Fuel Consumption, Energy Demand, and Emissions

Exploiting renewable energy sources is one of the main strategies defined by the EU to overcome dependence on foreign markets for energy supply. Wood fuel sourced from the agroforestry sector can contribute significantly to achieving the goal, though its economic and environmental sustainability is intimately dependent on proper harvesting and chipping operations. In the present article, both economic and environmental aspects of Medium Rotation Coppice (MRC) were investigated regarding chipping. A small-scale chipper and tractor were equipped with real-time sensors to monitor time, t (s); fuel consumption, F (cm3); PTO torque, M (daNm); PTO speed, s (min−1); and stem diameter, D (mm) during the comminution of 61 poplar plants (gathered in 5 classes according to trunk diameter) grown in MRC system. More than 29,000 records were taken and analyzed. Predictive models for working time, working productivity, CO2 emission, energy consumption, fuel consumption and costs were also produced. Higher diametric classes exhibited lower fuel consumption, less CO2 emission and less energy demand during chipping. Time and operating costs were statistically different among classes, with minimum values of 0.22 (SD ± 0.02) h·Mg−1 and 12.07 (SD ± 0.93) €·Mg−1 in class 5 and maximum values of 0.64 (SD ± 0.09) h·Mg−1 and 35.34 (SD ± 4.88) €·Mg−1 in class 1, respectively. Fuel consumption ranges from 3.04 (SD ± 0.88) L·Mg−1 in class 5 to 7.32 (SD ± 1.46) L·Mg−1 in class 1. The lowest CO2 emission of 8.03 (SD ± 2.32) kg·Mg−1 was found class 5. However, the total cost of coppice production did not exceed large-scale MRC production due to the lower purchase price of the machinery involved. Eventually, predictive models showed high reliability as estimating tools for important variables, such as working time, working productivity, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, fuel consumption and costs.

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Motorized transport has become an essential part of our world economic system with an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road. However, considering the depletion of energy resources and the aggravation of greenhouse gas issues, it is critical to improve vehicle fuel consumption. These demands are moving us toward advanced engine and powertrain technologies. However, understanding our progress also requires improvements in the way we measure and certify vehicle emissions and fuel economy performance.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper describes the use of an on-board fuel consumption and emissions measurement system to develop on-road fuel consumption functions that can be used to quantify the fuel economy impact of vehicle, road and traffic control changes. The system uses an ECM OBD-II scanner, a Mass Air Flow meter and an emissions analyzer to monitor fuel consumption and exhaust CO<sub>2</sub> emission rates (in g/s) as well as vehicle speed and other parameters. All measurements are coordinated and recorded using a laptop computer. Vehicle tractive power is calculated from speed measurements using vehicle dynamic models, allowing calculation of actual fuel efficiency. In the results, the measured CO<sub>2</sub> emission values correlate well with those predicted by a carbon balance from measured fuel consumption, confirming the validity of a range of measurements.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper reports on fuel consumption behaviors for five typical vehicles over seventy repeated tests in urban, highway and aggressive driving situations. Although it is well known that vehicle energy demand goes up with increasing steady speed, the results show the strong importance of fuel efficiency, vehicle accelerations and idle periods for actual on-road fuel consumption. Fuel efficiency is essentially zero at idle but rises to a high level for vehicle tractive power over 30% of the rated power. This trend indicates the potential for reduced fuel consumption through engine down-sizing and powertrain controls. For vehicles running in normal traffic situations, the fuel consumption tends to be best in the 60 km/h to 100 km/h <i>average vehicle speed</i> range due to the reduced severity of accelerations and lack of idling. Those results emphasize the potential for fuel savings through improvements of road structure and traffic control to reduce congestion. The test results are used to generate a fuel consumption model based on a vehicle dynamic model and speed trace. This model can be used to quantify the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas CO<sub>2</sub> emission effect for changes in vehicle characteristics and on-road operating conditions.</div>

As a result of ever-growing energy demands, motor vehicles are among the largest contributors to overall energy consumption. This has led researchers to focus on fuel consumption, which has important implications for the environment, the economy, and geopolitical stability. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of various fuel consumption modeling methods, with the aim of identifying parameters that significantly influence fuel consumption. The scientific novelty of this article lies in its use of low-cost technology, i.e., an OBD-II interface paired with a mobile phone, combined with modern mathematical modeling methods to create an accurate model of the fuel consumption of a vehicle. A vehicle test drive was performed, during which variations in selected parameters were recorded. Based on the obtained data, a model of the vehicle’s fuel consumption was built using three forecasting methods: a multivariate regression model, decision trees, and neural networks. The results show that the multivariate regression model obtained the lowest MSE, MAR, and MRSE coefficients, indicating that this was the best forecasting method among those tested. Sufficient forecast error results were obtained using neural networks, with increases of approximately 73%, 10%, and 131% in MSE, MAE, and MRAE, respectively, compared to regression results. The worst results were obtained with the decision tree model, with increases of approximately 163%, 21%, and 92% in MSE, MAE, and MRAE compared to the regression results.

