The Role of Exergy in Energy and the Environment

Energy plays an essential role in the development, economic growth, and advancement of any country. Therefore, new energy technologies must be explored and utilized to ensure a constant supply of clean energy that is readily available especially during peak loads. One of the solutions is the use of energy storage technologies (ESTs), which can be used to improve energy availability. This chapter will study the viability of three important types of EST uses in the electrical energy sector and the various techniques used in understanding the economical assessment of energy storage, pertaining to the substation assembly section. The ideal use of the selected ESTs in the substation section, based on techno-economic analysis results, will also be discussed. The results showed that the sodium sulfur EST and compressed air energy storage (CAES) were the two optimal options when comparing major technical and economical aspects.

The issues of hot metal particle eruption due to overhead line conductor clashing and potentially ignition of cellulosic fuel beds under the transmission line have not been sufficiently explored although conductor clashing is often considered as fire cause. At the point where contact or electric arc between two conductors on different potentials is established, electric energy is converted into heat energy so the large amount of generated heat can cause melting and vaporization of conductor material. Some of ejected sparks will ignite and burn, while others will simply fall to the ground, cooling off on the way by convection and radiation. The critical diameter is the least diameter of the particle caused by conductor clashing that will be sufficient to ignite the biomass on the ground. The results show that the copper particles in the same conditions bring a greater ignition risk due to their higher heat capacity.

In this study, effects of equivalence ratio and thermal power on combustion and emission behaviour of premixed hydrogen air mixtures were numerically investigated by constructing 3D micro combustor models. Combustion behaviour was analysed by examining combustor outer wall and centreline temperature profiles, and convective and radiative heat transfer quantities. Besides, emission behaviour was analysed in terms of centreline NO_x profiles and NO_x amounts emanated from exhaust of the micro combustor. Regarding these, optimal operating condition with respect to combustion performance and pollutant emissions was investigated by varying thermal power and equivalence ratio. Turbulence model used in this study is RNG k-ε (Yilmaz et al. Int J Hydrog Energy 42:25744–25755, 2017). Multistep combustion reaction process with 9 species and 19 steps was simulated using Eddy dissipation concept model. Data obtained from this study was validated against published experimental data (Tang et al. Int J Hydrog Energy 40:2396–2403, 2015). Results showed that optimal operating condition can be gained at 0.8 equivalence ratio and 1200 ml/min hydrogen flux.

In this study, albedo’s effect on surface temperature and thermal gradient of concrete pavement was investigated. A concrete pavement in KTU campus area was coated with high-reflectance paint and was compared to the uncoated surface. Sixty percent higher albedo values were measured on the coated area than uncoated area due to high reflectance of pavement material. Also, surface temperature and heat gradients of paint-coated surface were 40% and 38%, respectively, lower than the uncoated surface of the coated surface. Considering the albedo effects, high-reflective pavements can reduce the heat island effects five times compared to asphalt pavements. In conclusion, the street pavements should be painted with highly reflected paints which can prevent the solar reflection as a result of the heat island effect significantly.

Near-surface heat islands can affect human comfort, air quality, and energy use of buildings. Paved surfaces make a contribution considerably to the temperature of towns because they cover a remarkably large fraction of metropolis surfaces. Very few researches were undertaken to quantitatively analyze the version of heat flux from asphalt and concrete pavement surfaces. Knowledge of the heat flux is vital for understanding how pavements influence the surrounding thermal environment. The goal of this chapter was to research the variant of heat flux from asphalt and concrete pavements. Results showed that the common daily heat flux of asphalt pavements is higher than that of concrete pavements. Growing tree cover on both sides of the pavements lowers surface temperatures with the aid of imparting color and cooling through evapotranspiration.

In this study, the surface temperature and solar reflectance of concrete and asphalt paved roads were investigated during hot summer. Monthly mean readings showed that the albedo values of the concrete pavement are larger than the albedo values of the dark-colored asphalt. The amount of radiation of the asphalt pavement was 15 % lower than concrete pavement. The outgoing radiation, q_r, values for asphalt ranged from 560 to 600 W.m−2, while for concrete it ranged from 470 to 510 W.m−2. As the surface temperatures increased in both pavements, the amount of energy released to the atmosphere was increased. However, asphalt pavements can be expected to increase the temperature of the environment to a greater extent due to the high surface and external energy emit capacity, especially in urban areas. Urban heat island effects and energy demands can be reduced in urban areas by using concrete pavements.

Multiple reports indicate the considerable rate of growth in world’s energy demands. With the ongoing concerns about climate change and the considerable contribution of power generation industry in carbon dioxide emission, it is necessary to reduce the rate of carbon dioxide emission from power generation systems, immediately. In this chapter, three different approaches for a simple gas turbine power plant carbon dioxide emission reduction are recommended. The proposed methods include inlet air cooling with a mechanical chiller, steam bottoming cycle integration, and hybridization of power plants using heliostat field collector. Steam bottoming cycle implementation reduces the plant-specific CO₂ emission by about 212–217 kgCO₂/MWh (34–35%). Moreover, it is concluded that inlet air cooling technique manages to achieve improvement in both environmental and economic aspects of the plant even in a small-scale power generation system. Furthermore, hybridization is the most expensive approach considered in this study.

This chapter introduces absorption power cycles (APC) as a perspective option for power production from low-temperature heat. The multicomponent mixture working fluid can provide low exergy destruction in heat exchangers through variable temperature phase change, thus achieve higher efficiency than alternatives such as ORC. Except for commonly known Kalina cycle using NH₃-H₂O mixture, there is a wide choice of other absorbent-absorbate pairs. This work theoretically explores APC with various types of working fluids compared with ORC (also several configurations and working fluids). Potential of APC is mainly in small systems for low-temperature heat sources around 100 °C regarding both performance and design parameters. It is comparable with the zeotropic ORC, while traditional ORC is the best choice for higher heat source temperatures.

