Advances in Sustainable Energy

216 Pages·2019·7.19 MB·English

by  Ahmad Vasel, David S-K. Ting

Lecture Notes in Energy 70
Ahmad Vasel
David S.-K. Ting E ditors
Advances in
Sustainable
Energy
Lecture Notes in Energy
Volume 70
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Ahmad Vasel David S.-K. Ting
(cid:129)
Editors
Advances in Sustainable
Energy
123
Editors
Ahmad Vasel DavidS.-K. Ting
Department ofMechanical Engineering Turbulence & EnergyLaboratory
Tennessee Technological University University of Windsor
Cookeville, TN,USA Windsor, ON,Canada
ISSN 2195-1284 ISSN 2195-1292 (electronic)
Lecture Notesin Energy
ISBN978-3-030-05635-3 ISBN978-3-030-05636-0 (eBook)
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Contents
Sustainable Energy: What, Why, and How? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Paul Henshaw
A Review of Wind Energy Resource Assessment in the Urban
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mireille B. Tadie Fogaing, Hermes Gordon, Carlos F. Lange,
David H. Wood and Brian A. Fleck
Advances in Wind Power Forecasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Madison E. Dittner and Ahmad Vasel
Lean Energy Buildings: Applications of Machine Learning, Optimal
Central Chilled-Water Systems, and Hybrid Solar-Ground Source
Heat Pump Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Andrew Chiasson, J. Kelly Kissock and Abinesh Selvacanabady
Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV): From Deserts to Rooftops . . . . . . . . 93
Muhammad Burhan, Muhammad Wakil Shahzad and Kim Choon Ng
Solar Energy, the Future Ahead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
José P. Paredes-Sánchez, Jesús Las-Heras-Casas
and Beatriz M. Paredes-Sánchez
Evaluation of the Changes in Greenhouse Gas Emissions After
Migration Towards Electric Mobility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Roberto Álvarez Fernández and Borja Dalmau Giménez
Bioenergy as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels in Thermal Systems . . . . . . 149
José P. Paredes-Sánchez and Luis M. López-Ochoa
Thermal Energy Storage Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Ethan Mohseni Languri and Glenn Cunningham
What Else is Emerging from the Horizon?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Giancarlo Abbate and Eugenio Saraceno
v
Sustainable Energy: What, Why,
and How?
PaulHenshaw
1 What?
Sustainability,ortheabilitytobesustained,essentiallymeanssomethingcanbecon-
tinued or prolonged for an extended period of time (Apple Inc. 2015). A common
useofthiswordcomesfromtheworldofcommerce:ifabusinessissustainable,it
hasthepotentialtobeprofitableoverthelongterm.Acurrentlypopular,butnarrow,
viewofsustainabilityconsiderssomethingtobesustainableifitminimizesdamage
to the natural environment. However, minimizing damage is a low bar to hurdle:
simplyminimizingdamagedoesnotnecessarilymeanthatsomethingcreatesmore
good than bad with respect to the environment. Instead, the test of environmental
sustainabilityisusuallyappliedinrelativeterms:willthissomethinghavethesame
function but produce less environmental damage than the something that society
usesnow?The“something”canbeameasure(plan,policy,orcourseofaction),a
system(procedure,process,orsetofrelatedprocesses),oranentity(product,device,
or infrastructure). One can imagine many measures, systems, or entities that have
the ability to have prolonged financial profit, or prolonged environmental benefit
(inabsoluteorrelativeterms).However,abroaderdefinitionofsustainabilitycon-
siders environmental, social, and economic sustainability to be essential. Barbier
depictedsustainabilityasthecommoncentreofaVenndiagramconsistingofthree
overlappingcircles,representingenvironmentalsustainability,socialsustainability,
andeconomicsustainability,asshowninFig.1(Barbier1987).Socialsustainability
meansthatthemeasure,system,orentityprovidesanetbenefittopeople.Hence,true
sustainability(consideringthethreeaforementionedtypes)issometimesdescribed
asgoodfortheplanet,people,andprofit(thethree“P”s).Elkingtonalsodescribed
suchmeasures,systems,orentitiesashavingapositivebottomlineontheirfinancial
B
P.Henshaw( )
CivilandEnvironmentalEngineering,UniversityofWindsor,Windsor,ONN9B3P4,Canada
e-mail:[email protected]
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2019 1
A.VaselandDavidS.-K.Ting(eds.),AdvancesinSustainableEnergy,
LectureNotesinEnergy70,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05636-0_1
2 P.Henshaw
Fig.1 Venndiagramshowingthetypesofsustainability(adaptedfromBarbier1987)
balance sheet, as well as their social and environmental “balance sheets”, and he
coinedthephrase“triplebottomline”(Elkington1998).
