scholarly journals Energy, Poverty, and Health in Climate Change: A Comprehensive Review of an Emerging Literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonal Jessel ◽  
Samantha Sawyer ◽  
Diana Hernández
Author(s):  
Dalal Aassouli ◽  
Mehmet Asutay ◽  
Mahmoud Mohieldin ◽  
Tochukwu Chiara Nwokike

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiacheng Sun ◽  
Ondrej Masek

<p>In recent years, the rapid increase of CO<sub>2</sub> emission in the atmosphere and the resulting issues such as global warming and climate change have now become significant barriers to environmental sustainability. Although fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions have decreased in some of the world's largest emitters, including 11% in the EU, 12% in the US and 1.7% in China annually, the estimated global CO<sub>2</sub> emission amount still reached 40 G tonnes in 2020. The purpose of studying biochar produced by pyrolysis is essential to develop the knowledge of carbon cycles and nutrient components in soil. Among all types of feedstocks, algae grow incredibly rapidly compared to other biological materials, about 500-1500 times higher, which will boot the carbon sequestration rate. Therefore, the study of algal biochar production through pyrolysis has great significance for migrating climate change and developing carbon capture and storage.</p><p>This study focuses on a comprehensive review of previous literature on conventional and advanced macroalgae and microalgae pyrolysis for producing biochar and related valuable by-products like bio-oil and bio-syngas, aiming to establish a state-of-the-art of algal biochar for different soil-related applications and demonstrate the bottlenecks and opportunities. Specifically, a thorough comparison of algae species (20 microalgae and 20 macroalgae) is developed to benefit future researchers, involving chemical compositions, proximate analysis, solid-product fraction, physical properties and chemical properties. Redox conditions, surface functional groups and pH conditions are determined in lab-scale. Moreover, different algal biochar applications on soil and plant are analysed to optimise the commercial value of algal biochar, including soil conditioner, compositing additives, carrier for fertilisers, manure treatment and stable blending. Due to the abundant mineral contents (0.23-1.21% Na, 0.03-2.92% K, 0.75-7.17% Al, 0.19-1.24% Mg, 6.5-7% Ca and 0.04-0.69% Fe) of algal biochar, this study not only reviews the positive effects on soil improvement but also negative effects such as phytotoxic effect and heavy-metal pollution. A laboratory-based chemical oxidation approach (Edinburgh Stability Tool) is used to assess relatively long-term biochar stability and the influence of nutrient cycling. The optimal pyrolysis conditions (temperature, retention time and heating rate) and potential future commercial applications are obtained through the comprehensive review of algal biochar for soil improvement.    </p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-462
Author(s):  
Leonid M. Grigoryev ◽  
Dzhanneta D. Medzhidova

The international community has become increasingly concerned with sustainable development and particularly with preventing climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic and global recession of 2020 will exacerbate the situation not just for 2020–2021, but for many years to come. Sadly, it is a game-changer. The necessity to solve problems of poverty (energy poverty) and inequality, as well as growth and climate change mitigation, now haunts intellectuals, forecasters, and politicians. These three problems constitute the global energy trilemma (GET). There is a wide range of forecasts, scenarios, and political plans emerging after the Paris Agreement in 2015. They demonstrate concerns about the slow progress on the matter; however, they still increase the goals for 2030–2050. The global capital formation is a key tool for changes while also representing the hard-budget investment constraints. This article examines practical features of recent trends in energy, poverty, and climate change mitigation, arguing that allocation and coordinated management of sufficient financial resources are vital for a simultaneous solution of GET. No group of countries can hope to solve each of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) separately. The global economy has reached the point where it has an urgent need for cooperation.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleem H. Ali ◽  
Kamila Svobodova ◽  
Jo-Anne Everingham ◽  
Mehmet Altingoz

According to the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index, Australia was ranked as the worst-performing country on climate change policy. The country has an ambivalent record of climate policy development as well as implementation, and has been criticized for its inaction. This paper considers why the country has been locked in climate policy “paralysis” through analyzing defining attributes of such a paralysis, and the tentative connections between domestic energy policies and international trade and development. We conducted a media content analysis of 222 articles and identified media narratives in three cases of energy projects in the country involving thermal coal exports, domestic renewable energy storage, and closure of a domestic coal power station. The analysis reveals that policy paralysis in Australian climate change policy can be traced back to the countervailing arguments that have been pervasive around domestic energy security, rural employment and international energy poverty. The political establishment has struggled to develop a sustainable consensus on climate change and the citizenry remains polarized. We also discuss how a “focusing event,” such as a major natural disaster can break the impasse but this is only possible if energy security at home, energy poverty abroad and employment imperatives across the board are clearly delineated, measured and prioritized.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosna Khajeh ◽  
Hannu Laaksonen ◽  
Amin Shokri Gazafroudi ◽  
Miadreza Shafie-khah

The serious problem of climate change has led the energy sector to modify its generation resources from fuel-based power plants to environmentally friendly renewable resources. However, these green resources are highly intermittent due to weather dependency and they produce increased risks of stability issues in power systems. The deployment of different flexible resources can help the system to become more resilient and secure against uncertainties caused by renewables. Flexible resources can be located at different levels in power systems like, for example, at the transmission-level (TSO), distribution-level (DSO) and customer-level. Each of these levels may have different structures of flexibility trading as well. This paper conducts a comprehensive review from the recent research related to flexible resources at various system levels in smart grids and assesses the trading structures of these resources. Finally, it analyzes the application of a newly emerged ICT technology, blockchain, in the context of flexibility trading.


Author(s):  
Nerea García Cortés ◽  
Samuel Dominguez-Amarillo ◽  
Jesica Fernandez-Agüera

The older segments of the adult population in cities experience problems conditioned by the climate of each place. Since the 2003 heat wave which caused 70,000 heat deaths, the dramatic consequences of climate change and rising temperatures in Europe have led to the elderly being most at risk. Insufficient adaptability and economic resources among them also lead to repercussions on architecture, causing energy poverty issues as a result of a real consumption needed which is very different from the actual consumption. The demands of these people are determined by environmental stress, which differ greatly throughout the year. In addition, illnesses influence the daily health and the decrease in sensory capacity of the elderly, making them more vulnerable to constant changes. Faced with this problem, the main aim of this research is to analyse the degree of comfort and well-being of the elderly due to the environmental changes that occur in Andalusian rural homes in order to include some considerations in the design of indoor environments.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document