After restriction of European Union on using high-GWP refrigerants, the investigations have been directed to utilize low-GWP refrigerants in available systems to determine the suitability of their operating conditions. In this study, energy and exergy parameters were investigated as a result of using R1234yf in a refrigeration system originally constructed to operate with R134a. The experimental work was conducted at two different ambient temperatures of 20 and 40 °C, while the evaporation temperature was 0 °C. The temperature, pressure, electrical power consumption, and mass flow measurements in the system revealed cooling capacity, COP, and exergetic efficiency for both R134a and R1234yf refrigerants.

The Republic of Turkey’s current energy policy encourages households, industries, and energy production facilities to be energy wise. In this chapter, the Bursa Ovaakça power plant, which is one of the largest power plants of Turkey, was investigated with regard to boosting production. The scope of this chapter was to design a solar-assisted absorption cooling plant for cooling the intake air of gas turbines. The aim of this chapter is to achieve an efficiency augmentation in gas turbines through a solar energy-assisted absorption cooling system. The COP of the designed absorption cooling system has been calculated to be 0.75, and the utilization factor is 28.6.

Low-charge multiplex refrigeration system (LCMRS) used in supermarket application is defined as low-energy performance in cooling system considered as important energy consumers. In this context, this study primarily examines energy and exergy performances of the LCMRS and expresses their changes in a supermarket application. Additionally, environmental performances of LCMRS were evaluated based on different refrigerants. In the study, the effects of R-404A, R-407C, and R-152a refrigerants on performance were also examined, and it was found that R-152a and R-407C gases have significant advantages in terms of performance and environmental impacts.

In this research, aerodynamic design of a twin-entry radial-inflow turbine was done based on the direct method using a developed design code. The Garrett turbocharger was chosen for this purpose. At the first step, the 1D design, based on the impeller efficiency convergence, was performed. In 3D design, which is divided into preliminary and detail design, the profiles of the impeller and blade angle was carried out. Afterward the 3D shape of the blade can be achieved by combining these profiles. There is a good geometrical agreement between designed impeller and the laboratory’s existing impeller in both steps. In order to predict the performance of the turbine, the 1D analysis code was used. The code has been validated with the experimental tests on the turbocharger. Then the modeled turbine was compared with the available turbine. The results show an increment in efficiency and decrement in mass parameter.

The emission and combustion characteristics of a biomass-based fuel, primarily comprised of wood pyrolysis oil (WPO) and n-butanol, was investigated in a diesel generator and a diesel tractor. In our previous study, it was found that polymerization of WPO can be prevented by diluting it with n-butanol. Mixing WPO with alcohol fuels has the added benefit of significantly improving its storage and handling properties. In principle, n-butanol can be mixed with WPO without any phase separation. In this study, we use WPO with n-butanol and cetane enhancements (PEG 400 and 2-EHN). Experimental results showed highly stable engine operation using WPO-blended fuels with a maximum WPO content of 40 wt%. From the experimental results of an on-road tractor test, we found that the emission characteristics of blended fuels with a WPO content of up to 15 wt% were comparable to those of diesel fuel.

Heat generated from the combustion of biomass can be used as an energy source in an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). In this paper, a thermal model of an integrated biomass-fired regenerative ORC system is formed. To model the heat exchangers, a discretization scheme is used that includes the phase change within a segment. Energy balances are applied to the turbine and the pump. The ORC model developed for is validated with experimental data of an existing ORC system. Then, the effect of biomass type on the performance of the system (i.e. the net power output and the thermal efficiency) is investigated.

In cement plants clinker outlet temperature is directly evaluated by clinker cooler process efficiency. Cooling processes may be evaluated as one of the energy input considering demand of secondary air and carrier gas. In this study the clinker cooler performance development is intended from the viewpoint of capacity increase and energy consumption using cement production plant actual figures. According to this analysis, the standard and actual cooler losses have been calculated as 519.16 kJ/kg.cl and 595.86 kJ/kg.cl, respectively. Considering the standard cooler loss of one state-of-the-art cooler, an amount of 100.48 kJ/kg.cl is savable. Furthermore, approximately 1 kWh/kg.cl of the total power consumption can be achieved. The fluctuations of clinker outlet temperature lead to a variance of 86.61% and 89.22%, respectively, for sieved and un-sieved clinker temperature. This situation demonstrates a significant potential loss of clinker temperature. Regarding the cooler performance development, some suggestions have been made at the end of this study.

Asynchronous motors make up 80% of today’s motors in industry. For this reason, the contribution of energy efficiency analyses to asynchronous motors is very important. There are many techniques for measuring the efficiency of electric motors. These are the generally experimental ones as specified in certain standards. Experimental methods can also be divided into direct and indirect methods. The use of experimental methods is not common due to the cost of installing and operating test laboratories worldwide. In this study, direct and indirect experimental methods and which kind of method should be applied to which type of motor will be explained. Then an indirect method will be applied to the motor and an efficiency result and losses will be found. According to this experiment, losses are interpreted. One squirrel cage induction motor, which is being used in the Marmaray project, is utilized in the experiments.

Energy storage technologies will play a crucial role in increasing both the efficiency, as well as the availability, of renewable energy, thus decoupling real generation from expected generation and from consumption demands. Compressed air energy storage (hereinafter “CAES”) enables the efficient and cost-effective storage of large amounts of energy. The development of CAES in a salt dome offers several technical and economic advantages. In order to reduce the inherent risk associated with the definition and selection of subsurface structures, this study proposes a multi-criteria algorithm based on the analytic hierarchy process. In this case, the study was focused on the Basque-Cantabrian basin (Spain) where it is possible to identify up to 11 surfacing diapiric structures. These peculiar characteristics allow considering new research topics: establish a new definition of energy storage capacity, considering not only the storage of compressed air at great depth, but also the definition of mini-CAES.

