Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy (19179)

Sliding pressure control is a well-known method of controlling supercritical power plants that improves energy efficiency and reduces pressure dynamic stresses. This paper presents a novel approach for developing a supercritical cleaner coal power plant’s sliding pressure control strategy. First, using Whale Optimizer, a nonlinear identified transfer matrix model was created (WO). By comparing simulations and errors, the WO clearly outperforms the GA and Grey-Wolf Optimizer (GWO) techniques on parameter identification. The model also includes a multivariable PI/PD controller for improved plant operation. Again, WO controller tuning outperformed GA and GWO in terms of pressure deviations, power deviations, rise time, and fuel usage. It is now argued that the WO is superior to other techniques in modeling and controlling system dynamics, energy efficiency, and cleaner operation. Full article

Understanding the spatial differentiation and driving mechanisms of ecosystem service value (ESV) is helpful for the protection and sustainable development of the ecological environment. Despite the fact that various studies on ESV have been conducted in various regions, few studies have discussed the spatial differentiation characteristics of ESV in a long time series at a national scale, and even fewer studies have thoroughly examined the driving mechanism of the spatial differentiation of ESV from the perspective of different regions. On the basis of China’s land use data from 1990 to 2018, this paper used the methods of land use dynamics, the ESV evaluation model, hot spot analysis, the barycenter model, and the geographical detector model to study the temporal and spatial differentiation characteristics of land use and ESV in the study area. Moreover, it analyzes the driving mechanisms of the spatial differentiation of ESV at the national scale and in different regions of China. Our results showed the following: (1) Other land types have increased overall, with the exception of grassland. Obvious differences were observed in the single land use dynamics of each land type, especially the construction land, where farmland was the primary source of construction land. With the passage of time, the dynamic degree of comprehensive land use increased. (2) During the study period, ESV generally showed a decreasing trend, with distinct characteristics in high and low ESV areas. The center of gravity of ESV was constantly in Dingxi County and Pingliang City, Shaanxi Province, and its trajectory was generally “S”-shaped. (3) From the perspective of national scale and different regions, the dominant factors affecting the spatial differentiation of ESV were different, and the interaction among multiple factors was significantly stronger than that of a single factor. The findings of the study can provide more scientific decision-making services for China in order to promote regional environmental protection and develop ecological civilization. Full article

The technology of variable speed wind turbines is very promising in renewable power generation. It is imperative for wind turbines to gain control after grid disturbances and contribute to the stability of power grids as part of the requirements of grid codes set by grid operators in operating wind farms. Fault current limiters (FCLs) are capable of augmenting the performance of wind turbines during grid disturbances. In this article, the augmentation of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) and the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) wind turbines, which are the two most popular variable speed wind turbines, is presented. The evaluation of both wind turbines was performed considering the Series Dynamic Braking Resistor (SDBR), Bridge Fault Current Limiter (BFCL) and the Capacitive Bridge Fault Current Limiter (CBFCL). The modeling of the FCLs in the wind turbines was derived for steady state and grid disturbances so that their dynamic behavior could be understood. The grid voltage variable was employed as the signal for switching the FCLs in both wind turbines during grid disturbances. Moreover, a scenario with no control using the FCLs was also carried out for both wind turbines. The performance of the FCLs in both wind turbines was analyzed and compared using a severe three-phase to ground fault at their terminals. For effective comparison, the same conditions of operation were used in investigating the performance of the FCLs control strategies in both wind turbines during grid disturbances. The study was conducted using Power System Computer-Aided Design and Electromagnetic Transient including DC (PSCAD/EMTDC) environment. Full article

One-third of all food produced for human use is discarded as waste, resulting in environmental pollution and impaired food security. Fruit peels have bioactive compounds that may be used as antimicrobials and antioxidants, and the use of fruit peels is considered an alternative way to reduce environmental problems and agro-industrial waste. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phytochemical, mineral, extraction yield, total phenolic, total flavonoids, antioxidant, and antibacterial activity of several peel fruits, including Citrus sinensis (orange) and Punica granatum (pomegranate). The results revealed that pomegranate peel powder contains the highest amounts of ash, fiber, total carbohydrates, Ca, Fe, Mg, and Cu, while orange peel contains the highest amounts of moisture, protein, crude fat, P, and K. Furthermore, the aqueous and methanolic pomegranate peel extracts yielded higher total phenolic and total flavonoids than the orange peel extract. The identification and quantification of polyphenol compounds belonging to different classes, such as tannins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids in pomegranate peel and flavonoid compounds in orange peel were performed using UPLC-MS/MS. In addition, GC-MS analysis of orange peel essential oil discovered that the predominant compound is D-Limonene (95.7%). The aqueous and methanolic extracts of pomegranate peel were proven to be efficient against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria linked to human infections. Sponge cake substituting wheat flour with 3% pomegranate peel and 10% orange peel powder had the highest total phenolic, flavonoid compounds, and antioxidant activity as compared to the control cake. Our results concluded that pomegranate and orange peel flour can be used in cake preparation and natural food preservers. Full article

Strategies for production and use of nanomaterials have rapidly moved towards safety and sustainability. Beyond these requirements, the novel routes must prove to be able to preserve and even improve the performance of the resulting nanomaterials. Increasing demand of high-performance nanomaterials is mostly related to electronic components, solar energy harvesting devices, pharmaceutical industries, biosensors, and photocatalysis. Among nanomaterials, Zinc oxide (ZnO) is of special interest, mainly due to its environmental compatibility and vast myriad of possibilities related to the tuning and the enhancement of ZnO properties. Doping plays a crucial role in this scenario. In this work we report and discuss the properties of undoped ZnO as well as lanthanide (Eu, Tb, and La)-doped ZnO nanoparticles obtained by using whey, a by-product of milk processing, as a chelating agent, without using citrate nor any other chelators. The route showed to be very effective and feasible for the affordable large-scale production of both pristine and doped ZnO nanoparticles in powder form. Full article

This study determined whether it is feasible to pretreat mixed agro-waste of different particle sizes using the pitcher fluid of Nepenthes mirabilis (N. mirabilis), which is known to digest leaf litter due to the enzyme cocktail contained in the fluid. This is due to the need for the holocellulolysis (a source of fermentable sugars) of mixed agro-waste to produce fermentable hydrolysates. The pitcher fluid was fractionated (<3 kDa, >3 kDa, <10 kDa, >10 kDa) and slurrified with the mixed agro-waste, i.e., 25% (w/w) for each waste—orange peels, apple peels, maize cobs, grape pomace, and oak plant leaf litter of various particle sizes, i.e., >75 µm x < 106 µm and >106 µm. The process of producing a high concentration of total reducible sugars (TRSs) with the lowest production of total phenolic compounds (TPCs) was determined to be a particle size of >106 µm, pretreatment for 72 h, and an enzyme fraction of <10 kDa, whereby 97 g/L of TRSs were produced with a significantly lower TPCs load (1 g/L). Furthermore, the <10 kDa showed preferable physico-chemical properties, with the highest reduction-oxidation potential including acidity. Several enzymes, i.e., β-1,3-Glucanase, Putative peroxidase 27, Thaumatin-like protein, among others, were identified in the <10 kDa fraction, i.e., enzymes known to perform various functions in plant-based waste. Therefore, there is a need for the renewable energy industry to consider solely using pitcher fluids to pretreat mixed agro-waste for fermentable hydrolysates’ production, which can be used as liquid feedstock for the bioenergy and/or biorefinery industries for environmental pollution reduction. Full article

