Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 November 2021) | Viewed by 17710

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100811, China
Interests: emission control technologies; emissions from new/green energy; combustion aerosol particle; fine/ultrafine particle; source apportionment; persistent organic pollutants; hazardous air pollutants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: exhaust and brake emission measurement and control; particularly particles; non regulated pollutants; combustion and emission characteristics of alternative fuels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

More and more studies support that air pollution and climate change result from the overuse of fossil energy and ineffective control strategy. This Special Issue focuses on the new and greener energy (technologies) that transform energy more efficiently with low emissions. The mission of this Issue is to investigate the correlations between alternative fuels/energies/control systems and air pollutant/greenhouse gas emissions. Fundamental studies, model simulations, emission control technologies, and environmental monitoring are welcomed in the current Issue. Nevertheless, we are also interested in the potential emissions that should be but are still not considered in the use of “greener energy”. It is believed that not only advantages but potential disadvantages in air quality and carbon neutrality will be comprehensively discussed in this Special Issue. 

Dr. Sheng-Lun Lin
Dr. Xin Wang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • greener energy
  • air quality
  • carbon neutrality
  • emission control technology
  • unregulated pollutants
  • climate change

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 5300 KiB  
Article
The Reversible Removal of SO2 by Amino Functionalized ZIF8 with 5-Aminotetrazole via Post-Synthesis Modification
by Chiran Wang, Helin Xu, Pengbing Huang, Xiaoqing Xu, Hao Wang, Yangrui Zhang and Renpan Deng
Atmosphere 2022, 13(3), 462; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13030462 - 12 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3162
Abstract
The post-synthesis modification is a highly efficient method for the modification of Metal-organic framework (MOF) materials, which has been used to synthesize MOF materials purposefully that cannot be prepared by direct synthesis and impregnation method. In this work, amino modified ZIF8 with 5-aminotetrazole [...] Read more.
The post-synthesis modification is a highly efficient method for the modification of Metal-organic framework (MOF) materials, which has been used to synthesize MOF materials purposefully that cannot be prepared by direct synthesis and impregnation method. In this work, amino modified ZIF8 with 5-aminotetrazole was prepared by the post synthesis modification method and was employed to reversibly remove SO2 from flue gas. Based on the characterization and analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Brunner Emmet Teller (BET), it was found that the functionalized ZIF8 (Zn(5-ATZ)1.5) was a microporous material with a two-dimensional nano-layered structure. According to the SO2 adsorption experiments, the adsorption capacity of SO2 at the concentration of 1.6% vol can reach to 122 mg/g under the optimal conditions (25 °C, 2865 h−1). Five successive adsorption-desorption experiments exhibited that Zn(5-ATZ)1.5 had excellent regeneration performance. The characterization results of Raman Spectra (Raman) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as the DFT simulation calculations revealed that SO2 mainly interacted with Zn(5-ATZ)1.5 by hydrogen bonds between O of SO2 and amino H in the Zn(5-ATZ)1.5, and the interaction of SO2 with amino N and 5-aminotetrazole N by forming a non-covalent charge transfer complex. This work suggested that Zn(5-ATZ)1.5 is an excellent potential sorbent for SO2 removal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality)
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18 pages, 3527 KiB  
Article
Fast Identification of the Failure of Heavy-Duty Diesel Particulate Filters Using a Low-Cost Condensation Particle Counter (CPC) Based System
by Zihao Ge, Weirui Zhao, Liqun Lyu and Ziru Zhu
Atmosphere 2022, 13(2), 268; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13020268 - 5 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1909
Abstract
The penetration of diesel particulate filters (DPFs) in the market is growing fast. However, in the current inspection/maintenance (I/M) regulation for these vehicles, particulate emissions were capped with smoke opacity, which is incompetent to identify the excessive particle number (PN) induced by non-major [...] Read more.