Thermodynamic study of a combined 660 MW supercritical Rankine-Kalina cycle thermal power plant and its optimization is carried out based on 4-E (Energy, Exergy, Environment and Economic) analysis for condenser waste heat recovery using ‘Cycle-Tempo’ computer modelling software. Net energy and exergy efficiencies of the plant are increased by about 0.543% and 0.472% points, respectively, compared to standalone power plant by reducing condenser energy and exergy losses by about 0.773% and 0.418% points, respectively. Variation of key operating parameters, namely, ammonia mass fraction, condenser pressure and evaporator shell pressure, is studied and optimized accordingly. About 2.53 t/h of CO₂ emission can be reduced at full load, and the cost of fuel saved is about 6.15 times lower than fuel cost. Levelized cost of electricity (LCoE) generation of the plant is about INR 1.919 per kWh which is marginally higher than the standalone power plant.

In this study, a multiphase CFD method is used to analyse fluid flow in a screw pump which rotates at very high angular velocity under cavitating conditions. This model utilizes a homogeneous phase approach, based on volume-scalar-equations and a truncated Rayleigh-Plesset equation for bubble dynamics. The model is implemented in the CFD software CFX. Three variants of screw pumps with different combinations of plain and threaded shrouds are studied for their Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) required and compared. The three variants are studied under similar conditions, and the pump with maximum available NPSH is found out.

The energy consumption of the world has been increasing in a consistent trend. This increment is faster than overall energy supply. The construction of additional power plants is essential to keep up with meeting the growing total energy demand. However, the effects of these power plants on social life and local economy should be considered during the planning stage. In this chapter, a Delphi method integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methodology is proposed to evaluate and to compare power plant alternatives. This approach is based on the fuzzy logarithmic least squares method and performs good solutions under implicit information conditions. The methodology is tested in a case study to find the optimal plant type for Turkey. The numerical results together with conducted sensitivity analysis provide insights on the strength and feasibility of the proposed method.

European policies actively force towards a shift to low-emission mobility and have set the reduction of energy consumption in transport as a priority pillar in national/regional and European environmental policies. CIVITAS DESTINATIONS, funded by the European Commission within the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme, implements a set of reinforcing innovative mobility solutions to improve accessibility and cost-effectiveness of urban transport services and to reduce congestion, emissions and energy consumption in six EU island tourist destinations: Rethymno (Greece), Limassol (Cyprus), Valletta (Malta), Funchal (Portugal), Las Palmas (Spain) and Elba (Italy). Building on previous CIVITAS experience, 14 environmental indicators are proposed to provide a spherical overview of the energy and environment impacts. This work outlines a refined environmental assessment framework applied at the municipality of Rethymno. Common strategic goals, predefined performance indicators and common measurement/monitoring methods amongst all six destinations allow a consistent and comparable analysis at the project level.

In this chapter, the indices and plans developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) such as Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), Energy Efficiency Operational Index (EEOI) and Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) are dealt with in a structural unity. In this context, it is emphasized how the alignment and management of indices and structures should be realized. In other words, it has been assessed how these structures defined in energy consumption or energy business plans should be controlled by a sustainable model or programme. In this approach, a model called energy architecture map was developed by using e-info system technology for sustainable energy management of vessels. The aim of this model is to build the road map of the information system infrastructure and its architecture to develop the tools of the energy management system of vessel and determine how this model affects vessel valuation providing energy savings.

The project shows the delimitation of the different hotel areas of Banderas Bay on the border between Jalisco and Nayarit. Recent environmental damage that manifests itself in Bahía de Banderas is a consequence of inadequate regional and local planning by the official sector, as well as of the inadequate territorial occupation by the tourist and real estate sectors mainly, which have not provided for the possibility of sustainable development consistent with biodiversity in the area. The environmental implications associated with the establishment of tourism development translate into an outlet of awareness for the preservation of the natural environment of tourist buildings, through sustainable and environmentally reasonable development, maintaining the original conditions and preserving the natural attraction of the tourist beaches. The aspect of study focuses on the analysis of the visual impacts arising from tourist developments in the natural territory, as well as the generation of criteria and indicators for sustainable building to mitigate these impacts.

Environmental benefits and economic feasibility of evacuated multi-effect vertical solar desalination unit have been estimated for various coastal regions of India. Maximum annual average daily distillate yield and performance ratio of 29.43 kg/m2-d and 4.29 were recorded for Panaji. The unit was found to be capable of mitigating CO₂, SO₂ and NO emissions in the range of 74.74–137.65 tons, 730.53–989.70 kg and 225.75–404.27 kg, respectively, for considered east coast locations of India. Net CO₂, SO₂ and NO emission mitigation in the range of 115.01–149.36 tons, 872.07–1073.94 kg and 337.75–438.65 kg, respectively, was noticed for coastal regions in western part of India. Energy payback period of the unit was well below 1.5 yr for all the considered locations. Lowest distillate production cost of 0.79 INR/L and 0.73 INR/L was noticed for east and west coast region of India.

The chapter represents a study based on the integration of renewable energy power plant to the existing distribution network considering adaptive protection relays. IEEE 9 bus test system is used as the existing network model for the study. The aim of the study is to design a self-healing power grid in smart grid concept with integration of renewable power sources which is considered as the first step of smart cities. The methodology of the study contains modelling of a solar power plant, examination of existing network, analysis of integration criteria of distributed generation plant to grid and adaptive relay protection in order to obtain a reliable self-healing power network in smart grid concept. The major outcome from the study is the methodology for self-healing network with distributed generation. The methodology can be considered as the first step for a smart city that includes renewable power generation units and reliable distribution network.