Wind turbine blade erosion is typically assessed in situ using visual inspection, which is a rudimentary qualitative assessment of the condition of the blade coating system. On coated test specimens in laboratory test conditions, mass loss can provide a better understanding of the stage of erosion, but cannot be extended to real world applications. In this work, by using analysis of photographs, microscopy images, mass data, and gloss data together, it was found that gloss measurements can effectively quantify changes in coating microstructure as a result of rain erosion. This was achieved by correlating and comparing mass loss measurements over time with surface gloss and verifying the erosion stages with photographs and microscopy images. As such, gloss was shown to represent the erosion stages with greater accuracy than the current industry methods. This novel technique has been shown to identify the incubation period, that is the onset of erosion damage, by detecting microstructure changes which are not visible to the naked eye, nor is determinable by mass loss. The quantitative output from the gloss methodology thus allows wind turbine owners and operators to assess, manage, and plan more efficiently for costly erosion repairs and future inspections. The system is presently being used in a laboratory setting, though it has the potential to be combined with drones or climber robots to be remotely used within the wind farm. Full article

Environmental sustainability is one of three pillars of sustainability. However, a significant worldwide deterioration in the environment has been experienced since the Industrial Revolution, but the efforts to protect the environment date back to the 1970s. In this context, many economic and non-economic factors underlying environmental degradation have been investigated until today, but the influence of economic freedom indicators and education on the environment have been relatively less analyzed and the researchers have mainly focused on the influence of economic and institutional variables on the environment. Therefore, this paper investigates the reciprocal interplay among economic freedom indicators, education, and environment in EU member states over the 2000–2018 term by using a causality test with cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity and taking the research gap into consideration. The causality analysis indicates that market-oriented economic structure and education can be beneficial in combatting environmental degradation. Full article

Cost-effective wind energy harvesting by wind turbines in urban areas needs to strengthen the required flow field properties, such as mean velocity, turbulence, and its distribution. This paper conducts a series of CFD simulations to investigate the characteristics and related mechanisms of flow within the cavity, considering the force–turbulence interactions at the RANS scales. The pressure–velocity correlation term is formulated and solved by the elliptic relaxation equation to compensate for the Reynolds stress overestimation. Numerical simulations of flow over an open cavity with the proposed model are compared with corresponding PIV data. The results show that the mean velocity and the fluctuation velocity along the streamwise direction exist a slightly favorable pressure gradient. While the fluctuation velocity and fluctuation pressure show different correlation characteristics along the streamwise direction. Moreover, the pressure–velocity fluctuation correlation becomes obvious near the upper corner of the cavity due to the favorable pressure gradient. Hence, the leading and trailing locations of the cavity are both obvious favorable regions and further emphasis should be put on both high-accurate simulation methods and practical applications. Full article

Metamaterials refers to a class of artificial materials with special properties. Through its unique geometry and the small size of each unit, the material can acquire unique electromagnetic field properties that conventional materials do not have. Based on these factors, we put forward a kind of high absorption near-ultraviolet to near-infrared electromagnetic wave absorber of the solar energy. The surface structure of the designed absorber is composed of TiN-TiO₂-Al₂O₃ with rectangles and disks, and the substrate is Ti-Al₂O₃-Ti layer. In the study band range (0.1–3.0 μm), the solar absorber’s average absorption is up to 96.32%, and the designed absorber absorbs more than 90% of the electromagnetic wave with a wavelength width of 2.577 μm (0.413–2.990 μm). Meanwhile, the designed solar absorber has good performance under different angles of oblique incident light. Ultra-wideband solar absorbers have great potential in light absorption related applicaitions because of their wide spectrum high absorption properites. Full article

Innovations in buildings help to reduce energy consumption and promote environmental protection and as well as the use of renewable energy technology. However, there is a conflict when the need for an innovation clashes with the financial burden and the complex adoption processes. As a result, the negative impacts of buildings remain, and the low adoption of strategic innovations remains unaddressed. This study aims to explore this challenge, the various sides of this debate and provide a practical guide which promotes energy and building-related innovations driven by policy. This paper is an extract from a recent doctoral study conducted using an exploratory qualitative model and interviews with eighty-six residents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) was selected as a case study energy innovation and the thematic analysis of the data collected suggests that BIPV adoption is limited by multiple barriers. The debate arising from the findings highlights two opposing viewpoints. One view claims that mandatory policies are necessary to promote innovation adoption. The other view argues that the merits of mandatory policy are lost since multiple barriers significantly discourage adoption in the first place. The study takes a proactive step towards resolving the debate using a systematic approach that recommends specific drivers backed by supporting policies to guide human-centered, stakeholder-driven renewable energy transition. Full article

Unlike herbaceous plants, woody plants undergo volumetric growth (a.k.a. secondary growth) through wood formation, during which the secondary xylem (i.e., wood) differentiates from the vascular cambium. Wood is the most abundant biomass on Earth and, by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide, functions as one of the largest carbon sinks. As a sustainable and eco-friendly energy source, lignocellulosic biomass can help address environmental pollution and the global climate crisis. Studies of Arabidopsis and poplar as model plants using various emerging research tools show that the formation and proliferation of the vascular cambium and the differentiation of xylem cells require the modulation of multiple signals, including plant hormones, transcription factors, and signaling peptides. In this review, we summarize the latest knowledge on the molecular mechanism of wood formation, one of the most important biological processes on Earth. Full article

Coal slime blending can effectively improve the utilization rate of fossil fuels and reduce environmental pollution. However, the combustion in the furnace is unstable due to the empty pump phenomenon during the coal slurry transport. The combustion instability affects the material distribution in the furnace and harms the unit operation. The bed pressure in the circulating fluidized bed unit reflects the amount of material in the furnace. An accurate bed pressure prediction model can reflect the future material quantity in the furnace, which helps adjust the operation of the unit in a timely fashion. Thus, a deep learning-based prediction method for bed pressure is proposed in this paper. The Pearson correlation coefficient with time correction was used to screen the input variables. The Gaussian convolution kernels were used to implement the extraction of inertial delay characteristics of the data. Based on the computational theory of the temporal attention layer, the model was trained using the segmented approach. Ablation experiments verified the innovations of the proposed method. Compared with other models, the mean absolute error of the proposed model reached 0.0443 kPa, 0.0931 kPa, and 0.0345 kPa for the three data sets, respectively, which are better than those of the other models. Full article