Therearecountlessinstancesofmeasures,systems,orentitiesthatfailedbecause
they did not satisfy one of the three components of sustainability. For example, a
company that makes a vehicle that runs without emitting anything more harmful
thanwatervapour,andemploysmanypeopleinitsmanufacture,buthasinsufficient
sales to sustain its continued operation fails the three-way test of sustainability.
It is relatively environmentally and socially sustainable, but not economically
sustainable. Similarly, a major piece of transportation infrastructure, even though
itmaybecost-effectiveandenvironmentally-friendly,willnotbesustainableifits
constructionoroperationdisadvantagesalargesegmentofsociety.Inademocracy,
thedisadvantagedpeoplewouldelectcandidatesthatpromisetochangeoreliminate
theinfrastructure.Therearemanyaspectstosocialsustainability:“alackofsocial
development, including poverty, inequality and weak rule of law, can hamper
businessoperationsandgrowth”(UnitedNationsGlobalCompact2018).
Ontheotherhand,therearesometangibleexamplesoftruesustainabilitythatcan
berealizedbymostcitizensintheirdailylives.Ridingabicycleinsteadofdriving
cansatisfythetripletestofsustainability.Theexerciseofriding,evenataslowpace,
hashealthbenefitsformostpeople.Commutingbybicycleproducesone-tenththe
greenhousegasescomparedtoridingaloneinapetroleum-poweredcar,considering
themanufactureofthebicycleandgrowingtheadditionalfoodeatenbythecyclist
(Blondel et al. 2011). And bicycle ownership is less expensive to the commuter,
considering reduced fuel, parking, and maintenance costs. There are many other
SustainableEnergy:What,Why,andHow? 3
measures,systemsorentitiesthatsatisfythetriplebottomline,forexampleeating
vegetarianmealsrequiresfewerresourcestoproducethefood,andisbetterforan
individual’shealthaswellashis/herpocketbook.
2 Why?
Sustainable energy implies that the energy source will available for a prolonged
period of time. Indeed, for direct solar, wind, and hydro energy, the source of the
energy is the sun, a distant nuclear fusion reactor that is expected to “burn” for
anotherfivebillionyears;practicallyaninfinitetime.“Fossil”fuelssuchascoaland
petroleumalsoderivedtheirchemicalenergyfromthesun,throughphotosynthesis
thatoccurredhundredsofmillionsofyearsago.Theorganicmatterfromancientflora
andfaunawassequesteredanddeoxygenatedresultinginahighercarboncontent—a
processakintofossilization.Itwouldtakemillionsofyearstocreatepetroleumfrom
currentlylivingthings.Hence,fossilfuelsareanon-renewableresource.
Furthermore,worldwideburningoffossilfuelsatthepresentrateisexpectedto
releasesufficientcarbondioxideintotheatmospheretolikelyincreasetheglobalaver-
agetemperature1.5°Cby2030–2052(IPCC2018).Thisisapotentiallydevastating
environmentaleffectfromusingfossilfuels.Awaytomitigatethisrelativelyrapid
changeinourplanet’stemperatureistoutilizesomeformofimmediately-harvestable
solarenergyinsteadof fossilfuel,suchthatnocarbonisreleasedtotheatmosphere.
Hencerenewableenergymeets,onaglobalscaleatleast,thetestofenvironmental
sustainability.Butthereareotherreasonstouserenewableenergy.Renewableenergy
canbeharvestedandusedlocally,inanylocationintheworld,asopposedtofossil
fuelswhichareextractedfromtheearthinsomeregionsofourworld,andusedin
others. Humans have witnessed social unrest driven by the uneven distribution of
naturalresources.Atthelocallevel,theconstructionofrenewableenergyharvesting
systemscreatesemploymentinallregionsthatareenergyusers.Hence,ubiquitously
availablerenewableenergyhasthepotentialtobesociallysustainableinadditionto
environmentallysustainable.