This study was aimed at optimizing the effect of thermochemical pretreatment methods used independently or in combination to maximize the production of fermentable soluble sugars from kitchen waste. The waste was treated with hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions (in 0–5% concentrations) to convert organic material into fermentable sugars at elevated temperatures. The acid and alkaline pretreatments were compared in terms of the percentages of glucose recovery and the yields of total soluble sugars. According to our results, the glucose percentage and indirectly the glucose concentration were increased by acid or alkaline pretreatment. HCl and NaOH pretreatment at increasing temperatures increased the glucose yield from kitchen waste in comparison with untreated organic material. Our results showed that chemical pretreatment of kitchen waste, using both 1% HCl for 90 min (at 60 °C) and 3% NaOH for 90 min (at 30 °C), increased the soluble sugar concentrations by 95% and 35%, respectively, in comparison with untreated kitchen waste.

Nova Scotia minkery farms generate huge amounts of wastewater and continuously ignored the public outcry for their environmental impacts. As a consequence of the Fur Industry Act, approved on January 11, 2013, the industry is forced to employ bioenvironmental technologies for reducing the environmental impacts of its operations. Employing microalgae or cyanobacteria could potentially serve a double purpose to generate highly valuable biomass while assisting in the bioremediation of minkery wastewater. This study aimed to investigate the potential of integrating minkery wastewater into Chlorella vulgaris and Anabaena sp. cultivation. The growth characteristics of Chlorella vulgaris in minkery wastewater were significantly better than those in traditional modified BBM under most of the light cycles employed. The traditional BG-11_o was superior compared to minkery wastewater for Anabaena sp. cultivation due to the insufficient nitrate concentration of minkery wastewater. This study proved that the minkery wastewater is a better alternative for microalgae cultivation.

In the process of microalgae and cyanobacteria cultivation, the biomass measurements remain a challenging practice. Four analytical methods commonly used are dry weight, optical density, cell count, and chlorophyll a content. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively compare the practical utility and analytical reliability of these four most recognized analytical methods in controlled environment minkery wastewater. Based on the findings, dry weight measurement has been proven to be the most precise method, optical density measure was the most time-effective and most accurate indirect method, and cell count was the most cost-effective method. All three methods demonstrated excellent correlations with each other. The chlorophyll a measurement was not as practical as the other three methods. This study suggests dry weight measurements at the beginning and end of the growth period partnered with frequent optical density measurements and cell counts for monitoring microalgae and cyanobacteria biomass in minkery wastewater.

The most notable way that reducing energy helps the environment is by decreasing power plant and general industry emissions. Coprocessing of wastes in cement rotary kilns is the use of suitable waste materials in cement manufacture processes for energy recovery and raw material conservation. The correct use of wastes and by-products as alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) has a range of environmental and socio-economic advantages, notably through the important role of cement kilns in recycling and recovery programmes due to their high level of temperatures and residence time with economic and ecological benefits. The objective of this work is to reach high substitution rates regarding the total quantity of alternative materials required in cement manufacture by determining a range of limit values for waste streams and waste content proportions with respect to the main raw materials and waste compositions and limit values for emissions and clinker quality.

Effective waste management is heavily dependent on the development of innovative solutions for waste collection and treatment. Public procurement of innovation (PPI), particularly, is a way to encourage the development of new, more efficient solutions. The PPI4Waste project gives an overview of the current waste management and at the same time explores mechanisms to overcome barriers to public procurement of innovation in the waste management sector, where a number of activities are taking place within the project lifetime to help increase uptake of innovative waste solutions. This project aims to achieve resource efficiency, sustainable waste management and sustainable consumption throughout Europe by increasing innovative public procurement through networking, capacity building and dissemination. In order to achieve this, the common needs within the public sector in Europe have been identified and presented in this paper, with an intention to move from product purchase towards the service delivery.

The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to levulinic acid has become a key area of research along the biorefinery theme. Process challenges include the selective production of levulinic acid at high yield as well as the formation of unwanted degradation products called humins. A single-response optimization is not efficient to determine reaction conditions for simultaneous optimum responses of yield and selectivity towards levulinic acid because the responses are related. The objectives of the study were to develop a kinetic model which includes all possible pathways to the formation of humins and subsequent simultaneous optimization of yield and selectivity. The model shows a good fit with literature data with a correlation coefficient of 0.944. The result from the bi-objective optimization shows that at temperature 423 K, acid concentration 0.50 mol/l and time 755 min, optimal yield of 60.3% and a selectivity to LA value of 64% were obtained.

Biodiesel is a clean-burning and renewable substitute for conventional diesel. It is produced particularly from vegetable oils. It’s nontoxic and biodegradable, and it can also be used in most diesel equipments with no or only minor modifications. In this study we focused our work on the elaboration of heterogeneous solid base catalysts (KF/MgO and KF/CaO). The catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. The heterogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification is applied for producing a biodiesel starting from a nonedible and abundant vegetable source in the Mediterranean Basin such as Pistacia lentiscus (PL). The catalysts are compared in terms of activities in the transesterification process under suitable conditions (reaction temperature of 50 °C, methanol to oil molar ratio of 12:1, catalyst loading of 1 wt.%, and reaction time of 2 h). For the two catalysts, a higher than 90% conversion was found.

