scholarly journals A Method for Assessing Regional Bioenergy Potentials Based on GIS Data and a Dynamic Yield Simulation Model

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6488
Author(s):  
Keyu Bao ◽  
Rushikesh Padsala ◽  
Volker Coors ◽  
Daniela Thrän ◽  
Bastian Schröter
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Natural Land ◽  
Biomass Yields ◽  
Annual Biomass ◽  
Dynamic Yield ◽  
North Germany

The assessment of regional bioenergy potentials from different types of natural land cover is an integral part of simulation tools that aim to assess local renewable energy systems. This work introduces a new workflow, which evaluates regional bioenergy potentials and its impact on water demand based on geographical information system (GIS)-based land use data, satellite maps on local crop types and soil types, and conversion factors from biomass to bioenergy. The actual annual biomass yield of crops is assessed through an automated process considering the factors of local climate, crop type, soil, and irrigation. The crop biomass yields are validated with historic statistical data, with deviation less than 7% in most cases. Additionally, the resulting bioenergy potentials yield between 10.7 and 12.0 GWh/ha compared with 13.3 GWh/ha from other studies. The potential contribution from bioenergy on the energy demand were investigated in the two case studies, representing the agricultural-dominant rural area in North Germany and suburban region in South Germany: Simulation of the future bioenergy potential for 2050 shows only smaller effects from climate change (less than 4%) and irrigation (below 3%), but the potential to cover up to 21% of the transport fuels demand in scenario supporting biodiesel and bioethanol for transportation.

scholarly journals Role of Urban Greening Strategies for Environmental Sustainability—A Review and Assessment in the Context of Saudi Arabian Megacities

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6457
Author(s):  
Abdullah Addas ◽  
Ahmad Maghrabi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys

The review and assessment of urban greening patterns play a crucial role in sustainable urban planning and green spaces (GSs) management, helping to improve human well-being. In recent years, various methods and strategies were applied to examine the relationship between GSs and environmental sustainability, but so far, no studies on systematic review and empirical assessments were carried out in Saudi Arabian context. Thus, a comprehensive review and assessment of current GSs patterns and planning strategies are important for achieving urban environmental sustainability. This study aims to assess spatial pattern of GSs across the cities and a bibliographic review on the urban greening strategies in the Saudi context. These six urban strategies were further supported from empirical evidence on Saudi cities. Geographical information system (GIS) techniques and questionnaire surveys were performed for spatial mapping of GSs and the perceived role of GSs strategies of the respondent to environmental sustainability across cities. The findings showed that (i) highest PCGS was reported from Dammam (5.4 m2) followed by Riyadh (1.18 m2), and Jeddah (0.5 m2); (ii) most of the respondents use GSs for picnic (59%), mental well-being (53%), and physical activities (47%), respectively; (iii) GSs play a significant role for local climate regulation such as temperature control (78%) and UHI reduction (81%), and GSs provide thermal comfort (84%), respectively; and (iv) 40% respondents do not use GSs due to the lack of availability, accessibility, design, management, and safety of GSs. Thus, such findings of the study surely assist planners and policy makers to understand and implement the suggested GSs strategies to meet the satisfaction level of the respondents as well as to manage GSs at neighborhood and city level for urban environmental sustainability.

Impact of urban heat island on energy demand in buildings: Local climate zones in Nanjing

2020 ◽  
Vol 260 ◽  
pp. 114279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoshan Yang ◽  
Lilliana L.H. Peng ◽  
Zhidian Jiang ◽  
Yuan Chen ◽  
Lingye Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Climate Zones ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Local Climate Zones ◽  
Urban Heat

scholarly journals Replacing Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power with Renewable Energy: Utopia or Valid Option? A Swiss Case Study of Bioenergy

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Lemm ◽  
Raphael Haymoz ◽  
Astrid Björnsen Gurung ◽  
Vanessa Burg ◽  
Tom Strebel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Swiss Canton ◽  
Future System ◽  
Conversion Technologies ◽  
The Impact

The transition towards a reliable, sustainable, low-carbon energy system is a major challenge of the 21st century. Due to the lower energy density of many renewable energy sources, a future system is expected to be more decentralized, leading to significant changes at the regional scale. This study analyzes the feasibility of the energy transition in the Swiss canton of Aargau as an illustrative example and explores different strategies to satisfy the local demand for electricity, heat, and fuel by 2035. In particular, we assess the potential contribution of biomass. Four scenarios demonstrate what energy demand proportion could be covered by bioenergy if different priorities were given to the provision of heat, electricity, and fuel. The impact of improved conversion technologies is also considered. The results show that the sustainably available renewable energy sources in canton Aargau will probably not be sufficient to cover its forecasted energy demand in 2035, neither with present nor future biomass conversion technologies. At best, 74% of the energy demand could be met by renewables. Biomass can increase the degree of autarky by a maximum of 13%. Depending on the scenario, at least 26–43% (2500–5700 GWh) of total energy demand is lacking, particularly for mobility purposes.

