Recent Advances in Technology, Strategy and Application of Sustainable Energy Systems

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had strong impacts on national and international freight, construction and tourism industry, supply chains, and has resulted in a rapid decline in the demand for traditional energy sources. In fact, research has outlined that urban areas depend on global supply chains for their day-to-day basic functions, including energy supplies, food and safe access to potable water. The disruption of global supply chains can leave many urban areas in a very vulnerable position, in which their citizens may struggle to obtain their basic supplies, as the COVID-19 crisis has recently shown. Therefore, solutions aiming to enhance local food, water and energy production systems, even in urban environments, have to be pursued. The COVID-19 crisis has also highlighted in the scientific community the problem of people’s exposure to outdoor and indoor pollution, confirmed as a key element for the increase both in the transmission and severity of the contagion, on top of involving health risks on their own. In this context, most nations are going to adopt new preferential policies to stimulate the development of relevant sustainable energy industries, based on the electrification of the systems supplied by renewable energy sources as confirmed by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Thus, while there is ongoing research focusing on a COVID 19 vaccine, there is also a need for researchers to work cooperatively on novel strategies for world economic recovery incorporating renewable energy policy, technology and management. In this framework, the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) conference provides a good platform for researchers and other experts to exchange their academic thoughts, promoting the development and improvements on the renewable energy technologies as well as their role in systems and in the transition towards sustainable energy systems. The 14th SDEWES Conference was held in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It brought together around 570 researchers from 55 countries in the field of sustainable development. The present Special Issue of Energies, specifically dedicated to the 14th SDEWES Conference, focuses on four main fields: energy policy for sustainable development, biomass energy application, building energy saving, and power plant and electric systems

Recent Advances in Technologies, Methods, and Economic Analysis for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems

Sustainability has become a broad societal goal, aiming to ensure that human beings coexist safely and harmoniously with nature over a longer time. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy is coming to an end. The development and merits of sustainable energy supply, advanced technology, and economic features have received significant attention over the last few decades. However, significant gaps still exist with respect to how to design, construct, and implement hybrid and optimal energy systems with the lowest investment and cost. Since 2002, the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems (SDEWES) conferences have become a significant meeting venue for researchers to introduce, discuss, share, and disseminate novel concepts and ideas. This paper presents an overview of published articles in the Special Issues (SIs) dedicated by the series SDEWES conferences, especially those published in Energies recommended by the 16th SDEWES Conference, which was held on 10–15 October 2021 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This SI in Energies focused on four main topics, including the application of renewable bioenergy, component enhancement in renewable systems, sustainable development for buildings and economic analysis and evaluation for sustainability. The collected papers provide insight into the topics related to recent advances in improving sustainable efficiency, including studies on waste-to-wealth techniques, utilization of hybrid bioenergy systems, heat exchangers and other components for performance enhancement, energy supply and demand analysis, low-temperature DHC systems, techno-economic assessment, and environmental evaluation

Recent Advances in Low-Carbon and Sustainable, Efficient Technology: Strategies and Applications

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the supply chains of traditional fossil fuels. According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) from 2020, oil-refining activity fell by more than the IEA had anticipated. It was also assumed that the demand in 2021 would likely be 2.6 million bpd below the 2019 levels. However, renewable markets have shown strong resilience during the crisis. It was determined that renewables are on track to meet 80% of the growth in electricity demand over the next 10 years and that sustainable energy will act as the primary source of electricity production instead of coal. On the other hand, the report also emphasized that measures for reducing environmental pollution and CO2 emissions are still insufficient and that significant current investments should be further expanded. The Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) conference series is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for improving the sustainability of development by decoupling growth from the use of natural resources. The 15th SDEWES conference was held online from 1–5 September 2020; more than 300 reports with 7 special sections were organized on the virtual conference platform. This paper presents the major achievements of the recommended papers in the Special Issue of Energies. Additionally, related studies connected to the above papers published in the SDEWES series are also introduced, including the four main research fields of energy saving and emission reduction, renewable energy applications, the development of district heating systems, and the economic assessment of sustainable energy

UrbanGenoGAN: pioneering urban spatial planning using the synergistic integration of GAN, GA, and GIS

Introduction: Urban spatial planning is critical for the development of sustainable and livable cities. However, traditional planning methods often face challenges in handling complex planning scenarios and large-scale data.Methods: This paper introduces UrbanGenoGAN, a novel algorithm that integrates generative adversarial networks (GANs), genetic optimization algorithms (GOAs), and geographic information system (GIS) to address these challenges. Leveraging the generative power of GANs, the optimization capabilities of genetic algorithms, and the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS, UrbanGenoGAN is designed to generate optimized urban plans that cater to various urban planning challenges. Our methodology details the algorithm’s design and integration of its components, data collection and preprocessing, and the training and implementation processes.Results: Through rigorous evaluation metrics, comparative analysis with existing methodologies, and case studies, the proposed algorithm demonstrates significant improvement in urban planning outcomes. The research also explores the technical and practical considerations for implementing UrbanGenoGAN, including scalability, computational efficiency, data privacy, and ethical considerations.Discussion: The findings suggest that the integration of advanced machine learning and optimization techniques with spatial analysis offers a promising approach to enhancing decision-making in urban spatial planning. This work contributes to the growing field of AI applications in urban planning and paves the way for more efficient and sustainable urban development