The waste generated in coal extraction and processing is a mixture of rocks and carbon, not recovered in the processing and enrichment of the extracted material. The majority of coal waste is either disposed at waste facilities or given to recovery through the formation of earthworks, leveling the ground, civil engineering, or filling of subsidence. The most significant environmental threat related to mine waste deposition is the possibility of self-ignition. Fires occurring at coal waste heaps may proceed for long periods, entailing serious hazards to the environment and public health, mainly because of the high temperature (up to 1000 °C), emissions of noxious gases (CO₂, PAHs, SO_x, NO_x, etc.), dust, and odors. In the paper the principal component analysis was applied in an exploration of the experimental data on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in the exhaust gases from combustion of mine waste dump samples simulated in the fixed-bed reactor.

The use of renewable energy sources increases in the world because of the rapid depletion of the fossil fuels and the environmental problems caused by the non-renewable energy sources. Biomass energy meets 10% of energy needs of the world. Turkey is one of the developing countries that imports most of its energy. Biomass energy accounts for 9.5% of Turkey’s domestic energy production. In the northwest side of Turkey, which is named Trakya Region, there is a significant potential for biomass energy production due to intensive agricultural and animal husbandry activities. In this study, the energy potential of Trakya Region including Kırklareli, Edirne, and Tekirdağ cities has been determined by evaluating animal waste-originated biogas production. According to the results, about 187 thousand tons of available dried animal manure can be collected per year, through which 37.4 million m3 of biogas potential and correspondingly 21 million m3 of methane (CH₄) can be obtained.

Solar energy is a common practice in hot water production. In particular, the efficiency of the use of these systems has increased with the increase of collector efficiency. However, the effectiveness of the systems is also linked to the economic analysis as well as the effective project process. In this work, a framework was been established in the public sector with important user characteristics. In this study, collector optimization with solar energy as a hybrid system was made for the hot water requirement of the reference gym. In the annual heat demand analysis and with the developed mathematical model, it has provided savings of approximately 83.24%. In the analysis carried out, the annual recycling period was estimated to be about 4.24 years for fuel oil consumption and 8.82 years for natural gas. At the end of the study, associated annual CO₂ emission savings were calculated, and some suggestions were made to the public administration.

An energy paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy played an important role in increasing the market penetration through distributed solar generation (DSG), often with a rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system. For a successful implementation of DSG, it is crucial to determine how much electricity from DSG is required to offset the building electricity consumption. By examining the rooftop solar PV footprint, the total area required to meet building electricity demand with DSG, it is possible to analyze the relationship between the building electricity supply and demand strategically from the urban level. Therefore, this study aims to propose a framework for calculating the rooftop solar PV footprint by considering building electricity supply and demand from the urban level. The framework proposed in this study could be applied to accurately calculate and estimate the rooftop solar PV footprint for evaluating the building energy performance considering electricity supply and demand from the urban level.

The current cutting edge in photovoltaic technology states that the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems has inverse relation and thermoelectric systems has direct relation with temperature. Therefore, cascading of thermoelectric (TE) systems with concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems has the potential to improve the total power output of CPV system by effectively utilizing the solar spectrum. The excess thermal energy of the PV system can be utilized as heat input in thermoelectric system to generate power. In this chapter, a thermodynamic model based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics for concentrated photovoltaic-thermoelectric (CPV-TE) hybrid system has been developed and analysed in a MATLAB Simulink environment. Further, the parametric optimization has been carried out to improve the overall performance of the hybrid system. The effect of concentration ratio, resistance ratio, thermal resistance between the TE module and the environment and the thermal resistance between the PV and TE modules has been discussed.

The continuous increase in population and its demand for water and energy have caused great stress on the world’s water and energy resources. Consequently, it has become necessary to replace the conventional sources of energy with renewable energy and conventional methods of irrigation with high-efficiency irrigation systems to ensure global energy, food, and environmental security. In this context, a research-based study combining drip irrigation and photovoltaic system was conducted. A solar-powered drip irrigation system was designed, developed, and analyzed techno-economically for citrus, olive, and grapes. The performance evaluation has shown enormous results with water saving and fertilizer reduction of more than 50% and 40%, respectively, as compared to conventional irrigation system. Further, the system is found cost-effective over the years and requires minimal operational and maintenance cost. This paper may provide technical guidance for design and installation of solar-powered drip irrigation system.

In this chapter, the Taguchi method combined with response surface methodology is introduced to energetically optimize various design parameters of the flat plate solar collector. The design parameters of a flat plate collector are the key factors affecting its performance. The effect of the ambient temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed is also included in the design array to achieve a robust configuration. The Taguchi method results showed that the number of collector flow tubes and the back insulation thickness are the most significant factors in the performance characteristics. Since the Taguchi method optimizes only the performance responses individually. Therefore, the data are then preprocessed by the response model approach based on the I-optimal computer design using the coordinate exchange algorithm. The results showed the ability of the proposed method for optimizing the performance of various components of the solar water heating system in particular and renewable energy systems in general.

The technical and economic challenges associated with using solar thermal systems for heating water in large-scale aquaculture applications in a cold climate country are addressed in this paper. Policies of using solar thermal heating for large aquaculture farms and corresponding reduction of CO₂ emissions are presented for a case study in Finland. The design characteristics of the farm are based on the Danish recirculation aquaculture system (RAS). The characteristics of the original system are reconstructed to adopt an arrangement of glazed solar collectors to supply a fraction of the heating demand. The optimum mix of solar fraction and electric energy fraction is chosen based on the economic feasibility, with corresponding reduction in CO₂ emissions. National policies, such as increasing grants on capital costs and reducing the interest rate for solar thermal projects, are proposed to provide a more attractive return and lower risk to private fish farm investors in Finland.