scholarly journals Cost-Optimal Net Zero Energy Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabtai Isaac ◽  
Slava Shubin ◽  
Gad Rabinowitz
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Costs ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Urban Density ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The Cost

The objective of this research is to study the cost of Net Zero Energy (NZE) communities of different urban scales and densities, while taking into consideration the local climate and the type of buildings in the community. A comprehensive model was developed for this purpose, with which the cost-optimal configuration of renewable energy-related technologies for an NZE community can be identified. To validate the model, data from two case studies that differed in their climate and building types were used. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the implications of NZE requirements for urban planning. An increase in the scale of a community was found to reduce energy costs, up to a certain point. Urban density, on the other hand, was found to have a more complex impact on costs, which depends on the local climate of the community and the subsequent energy demand. This underlines the importance of addressing the technological design of energy systems at the initial stage of the urban planning of energy-efficient communities, before the urban density, the unbuilt areas and the building types are set.

Assessment of the Availability of Forest Biomass for Biofuels Production in Southwestern Portugal

2017 ◽  
Vol 371 ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Malico ◽  
A.C. Gonçalves ◽  
A. Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Forest Biomass ◽  
Management Unit ◽  
Maritime Pine ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Pinewood Nematode ◽  
Forest Residues ◽  
Residual Biomass

In 2014, Portugal was the seventh largest pellets producer in the World. Since the shortage of raw material is one of the major obstacles that the Portuguese pellets market faces, the need for a good assessment of biomass availability for energy purposes at both country and regional levels is reinforced. This work uses a Geographical Information System environment and remote sensing data to assess the availability and sustainability of forest biomass residues in a management unit with around 940 ha of maritime pine forest. The period considered goes from 2004 to 2015. The study area is located in Southwestern Portugal, close to a pellets factory; therefore the potential contribution of the residual biomass generated in the management unit to the production of pellets is evaluated. An allometric function is used for the estimation of maritime pine above ground biomass. With this estimate, and considering several forest operations, the residual biomass available was assessed, according to stand composition and structure. This study shows that, when maritime pine forests are managed to produce wood, the amount of residues available for energy production is small (an average of 0.37 t ha-1 year-1 were generated in the study area between 2004 and 2015). As a contribution to the sustainability of the Portuguese pellets industries, new management models for maritime pine forests may be developed. The effect of the pinewood nematode on the availability of residual biomass can be clearly seen in this study. In the management unit considered, cuts were made to prevent dissemination of the disease. This contributes to a higher availability of forest residues in a specific period of time, but, in the medium term, they lead to a decrease in the amount of residues that can be used for energy purposes.

scholarly journals Numerical Analysis of the Energy Improvement of Plastering Mortars with Phase Change Materials

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Váz Sá ◽  
R. M. S. F. Almeida ◽  
H. Sousa ◽  
J. M. P. Q. Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Phase Change ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Heat Storage ◽  
Indoor Temperature ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Building Components ◽  
Cooling Energy Demand

Building components with incorporated phase change materials (PCMs) meant to increase heat storage capacity and enable stabilization of interior buildings surface temperatures, whereby influencing the thermal comfort sensation and the stabilization of the interior ambient temperatures. The potential of advanced simulation tools to evaluate and optimize the usage of PCM in the control of indoor temperature, allowing for an improvement in the comfort conditions and/or in the cooling energy demand, was explored. This paper presents a numerical and sensitivity analysis of the enthalpy and melting temperature effect on the inside building comfort sensation potential of the plastering PCM.

How Cultural Heritage Studies Based on Dendrochronology Can Be Improved through Two-Way Communication

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1047
Author(s):  
Johannes Edvardsson ◽  
Gunnar Almevik ◽  
Linda Lindblad ◽  
Hans Linderson ◽  
Karl-Magnus Melin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
End Users ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
General Outline ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Heritage Studies

