Overview: capturing the sun for energy production

Solar energy has potential to provide a major part of our energy for our future, as heat, electricity, and fuels. Most solar technologies are still at the research and development stage, however. There is therefore a need for bold and enduring efforts in research, development and commercialization, including strategic legislative measures and infrastructure investments. This overview article serves as an introduction to the present Special Report, briefly outlining the potential, principles and possibilities as well as some of the challenges of solar energy conversion.     

Advancements in solar technologies for sustainable development of agricultural sector in India: a comprehensive review on challenges and opportunities

Agriculture is the main occupation of the majority of people in India. The majority of the population in India is dependent (directly or indirectly) on agriculture as an occupation. The agriculture sector requires more freshwater and power for better yield in the current scenario. Nevertheless, the ever-increasing rate of energy consumption, limited fossil fuels, and rising pollution have made the expansion of renewable resources essential. Due to the suitable solar potential available in India, the deployment of solar energy has been more as compared to other renewable resources. The current study aims to discuss the various technologies, initiatives and policies of solar energy usage in agriculture. This work delivers an assessment of the advancement of solar energy vis-à-vis agricultural applications through the greenhouse concept and photovoltaic approach in India. Various agricultural applications of solar energy, such as solar water desalination system, solar water pumping system, solar crop dryer system for food safety, etc. are discussed as a means to promote solar-based technology. It also highlights the scenario of solar energy in India with important accomplishments, developmental approaches, and future potential. In-depth studies of various policies and government initiatives including those in research and development are also discussed. The current survey on solar technologies will be an aid to agribusiness frameworks to comprehend the statuses, obstructions, and extent of advancement. Finally, some future recommendations for further developments in this approach are discussed. This work sheds light on varied areas of solar energy-assisted agricultural systems as a potentially sustainable and eco-friendly pathway.

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Solar fuels: vision and concepts

The world needs new, environmentally friendly and renewable fuels to allow an exchange from fossil fuels. The fuel must be made from cheap and 'endless' resources that are available everywhere. The new research area on solar fuels, which are made from solar energy and water, aims to meet this demand. The paper discusses why we need a solar fuel and why electricity is not enough; it proposes solar energy as the major renewable energy source to feed from. The present research strategies, involving direct, semi-direct and indirect approaches to produce solar fuels, are overviewed.     

Solar Fuels: Vision and Concepts

The world needs new, environmentally friendly and renewable fuels to allow an exchange from fossil fuels. The fuel must be made from cheap and ‘endless’ resources that are available everywhere. The new research area on solar fuels, which are made from solar energy and water, aims to meet this demand. The paper discusses why we need a solar fuel and why electricity is not enough; it proposes solar energy as the major renewable energy source to feed from. The present research strategies, involving direct, semi-direct and indirect approaches to produce solar fuels, are overviewed.     

Renewable Energy

The Energy Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has in a series of projects gathered information and knowledge on renewable energy from various sources, both within and outside the academic world. In this article, we synthesize and summarize some of the main points on renewable energy from the various Energy Committee projects and the Committee’s Energy 2050 symposium, regarding energy from water and wind, bioenergy, and solar energy. We further summarize the Energy Committee’s scenario estimates of future renewable energy contributions to the global energy system, and other presentations given at the Energy 2050 symposium. In general, international coordination and investment in energy research and development is crucial to enable future reliance on renewable energy sources with minimal fossil fuel use.     

Genetic engineering of cyanobacteria to enhance biohydrogen production from sunlight and water

To mitigate global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, a renewable energy source available in large quantity is urgently required. We are proposing large-scale photobiological H(2) production by mariculture-raised cyanobacteria where the microbes capture part of the huge amount of solar energy received on earth's surface and use water as the source of electrons to reduce protons. The H(2) production system is based on photosynthetic and nitrogenase activities of cyanobacteria, using uptake hydrogenase mutants that can accumulate H(2) for extended periods even in the presence of evolved O(2). This review summarizes our efforts to improve the rate of photobiological H(2) production through genetic engineering. The challenges yet to be overcome to further increase the conversion efficiency of solar energy to H(2) also are discussed.     

