Renewable energy can effectively cope with resource depletion and reduce environmental pollution, but its intermittent nature impedes large-scale development. Therefore, developing advanced technologies for energy storage and conversion is critical. Dielectric ceramic capacitors are promising energy storage technologies due to their high-power density, fast charge and discharge speed, and good endurance. Despite having high-power density, their low energy storage density limits their energy storage applications. Lead-free barium titanate (BaTiO3)-based ceramic dielectrics have been widely studied for their potential applications in energy storage due to their excellent properties. While progress has been made in improving their energy storage density, several challenges need to be addressed. This paper presents the progress of lead-free barium titanate-based dielectric ceramic capacitors for energy storage applications. Firstly, the paper provides an overview of existing energy storage technologies and the fundamental principles of energy storage in dielectrics. Then we reviewed the advances of lead-free barium titanate-based ceramic as a dielectric material in ceramic capacitors and discussed the progress made in improving energy storage properties via composition modification, various preparation methods, and structure modification. The energy storage density of ceramic bulk materials is still limited (less than 10 J/cm3), but thin films show promising results (about 102 J/cm3). Finally, the paper also highlights some recommendations for the future development and testing of ceramics dielectrics for energy storage applications which include investigation of performance at lower temperatures (< 30 °C) and higher temperatures (> 200 °C), compatibility with low-cost electrodes, scale-up capability and standardizing the test parameters.
Remote rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa are not usually connected to national grids through electricity, which is fundamental to the welfare and development of communities. To quench the energy demand, the communities are burning a huge amount of biomass every year, aggravating the existing global warming scenario and leading to health deterioration of women and children. Hence, the current global trend is to electrify communities using the renewable energy resources. Adem Tuleman is a remote rural village in the Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia with the absence of access to electricity. The study presented herein, was intended to investigate the optimal hybridization of wind, solar, and diesel systems for the electrification of Adem Tuleman. The village was observed to have an average 204.04 kWh/day energy demand with 31 kW/day peak load, 4.5 kWh/day deferrable load and 900 kWh/day peak deferrable load. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed system was a feasible solution to electrify Adem Tuleman. A financial analysis indicated that the project would have an initial capital cost of $24,817.00, an operating and maintenance cost of $12,862.00, and a total net present value of $189,233.00. The minimum cost of energy obtained was $0.195/kWh. The result of this study confirms that the remote rural communities can be effectively electrified through the hybridization of green and conventional energy sources with minimal costs.
While there are growing interests in the design and analysis of hybrid power systems fueled by solar, wind, and diesel resources, the integration of municipal solid wastes into the energy mix is rarely reported. Given this, the present study conducted a techno-economic and environmental feasibility analysis of hybrid wind–solar energy systems incorporating municipal solid waste-fueled power plants to complement an unreliable grid wheeling electricity to a district in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. A hybrid optimization model for electric renewables was employed to explore various design options. According to the results, the optimal system ranked based on the lowest net present cost comprised solar photovoltaic panels of 20,000 kW, waste-to-energy plants of 500 kW, a power converter of 5000 kW, grid power of 999,999 kW and 25,000 strings of battery energy storage system. The operating cost, levelized cost of energy, and net present cost of this system are lower by 55%, 68%, and 85%, respectively, compared to using grid/diesel generator architecture. Similarly, the environment will be saved from the emission of carbon dioxide of 7148 tons/year, sulfur dioxides of 21.57 tons/year, nitrogen oxides of 34.75 tons/year, carbon monoxide of 35.30 tons/year, unburned hydrocarbons of 1.53 tons/year, and particulate matter of 0.80 tons/year if the proposed model were to be implemented. This study, therefore, concludes that municipal solid waste is a viable candidate to offset carbon-intensive diesel in hybrid renewable energy systems operations.
Pipelines are critical for energy distribution, but incidents causing rupture fires are hazardous. While wildland fires are a natural disturbance, rupture fires are a potential risk and novel disturbance given the greater heat yield constants for fossil fuels, fuel volume, and flaming concentration and duration. We quantified vegetation response to a 2018 rupture fire case study in the montane cordillera of Canada. Plant species, functional groups, ground cover, and live vegetation height were sampled in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 [0, 1, 2, and 3 years since fire (YSF)] in permanent plots stratified by burn severity and compared to the unburned reference plots sampled in 2019. Woody plant species and forb cover in burned plots recovered to levels similar to unburned plots. Litter and bare soil changes relative to YSF suggest trajectories to return to levels similar to unburned plots within 3 to 5 years post-rupture. Plant species richness, evenness, and diversity had also recovered to levels statistically similar to unburned comparisons by the final year of sampling in this study. Plots closest to the rupture epicenter that experienced ‘extreme’ burn had greater botanical dissimilarity from other burn severities or unburned comparisons. Vegetation structure showed significant (p < 0.0001) recovery with additional growth expected as the overstory re-establishes. The multiple metrics of ecological recovery on 3–5 year trajectories are comparable to published responses to wildland fire in the literature for this ecosystem’s response to fire. The recovery of conifers and soil microbiota should be assessed in the next decade.
| • | Grape marc and its blends with lignite showed positive/enhanced fuel characteristics. |
| • | The activation energy of grape marc was lower than that of lignite. |
| • | The empirical chemical formula of the grape marc found to be C277N10SH398O134. |
| • | The synergistic effect of grape marc co-combustion with lignite was detected. |
| • | Maximum emission factors of grape marc were 98.5 gCO2/MJ, 0.5 gNO/MJ, and 0.5 gSO2/MJ. |
Integration of phase change material (PCM) into the building envelope can improve building energy efficiency. This work aims to numerically investigate the performance of mobile PCM layers in a building wall during different seasons (summer and winter). Various combinations of PCM melting temperature are investigated. The modeling is based on conduction heat transfer and enthalpy method. The results highlight the best combination for temperature regulation in both summer and winter, resulting in the highest performance. Furthermore, combinations with melting temperature close to the outside fluctuating temperature and to the inside comfort temperature (according to the season) ensure the best annual performance of the building envelope in terms of smoothing the instantaneous heat flux and diminishing the fluctuating temperature amplitude. Moreover, the best option with PCM fraction of 35% decreases the required power for heating and air conditioning by up to 12%.