In this investigation, a feasibility study of installing PV panels on the rooftop of School of Engineering at NU is carried out. A 24 kWp rooftop PV installation with a 14.7% capacity factor, capable to export 31 MWh of electricity to the grid per year, is analyzed. Three scenarios or policy options are presented. The scenarios corresponded to having or not government grants (GG) and having attractive Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) rates to determine their financial benefits. The GG scenario was considered as 30% of project cost, while FIT was varied from current rate in the country (36,410 KZT/MWh) to a more attractive rate. Results demonstrate that current scenario of FIT is marginally favorable, while 30% of incentives on initial costs moderatedly improves the benefits of the project. However, a hypothetical FIT of 70,000 KZT/MWh, even without incentives, dramatically improves the outcome (e.g., equity payback of 5 years).

The techno-economic assessment of solar water heating (SWH) systems in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan, is presented. Active indirect solar collectors designed and manufactured by a local developer were considered in the analysis. This work makes evident that, despite the perception that unsubsidized solar technology is not cost-effective yet, implementation of SWH systems for private households might bring economic and environmental benefits to Kazakhstan when competing with electric heating systems. The study shows that a SWH system in a single-family home in Astana may produce 4.5 MWh of heating per year, reducing 56.3% the amount of electricity used by current heaters. The investment in a single-family home system with a cost of 1.5 M KZT leads to 9-year equity payback under current financial conditions in Kazakhstan, subject to 5% interest loan available for clean energy developers. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions might be reduced in 3.3 tonnes of CO2 eq. annually per household.

Solar thermal energy conversion for hot water preparation is common domestic applications, especially in detached houses. However, in the case of multifamily buildings, implementation of solar systems raises many concerns, particularly regarding the economic benefits. There is a lack of scientific papers presenting long-term operational results of this type of systems. Therefore, this paper presents results of 3-year measurements carried out in four multifamily buildings located in the Lublin region, in Poland. On the basis of conducted measurements, conventional energy consumption [GJ/m3] for domestic hot water preparation was estimated. Additionally, the influence of hot water demand [m3] on unit heat consumption for domestic hot water preparation [GJ/m3] is presented. Studies have shown that the unit energy consumption for hot water preparation decreases with increasing water consumption. Achieved results were assessed on the basis of LCA methodology with global warming potential technique.

The performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems depends on many factors such as PV module temperature, solar radiation availability and the accumulation of dirt on solar panels. The temperature increment is one of the most challenging factors that affects the performance of photovoltaic systems which causes significant degradation in the cell efficiency and the amount of generated power specially in the high concentrator photovoltaics (HCPV); to overcome this issue, a cooling method by using thermoelectric cooling module is proposed and investigated. In this work, a thermoelectric module with a heat sink at the back is considered to be attached to the back side of photovoltaic panel. It is assumed that the required power to run the thermoelectric cooling module is provided by the photovoltaic panel itself. Solar irradiance, ambient temperature, wind velocity and the fin area of the heat sink are the most important parameters that affect the cell temperature and, consequently, the amount of generated power. An analytical model is developed and simulated by MATLAB to determine the cell temperature and calculates the optimized extra power generated by the photovoltaic cells due to cooling effect by the variation of the mentioned parameters. The results demonstrate a potential for improvement; however, the amount of extra generated power relates to the environmental circumstances and concentration ratio.

This paper evaluates the environmental impact of solar thermal systems in hotel buildings using LCA approach. The energy and the environmental performances of one of the most common renewable technologies have been studied: the solar thermal systems for space heating and domestic hot water production (solar combi systems). A life cycle assessment has been performed following the international standards of ISO 14040 series, supported by GaBi software. The aim is to trace the energy system’s environmental impact related to its life cycle. A comprehensive review of similar analysis for energy systems is presented, and the results are compared with the ones derived from conventional systems as well as other renewable energy technologies. The results presented in this paper include the analysis of the production, disposal and transportation of the materials and energy used for the manufacturing processes of the building’s energy systems.

In the specific chapter, the optical performance of a symmetric and an asymmetric mini compound parabolic concentrator, adjusted on a circular absorber, is investigated. The operation of the two concentrators was examined at the typical day of each month of a whole year in Athens, considering that the north-south axis is first parallel to the width of the reflectors (E-W axis orientation) and then to the length of them (N-S axis orientation). The collectors’ performances were examined at 9 h of each day from 8:00 to 16:00. The symmetric configuration was tested not only at horizontal position but also by setting its aperture plane parallel to the aperture of the asymmetric reflector (7° inclination) for the E-W axis orientation. The results showed a total prevalence of the asymmetric configuration in the majority of the examined cases greater than 4.7%. The design and simulation of the concentrators were conducted in Solidworks.

In this chapter, a mini-compound parabolic collector with a coaxial flow evacuated tube was investigated and analyzed. The concentrator was designed optimally for zero incident angles while the collector was tested considering that solar radiation falls perpendicular on the aperture. The collector’s thermal efficiency was examined first, and the convection regime both at the inner (delivery) tube and at the annuli region was calculated and compared to respective theoretical approaches. Furthermore, the temperature fields of the working medium, the absorber, and the glass envelope were determined and presented, while the inner diameter of the delivery tube was modified by taking several different values considering that the absorber surface is directly exposed on the environment. The results revealed that the possible increment on the thermal performance going from the worst to the best diameter scenario is greater than 5.7%. The specific collector was designed and simulated in Solidworks.