Rapid urbanization has already caused many impacts, such as environmental degradation and imbalanced resource allocation. As the frontiers of urbanization, urban fringe areas (UFAs) present both urban and rural characteristics and undergo complex socio-economic structural changes. Accurately identifying the spatial extent of UFAs is highly significant because it contributes to understanding the pattern of urban spatial expansion and guides future urban planning. However, existing methods are strongly affected by subjective factors. To solve this problem, this study presents a new approach to identifying UFAs, with the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle as the study area. The new method achieved an identification accuracy of 74.2%, effectively eliminated some noise points, and reduced the influence of subjective factors. From an applied perspective, this study employed the Geo-information Tupu and density-field-based hotspot detector to analyze the spatial pattern of educational resources. Overall, the results showed that hotspots of educational resources are concentrated in places with good transportation or near urban areas; and the generalized symmetric structure Tupu of hotspots is diverse. In addition, the results can reveal the hotspot formation mechanism and provide a reference for resource allocation. Full article

Using livestock residues as alternative fertilizers is a sustainable practice which recycles nutrients that would otherwise be lost. However, organic fertilizers may have a large impact on N₂O emissions, offsetting the beneficial effects of C sequestration. After four years from biochar application, greenhouse gas fluxes were monitored for two years from a Maize field fertilized with digestate, slurry, or urea, with and without biochar. The objectives of the present study were to assess (i) the climate feedback of using residues from the livestock chain as alternative fertilizers and (ii) the contribution of biochar in mitigating GHGs emissions, while increasing the organic C in soil. Digestate was shown to have the highest impact on CO₂ and N₂O emissions from soil, with respect to mineral fertilization (+29 and +142%), more than slurry (+21 and −5%), whereas both residues positively affected CH₄ uptake (+5 and +14%, respectively). The maximum N₂O peaks occurred between 7–20 days after fertilization, accounting for 61% of total emissions, on average. Biochar was effective in reducing N₂O emissions derived from mineral fertilization and digestate (−54% and −17%, respectively). An excess of labile organic matter and N induced the highest CO₂ emissions and N₂O peaks, independent of—or even triggered by—biochar. Mitigation of GHG emissions, from soils fertilized with livestock chain residue, can be obtained using biochar, but with limitations dependent on (i) the quantity of organic matter added, (ii) its quality, and (iii) the time from application: those aspects that deserve further investigations. Full article

With the rapid development of industrialization and the economy, the side effects of ecological problems have become more and more serious, and the importance of the sustainable development paradigm has begun to be valued. This study conducts an empirical analysis of green enterprises and explores the influence of customer involvement and boundary spanning capability on green innovation. The results of the analysis show that there is a positive correlation between customer involvement and boundary spanning capability (including three subordinate factors). Secondly, the results of analyzing the influence relationship between customer involvement and green innovation show that customer involvement has a positive impact on green innovation. In addition, the analysis of the relationship between boundary expansion force and environmental protection innovation shows that there is a positive correlation between the two variables, and the analysis of the mediation effect of boundary spanning capability shows that there is a partial mediation effect between customer involvement and green innovation. However, this study has various limitations in the context of environmental protection, as it is an exploratory study in which the boundary expansion capabilities of firms are manipulated in the context of environmental protection and empirically analyzed through a questionnaire method. For clearer research results, it is necessary to re-validate this research model with objective data in the future. Full article

Unforeseen circumstances that occur anywhere in the world following natural disasters, humanitarian and health emergencies, armed conflicts, or in the presence of migratory flows, require adequate and immediate responses. This work aims to analyze the project requirements useful to realizing modular systems for residential, multifunctional, and hospital intended use, which, even if temporary, can ensure a high-performance standard in terms of comfort and energy efficiency, and at the same time guarantee the possibility of use in the widest possible range and in rapid execution times. The considered requirements have been those of settlement in the territory, energy efficiency, transportability, and re-usability. Temporary modular systems put in place with the abovementioned requirements are the basis of the design proposal; to realize this, they are made with dry technology to be reusable and energy-efficient. Furthermore, this enables the reduction of the minimum modules’ production and times of execution in applying both requirements of standardization and modular coordination. All these requirements also add to the ones relating to energy efficiency, transportability, and reusability, which are the pillars of the project for the achievement of performance above all in terms of standards and comfort levels as it is possible to find in the sustainable building of the living period. Full article

Light steel frame (LSF) building systems offer high structural resilience, lower costs due to fast prefabrication, and high ability to recycle and reuse. The main goal of this paper was to provide state-of-the-art main components for such systems with the intention to be implemented for use in nearly-zero energy buildings (NZEBs). A brief historical outline of the development of LSF systems was given, and the key parameters affecting the design and use of LSF systems were discussed. The influence of the individual components of the LSF system (steel studs, sheathing boards, and insulation materials) was then thoroughly discussed in light of relevant research on energy efficiency and other important properties (such as sound protection and fire resistance). Web of Science and Scopus databases were used for this purpose, using relevant key words: LSF, energy efficiency, sheathing boards, steel studs, insulation, etc. Several research gaps were identified that could be used for development and future research on new LSF systems. Finally, based on the analysis of each component, an innovative LSF composite wall panel was proposed which will be the subject of the authors’ future research. Conducted preliminary analysis showed low thermal transmittance of the system and indicates the path of its further research. Full article

This study investigates the symmetric and asymmetric linkages within environmental sustainability proxied by ecological footprint (EFP), natural resources (NRR), renewable energy consumption (REC), urbanization (URB), human capital (HC), and government effectiveness (GE) in 27 African countries divided into two subgroups (ecological deficit countries and ecological reserve countries) over the period 1990 to 2018. The study employs the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to investigate the symmetric (linear) effect and the nonlinear auto-regressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to study the asymmetric (nonlinear) effects of the variables on EFP. Results of ARDL show that a 1% increase in REC is projected to reduce ecological footprint by 0.17 and 0.2% in ecological deficit and ecological reserve countries. A 1% increase in NRR is estimated to increase ecological footprint by 0.02% in ecological deficit countries but has no impact on the environment in countries with ecological reserves. Similarly, a 1% rise in GE is estimated to increase EFP by 0.04% in Africa but has no impact on the environment in ecological deficit countries. NARDL estimations decomposed REC into positive (negative) shocks, which show that a 1% increase (decrease) in REC is projected to decrease EFP by 0.16% (0.13%) in countries with ecological reserves. Similarly, a positive (negative) shock in NRR is expected to decrease EFP in ecological reserve countries and increase EFP in ecological deficit countries. Results of the Wald tests prove the existence of long-run asymmetry among the variables. The findings indicate that renewable energy consumption enhances environmental quality, while economic growth and natural resource rents reduce environmental quality in Africa over the sampled period. Full article