Althoughrenewableenergieshaveadvantagesintermstheirenvironmentaland
social benefits, they struggle to be financially feasible. The systems to harvest
“free”renewableenergyarecapital-intensive,andthelargeup-frontcostsmustbe
reimbursedfromfuelcostsavings(theexistingfossilfuelsystemsareneededasa
back-upwhenthesunsetsorthewindwanes).Itshouldbenotedhowever,thatthe
fuelcostsavingsfromharvestingrenewableenergydependonthecostoffinancing
thesolarenergyharvestingsystem,aswellassavingsinthecostoffossilfuels.The
trade-off between costs and savings results in some niches where using renewable
energy is already cost effective. Examples include remote island communities
which must import fossil fuel to meet all their energy needs. In these locations,
renewablescansupplycost-effectiveenergyandreducetheexportoffundstopay
forfuel.Hence,energyharvestingsystemsthatutilizerenewableenergy,aresocially
sustainableandcost-effectivemaybetermedsustainableenergysystems.
4 P.Henshaw
3 How?
OrganizationssuchastheAmericanSolarEnergySocietyadvocatefor“sustainable
livingand100%renewableenergy”(ASES2018).Thechaptersinthistexthopeto
addresssomeofthechallengesinexpandingsustainableenergysystemsfromniche
areastowidespreadadoption.
Chapter4describesthepotentialandtechnologiestodirectlyutilizesolarenergy.
Solar energy is touted as a clean form of energy (no local pollution is emitted
while converting sunlight into more usable forms of energy: electricity and heat).
Furthermore, harvesting solar energy emits no carbon dioxide in operation. For
these reasons, the utilization of direct solar energy is considered environmentally
sustainable.Althoughsolarphotovoltaicpanelsareenergy-intensivetomanufacture,
withinthreeyears(undernormaluse)theyharvestanamountofsolarenergysolar
equaltotheamountusedtomakethem(Moore2009).Hence,overthe25–30-year
lifeofasolarpanel,thereisanetenvironmentalbenefitintermsofenergyharvested.
Technologies are readily available to convert solar and wind energies to elec-
tricity.Astheserenewableenergytechnologiessupplantfossil-fueledpowerplants,
converting transportation systems to utilize electricity instead of fossil fuel can
reducecarbondioxideemissions.Butwhatwillbetheeffectontheelectricityinfras-
tructureofthewide-spreaduseofelectricvehicles?Chapter7exploresthisquestion,
acknowledging that the adoption of electric vehicle technology will be influenced
bysocialandpoliticalfactors,asmuchastechnologicalandeconomicones.
Many of the technologies reported in this book are aimed at either harvesting
energies that are currently not utilized, understanding the available energy better,
or overcoming the intermittent availability of renewable energies. In Chap. 10, a
technology is introduced to take advantage of high-altitude winds, which have a
highervelocitycomparedtosurfacewinds.Currently,thesewindsarenotutilized.
Similarly,concentratedphotovoltaicsystems(CPVs)requiresolartrackersandPV
cooling,whichnecessitatelargeground-mountedarraysinordertoobtaineconomies
of scale. Chapter 5 explores smaller, modular “rooftop” CPV systems as a way to
capturemoresolarenergy.Chapter6describeshowtheenergyavailabletoground
sourceheatpumpscanbeenhancedbyutilizingsolarthermalcollectors.Theoper-
ationofsuchasystemisexploredinbothheatingandcooling-dominatedbuildings.
Accuratelyunderstandingthewindresourceisvitaltodealwiththeintermittency
ofavailablewindenergy.Chapter3addresseswindpowerforecastingasawayfor
windpowerproponentstohavegreaterknowledgeofthetimingoftheiroutputso
that they can participate more effectively in the electricity market. Chapter 2 also
addressestheavailabilityofwind,butinurbanlandscapeswhereunderstandingthe
effectsofsurroundingbuildingscanleadtooptimalplacementofsmallwindturbines.
Bioenergyisthesolarenergystoredchemicallyinplantmatter.Althoughburning
plantmatterresultsincarbondioxideemissionstotheatmosphere,carbondioxide
fromtheatmosphereisassimilatedbythenextcropofplantsinashorttime(days
to decades). This net-zero carbon input into the atmosphere means that bioenergy
isarenewableandenvironmentally-sustainableformofenergy.Chapter8examines