The objective of this work is to estimate the future energy needs of the agricultural sector in two key areas: fuel consumption and the specific use of electricity for operating agricultural machinery. Meeting these energy needs could significantly enhance agricultural production by improving the availability, accessibility, and utilization of food products. Ultimately, this would contribute to ensuring food security in Niger by 2035. The Model for the Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED) is used for the simulation. Four scenarios have been defined for this study: the reference scenario, the ambitious scenario, the modest scenario, and the target scenario. The results of the target scenario are as follows: 30.96 MWyr for total energy demand, 26.54 MWyr for fuel energy demand and 4.42 MWyr for electrical energy demand. The ambitious scenario presents a total energy demand of 26.92 MWyr, including 23.07 MWyr for fuel energy demand and 3.84 MWyr for electricity energy demand in 2035. The reference scenario records a total energy demand of 23.37 MWyr, including 19.97 MWyr for fuel energy demand and 3.51 MWyr for electricity energy demand in 2035. The modest scenario presents a total energy demand of 17.85 MWyr, including 15.97 MWyr for fuel energy demand and 1.88 MWyr for electricity energy demand in 2035. With the results of the target scenario set, the study's objective will be achieved by 2035, provided that efforts are made on the massive use of agricultural machinery, on increasing production under irrigation, on reversing the current process of soil degradation, and on developing irrigated cereals (corn, rice, wheat).

We examine how the composition of residential energy consumption and its sensitivity with respect to income changes. The paper characterizes the energy transition, analyzing the behavior of income elasticity of energy demand along the economic development stages by fuel types. The results indicate a nonlinear relationship between income and domestic energy consumption that can be explained by two factors. First, along the income distribution, consumption of modern fuels increases, replacing traditional and transitional fuels until modern fuels drive all of the growth in domestic energy demand. Second, at the highest income levels, income elasticity starts to decrease, leading to concavity in energy consumption. That is, the income elasticity of residential energy demand follows an inverse U-shape along the world income distribution. This finding suggests that at high income levels, residential energy consumption shows satiation and net energy-saving effects.

Optimal retrofitting of MCH-Toluene dehydrogenation system: Energy and technoeconomic analysis

Energy and its resources are now the center if attention of the whole world. The demand for energy has been increasing given its obvious effect on economic growth rates, its importance in the welfare of societies and the result of the depletion of natural resources, especially fossil fuels that provide 80% of the world demand (Treiky Abd Elraouf, 2014). Meanwhile, energy sources are decreasing with an increasing rate over time, threatening as a result the world energy security and causing as well environmental pollution that has become more severe and has affected the environmental balance. For this reason its done search for alternative and renewable energy sources that are environmentally friendly, maintain environmental balance and secure energy for future generations. (Farida Kafi, 2016, p.140). The research focuses on studying the environmental and economic effect of using biological mass in producing renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels that would help get rid of organic wastes in an ideal way through recycling and therefore reduce pollution and consumption of fossil fuels as an energy source. The main problem in this research is the accumulation of thousands of tons of waste all over the country and its negative impacts amidst an ongoing crisis in traditional energy sources due to increasing consumption rates. The study has reached the possibility of getting rid of huge amounts of biological wastes and converting them to valuable energy that would contribute to ending the environmental crisis, sparing the government the need to support power and reducing its imports, and the , positive effect on the national income and the cut-down of CO2 emissions. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, an applied case study was carried out on garbage residues in Menia Governorate in the Arab Republic of Egypt - comprising nine centers and seventy villages. The sample size was 300 people for 60 families (30 families characterized by urban nature and 30 families characterized by rural nature) Difference in the level of living and educational income of the families under test by collecting and sorting the solid waste generated from the houses according to the samples selected at the governorate level and the centers during 2017. The study recommends the use of biological mass, encouraging and supporting projects to convert waste to biological energy considering its role in protecting the environment. The study also recommends considering biological mass as an alternative alongside renewable sources.

The rising energy demand with the increasing population and the exponential consumption of fossil fuels are leading to economic and environmental crisis. Alternate renewable energy sources are gaining attention over the last few years to supplement the energy demand and to reduce the carbon emissions. Due to their quick growth, microalgae have the potential to absorb CO2 with a special ability to generate biofuels. This chapter briefs the potentiality of algae as a renewable energy resource and covers the aspects of its cultivation, concurrent waste treatment with CO2 mitigation, and conversion to biofuels through hydrothermal liquefaction. Algal metabolism has been detailed, which includes harvesting of light, nutrients from the wastewater, and CO2 from the atmosphere or flue gas mixture. Wastewater effluents from different industries can be treated in simultaneous CO2 fixation from the atmosphere. This chapter includes the algal cultivation (open and closed ponds, waste stabilization ponds, and photo-bioreactors) and harvesting (mechanical, chemical, electrical, and biological) methods. Hydrothermal liquefaction, a thermochemical process, has been discussed for algal conversion to bio-oils. Algal biomass undergoes depolymerization followed by degradation and then recombination of fragmented components to yield biofuels. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts find their application to enhance the bio-oil yields.

Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen-based energy storage systems in determining the optimal configuration of the nuclear-renewable hybrid energy system

Application of reanalysis data to estimate offshore wind potential in EEZ of India based on marine ecosystem considerations

Bioalcohols as an alternative fuel for transportation: Cradle to grave analysis

Green Fuel Blending: A Pollution Reduction Approach

The increased global energy demand and pollution of environment due to the consumption of fossil fuels require utilization of energy generated from renewable energy sources such as wind, tidal and solar power. As the contribution of these energy resources grows the energy storage systems with high energy densities, efficiencies and long cycle life become increasingly important. Energy storage systems are needed at times of high energy demand by storing energy when in excess. In this regard supercapacitors (SCs) are considered as the most promising energy storage devices due to their high power density, short characteristic time constant, excellent coulombic reversibility (98% or higher), high energy efficiency (92 – 94%), long cycle life (over 106 cycles) and wide operation temperature range [1-3]. Porous carbon materials are the most promising electrode materials for portable SCs due to the high surface area, good electrical conductivity, good chemical stability, low gravimetric density and low cost [4,5]. The electrical energy accumulated in SCs depends on the electrochemically active surface area and, thus, on the porosity and hierarchical porous structure of a carbon material. In addition, the presence of mesopores in porous carbon materials determines the power density of SCs having a strong effect on the rate of mass transfer and adsorption rate of charge carriers inside the hierarchical porous matrix. Therefore, the characteristics of micro- and mesoporous carbon materials (especially the ratio of micropore and mesopore surface areas and pore volumes) have to be optimized to improve further the specific energy and power density of EDLCs [4,5]. The objective of this study was to investigate the applicability limits of carbon material derived from granulated white sugar (GWS carbon) by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) method combined with subsequent zinc chloride activation step of hydrochar, for SC electrodes. Synthesized GWS carbon material was used as an electrode material in SC cell filled with 1 M triethylmethylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TEMABF4) solution in acetonitrile (AN) or 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid (EMImBF4) as the electrolytes. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), constant current charge/discharge (CC), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and constant power discharge (CP) methods were used to study the electrochemical performance of EDLC. The EIS, CV and CC measurement results show that the values of specific capacitance are somewhat higher for EMImBF4 (135 F g-1) electrolyte compared to the TEMABF4 in AN (110 F g-1). The CP test results show that at low constant power values the stored energy is higher for EDLC based on EMImBF4 ionic liquid (48 W h kg-1) compared with EDLC based on TEMABF4 in AN electrolyte (39 W h kg-1). However, the best capacitance retention, shortest relaxation time constant and substantially higher energy density delivered at higher constant power values were established for SC cell in 1 M TEMABF4 solution in AN due to the lower viscosity and higher electrical conductivity compared to the ionic liquid based electrolyte [5]. Acknowledgements This research was supported by the EU through the European Regional Development Fund (Centers of Excellence, 2014-2020.4.01.15-0011 and 3.2.0101–0030, TeRa project SLOKT12026T. Higher education specialization stipends in smart specialization growth areas 2014-2020.4.02.16-0026) and Institutional Research Grant IUT20–13. This work was partially supported by Estonian Research Council grants PUT1033 and PUT55.

Potential of the renewable energy development in Jammu and Kashmir, India

This paper centres on the estimation of carbon dioxide emissions in a Cameroon thermal power plant called Dibamba Power Development Company, in such a way that they can be included as part of Cameroon energy sector inventory or used by the Dibamba Power Development Company to monitor its policy and technology improvements for mitigating climate change. We have estimated the emissions using national emission factors for the consumption of liquid fossil fuels and simulated a mitigation of these emissions till 2018 using alternative fossil fuels and carbon neutral model. The results show that energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 are estimated to be 48.964 ktoe and 164.39 kt CO2 respectively. National emission factors for electricity generation are estimated to be 660.63 g/kWh. From 2012 to 2018, the thermal power plant will emit into the atmosphere 1298.42 kt CO2. These results also show that the use of alternative fuels will reduce 59.22 kt CO2 per year for the same period while the use of the carbon neutral model will reduce a total amount of 8.08 kt CO2. Finally, the total quantity of CO2 emission reduced for the period 2012 to 2018 will be 489.91 kt CO2.