Hydraulic systems are widely used in industry due to their small size-to-power ratios and their ability to produce very large linear force and torque. In traditional hydraulic systems, a variable pump driven by an electric motor is often used as power source. In these systems, the electro-hydraulic power source always operates at its rated speed, causing lots of noise and low energy consumption, especially in no-load and light-load conditions. These problems can be solved by changing the speed of the electric motor according to the load state of the electro-hydraulic power source. In order to improve the energy efficiency of the electro-hydraulic power source and realize pressure and flow control on the basis of low cost, this paper presents the power-source structure of a variable-displacement pressure-compensated pump driven by a variable-speed electric motor; this controls the flow by adjusting the electric motor speed and controls the pressure with the variable-displacement pressure-compensated pump. However, for the variable-speed system, the starting of the electric motor with a load is relatively slow; this makes it difficult to meet the demand of flow control, and will also have a great impact on the power grid. To address these problems, a hydraulic accumulator is introduced to the inlet port of the hydraulic pump to assist in starting the pump. This method can realize the combined control of pressure, flow and power, and has high energy efficiency. This research uses experiments to verify the feasibility of the scheme, and the results show that the starting periods of the power source can be shortened from 2.8 s to 0.7 s when the load pressure is about 18 MPa. Furthermore, regarding maintaining pressure without flow outputs, the energy consumption of the designed power source can be reduced by almost 30% compared with a pure variable-displacement power source. Full article

Recycling subsidy and carbon tax policies are ways to achieve energy and environmental sustainability. The implementation of these policies has changed the operating environment of traditional closed-loop supply chains, while the privacy of relevant information increases the difficulty of decision-making. Under the background, this paper considers the green closed-loop supply chain (GCLSC) under the hybrid policy of recycling subsidy and carbon tax where the manufacturer is in charge of recycling and the retailer invests in green marketing. Taking green marketing cost coefficient as the retailer’s private information, this paper explores the influence of information asymmetry on optimal decisions and performance of the GCLSC. By constructing game models of information symmetry and asymmetry, the optimal decisions, economic and environmental performance, and social welfare are provided. Combined with numerical analysis, the influence of uncertainty of the manufacturer’s estimation, subsidies and carbon tax on the GCLSC is proposed. The results indicate that the uncertainty in the manufacturer’s estimation can improve the social welfare under certain conditions, but it cannot reduce carbon emissions. Recycling subsidy and carbon tax policies oppositely affect the manufacturer’s optimal decisions and carbon emissions. Information asymmetry is beneficial to the retailer. However, less uncertainty in estimation is not always better for the manufacturer. The manufacturer needs to proactively adopt strategies to stimulate the retailer’s information sharing. Full article

Solar energy is a promising renewable energy source that can fulfill the world’s current and future energy needs. The angle at which a photovoltaic (PV) panel faces the horizon determines the incidence of solar radiation. The incident solar radiation on PV panels could be optimized by adjusting their tilt angles and increasing the power output of the PV array. In this study, solar energy model-based research was conducted in the Saudi Arabian cities of Dhahran and Makkah. This study investigated the performance of a 1 kW monocrystalline silicon PV array in these cities. Analyzing the optimal tilt angle for efficiency and performance improvement of the PV panel is challenging. The optimal tilt angle is determined by combining the data of the Sun’s diffuse, direct radiation and the global horizontal Sun radiation. This research examined the four empirical models by applying the electric charged particle optimization (ECPO) algorithm to estimate the solar radiation on sloped surfaces. The model’s results were compared to the global horizontal solar radiation based on the daily mean solar radiation value in these cities. The Hay–Davies–Klucher–Reindel model presented the maximum amount of tilted surface solar radiation in the year and at different periods. In contrast, the Badescu model exhibited the weakest results of all the isotropic and anisotropic models. Finally, using the ECPO algorithm, all models indicated that tilted surfaces (I_T) received more solar radiation than horizontal surfaces (I_g). Full article

Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy is a very promising renewable energy technology, as solar PV systems are less efficient because of climate conditions, temperature, and irradiance change. So, to resolve this problem, two PV topologies are used, i.e., centralized and distributed PV systems. The centralized technique is quicker than the distributed technique in terms of convergence speed and a faster power tracking approach. In the event of uniform irradiance, the centralized system also has the benefit of supplying superior energy, but in PS scenarios, a huge amount of energy is lost. However, the distributed approach requires current and voltage measurements at each panel, resulting in a massive data set. Nevertheless, in the event of shading circumstances, the distributed technique is highly effective because a modular level power electronics (MLPE) converter is used. While in a centralized PV system, there is only a single DC-DC converter for the whole PV system. In this research work, a DFO-based DC-DC converter is designed for modular level, with an ability to perform a rapid shutdown of the module under fire hazard conditions, troubleshooting, and monitoring of a module in a very efficient way. The robustness of the proposed MPPT DFO algorithm is tested with different techniques such as Cuckoo Search (CS), Fruit Fly Optimization (FFO), Particle swarm optimization (PSO), Incremental conductance (InC), and Perturb and observe(P&O) techniques. The proposed technique shows better results in terms of MPPT efficiency, dynamic responsiveness, and harmonics. Furthermore, the result of MLPE and the centralized system is verified by using the Helioscope with different inverter companies like SMA, Tigo, Enphase, Solar edge, and Huawei. The results prove that MLPE is a better option in the case of shading region for attaining the maximum power point. Full article

Plasmonic photocatalysts have gained more and more attention because of possible applications for solar energy conversion, environmental decontamination, and water treatment. However, the activity under visible light is usually very low, and the property-governed activity as well as the mechanisms are not fully understood yet. Accordingly, this study examines four different titania photocatalysts (anatase and rutile with fine and large crystallites) modified with gold by photodeposition. Three kinds of samples were prepared, as follows: (i) gold-modified titania (Au/TiO₂), (ii) physically mixed Au/TiO₂ samples (Au/TiO₂(1) + Au/TiO₂(2)), and (iii) Au/(TiO₂(1) + Au/TiO₂(2)) samples, prepared by subsequent deposition of gold on the mixture of bare and gold-modified titania. In total, twelve samples were prepared and well characterized, including diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The photocatalytic activity was examined in three reaction systems: (i) methanol dehydrogenation during gold photodeposition under UV/vis irradiation, (ii) oxidative decomposition of acetic acid (UV/vis), and (iii) oxidation of 2-propanol to acetone under visible light irradiation (λ > 450 nm). It was found that during subsequent deposition, gold is mainly formed on the surface of pre-deposited Au nanoparticles (NPs), localized on fine titania NPs, through the electrostatic attractions (negatively charged gold resulting from photogenerated electrons’ accumulation). This gold aggregation, though detrimental for UV activity (many “naked” large titania with low activity), is highly beneficial for vis activity because of efficient light harvesting and increased interface between gold and titania (gold deposits surrounded by fine titania NPs). Moreover, it was found that rutile is more active than anatase for plasmonic photocatalysis, probably due to easier electron transfer from gold via titania to adsorbed oxygen (more negative conduction band), which might hinder the back reaction (electron transfer: Au→TiO₂→Au). Full article