In this chapter, detailed thermal and optical models for PTSCs were formed. The purpose of the model is to determine the collector losses in PTSCs and thus to obtain the collector efficiency. A parametric study was conducted to assess the effect of some key design and operating parameters on the performance of the PTSC. An exergy analysis for PTSC is conducted to obtain the exergetic efficiency of PTSCs and to find the exergy destruction of the PTSCs. In addition, an optimization study using Taguchi method was applied to find the design parameters that give the maximum exergetic efficiency of the PTSC. The results show that when the solar radiation and aperture width increase, the exergetic efficiency increases for any heat transfer fluid used. On the other hand, when the outer diameter and wind speed increase, the exergetic efficiency decreases. In addition, Taguchi results show that the exergetic efficiency gets its maximum value (50.19%).

This work introduces the method of estimating factors (wind speed and insolation) influencing the equivalent outdoor temperature for one multifamily building on the basis of a long-term exploitive research. Different times of the day and night assumed by calculations were taken into account, and the attention to the accuracy of obtained results was paid. The influence of the wind speed within the range below 3 m/s, 3 ÷ 6 m/s and above 6 m/s on the value of the heat power delivered to the building was presented. The attention was paid to received correlation coefficients and to the archival value of proposed method.

This paper provides an overview of topics and trends that have shaped the current approaches to environmental performance assessment of buildings as part of an overall sustainability assessment. Until recently, most of the focus on reducing energy demands in buildings has been to manage and reduce their operational energy consumption through better design and management in use. However, as building codes become stricter and more buildings are constructed to higher energy standards, energy consumed during the life cycle stages other than the operation grows in relative importance to the overall energy impact. In response, recent trends involve (1) the increasing acknowledgement of the need to shift toward a life cycle approach to the quantification of building energy consumption and (2) the broadening of the assessment scope beyond primary energy demand to include a wider range of environmental (and health-related) issues. The discussion in this paper is built around these two prevailing trends.

Renewable Energy-Supplying cooperatives (REScoops) are cooperatives of renewable energy producers and/or consumers, which are under formulation in the emerging European smart grid. Their emergence highlights the importance of proconsuming green energy and simultaneously puts forward principles such as energy democracy and self-consumption, assists the fight against energy poverty, and helps reduce GHG emissions. To this end, the incorporation of scientific and technological solutions into the REScoops’ everyday business and practices, is key for improving these practices and assessing their potential benefits, and as such for enabling them to deliver the maximum possible gains to their members and society at large. This chapter outlines three key axes of scientific research and solutions that can be used for REScoops, namely, (a) a statistical analysis, (b) an applied behavioural analysis, and (c) an artificial intelligence/machine learning one. Also presented are results and lessons learned from providing such solutions to European REScoops as part of the H2020 REScoop Plus project.

Flexible market mechanisms, such as Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), can help to overcome financial barriers towards the EU targets. Despite the huge energy efficiency potential, the EPC market is still underdeveloped in several Southern European countries; flagship projects in the tertiary sector are rare. National demand for EPC in six countries (Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) was analysed, by interviewing over 180 stakeholders, showing that large buildings are of great interest for EPC providers. There are still several bottlenecks to overcome for the wide adoption of EPC projects: insufficient knowledge and skills, difficult access to financing, lack of specialized bank products, high guarantees and interest rates, scarce examples and lack of standardization practices/certification. Possible EPC applications in tertiary sector buildings in Greece are presented. Scenarios involving passive and active solutions, as well as renewable energy systems, are studied through a standardized approach.

As a vast Northern nation, Canada faces unique challenges in addressing climate change. Indeed, almost 63% of total energy consumption in Canada is due to space heating. This investigation compares two energy efficiency options for an existent eight-apartment building located in the region of Nova Scotia. The first option (Option 1) corresponds to upgrading building envelope insulation with either low-thermal-resistance/low-cost material (sub-option 1-A) or high-thermal-resistance/high-cost material (sub-option 1-B). A second option (Option 2) consists of replacing the existing oil boilers with electric heaters. The life-cycle cost analysis pointed to insulation with higher thermal resistance (Option 1-B) as the best option, with fuel savings of 11.4%; 2-year simple payback; IRR and NPV of 53.7% and 28,284 €, respectively; and benefit-cost ratio of 6.67, demonstrating that there is plenty space to implement effective and viable energy efficiency measures in the residential sector of Nova Scotia and, by extension, in other populated mid-temperate latitudes around the world.

Nowadays, improving the energy efficiency of buildings without decreasing the comfort of its occupants is of great importance in the whole world. The most widespread passive energy control strategy is the utilization of insulation materials with low thermal transmittance. This chapter proposes an alternative control strategy that would help to create more stable temperatures inside a room. This is changing the thermal capacity of a common wall with the integration of phase change material (PCM). To evaluate the performance of the PCM, user-defined scripts are coded in commercial CFD solver ANSYS FLUENT to simulate one-dimensional heat transfer through a wall within a detached cabin in a city with Mediterranean climate for 1 day in the hot season. The placement and amount of PCM in the building element are changed and analyzed. The results show a decrease in the indoor wall temperature up to 6 °C, which is promising for further research.

The energy efficiency impact of replacing fluorescent lamps with light-emitting diode (LED) and electric water heaters with solar thermal systems in two municipal buildings in Ekurhuleni, South Africa, is examined, including effects of current policies. The analysis shows that switching from fluorescent to LEDs achieves 37.3% energy savings and 41.6 tonnes CO2-equiv emissions savings, while installing motion sensors results in 56.8% energy savings and 73.8 tonnes CO2-equiv emissions reduction. Adding motion sensors led to NPV of 17,163 USD and payback period of 2.4 years, compared to 29,682 USD and 2.8 years without them. Solar water heating led to 63.3% in energy saving and 9.2 tonnes CO2-equiv emissions savings. Under current policies, payback period of lighting project with LEDs and motion sensors decreases to 1.4 years. For solar water heating, existing policies allow receiving 56.4% of capital cost in incentives, which results in a payback period of 5.7 years.