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Recent Advances in Low-Carbon and Sustainable, Efficient Technology: Strategies and Applications

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the supply chains of traditional fossil fuels. According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) from 2020, oil-refining activity fell by more than the IEA had anticipated. It was also assumed that the demand in 2021 would likely be 2.6 million bpd below the 2019 levels. However, renewable markets have shown strong resilience during the crisis. It was determined that renewables are on track to meet 80% of the growth in electricity demand over the next 10 years and that sustainable energy will act as the primary source of electricity production instead of coal. On the other hand, the report also emphasized that measures for reducing environmental pollution and CO2 emissions are still insufficient and that significant current investments should be further expanded. The Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) conference series is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for improving the sustainability of development by decoupling growth from the use of natural resources. The 15th SDEWES conference was held online from 1–5 September 2020; more than 300 reports with 7 special sections were organized on the virtual conference platform. This paper presents the major achievements of the recommended papers in the Special Issue of Energies. Additionally, related studies connected to the above papers published in the SDEWES series are also introduced, including the four main research fields of energy saving and emission reduction, renewable energy applications, the development of district heating systems, and the economic assessment of sustainable energy

Recent advances in energy storage and energy saving technologies: SDEWES special issue in 2022

Over the past few decades, there has been significant attention devoted to the development of advanced technologies for achieving sustainable and environmentally friendly energy production. One prominent event in this field was the 17th SDEWES Conference (Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems), which took place from November 6–10, 2022, in Paphos, Cyprus. This conference served as a gathering for 496 professionals, comprising scientists, researchers, and experts specializing in sustainable development. Participants came from 52 countries spanning six continents, with 349 attending in person and 147 joining virtually. Prof. Neven Duić, the full professor in the University of Zagreb, originated the SDEWES series since 2002, and serves as the associate editor of Energy Storage and Saving (ENSS) from the journal organization in 2021. This special issue (SI) is the second-time collaboration between SDEWES and ENSS. This editorial focuses on collating the key papers presented during the conference, with a particular emphasis on the pivotal topics including review on electrification and decarbonization, geothermal power utilization, thermal energy storage in heat pump, thermo-economic analysis on thermal system of buildings, industrial policymaking for low-emission technologies and mining investment in Latin America. ENSS also has established the SI for 18th SDEWES in 2023. Manuscripts are welcomed to 18th SDEWES held in Dubrovnik, Croatia on September 24–29, 2023

Sustainable energy integration with energy storage and energy saving technologies: SDEWES special issue in 2021

The 16th conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) has been successfully held on October 10−15, 2021 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The Chair as well as the initiator of SDEWES series, Prof. Neven Duic, who is the professor in the University of Zagreb, serves as the associate editor of Energy Storage and Saving (ENSS), and this special issue (SI) is the first-time collaboration between SDEWES and ENSS. A total of 6 papers were selected for publication. This SI in ENSS mainly addressed the topics related to sustainable energy application (e.g., solar PV, wind and biomass energy), residual reuse, energy saving of direct heating and cooling, thermal energy storage integration and heat exchanger optimization. The series of SDEWES conference provides a good platform to discuss the most recent development in advanced technologies, methods for distinguished researchers in the field of sustainable energy utilization, energy exploitation, energy policy, etc., which has rich experience on soliciting high-quality manuscript. ENSS, which is an international, peer-reviewed Open Access journal, has established the SI for 17th SDEWES in 2022, and will go on to cooperate with the SDEWES series in 2023. Manuscripts are welcomed to 18th SDEWES held in Dubrovnik, Croatia on September 24−29, 2023

Improvement on evaporation-condensation prediction of Lee model via a temperature deviation based dynamic correction on evaporation coefficient

Lee model has been commonly accepted for modelling the mass transfer processes subject to both evaporation or condensation. However, severe concern caused by improper setting of mass transfer relaxation coefficient exists for the high-accuracy prediction. The complicated influence factor and variable parameters result in the failure of definition on the mass transfer relaxation coefficient. In this paper, the temperature deviation based dynamic modification model to define the evaporation mass transfer relaxation coefficient (MTRC) is proposed. The MTRC is no longer needed to be manually adjusted and numerous human and computation resources could be saved, with better prediction accuracy. The hyperbolic tangent function is applied to describe the relationship between the evaporation MTRC and the product of temperature deviation and volume fraction. Compared with the commonly used Lee model, better prediction accuracy at the evaporation section can be achieved with the prediction error lowered by 38.79%, 16.24% and 4.38% under power input of 100.65, 49.61 and 19.88 W, and the maximum relative error decrement by 44.74% and the average reduction by 14.26%, which could be attributed to the elimination of liquid temperature deviation. Note that the liquid temperature deviations are strictly restrained within acceptable range 0–2 K all the time with the dynamic correction model while the temperature deviation by common Lee model would up to 13 K. Meanwhile, the proposed model is found to effectively save the computational time with reduction around 83.3% because of the quick match of the mass transfer rate impacted by the modified evaporation coefficient