Landscape parks are protected areas, attractive to live close to and relax in. In parks, economic and agricultural activities are allowed to a limited extent. The high interest in these areas is the cause of unfavorable changes, including environmental contamination. This paper presents the results of soil quality research in Wzniesienia Łódzkie Landscape Park (Poland). The analyses were performed in 2008, before the construction of the highway in the park began, and after its completion in 2016. The contents of Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd and Ni were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The descriptive statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), and geographic information system (GIS) were used to assess the impact of different sources on the content of metal in the soil. Over the period of 8 years, there has been an increase in pH and the level of metals, especially nickel. The changes in the metal content result from the different land use, especially abandonment of agricultural activity and emissions related to the construction of the A1 highway. Full article

To resolve the environmental problems of China’s aquaculture industry, we must examine the current situation and comprehensively consider aquaculture growth, resource conservation and environmental protection. Using the unit investigation and evaluation method to evaluate the nonpoint source pollution of each province, this paper calculates eco-efficiency to evaluate the coordination of environment and aquaculture growth based on the slacks-based measure directional distance function dealing with undesirable outputs. The results reveal that the eco-efficiency of aquaculture in China from 2003 to 2018 is 0.70 and obviously lower than the industry’s economic efficiency, indicating aquaculture development has not been coordinated with resources and the environment. Environmental pollution brings great loss to the economic efficiency of aquaculture. Specifically, eastern China, with the highest aquaculture output, shows the best degree of coordination, followed by western China. Six provinces or province-level municipalities, including Fujian, Shanghai, Beijing, Hainan and Tianjin, are growing soundly and rapidly, while central China exhibits the most obvious imbalance among the environment, resources and aquaculture development. Full article

The rapid increase in energy consumption results from population growth and technological advancement, while economic growth also relies heavily on the availability of energy. As fossil fuels become scarcer and greenhouse gas emissions increase, renewable energy sources are regarded as practical solutions to meet increasing energy demands. This study aims to develop a sustainable energy transition pathway for off-grid island communities in the Philippines. It adopts the concept of backcasting analysis, focusing on the demand and supply side of the energy transition. The transition considers three milestones: business as usual (BAU), minimal transition scenario (MTS), and absolute transition scenario (ATS). The techno-enviro-economic analysis is performed for each milestone to determine the optimal energy resource mix while addressing the three dimensions of the Energy Trilemma: energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability. The approach is implemented in three off-grid island municipalities in Palawan, Philippines: Araceli, Balabac, and Cuyo. The results suggest that the optimal electrification configuration for each island at the MTS is a hybrid system consisting of a diesel generator and solar photovoltaics with batteries, while at the ATS, it is a hybrid system of solar photovoltaics and wind with batteries. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 79.7% in Araceli, 78.7% in Balabac, and 41.2% in Cuyo from the BAU scenario to MTS. The actors involved in said transition are identified. A transitional pathway can be seen as a strategic plan to achieve the desired goal: to have a sustainable energy transition. Full article

With the continuous prominence of environmental problems, some online environmental platforms have been built in China. Such platforms provide an important carrier for public to learn environmental knowledge and participate in environmental protection. However, whether such platforms can play a substantive role in promoting users’ green consumption behaviors is still unclear. Focusing on this question, the influence of online environmental platform services on public green consumption behaviors is explored. A model based on the theory of stimulus–organism–response is established to analyze the influential mechanism, using the online environmental platform services as the independent variable, users’ green consumption behaviors as the dependent variable, environmental attitude as the mediator, and users’ price sensitivity as the moderator. Survey data are used to test the model. The empirical results show that online environmental platform services have a significant positive impact on users’ green consumption behaviors. Environmental attitude plays a partial mediating role and price sensitivity negatively moderates the mediating role of environmental attitude. Suggestions are given from the perspectives of platform operators and government. This paper provides both theoretical and practical implications for sustainable consumption. Full article

Climate-induced pressures spur on the need for urban green infrastructure (UGI) planning. This approach offers a possible way to improve ecosystem functionality and human well-being in adversely affected urban regions, wherein UGI is perceived as a green and nature-based climate change mitigation/adaptation strategy. In Pakistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province lacks such urban landscape and greening policies (ULGP) or legislative frameworks for transitioning to green action plans (GAP), to alleviate the risk of multi-climatic hazards. Thus, this study aims to investigate a sustainable UGI-indicator-based framework model, based on the due inclusion of the concerned stakeholders. The relative importance index (RII) and inter-quartile range (IQR) techniques are employed for field data analysis. The findings proclaim excellent reliability (α > 0.7) and internal consistency, wherein sustainable UGI indicators are grouped based on their importance. The results portray the ecological and economic sustainability dimensions as being important (RII = 0.835 and RII = 0.807, respectively), socio-cultural dimensions as being moderately important (RII = 0.795), and a set of UGS elements (RII ≥ 0.77) as vital for bolstering individual UGI indicators. The main UGS elements emerging in each category can be grouped as follows: ecological category—“reducing rainwater runoff” (RII = 0.94); socio-cultural category—“enhancement of mental and physical health” (RII = 0.90); and eco category—“minimizing the risk of flood disasters” (RII = 0.96). The simulation results demonstrate the need for an inclusive perspective when building the urban green space (UGS) infrastructure (and standards) that will be most suitable for ensuring climate-resilient urban regions. This study contributes to putting the scientific research knowledge of the natural green-landscape-based (NBLB) approach into practice. The study calls for the establishment of an effective, pragmatic relationship between the urban landscape and greening policies, alongside a constructive relationship with the native inhabitants to ensure eco-friendly and resilient settlements. Full article

The capacity limitations of distribution networks, the increasing demands for electricity installation in terms of electricity quality parameters, and the development of electromobility all increase the need to implement systems in order to stabilize and regulate loads for end users. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs), that operate in internal microgrids of enterprises, allow smoothing of electrical power consumption profiles by actively reducing peak demand power. By using BESSs to implement a peak shaving strategy to reduce the peak power consumption of a company in an external network, energy efficiency can be improved by reducing contractual capacity. The aim of this study is to determine the conditions for the use of energy storage, in order to implement a peak shaving strategy for which the installation of the enterprise microgrid is economically efficient. The analysis of the operating conditions of the BESS should take into account the size of the energy storage, the characteristics of the demand profile for the demand systems, the charges related to electricity, and the costs of electricity storage. In the study, the size of the energy storage was related to the power and electrical capacity of the BESS that was used to implement the peak shaving strategy. The article presents the results of research on the method for determining an effective capacity and power of BESSs for enterprise microgrid systems. The technical and cost limitations of the actual microgrid system, which affected the decrease in economic efficiency of the peak shaving strategy in the company research, were taken into account. The simulations of the operation of the electricity storage system, based on real data of the demand of production companies, were based on the rules and market conditions in Poland. Full article