无蓄电池风-光能互补驱动生物反应器处理农村生活污水的可行性

农村生活污水处理设施能耗高难以长效运行,目前已有利用太阳能和风能供电驱动污水处理设施的研究和应用,但常规的太阳能和风能发电设施需要用蓄电池组稳定电能的输出,而蓄电池的使用寿命短导致成本增加,也增加了环境污染风险。为降低成本,减少环境污染风险,通过对不同季节太阳能和风能强度变化监测与分析,确定太阳能与风能具有季节互补性。在此基础上,将太阳能辐射强度周期性、农村生活污水排放不连续性、污水生物处理过程对溶解氧需求的差异三者融合,提出了一种无蓄电池组的太阳能与风能互补发电驱动农村生活污水生物处理设施的集成系统,可降低运行和维护费用。167 d的连续运行实验结果表明：通过自动控制系统的调控及建立相应的生物反应器运行工况,可以实现发电单元电能输出稳定,且能源利用率达到80%;生物反应器对COD、NH4+-N和TN的平均去除率分别为90.6%、94.7%和61.7%,出水平均浓度分别为29.1、2.1和15.8 mg·L-1。研究结果证明利用无蓄电池风-光能互补驱动生物反应器处理农村生活污水是可行的。     

A novel application of concentrated solar thermal energy in foundries

Scrap preheating in foundries is a technology that saves melting energy, leading to economic and environmental benefits. The proposed method in this paper utilizes solar thermal energy for preheating scrap, effected through a parabolic trough concentrator that focuses sunlight onto a receiver which carries the metallic scrap. Scraps of various thicknesses were placed on the receiver to study the heat absorption by them. Experimental results revealed the pattern with which heat is gained by the scrap, the efficiency of the process and how it is affected as the scrap gains heat. The inferences from them gave practical guidelines on handling scraps for best possible energy savings. Based on the experiments conducted, preheat of up to 160 °C and a maximum efficiency of 70 % and a minimum efficiency of 40 % could be achieved across the time elapsed and heat gained by the scrap. Calculations show that this technology has the potential to save around 8 % of the energy consumption in foundries. Cumulative benefits are very encouraging: 180.45 million kWh of energy savings and 203,905 t of carbon emissions cut per year across the globe. This research reveals immense scope for this technology to be adopted by foundries throughout the world.     

Genetic Engineering of Cyanobacteria to Enhance Biohydrogen Production from Sunlight and Water

To mitigate global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, a renewable energy source available in large quantity is urgently required. We are proposing large-scale photobiological H₂ production by mariculture-raised cyanobacteria where the microbes capture part of the huge amount of solar energy received on earth’s surface and use water as the source of electrons to reduce protons. The H₂ production system is based on photosynthetic and nitrogenase activities of cyanobacteria, using uptake hydrogenase mutants that can accumulate H₂ for extended periods even in the presence of evolved O₂. This review summarizes our efforts to improve the rate of photobiological H₂ production through genetic engineering. The challenges yet to be overcome to further increase the conversion efficiency of solar energy to H₂ also are discussed.     

Design, engineering, and construction of photosynthetic microbial cell factories for renewable solar fuel production

There is an urgent need to develop sustainable solutions to convert solar energy into energy carriers used in the society. In addition to solar cells generating electricity, there are several options to generate solar fuels. This paper outlines and discusses the design and engineering of photosynthetic microbial systems for the generation of renewable solar fuels, with a focus on cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic microorganisms with the same type of photosynthesis as higher plants. Native and engineered cyanobacteria have been used by us and others as model systems to examine, demonstrate, and develop photobiological H(2) production. More recently, the production of carbon-containing solar fuels like ethanol, butanol, and isoprene have been demonstrated. We are using a synthetic biology approach to develop efficient photosynthetic microbial cell factories for direct generation of biofuels from solar energy. Present progress and advances in the design, engineering, and construction of such cyanobacterial cells for the generation of a portfolio of solar fuels, e.g., hydrogen, alcohols, and isoprene, are presented and discussed. Possibilities and challenges when introducing and using synthetic biology are highlighted.     