In this chapter, assessment of energy consumption in Spanish hospitals is analysed. The quantification of energy consumption in hospitals is essential to save energy and establish design criteria. Average energy consumption in hospitals in Spain adds up to about 20% of the total energy consumed in the service sector. The aim of this paper is to analyse and quantify the final average energy consumption in hospitals in Spain according to appropriate parameters, including built surface area, number of bed and number of employees. The results show that the average annual energy consumption in normal operation conditions in the hospitals under study can serve as a starting point for the development of indicators in order to quantify the exact consumption of energy. They can also help to set optimal hospital infrastructure through healthcare engineering.

The residential progressive electricity tariffs (RPET), which can affect the economic performance of the photovoltaic (PV) system, was recently amended in South Korea. In this regard, this study aimed to analyze the effect of RPET on the economic performance of the building-integrated photovoltaic blind (BIPB). This study was conducted in three steps: (i) development of an estimation model for the techno-economic performance of BIPB, (ii) establishment of representative household types, and (iii) impact analysis of RPET on the economic performance of BIPB. The main findings can be summarized as follows. First, the yearly based mean absolute percentage error of the developed finite element model was determined to be 4.54%. Second, considering RPET, the economic performance of BIPB was analyzed to be higher in the case of the households with a larger amount of electricity consumption. This study can provide decision-makers with intuitive results on the economic performance of BIPB considering RPET.

Centrifugal roof fans can be categorized as low-power fans. Nevertheless, they make approximately 30% of fans used in nonresidential ventilation. On a mass scale this makes them large energy consumers. In this chapter, enhanced CFD models for the prediction of fan energy performance and noise emissions are evaluated. First, the RANS-based models with the frozen rotor approach and k−ε/k−ω turbulence models were reviewed. Secondly, more advanced models of frozen rotor RANS, URANS, and LES models are investigated. The CFD predictions are compared to experimental data from a previous study. The results show that improved prediction of energy efficiency is obtained with LES-based CFD models for the off-design flow regimes. RANS and URANS models can also provide satisfactory results. A good fan noise emission prediction can be obtained using LES data. This allows for the investigation of wide-spectra noise in comparison with RANS-based models.

Environmental sustainability has emerged as a key issue amοngst governments, policymakers, researchers and the public. Increasing efforts have been devoted to research and environmental policies in order to identify, evaluate and assess harmful environment impacts. This study discusses the potential environmental assessment of tourism accommodation facilities and their contribution to global carbon footprint. The carbon footprint analysis was used as a tool to define the processes, supported by Gabi Software, taking into consideration the most significant energy consumption and improve the present situation of a hotel studied in Greece. In that sense, sustainability is essential for the hotel industry as well, for two main reasons: (a) as a means for the improvement of the quality of services and (b) as a major tool for marketing and promoting. Companies and organizations are therefore pursuing “carbon footprint” indicators to estimate their own contributions to global climate change and to assess the saving potential.

Both environmental aspects and comfort sensation are parameters of high priority for the construction and design of buildings. Considering that the existing European building stock is a major energy consumer, it is clear that its environmental aspect should be improved. Therefore, an evaluation of the indoor environmental parameters was conducted in office buildings, located in Thessaloniki, Greece. In order to carry out the environment evaluation, a revealed preference survey is conducted, determining the occupants’ perceived comfort sensation. In detail, an inferential statistical analysis is conducted, specifying the statistically important correlations, regarding the perceived occupants’ comfort sensation and productivity along with a variety of environmental relative parameters, focusing on thermal comfort, health, and well-being of the occupants’ based on integrated green certification schemes for buildings, such as BREEAM and LEED. Therefore, the vision of a green, not only regarding the energy consumption but also the occupants, building can be accomplished.

Given our current way of life and indiscriminate use of conventional electricity, it is essential to define a series of strategies aimed at energy saving and environmental comfort inside buildings. Proper design not only provides thermal and visual comfort for users within the architecture but also enables rational use of electrical energy. The aim of this study was to use interdisciplinary participation to generate a series of sustainable projects within universities and within the scope of public buildings. One of the main objectives was to start a new culture in the construction of office buildings through an environmental point of view. The present report describes a project on energy saving in administrative and educational buildings, taking as an example the main administrative building at the University of Guadalajara. The analysis was based mainly on the energy used in air conditioning, artificial lighting, and the connected equipment in each unit.

Healthcare facilities consume much more energy than most industrial commercial buildings. In this context, they have about twice as much energy consumption and CO2 emissions as a conventional commercial building. Approximately 11% of commercial electricity consumption is used by healthcare facilities. Independent research has shown that the share of lighting in total energy consumption is about 16%, while its share in electricity consumption reaches 44% in healthcare facilities. Sustainability and energy efficiency are becoming more important. It is very important to create a design that will make both the employee and the patient feel comfortable and well in the type of structures that consume energy 24 h a day. In 24/7 working environments like hospitals, different applications for each environment will be integrated into different automation systems, and energy saving will be ensured along with desired efficiency.

In this chapter, we considered a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system, which was installed at Yasar University in Izmir, Turkey, within the framework of an EU/FP7-funded project and has been successfully operated since February 8, 2016. The BIPV system consists of 48 crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules in 4 rows and 12 columns, and the total capacity is 7.44 kW_p. We applied the specific exergy costing (SPECO) method to the BIPV system for the first time to the best of the authors’ knowledge. In this regard, we briefly introduced the BIPV system in this study first. We then used the SPECO method for assessing the performance of the BIPV system. Exergetic costs associated with the generated electricity varied between 0.21 and 0.36 €/kWh_ex for the selected days, with an average exergetic cost of 0.368 €/kWh_ex for the whole year.