The demand for renewable energy sources is growing fast because of the negative impact of the utilization of fossil energy, nuclear energy, and hydroelectricity. One of the renewable energy sources, known as solar energy, which uses the photovoltaic panel (PV) to generate electricity from the sun, is a promising alternative that has great potential to deal with the power crisis. However, the power productivity and efficiency conversion are affected significantly by dust accumulation on PVs. Many researchers investigated PV panel dust cleaning methods to improve performance, yield, and profitability. Various dust cleaning and mitigation methods such as rainfall, labor-based, and mechanized cleaning are explored, and we demonstrated that dust removal could be automated with cleaning robots effectively. Due to the specified geographical site of PV panel installation, cleaning robots might work on the misalignment and uneven PV arrays, presenting huge challenges for an autonomous cleaning robot. Thus, a rubber wheel crawler robot with semi-autonomous handling provides a flexible motion that is a well-suited solution to clean rooftop PV arrays. Nevertheless, the rubber wheel crawler robot might suffer slippage on the wet glass of tilted PV arrays. This paper studies the anti-slip effect of the rubber wheel crawler equipped with a cleaning robot under the wet surface of tilted PV panels. First, a theoretical model consisting of several parameters is established to validate the slippage of the rubber wheel crawler on the wet tilted PV. Then, some parameters of the theoretical model are approximated through experimental tests. Finally, simulation results of the theoretical model are conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed theoretical model in comparison to the experimental results under the same working conditions. The merits provide the efficient design of rubber wheel crawlers, enabling the anti-slip ability of robots. Full article

Sustainable transport frameworks are gaining attention within national and international transportation policies, given the key role that decarbonisation plays in making urban environments people-friendly. Within this context, several shared services and micro-mobility options are being developed, especially as first/last mile facilities, further increasing public transport coverage levels. We present an overview of the environmental impacts of different transport modes and compare them from different perspectives, namely, CO₂ emission levels, total costs (also including the user generalised cost) and service life of vehicles involved. The proposed methodology is applied to an urban context, using real trip data and showing the main findings under real conditions. Full article

Quantifying wind loads acting on forest trees remains a major challenge of wind-tree-interaction research. Under wind loading, trees respond with a complex motion pattern to the external forces that displace them from their rest position. To minimize the transfer of kinetic wind energy, crowns streamline to reduce the area oriented toward the flow. At the same time, the kinetic energy transferred to the trees is dissipated by vibrations of all aerial parts to a different degree. This study proposes a method to estimate the effective wind load acting on plantation-grown Scots pine trees. It evaluates the hypothesis that the effective wind load acting on the sample trees can be estimated using static, non-destructive pulling tests, using measurements of stem tilt under natural wind conditions and static, non-destructive pulling tests. While the analysis of wind-induced stem displacement reconstructs the temporal tree response dynamics to the effective wind load, results from the pulling tests enable the effective wind load quantification. Since wind-induced stem displacement correlates strongly with the sample trees’ diameter at breast height, the effective wind load estimation can be applied to all other trees in the studied stand for which diameter data is available. We think the method is suitable for estimating the effective wind load acting on trees whose wind-induced response is dominated by sway in the fundamental mode. Full article

The improvement of water and energy use is an important concern in the scope of improving the overall performance of industrial process plants. The investment in energy efficiency comprehended by the most recent sustainability policies may prove to be an effective response to the fall of energy intensity rates associated with the economic crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The improvement in water efficiency may also prove to be a potential approach due to its interdependencies to energy use, whose exploitation comprises part of the study of the water-energy nexus. Waste heat recovery and water reclamation practices have been exploited to improve water and energy efficiency. A specific method designated “Combined Water and Energy Integration” has been applied to water recycling as both an additional water source and a heat recovery source in a set of water-using processes. In scientific and industrial domains, there is still a need for integrated approaches of water-using and combustion-based processes for overall water and energy efficiency improvements in industrial plants. In this work, an innovative approach for a simultaneous improvement of water and energy use is proposed based on process integration and system retrofitting principles. This proposal is based on the delineation of two innovative concepts: Water and Energy Integration Systems (WEIS) and Water-Heat Nexus (WHN). A review on existing technologies for waste heat recovery, thermal energy storage and heat-driven wastewater treatment is performed, following a conceptualisation design. Full article

Maximum efficiency of surfaces that exploit solar energy, including Photovoltaic Panels and Thermal collectors, is achieved by installing them in a certain inclination (tilt). Most common approach is to select an inclination angle equal to the location’s latitude. This is based on the astronomical calculations of the sun’s position throughout the year but ignores meteorological factors. Cloud coverage and aerosols tend to change the direct irradiance but also the radiance sky distribution, thus horizontal surfaces receive larger amounts than tilted ones in specific atmospheric conditions (e.g., cases of cloud presence). In the present study we used 15 years of data, from 25 cities in Europe and North Africa in order to estimate the optimal tilt angle and the related energy benefits based in real atmospheric conditions. Data were retrieved from Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS). Four diffuse irradiance, various models are compared, and their differences are evaluated. Equations, extracted from solar irradiance and cloud properties regressions, are suggested to estimate the optimal tilt angle in regions, where no climatological data are available. In addition, the impact of cloud coverage is parameterized using the Cloud Modification Factor (CMF) and an equation is proposed to estimate the optimal tilt angle. A realistic representation of the photovoltaic energy production and a subsequent financial analysis were additionally performed. The results are able to support the prognosis of energy outcome and should be part of energy planning and the decision making for optimum solar power exploitation into the international clean energy transitions. Finally, results are compared to a global study and differences on the optimal tilt angle at cities of Northern Europe is presented. Full article

Solar irradiation is the most critical parameter to consider when designing solar energy systems. The high cost and difficulty of measuring solar irradiation makes it impractical in every location. This study’s primary objective was to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) model for global horizontal irradiation (GHI) prediction using satellite data inputs. Three types of ANN, namely, the feed forward neural network (FFNN), cascaded forward neural network (CFNN), and Elman neural network (EMNN), were tested. The findings revealed that altitude, relative humidity, and satellite GHI are the most effective parameters, as they are present in all the best-performing models. The best model for daily GHI prediction was FFNN, which decreased daily MAPE, RMSE, and MBE by 25.4%, 0.11 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, and 0.01 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$. The FFNN daily MAPE, RMSE, and MBE values were 7.83%, 0.49 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, and 0.01 kWh/m²/d. The EMNN performed best for monthly and annual prediction, reducing monthly MAPE, RMSE, and MBE by 50.62%, 0.13 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, and 0.13 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, while the reduction for yearly was 91.6%, 0.11 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, 0.2 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$. The EMNN monthly MAPE, RMSE, and MBE values were 3.36%, 0.16 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, and 0.16 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, while the yearly values were 0.47%, 0.18 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}$, and 0.004 kWh/${\mathrm{m}}^2/\mathrm{d}.$ Full article

