Optimal Renewable Energy Distribution Between Gasifier and Electrolyzer for Syngas Generation in a Power and Biomass-to-Liquid Fuel Process

By adding energy as hydrogen to the biomass-to-liquid (BtL) process, several published studies have shown that carbon efficiency can be increased substantially. Hydrogen can be produced from renewable electrical energy through the electrolysis of water or steam. Adding high-temperature thermal energy to the gasifier will also increase the overall carbon efficiency. Here, an economic criterion is applied to find the optimal distribution of adding electrical energy directly to the gasifier as opposed to the electrolysis unit. Three different technologies for electrolysis are applied: solid oxide steam electrolysis (SOEC), alkaline water electrolysis (AEL), and proton exchange membrane (PEM). It is shown that the addition of part of the renewable energy to the gasifier using electric heaters is always beneficial and that the electrolysis unit operating costs are a significant portion of the costs. With renewable electricity supplied at a cost of 50 USD/MWh and a capital cost of 1,500 USD/kW installed SOEC, the operating costs of electric heaters and SOEC account for more than 70% of the total costs. The energy efficiency of the electrolyzer is found to be more important than the capital cost. The optimal amount of energy added to the gasifier is about 37–39% of the energy in the biomass feed. A BtL process using renewable hydrogen imports at 2.5 USD/kg H2 or SOEC for hydrogen production at reduced electricity prices gives the best values for the economic objective.

Modelling charge profiles of electric vehicles based on charges data

Background: The correct design of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructures is of fundamental importance to maximize the benefits for users and infrastructure managers. In addition, the analysis and management of recharges can help evaluate integration with auxiliary systems, such as renewable energy resources and storage systems. EV charging data analysis can highlight informative behaviours and patterns for charging infrastructure planning and management. Methods: We present the analysis of two datasets about the recorded energy and duration required to charge Electric Vehicles (EV) in the cities of Barcelona (Spain) and Turku (Finland). In particular, we investigated hourly, daily and seasonal patterns in charge duration and energy delivered. Simulated scenarios for the power request at charging stations (CSs) were obtained using statistical parameters of the Barcelona dataset and non-parametric distributions of the arrivals. Monte Carlo simulations were used to test different scenarios of users’ influx at the CSs, and determine the optimal size of an integrated renewable energy system (RES). Results: This study highlighted the difference between fast and slow charging users’ habits by analysing the occupancy at the charging stations. Aside from the charge duration, which was shorter for fast charges, distinct features emerged in the hourly distribution of the requests depending on whether slow or fast charges are considered. The distributions were different in the two analysed datasets. The investigation of CS power fluxes showed that results for the investment on a RES could substantially vary when considering synthetic input load profiles obtained with different approaches. The influence of incentives on the initial RES cost were investigated. Conclusions: The novelty of this work lies in testing the impact of different simulated profiles as input in the economic criterion of the net present value (NPV) for determining the size of a photovoltaic (PV) system installed at a charging infrastructure.

INCREASING MICROGRID ENERGY EFFICIENCY WITH DIESEL GENERATORS

It is shown that increasing the energy efficiency of Microgrid with diesel generators requires solving the problem of optimizing the modes of operation of Microgrid using as an optimization criterion for reducing the consumption of primary fuel diesel generators. To study the energy efficiency of such types of Microgrid as a criterion that has a direct impact on the amount of electricity generated, selected adequate accounting of primary fuel consumption when generating a given amount of electricity in the system. The article determines that one of the important indicators of diesel generator sets is their efficiency, which is determined by the ratio of energy produced to fuel consumption per hour of operation at rated load. It is shown that the reduction of fuel consumption allows to increase the efficiency of diesel generators, and different types of steady and transient modes of diesel generators significantly affect the efficiency of Microgrid in terms of technical and financial efficiency. To improve the technical and economic indicators in Microgrid with diesel generators, the article proposes to use the electric cost model of the power generation system, which allows to calculate both the dynamic change of generated power and the dynamic change of its cost and the cost of primary fuel. This model allows flexible nonlinear tracking of fuel consumption, which, taking into account the cost of diesel fuel, can serve as an economic criterion for determining the energy efficiency of the generating system. The article presents an algorithm for evaluating the financial and technical performance of Microgrid in dynamic modes over a period of technology, which not only evaluates the economic and energy efficiency of Microgrid with diesel generators, but can also be used to modify Smart meters, which can significantly expand their functionality.

An Innovative Approach to the Implementation of Sustainable Business Ideology in Ukraine

According to the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015), making sustainable business decisions should be the driving force in achieving environmentally-oriented improvements. The key document that supports the 10 principles that ensure SDGs is the United Nations Global Compact Strategy 2021–2023 (UN, 2021). Achieving the goals of the Strategy requires the use of an improved business decision-making model that simultaneously increases revenues and revises the distribution of domestic funds for meeting the principles in the sphere of human rights, economic growth, satisfactory working conditions and the environment, and combating corruption as a key driver of corporate sustainability and responsible business practices. The authors have developed a methodological approach to the assessment of business sustainability, which is based on a combination of elements: analysis of world best practices and trends, determination of the impact of business on the social status and environment, quality assessment of relevant certification, and analysis of compliance with social indexes of sustainable development. The analysis of economic indicators of sustainable business (The B Impact Assessment, 2021) for 2020–2021 allowed singling out companies that finance the environmental sphere. Today, a quarter of the world’s countries carry on sustainable business and finance the environmental degradation impact. The 8 leaders include: France, USA, Brazil, India, Germany, Norway, Ireland and South Korea. Methods of rating and expert assessment constitute an applied aspect of research for identification of prospects of sustainable business formation in Ukraine in the regional context. The result shows that only 8 regions are suitable for sustainable business conduct, while the environmental criterion is more than 9.2 points of 10, the economic criterion does not exceed 5, and the social criterion is 4.02–5.02. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the organization of sustainable business according to the key strategic state priorities in formation of the mechanisms for the investment and the innovation policy of a sustainable development support system through the use of regulatory tools for reformation of existing business approaches to internationally regulated ones, such as business for nature.