The penetration of diesel particulate filters (DPFs) in the market is growing fast. However, in the current inspection/maintenance (I/M) regulation for these vehicles, particulate emissions were capped with smoke opacity, which is incompetent to identify the excessive particle number (PN) induced by non-major DPF failures such as small cracks in substrate. This research aimed at developing a fast identification method for such malfunctioning vehicles using a low-cost condensation particle counter (CPC). To verify the effectiveness of idle PN test, 33 China-5 and China-6 heavy-duty vehicles fueled with diesel and natural gas (NG) were tested using the regulatory portable emission measurement system (PEMS) as per China-6 protocol and idle PN tests using a low-cost CPC-based system. PN emissions from China-6 vehicles with malfunctioning DPFs were at a similar level to those from China-5 vehicles (without DPF), which were significantly higher than the proper counterparts. Idle PN tests using a CPC-based system managed to identify the vehicles with DPF failures. Volumetric PN concentrations of these vehicles were much higher than those of the proper ones. This study proved that an easy, fast, and low-cost procedure could be used to screen out those high emitters with DPF failure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality)
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19 pages, 27511 KiB  
Article
Prediction of Transient NOx Emission from Diesel Vehicles Based on Deep-Learning Differentiation Model with Double Noise Reduction
by Jiaqiang Li, Yang Yu, Yanyan Wang, Longqing Zhao and Chao He
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1702; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121702 - 20 Dec 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3158
Abstract
For diesel engines, accurate prediction of NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) emission plays an essential role in virtual NOx sensor development and engine design under situations of actual road driving. However, due to the randomness and uncertainty in the driving process of diesel [...] Read more.
For diesel engines, accurate prediction of NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) emission plays an essential role in virtual NOx sensor development and engine design under situations of actual road driving. However, due to the randomness and uncertainty in the driving process of diesel vehicles, it is difficult to make predictions about NOx emissions. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes differential models for noise reductions of NOx emissions in time series. First, according to the internal fluctuation of time series, use SSA (Singular Spectrum Analysis) to reduce the noises of the original time series; second, use ICEEMDAN (Improved Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise) to decompose the noise-reducing data into several relatively stable subsequences; third, use the sample entropy to calculate the complexity of each subsequence, and divide the sequences into high-frequency ones and low-frequency ones; finally, use GRU (Gated Recurrent Unit) to complete the prediction of high-frequency sequences and SVR (Support Vector Regression) for the prediction of low-frequency sequences. To obtain the final models, integrate the prediction results of the subsequences. Make comparisons with five single models, SSA single-processing models, and ICEEMDAN single-processing models. The experimental results show that the proposed model can predict the instantaneous NOx emissions of diesel engines better than the single model and the model processed by SSA, and the differentiated model can effectively improve the execution speed of the model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality)
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13 pages, 1603 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Inland Ship Emission Results from a Real-World Test and an AIS-Based Model
by Han Jiang, Di Peng, Yunjing Wang and Mingliang Fu
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1611; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121611 - 2 Dec 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2505
Abstract
Inland shipping is pivotal to the comprehensive transport system of China. However, ship emission has become a major air polluter in inland river regions, and relevant emission inventories are urgently needed. Currently, the Automatic identification System based (AIS-based)emission model is widely used in [...] Read more.