Design,Engineering, and Construction of Photosynthetic Microbial Cell Factories for Renewable Solar Fuel Production

There is an urgent need to develop sustainable solutions to convert solar energy into energy carriers used in the society. In addition to solar cells generating electricity, there are several options to generate solar fuels. This paper outlines and discusses the design and engineering of photosynthetic microbial systems for the generation of renewable solar fuels, with a focus on cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic microorganisms with the same type of photosynthesis as higher plants. Native and engineered cyanobacteria have been used by us and others as model systems to examine, demonstrate, and develop photobiological H₂ production. More recently, the production of carbon-containing solar fuels like ethanol, butanol, and isoprene have been demonstrated. We are using a synthetic biology approach to develop efficient photosynthetic microbial cell factories for direct generation of biofuels from solar energy. Present progress and advances in the design, engineering, and construction of such cyanobacterial cells for the generation of a portfolio of solar fuels, e.g., hydrogen, alcohols, and isoprene, are presented and discussed. Possibilities and challenges when introducing and using synthetic biology are highlighted.     

二氧化碳储存技术的研究现状和展望

为了减少因温室效应造成的危害,必须大量减少CO2的人为排放.将化石燃料燃烧产生的CO2进行储存(尤其是地下储存)能够长期、有效地阻止大气中CO2浓度的增加.通过对CO2储存技术研究现状的介绍,对中国今后开展CO2地下储存技术提出了建议和研究方向.     

Renewable energy powered membrane desalination — review of recent development

Due to current water stress, there is a problem with hygiene and sanitation in many parts of the world. According to predictions from the United Nations, more than 2.7 billion people will be challenged by water scarcity by the middle of the century. The water industry is increasingly interested in desalination of the sea, ocean, and brackish water. Desalination processes are widely classified as thermal or membrane technologies. In the Middle East, thermal desalination remains the primary technology of choice, but membrane processes, for example reverse osmosis (RO), have evolved rapidly and in many other parts of the world are currently even surpassing thermal processes. The purpose of this paper is to review the renewable energy source, the technology, desalination systems, and their possible integration with renewable energy resources and their cost. This article suggests that the most practical renewable desalination techniques to be used are the solar photovoltaic integrated RO desalination process, the hybrid solar photovoltaic-wind integrated RO desalination process, the hybrid solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) integrated RO desalination process, and the hybrid solar photovoltaic-thermal effect distillation (PVT-MED) desalination process. However, intensive research is still required to minimize the cost, reduce the heat loss, enhance the performance, and increase the productivity.

     

Ultra-high efficiency photovoltaic cells for large scale solar power generation

The primary targets of our project are to drastically improve the photovoltaic conversion efficiency and to develop new energy storage and delivery technologies. Our approach to obtain an efficiency over 40% starts from the improvement of III-V multi-junction solar cells by introducing a novel material for each cell realizing an ideal combination of bandgaps and lattice-matching. Further improvement incorporates quantum structures such as stacked quantum wells and quantum dots, which allow higher degree of freedom in the design of the bandgap and the lattice strain. Highly controlled arrangement of either quantum dots or quantum wells permits the coupling of the wavefunctions, and thus forms intermediate bands in the bandgap of a host material, which allows multiple photon absorption theoretically leading to a conversion efficiency exceeding 50%. In addition to such improvements, microfabrication technology for the integrated high-efficiency cells and the development of novel material systems that realizes high efficiency and low cost at the same time are investigated.     

Ultra-High Efficiency Photovoltaic Cells for Large Scale Solar Power Generation

The primary targets of our project are to drastically improve the photovoltaic conversion efficiency and to develop new energy storage and delivery technologies. Our approach to obtain an efficiency over 40% starts from the improvement of III–V multi-junction solar cells by introducing a novel material for each cell realizing an ideal combination of bandgaps and lattice-matching. Further improvement incorporates quantum structures such as stacked quantum wells and quantum dots, which allow higher degree of freedom in the design of the bandgap and the lattice strain. Highly controlled arrangement of either quantum dots or quantum wells permits the coupling of the wavefunctions, and thus forms intermediate bands in the bandgap of a host material, which allows multiple photon absorption theoretically leading to a conversion efficiency exceeding 50%. In addition to such improvements, microfabrication technology for the integrated high-efficiency cells and the development of novel material systems that realizes high efficiency and low cost at the same time are investigated.     