Managing Methods Development for the Production Assets of Thermal Power Plants in Conditions of Insufficient Statistical Data

The paper is devoted to the proposal of a method for making managerial decisions on the replacement of production assets of TPPs in conditions of insufficient statistical data on failures and changes in the technical state of an equipment. It is proposed to use a probabilistic method to predict the period of replacement of production assets, based on the formation of a hypothesis about the law of distribution of equipment failures and its reaching the limit state, which determines the stock of possible operating time of a production asset. As an economic criterion for the period of replacement of a production asset, the use of an indicator of production profitability is considered, the advantage of which is the ability to make a decision to change equipment before the expiration of the life resource in the event of an unsatisfactory economic result of its operation, which is critical in solving the problem of ensuring the economic sustainability of TPPs. In the absence of an investment resource for the replacement of a production asset, it will be possible to recommend the conservation of an ineffective asset, which will minimize economic losses.

Optimal Rescheduling of the Additional Reactive Power Source Selected in a Backbone Network to a Distribution Network

An additional (generation) source of reactive power may be required in a backbone network node (𝑈௡ ≥ 220 𝑘𝑣) which has a heavy reactive load. When solving this problem, in a technical-economic sense, it is advisable to place this additional source of reactive power not in the mentioned node of a backbone network, but in the nodes of a distribution network (𝑈௡ ≤ 110 𝑘𝑣) connected to this node. This problem specifically involves: optimal rescheduling of total power of the additional reactive power source selected according to a voltage criterion in a backbone network node between the distribution network nodes connected to this node. The relevant optimization equations created in the article and the obtained mathematical model allow us to solve this problem effectively and successfully. The condition for optimality here implies the best economic returns, while the objective function is to minimize active power losses caused by nodal reactive powers. That was why we used the economic criterion as the main criterion in solving this problem.

Preference measurement in health using experiments

This contribution has three objectives. First, it seeks to justify the use of the economic criterion, “Provision of health care in accordance with the preferences of current and potential patients” for guiding decisions concerning the adoption of costly innovation in health. Next, it proposes the measurement of these preferences in the guise of willingness to pay (WTP) values through Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs). Third, it purports to examine two popular arguments against accepting lay persons´ preferences, viz. that they are unwilling or unable to express preferences with regard to health and health care, and that their preferences are unstable, depending on the current state of health. Both of these arguments are refuted by the findings of four DCEs designed to measure WTP for attributes of health insurance and of the treatment of diabetes, respectively [Zweifel in J Regul Econ 29(3): 319–332, 2006; MacNeil Vrooman and Zweifel in Eur J Health Econ 12(1): 87–95, 2011; Sennhauser and Zweifel in: Jakovlijevic M (ed.), Health Economics and Policy Challenges in Global Emerging Markets. NOVA Publishers, Hauppauge NY, 2016].

Factors Affecting Health Tourism Development in Khouzestan Province in 2019

Background: To succeed in the health tourism industry, a developing market that is able to annually generate over $60 billion in income, the factors playing an important role in this industry need to be strengthened and developed. Objectives: Thus, the present study was aimed at identifying the factors affecting health tourism development in Khouzestan Province in 2019. Methods: This was a mixed methods study conducted in 2019 in two stages. The first stage aimed to identify and categorize the factors affecting health tourism development by reviewing the articles in the health tourism field during 2000 - 2019. The second stage aimed at prioritizing the identified factors through the hierarchical analysis method. The study population included academic and executive experts in the field of health tourism in Khouzestan Province who were chosen using the purposive nonprobability sampling method. Data were analyzed using Expert Choice software and SPSS version 22. Results: The first stage led to identifying six main criteria, including socio-cultural, facilities and infrastructure, policymaking and planning, effective marketing, political-legal, and economic, and 38 sub-criteria. Prioritizing the factors in the second stage also indicated that the facility and infrastructure criterion with 0.268 and the political-legal criterion with a score of 0.07 had the highest and lowest relative importance, respectively. Also, the economic criterion with 0.231, policymaking and planning with 0.176, effective marketing with 0.144, and socio-cultural criterion with a score of 0.105 were ranked second to fifth, respectively. Conclusions: In sum, improving medical and non-medical facilities and infrastructure in Khouzestan Province is of high priority. Therefore, it is emphasized to empower medical staff along with using the capacity of start-ups related to tourism development in this province.

A multi-criteria decision model for the introduction of electric storage multiple units on the partially electrified Gdynia-Hel railway

In this article, a multi-criteria study of the use of independently powered electric multiple units on the partially electrified Gdynia Główna - Hel railway was carried out. The use of (currently used) diesel and, as an alternative, electric and electric multiple units with an electric energy storage was considered. The analysis was carried out on the basis of three criteria for assessing the route service options, i.e. environmental, economic, operational and economic investment criteria. A multi-criteria decision model was developed for the analysis and a comparative analysis of the considered options for servicing the Gdynia Główna - Hel route was carried out. As part of the environmental criterion, it was found that the most environmentally friendly is the use of storage units. As part of the operational economic criterion, it was shown that the storage units have the lowest operating costs. The analysis, as part of the investment cost criterion, showed that the lowest investment costs are characteristic of route operation with the use of combustion units. The highest investment costs are related to the route operation by classic electric units, which is associated with the complete electrification of the line.