In Poland, in 2021, an increase in demand for electricity was recorded, and hard coal and lignite power plants still had a dominant share in its production. Another source of electricity was renewable energy sources (RES), mainly wind farms. Young people in Poland are aware that electricity is not only its production, but also consumption in households. Therefore, it is also essential to properly educate young people, aiming at a cost-effective, sustainable lifestyle, in relation to electricity consumption. The article presents the current state of the electricity generation sector in Poland along with the proposed changes in this respect, in particular in terms of the development prospects for the use of renewable energy sources and the influence of government administration on the production and consumption of electricity. The aim of this research was to broaden the knowledge of young people’s opinions on energy production and consumption. The research results can be used to create long-term directions of energy policy and to build a social attitude of sustainable energy consumption in Poland. The research was non-probabilistic, based on questionnaires, using the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) technique. The questionnaire was conducted in 2021, and the analysis was made on the basis of 741 correctly completed research questionnaires. The results of the research confirmed the research hypotheses—that the surveyed youth see the need to reduce consumption as a way to counteract climate change and excessive energy consumption. They also expect government support in the energy transformation in Poland, based on a diversified scenario, using both renewable energy sources (RES) and nuclear energy. Full article

Sheep wool is an eco-friendly, renewable, and totally recyclable material increasingly used in textiles, filters, insulation, and building materials. Recently, wool fibers have become good alternatives for reinforcement of polymer composites and filaments for 3D printing. Wool fibers are susceptible to environmental degradation that could shorten their lifetime and limit applications. This study reports on the mechanical properties of sheep wool fibers under the impact of humid air and UV irradiation. The results of single fiber tensile tests showed a noticeable gauge length effect on the fibers’ strength and failure strain. Long (50 mm) fibers possessed about 40% lower characteristics than short (10 mm) fibers. Environmental aging decreased the elastic modulus and strength of the fibers. Moisture-saturated fibers possessed up to 43% lower characteristics, while UV aging resulted in up to a twofold reduction of the strength. The most severe degradation effect is observed under the coupled influence of UVs and moisture. The two-parameter Weibull distribution was applied for the fiber strength and failure strain statistical assessment. The model well predicted the gauge length effects. Moisture-saturated and UV-aged fibers were characterized by less extensive strength dependences on the fiber length. The strength and failure strain distributions of aged fibers were horizontally shifted to lower values. The results will contribute to be reliable predictions of the environmental durability of sheep wool fibers and will extend their use in technical applications. Full article

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly making an impact in a wide range of domain-specific applications. In IoT-integrated WSNs, nodes generally function with limited battery units and, hence, energy efficiency is considered as the main design challenge. For homogeneous WSNs, several routing techniques based on clusters are available, but only a few of them are focused on energy-efficient heterogeneous WSNs (HWSNs). However, security provisioning in end-to-end communication is the main design challenge in HWSNs. This research work presents an energy optimizing secure routing scheme for IoT application in heterogeneous WSNs. In our proposed scheme, secure routing is established for confidential data of the IoT through sensor nodes with heterogeneous energy using the multipath link routing protocol (MLRP). After establishing the secure routing, the energy and network lifetime is improved using the hybrid-based TEEN (H-TEEN) protocol, which also has load balancing capacity. Furthermore, the data storage capacity is improved using the ubiquitous data storage protocol (U-DSP). This routing protocol has been implemented and compared with two other existing routing protocols, and it shows an improvement in performance parameters such as throughput, energy efficiency, end-to-end delay, network lifetime and data storage capacity. Full article

Sustainable development is a key feature of national, European Union and global development strategies. The main research goal is to provide evidence on how impactful public policies on environmental sustainability in Portugal are at the regional level, in various policy areas. In this context, this paper analyses the main impacts of the Portuguese Operational Programme for Sustainability and Efficient Use of Resources (PO SEUR 2014–20). The research uses a territorial impact assessment (TIA) methodology (TARGET_TIA) to assess these impacts in five analytic dimensions (economy with low emissions, adaptation to climate change, risk prevention and management, environmental protection and resource efficiency) in the five mainland Portuguese NUTS 2. It concludes that, in overall terms, PO SEUR produced low to moderate positive impacts in all NUTS II and analysed dimensions, but it was particularly positive in measures fostering adaptation to climate change, and less impactful in measures supporting an economy with low emissions and resource efficiency in Portugal. Despite data limitations, the research provided adequate evidence that key public policies supporting environmental sustainability in Portugal are largely ineffective and inefficient in view of their policy goals and allocated funding. To turn this scenario around, the process of project selection needs to undergo significant improvements to better adjust the regional needs on environmental sustainability-related issues to the available funding. Moreover, on a policy strategic level, there needs to be support for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy in Portugal via concrete actions exploring environmental capital and a green economy in urban areas. Full article

Nowadays, there is great interest in the use of plant waste to obtain materials for environmental protection. In this study, silica powders were prepared with a simple and low-cost procedure from biomass materials such as horsetail and common reed, as well as wheat and rye straws. The starting biomass materials were leached in a boiling HCl solution. After washing and drying, the samples were incinerated at 700 °C for 1 h in air. The organic components of the samples were burned leaving final white powders. These powders were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and low-temperature nitrogen sorption. The amorphous powders (biosilica) contained mainly SiO₂, as indicated by FTIR analysis. Horsetail-derived silica was chosen for testing the removal of dichromate ions from water solutions. This biosilica had a good ability to adsorb Cr(VI) ions, which increased after modification of the powder with the dodecylamine surfactant. It can be concluded that the applied procedure allowed obtaining high purity biosilica from plant waste with good efficiency. The produced biosilica was helpful in removing chromium ions and showed low cytotoxicity to human endothelial cells, suggesting that it can be safely used in environmental remediation. Full article

Smart grid technology has gained much consideration recently to make use of intelligent control in the automatic fault-detection and self-healing of electric networks. This ensures a reliable electricity supply and an efficient operation of the distribution system against disasters with minimum human interaction. In this paper, a fully decentralized multi-agent system (MAS) algorithm, for self-healing in smart distribution systems, is proposed. The novelty of the proposed algorithm, compared to related work, is its ability to combine the zone and feeder agents, specified for system self-healing, with micro-grid agents. This enables the system to successfully achieve functions of fault locating and isolation along with service-restoration using expert rules while considering both operational constraint and load priorities. Meanwhile, managing the power flow and controlling the distributed generator (DG) contribution, in the considered network, is a bonus merit for the proposed algorithm. Hence, system self-healing as well as strengthening energy security and resiliency are guaranteed. The proposed algorithm is tested on a 22 kV radial distribution system through several case-studies with/without a DG wind-energy source. The employed agents are implemented in the Java Agent Developing Framework (JADE) environment to communicate and make decisions. Power system simulation and calculations are carried out in MATLAB to validate the agents’ decisions. Full article

Rapid urbanization has widely induced fragmented landscapes and further negatively affected ecological functions. The edge effect is an approach commonly used to investigate these negative impacts. However, edge effect research tends to focus on the impacts that a certain landscape receives from its adjacent lands rather than to assess all the influences of the landscape edges in a region, even though the latter is critical for regional ecological planning. To fill in this gap, the concept of neighboring effect is raised and analyzed in this paper with a case study of Xintai City in Northern China. Results show that the neighboring effects are generally negative for ecological functions, especially in regions that experience rapid urbanization or heavy human activities. The U-shaped relationship between the neighboring effect of a patch and its distance to the nearest township center indicates that the border region of urban and built-up areas suffers the most negative influences due to the intense interactions between different land uses. The heterogeneous effects of influencing factors in urban and rural areas were revealed by the regression results. Socioeconomic development has more important influence on neighboring effects on ecological functions in rural areas than in urban areas, and local cadres’ support of environmental protection matters only in rural areas for a less ecological functional loss. This study quantitatively examined the negative ecological effects of landscape fragmentation during rapid urbanization and calls for more attention to ecological planning at the local scale. Full article