Inland shipping is pivotal to the comprehensive transport system of China. However, ship emission has become a major air polluter in inland river regions, and relevant emission inventories are urgently needed. Currently, the Automatic identification System based (AIS-based)emission model is widely used in calculating the ocean-going ship emission inventory. However, due to the lack of AIS data in the river area, the inland ship emission inventory mainly uses the fuel consumption method. With the continuous improvement of AIS data quality in the river area, the AIS-based emission model can be adopted in the development of inland ship emission inventory. However, there are few studies on the evaluation of the accuracy of the inland ship emissions using the AIS-based emission model. This study makes a comparison between test data and model-calculated data to evaluate the accuracy of the AIS-based emission models. Inland ship activities are divided into being at berth, maneuvering (port departure and port arrival), and on cruise modes in an AIS-based emission model. The model-calculated CO2, HC, and NOx emission rates can cover those onboard emission test data, but the values from the model are much lower. The total average ratios of test data to model-calculated data for CO2, CO, HC, and NOx are 2.66, 19.12, 2.46, and 3.16 when engine loads are below 60%. In upstream cruise mode, average emission rates of CO2, CO, HC, and NOx from the real-world test are 1.91–6.48, 8.78–27.83, 3.05–8.96, and 4.06–5.96 times higher than those from the AIS-based model, respectively. However, those are only 1.08–1.51, 6.74–9.67, 2.03–3.75, and 1.65–2.75 times higher than those from the AIS-based model in downstream cruise mode. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality)
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12 pages, 1085 KiB  
Article
Effect of Air Heat Pump Cooling System as a Greener Energy Source on the Air Quality, Housing Environment and Growth Performance in Pig House
by Dhanushka Rathnayake, Hong-Seok Mun, Muhammad Ammar Dilawar, Il-Byung Chung, Kwang-Woo Park, Sang-Ro Lee and Chul-Ju Yang
Atmosphere 2021, 12(11), 1474; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111474 - 8 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2448
Abstract
The present study examined the cooling effects of an air heat pump (AHP) system. An AHP system was installed in a pig house to compare the effects with a traditional cooling system on the growth performance, noxious gas emission, housing environment and consumption [...] Read more.
The present study examined the cooling effects of an air heat pump (AHP) system. An AHP system was installed in a pig house to compare the effects with a traditional cooling system on the growth performance, noxious gas emission, housing environment and consumption of electricity. During the 19-week experimental trial, the internal temperature in the AHP cooling system-connected pig house was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) than the conventional house. Similarly, the temperature–humidity index (THI) was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) in the growing and late finishing period. The carbon dioxide (CO2) and electricity consumption were also reduced significantly in the AHP cooling system relative to the control. The concentration of ammonia (NH3) during the weaning and finishing phase and the concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) during all periods were lower in the AHP-installed pig house (p < 0.05). From 0–19 weeks, there was no significant difference was observed (p > 0.05) in terms of the growth performance of pigs in both houses. These results show that the AHP cooling system can be implemented as an environmentally friendly renewable energy source in swine farms for sustainable pig production and better air quality without adversely affecting productivity parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality)
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15 pages, 1399 KiB  
Article
Driving Factors of Energy Consumption in the Developed Regions of Developing Countries: A Case of Zhejiang Province, China
by Ganghua Qing, Yifan Luo, Weiwei Huang, Wanjue Wang, Zijing Yue, Jie Wang, Qingyi Li, Shuhan Jiang and Shien Sun
Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1196; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12091196 - 15 Sep 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2965
Abstract
Regional energy development and approaches are significant for China’s overall economic and social development. The GDP in Zhejiang province surpassed 6 trillion yuan in 2019, and its energy consumption reached 200 million tons of standard coal (tce), both of which are at the [...] Read more.
Regional energy development and approaches are significant for China’s overall economic and social development. The GDP in Zhejiang province surpassed 6 trillion yuan in 2019, and its energy consumption reached 200 million tons of standard coal (tce), both of which are at the forefront of China. In order to explore the main factors of the increase in energy consumption in Zhejiang and provide essential references for energy saving and other provinces, this paper analyzes the total energy consumption and industrial sectors on the basis of the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) model. Study results show that the economy’s scale is the most crucial factor affecting Zhejiang’s energy consumption, with a significant growth effect. In 2015, the scale effect increased energy consumption to the highest value of 14 million tce and then reduced it to 13 million tce in 2019. The impact of the population on energy consumption increased by 10 million tce from 2010 to 2019. Energy intensity reduces energy consumption by between 0.05 and 0.15 billion tce per year, which is the main factor in reducing energy consumption. The energy structure generally plays a weak positive role due to the different energy types. The decomposition of the energy consumption per unit of value added in the industrial sector showed that the intensity and structural effect primarily reduce energy consumption, for example, the metal smelting and rolling, textile printing and paper, electric power, heating, and other industries. According to the results, enterprises should enhance the intelligence and efficiency of dispatch management and emergency responses. Zhejiang should also accelerate an international oil and gas trading center and resource allocation base to reach its carbon-neutrality goal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greener Energy, Air Quality, and Carbon Neutrality)
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