A significant part of our cultural heritage consists of wood. Research on historical wooden structures and artefacts thereby provides knowledge of people’s daily lives and the society in which they lived. Dendrochronology is a well-established dating method of wood that can also provide valuable knowledge about climate dynamics, environmental changes, silviculture, and cultural transformations. However, dendrochronology comes with some limitations that end users in cultural heritage sciences must be aware of, otherwise their surveys may not be ultimately performed. We have drawn attention to studies in which dendrochronological results have been misinterpreted, over-interpreted, or not fully utilized. On the other hand, a rigorous dendrochronological survey may not respond to the request of information in practice. To bridge this rigour-relevance gap, this article has considered and reviewed both the dendrochronology’s science-perspective and the practitioner’s and end user’s call for context appropriate studies. The material for this study consists of (i) interviews with researchers in dendrochronology and end users represented by cultural heritage researchers with focus on building conservation and building history in Sweden, and (ii) a review of dendrochronological reports and the literature where results from the reports have been interpreted. From these sources we can conclude that a continuous two-way communication between the dendrochronologists and end users often would have resulted in improved cultural heritage studies. The communication can take place in several steps. Firstly, the design of a sampling plan, which according to the current standard for sampling of cultural materials often is required, is an excellent common starting point for communication. Secondly, the survey reports could be developed with a more extensive general outline of the method and guidance in how to interpret the results. Thirdly, the potential contribution from dendrochronology is often underused, foreseeing historical information on local climate, silviculture, and choice of quality of the wooden resource, as the focus most often is the chronological dating. Finally, the interpretation of the results should consider all the available sources where dendrochronology is one stake for a conciliant conclusion.

Impact Analysis to Building Energy Consumption of Daylighting Combined Lighting Control

2012 ◽  
Vol 260-261 ◽  
pp. 202-208
Author(s):  
Xiao Lei Li ◽  
Huan Li ◽  
Jian Ping Gao
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Control Strategy ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Building Energy Consumption ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Lighting Control ◽  
Energy Saving Potential

A study on the building energy consumption analysis of daylighting-based lighting control strategy was carried out. A circle type of building was mainly simulated by using the eQUEST energy simulating software. By setting various window-wall ratios, we try to find the relationship between the energy saved by daylighting-based lighting control and the other main energy consumptions, such as the cooling and heating energies. The data shows that the energy saving potential of daylighting-based lighting control strategy can be 40% under the proper window-wall ratio, and in the meanwhile, the total energy saving of the whole building can be 8%. A formula is given to get the best window-wall ratio of various cities according to its geographical information and local climate factors.

Prediction of Space Heating Consumption in District Heated Apartments

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Popescu ◽  
F. Ungureanu
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Space Heating ◽  
Prediction Methods ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
End User ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Heat Demand ◽  
Consumption Rates ◽  
Cluster Analysis Method

Enhancing energy efficiency from the producer to the end-users is a prioritized objective of European energy policies. The most difficult element to understand and to control is the last link, the consumer. Most simulation tools for the estimation of heat demand in buildings are based on the input parameters according to environmental conditions and the features of the materials and equipments. Studies have revealed that even if sophisticated programs are used, a gap between calculated and post occupancy space heating consumption rates occurs. Based on billing history, the present paper proposes a cluster analysis method to identify the grouping trends of habitants’ consumption. For modeling the heat consumption at end-user level and predicting the trends of energy demand, artificial neural networks (ANNs) technique was used. Unlike most prediction methods that have the entire building in view, the proposed technique can be applied to individual apartments situated in condominiums.

scholarly journals Mapping the potential of community first responders to increase cardiac arrest survival

Open Heart ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. e000912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás Barry ◽  
Ainhoa González ◽  
Niall Conroy ◽  
Paddy Watters ◽  
Siobhán Masterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Geographical Information Systems ◽  
Census Data ◽  
National Level ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Population Census ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Delivery Of Care ◽  
Proximity Analysis ◽  
To Receive

ObjectiveResuscitation from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is largely determined by the availability of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation within 5–10 min of collapse. The potential contribution of organised groups of volunteers to delivery of CPR and defibrillation in their communities has been little studied. Ireland has extensive networks of such volunteers; this study develops and tests a model to examine the potential impact at national level of these networks on early delivery of care.MethodsA geographical information systems study considering all statutory ambulance resource locations and all centre point locations for community first responder (CFR) schemes that operate in Ireland were undertaken. ESRI ArcGIS Desktop 10.4 was used to map CFR and ambulance base locations. ArcGIS Online proximity analysis function was used to model 5–10 min drive time response areas under sample peak and off-peak conditions. Response areas were linked to Irish population census data so as to establish the proportion of the population that have the potential to receive a timely cardiac arrest emergency response.ResultsThis study found that CFRs are present in many communities throughout Ireland and have the potential to reach a million additional citizens before the ambulance service and within a timeframe where CPR and defibrillation are likely to be effective treatments.ConclusionCFRs have significant potential to contribute to survival following OHCA in Ireland. Further research that examines the processes, experiences and outcomes of CFR involvement in OHCA resuscitation should be a scientific priority.

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