Indagation in the sphere of nanoparticle utilisation has provided commendatory upshots in discrete areas of application varying from medicinal use to environmental degradation alleviation. This study incorporates alumina nanoparticles as additives to diesel and biodiesel blends. The prime objective of the present study was the scrutinisation of the denouement of Al₂O₃ nanoparticle incorporation in diesel–biodiesel blends on a diesel engine’s performance and emission characteristics. Test fuel samples were prepared by blending different proportions of biodiesel and dispersing two concentrations of alumina nanoparticles (25 and 50 ppm) in the diesel. Dispersion was made without the use of a nanoparticle stabiliser to meet real-world feasibility. High-speed shearing was employed to blend the biodiesel and diesel, while nanoparticles were dispersed in the blends by ultrasonication. The blends so devised were tested using a single-cylinder diesel engine at fixed RPM and applied load for three compression ratios. Upshots of brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) for fuel samples were measured with LabView-based software, whereas CO emissions and unburnt hydrocarbon (UBHC) emissions were computed using an external gas analyser attached to the exhaust vent of the engine. Investigation revealed that the inclusion of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles culminates in the amelioration of engine performance along with the alleviation of deleterious exhaust from engine. Furthermore, the incorporation of alumina nanoparticles assisted in the amelioration of dwindled performance attributed to biodiesel blending. More favourable results of nanoparticle inclusion were obtained at higher compression ratios compared to lower ones. Reckoning evinced that the Al₂O₃ nanoparticle is a lucrative introduction for fuels to boost the performance and dwindle the deleterious exhaust of diesel engines. Full article

An environmentally-friendly temperature sensor has been fabricated by using a low-cost water-processable nanocomposite material based on gelatin and graphene. The temperature dependence of the electrochemical properties has been investigated by using cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry and impedance spectroscopy measurements. The simple symmetric device, composed of a sandwich structure between two metal foils and a printable graphene–gelatin blend, exhibits a dependence on the open-circuit voltage in a range between 260 and 310 K. Additionally, at subzero temperature, the device is able to detect the ice/frost formation. The thermally-induced phenomena occur at the electrode/gel interface with a bias current of a few tens of μA. The occurrence of dissociation reactions within the sensor causes limiting-current phenomena in the gelatin electrolyte. A detailed model describing the charge carrier accumulation, the faradaic charge transfer and diffusion processes within the device under the current-controlled has been proposed. In order to increase the cycle stability of the temperature sensor and reduce its voltage drift and offset of the output electrical signal, a driving circuit has been designed. The eco-friendly sensor shows a temperature sensitivity of about −19 mV/K, long-term stability, fast response and low-power consumption in the range of microwatts suitable for environmental monitoring for indoor applications. Full article

The emerging popularity of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) is creating new connections between the transportation and electric sectors, and PEV charging will bring new opportunities and challenges to a system of growing complexity. The electrification of transport will increase energy security, reduce carbon emissions, and improve local air quality. The actual expansion of electric vehicles (EVs) will depend on several factors: the evolution of autonomy, the acquisition price, the charging process and infrastructure, etc. This paper provides a guide for simulating the accumulative load profile for EV charging on a national level. The importance of all the parameters and variables involved (deterministic or stochastic) is investigated. Detailed tables and references concerning the distribution of values and the composition of the EV fleet are provided. A multivariate probabilistic model is developed considering the EV classes, weekly and seasonal driving patterns, charging strategies, battery capacities, consumption per EV, etc., leading to an accurate estimation of aggregated EV charging demand. Finally, a net-metering scheme is proposed, in which a photovoltaic (PV) system of a certain size will be able to provide the annual energy needs of the first 10,000 EVs in the Greek market. Full article

We investigate a power control problem for overlay device-to-device (D2D) communication networks relying on a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG), which is a model-free off-policy algorithm for learning continuous actions such as transmitting power levels. We propose a DDPG-based self-regulating power control scheme whereby each D2D transmitter can autonomously determine its transmission power level with only local channel gains that can be measured from the sounding symbols transmitted by D2D receivers. The performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed in terms of average sum-rate and energy efficiency and compared to several conventional schemes. Our numerical results show that the proposed scheme increases the average sum-rate compared to the conventional schemes, even with severe interference caused by increasing the number of D2D pairs or high transmission power, and the proposed scheme has the highest energy efficiency. Full article

The greatest challenge in the analysis of herbal components lies in their variety and complexity. Therefore, efficient analytical tools for the separation and qualitative and quantitative analysis of multi-components are essential. In recent years, various emerging analytical techniques have offered significant support for complicated component analysis, with breakthroughs in selectivity, sensitivity, and rapid analysis. Among these techniques, supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has attracted much attention because of its high column efficiency and environmental protection. SFC can be used to analyze a wide range of compounds, including non-polar and polar compounds, making it a prominent analytical platform. The applicability of SFC for the separation and determination of natural products in herbal medicines is overviewed in this article. The range of applications was expanded through the selection and optimization of stationary phases and mobile phases. We also focus on the two-dimensional SFC analysis. This paper provides new insight into SFC method development for herbal medicine analysis. Full article

Efforts to decarbonize the world have shown a quick increase in electric vehicles (EVs), limiting increasing pollution. During this electric transportation revolution, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) play a vital role in storing energy. To determine the range of an electric vehicle (EV), the state of charge and the state of health (SOH) of the battery pack is essential. Access to high-quality data on battery parameters is a crucial challenge for researchers working in the energy storage domain due primarily to confidentiality constraints on manufacturers of batteries and EVs. This paper proposes a hybrid framework for predicting the state of a lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles (EV). Electric vehicles are growing worldwide because of their environmental and sustainability advantages. Batteries are replacing fossil fuels in electric vehicles. In order to prevent failure, Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles should be operated and controlled in a controlled and progressive manner to ensure increased efficiency and safety. An extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm is used in this paper to estimate the state of health (SOH) of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. The model is subjected to error analysis to optimize the battery’s performance parameter. The model undergoes an error analysis to optimize its performance parameters. Furthermore, a state of health (SOH) estimation method based on the extreme gradient boosting algorithm with accuracy correction is proposed here to improve the accuracy of state of health (SOH) estimation for lithium-ion batteries. To describe the aging process of batteries, we extract several features such as average voltages, voltage differences, current differences, and temperature differences. The extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model for estimating the state of health (SOH) of lithium-ion batteries is based on the ensemble learning algorithm’s higher prediction accuracy and generalization ability. Experimental results suggest that the boundary gradient lifting algorithm model is capable of more accurate prediction. Full article