concerns about rising oil prices and falling reserves. An enthusiastic advocate for geothermal energy, the contributor's perception provides a vivid contextual starting point for our study of Paul Theroux's novel The Mosquito Coast (1981). In this novel the central narrative focuses upon a New England family's rejection of post-war American consumer society with its imperative to ‘build automobiles that would fail within five years and refrigerators that would fail in ten’. The novel indeed explores some of those very kinds of alternative energy sources which had been exciting scientists and inventors (often on or beyond the fringes of scientific orthodoxy) since the early 1970s when journals such as The Ecologist had begun to prophesy an end to energy-driven economic growth in the western world.


Fire Safety ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 52-57
Author(s):  
O. Lazarenko ◽  
V.-P. Parkhomenko ◽  
R. Sukach ◽  
B. Bilonozhko ◽  
A. Kuskovets

Introduction. The gradual and relentless development of alternative energy sources and the constant strug-gle of humanity with excess greenhouse gas emissions led to the simultaneous development of vehicles with alternative energy sources. Currently, vehicles that run exclusively on electricity and are virtually safe for the environment are becoming increasingly popular. Among the variety of vehicles running on electricity, it is necessary to single out vehicles that use compressed hydrogen to generate electricity. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCV) are already widely used in the United States, Germany, Japan, and the rest of the world, and their governments are constantly expanding and developing the appropriate infrastructure for them.The purpose and objectives of the study. The paper analyses the basic structure of HFCV and identifies the main scenarios of possible emergencies, namely: fire or explosion of fuel tanks with hydrogen; leakage, flaming of hydrogen from fuel lines (tank) under the high pressure; high-pressure hydrogen jet fire; leakage of hydrogen in the compartment (garage, closed parking) without further combustion.Methods. In the work on the subsequent literature review, the probable dangers for the personnel of the emergency rescue units involved in the elimination of certain emergency scenarios were identified.Results. It is established that: during the combustion of HFCV the most probable jet fire of hydrogen (flame temperature can reach 2000 0C), and also possible explosion of hydrogen cylinders or gas-air mixture with a significant range. Secondly, leakage of hydrogen in the compartment can cause its destruction in a relatively short period (about 15 seconds), and/or poisoning (asphyxia) of people due to a sharp decrease in oxygen concentration.Conclusions. The analysis and generalization of existing knowledge on the potential hazard of HFCV is conducted, electric cars give us reasonable grounds to argue that the regulatory framework for the construction and installation of security systems for land and underground parking, places of accumulation of such vehicles is not adapted to today's realities. At the same time, the following studies should be directed at estimating probablee risks of such emergencies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1569 ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
Arishaun Donald ◽  
Tariq Taylor ◽  
Jianjun Miao ◽  
Robert Linhardt ◽  
Duane Jackson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe United States dependence on fossil fuels has become mandatory over the past few decades. The fuel shortage during the 1970s and after Hurricane Katrina has catalyzed a need for creating alternative energy sources, improving the efficacy of these alternative energy sources, and enhancing energy sustainability. The U.S. Department of Energy has set goals to replace 30% of the liquid petroleum transportation fuel with biofuels and to replace 25% of industrial organic chemicals with biomass-derived chemicals by 2025. In the southeast United States, subterranean termites are prevalent and microbes in their gut degrade wood based materials such as cellulose which produce simple sugars that can be used to produce bioethanol. Upon seasonal change, subterranean termites undergo less enzymatic activity and wood-eating capability limiting the amount of sugars that may be produced. This limited activity sparks an interest to investigate this poorly understood phenomenon of how temperature may affect the enzymatic activity in subterranean termites’ guts. In this study, we report the development thermoresponsive biomaterial nanofiber mats containing cellulose to model cellulase activity. Using electrospinning techniques, poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) celluose fiber mats have been prepared via alkaline hydrolysis and labeled with fluorescent tags. Subterranean termites (reticulitermes species) were feed fiber mats for 10 consecutive days to assess enzyme mapping and kinetics. Fluorescent microscopy images confirmed spatial and temporal localization of cellulase enzyme throughout the termite gut upon time and temperature change. These novel high affinity enzyme detection membranes show promise towards future biofuel production.


Author(s):  
Oleksii Piddubnyi ◽  
Yevhenii Kokoshko

The development of alternative energy sources in general and wind energy (including marine) in particular has become increasingly active in recent years. More and more countries around the world are seeking to incorporate the use of renewable energy into their daily lives to meet their international commitments and tasks. Among such tasks are global world policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonize the economy, production, and industry. The best and easiest way to achieve this goal has been the largescale implementation of legal regulation of non-traditional energy sources at both the international and national levels. Such implementation has greatly facilitated and made it possible to achieve the ambitious climate goals that were named in Paris in 2015 and subsequently reflected in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The article examines the main program of the European Union on the policy of decarbonization of the European Green Deal, its goals, and aspirations. Attention is paid to a derived regulation for a more detailed understanding of this policy, namely European Climate Law. The legal regulation of wind energy is studied on the example of the Republic of Ukraine, the Republic of Poland, the United States of America, the Republic of Colombia, and the Federal Republic of Brazil. The legal regulation of wind energy in each of the studied countries is unique. At one time, this was influenced by global crises and national ideas, plans and strategies.


Author(s):  
Elif A. Kongar ◽  
Kurt Rosentrater

Due to increasing financial and environmental concerns, governmental rules, regulations and incentives, alternative energy sources are expected to grow at a faster pace than conventional sources of energy. However, the current body of research providing comparative decision-making models for conventional and alternative energy sources is limited. Furthermore, existing literature also falls short in offering a unifying model that benchmarks the technical efficiencies of countries in terms of their energy usage in relation to environmental impact. This paper proposes two sets of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models to calculate and rank the technical efficiencies of (i) conventional and alternative energy sources for the United States, and (ii) energy usage of selected countries depending on various criteria. The first set of DEA models considers both the economics of energy sources and additional environmental criteria such as CO2 emissions and damage cost. The second set evaluates the relative technical efficiencies of the top 25 petroleum consuming countries in the world in terms of the environment. Numerical examples are also included to demonstrate the functionality of the proposed models.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif A. Kongar ◽  
Kurt Rosentrater

Due to increasing financial and environmental concerns, governmental rules, regulations and incentives, alternative energy sources are expected to grow at a faster pace than conventional sources of energy. However, the current body of research providing comparative decision-making models for conventional and alternative energy sources is limited. Furthermore, existing literature also falls short in offering a unifying model that benchmarks the technical efficiencies of countries in terms of their energy usage in relation to environmental impact. This paper proposes two sets of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models to calculate and rank the technical efficiencies of (i) conventional and alternative energy sources for the United States, and (ii) energy usage of selected countries depending on various criteria. The first set of DEA models considers both the economics of energy sources and additional environmental criteria such as CO2 emissions and damage cost. The second set evaluates the relative technical efficiencies of the top 25 petroleum consuming countries in the world in terms of the environment. Numerical examples are also included to demonstrate the functionality of the proposed models.


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