Potential assessment of establishing a renewable energy plant in a rural agricultural area

An evaluation of the green energy potential generated from biogas and solar power, using agricultural manure waste and a photovoltaic (PV) system, was conducted in a large geographical area of a rural county with low population density and low pollution. The studied area, Shoufeng Township in Hualien County, is located in eastern Taiwan, where a large amount of manure waste is generated from pig farms that are scattered throughout the county. The objective of the study is to assess the possibility of establishing an integrated manure waste treatment plant by using the generated biogas incorporated with the PV system to produce renewable energy and then feed it back to the incorporated farms. A filed investigation, geographic information system (GIS) application, empirical equations development, and RETScreen modeling were conducted in the study. The results indicate that Shoufeng Township has the highest priority in setting up an integrated treatment and renewable energy plant by using GIS mapping within a 10-km radius of the transportation range. Two scenarios were plotted in assessing the renewable energy plant and the estimated electricity generation, plus the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction was evaluated. Under the current governmental green energy scheme and from a long-term perspective, the assessment shows great potential in establishing the plant, especially in reducing environmental pollution problems, waste treatment, and developing suitable renewable energy.     

Choosing an Aerometric Data System

The air quality of an urban area depends to a great extent upon the quantity and type of fuel consumed. Thus, a marked change in energy demand from 1960 to 2000 A.D. will affect the air quality of all of our urban centers. Interwoven with this potential effect is the anticipated influence of the change in type and quality of fuels, e.g., nuclear fuels, high sulfur coals, and a major modification in energy derived motive power, i.e., fuel cells, and the subsequent depletion of natural gas as an energy raw material. The current trend is to greater urban population densities, and it is estimated that by the year 2000 A.D., 85 percent of America’s population will live on only 10 percent of the land mass. To assess the potential impact of the energy demands for the next half century on air quality, particularly of America’s urban centers, a review of current practices of combustion of coal, petroleum, and natural gas, and the potential effect on community air quality will be developed. To meet the impact of the interrelated changing patterns of population growth, urban developments, energy requirements and available sources, research needs on both a short and long term basis will be explored.     

Increasing UV-B radiation at the earth's surface and potential effects on aqueous mercury cycling and toxicity

In the past two decades, a great deal of attention has been paid to the environmental fate of mercury (Hg), and this is exemplified by the growing number of international conferences devoted uniquely to Hg cycling and its impacts on ecosystem functions and life. This interest in the biogeochemistry of Hg has resulted in a significant improvement of our understanding of its impact on the environment and human health. However, both past and current research, have been primarily oriented toward the study of direct impact of anthropogenic activities on Hg cycling. Besides a few indirect effects such as the increase in Hg methylation observed in acid-rain impacted aquatic systems or the reported enhanced Hg bioaccumulation in newly flooded water reservoirs; changes in Hg transformations/fluxes that may be related to global change have received little attention. A case in point is the depletion of stratospheric ozone and the resulting increase in solar UV-radiation reaching the Earth. This review and critical discussion suggest that increasing UV-B radiation at earth's surface could have a significant and complex impact on Hg cycling including effects on Hg volatilization (photo-reduction), solubilization (photo-oxidation), methyl-Hg demethylation, and Hg methylation. Therefore, this paper is written to provoke discussions, and more importantly, to stimulate research on potential impacts of incoming solar UV-radiation on global Hg fluxes and any toxicity aspects of Hg that may become exacerbated by UV-radiation.     

Experimental study of solar energy–based water purifier of single-slope type by incorporating a number of similar evacuated tubular collectors

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This research paper deals with the experimental investigation of solar energy–based water purifier (SEBWP) of single-slope type by incorporating...     

剩余污泥厌氧共消化技术研究现状及应用趋势

污水处理厂碳中和运行目标使得剩余污泥厌氧消化产CH4途径重获新生。然而,剩余污泥量取决于进水中有机物（COD）浓度,而我国污水碳源低的特点决定了不可能仅靠剩余污泥转化能源便完全满足碳中和运行目标。研究显示,多种外源有机废弃物与剩余污泥厌氧共消化可以取得“1+1>2”的能量转化效果,这就为我国污水处理厂碳中和运行提供了一种潜在能量来源。在简述剩余污泥厌氧共消化技术特性的基础上,对7种典型外源有机废弃物与剩余污泥共消化试验研究进行了归纳,同时列举国外6个业已实现碳中和运行的污水处理厂共消化应用实例,充分说明外源有机废弃物与剩余污泥共消化的工程应用前景。虽然我国目前环境政策限制了污泥厌氧共消化的工程化进程,但污泥与餐厨垃圾、市政修剪花草/树木、旱厕粪便等几种基质共消化将会是共消化的未来研究方向,更是综合解决市政有机固体废弃物的现实需要。