Articles

Renewables in residential development: an integrated GIS-based multicriteria approach for decentralized micro-renewable energy production in new settlement development: a case study of the eastern metropolitan area of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using micro-renewable energy sources. However, planning has not yet developed methodological approaches (1) for spatially optimizing residential develo...

Authors: Claudia Palmas, Emanuela Abis, Christina von Haaren and Andrew Lovett

Insights to the internal sphere of influence of peasant family farms in using biogas plants as part of sustainable development in rural areas of Germany

Within the last decade, the biogas branch has become an important economic sector in Germany. Many arguments are used to support a further and rapid expansion of local biogas plants in both quantity and capaci...

Authors: Anke Bischoff

Solid Biofuels for Energy

Authors: Michael Flamme

Optimisation of hybrid off-grid energy systems by linear programming

In this study, a general model of a hybrid off-grid energy system is developed, which can be adjusted to reflect real conditions in order to achieve economical and ecological optimisation of off-grid energy sy...

Authors: Fabian Huneke, Johannes Henkel, Jairo Alberto Benavides González and Georg Erdmann

Grassroots action for renewable energy: how did Ontario succeed in the implementation of a feed-in tariff system?

This article examines the policymaking process of Ontario's Green Energy Act (GEA) which enabled the introduction of the first comprehensive feed-in tariff (FIT) in North America. The FIT, which is a payback s...

Authors: Kensuke Nishimura

Decentralized electricity generation from renewable sources as a chance for local economic development: a qualitative study of two pioneer regions in Germany

Empirical research on the local economic effects associated with decentralized electricity generation from renewable sources has only just started. So far, most studies focus on quantifying economic effects an...

Authors: Britta Klagge and Tobias Brocke

Interdisciplinary research for the transformation of the energy system

Authors: Martina Schäfer

The bioliq^® bioslurry gasification process for the production of biosynfuels, organic chemicals, and energy

Biofuels may play a significant role in regard to carbon emission reduction in the transportation sector. Therefore, a thermochemical process for biomass conversion into synthetic chemicals and fuels is being ...

Authors: Nicolaus Dahmen, Edmund Henrich, Eckhard Dinjus and Friedhelm Weirich

Alternative energy technologies as a cultural endeavor: a case study of hydrogen and fuel cell development in Germany

The wider background to this article is the shift in the energy paradigm from fossil energy sources to renewable sources which should occur in the twenty-first century. This transformation requires the develop...

Authors: Ante Galich and Lutz Marz

Semi-industrial production of methane from textile wastewaters

The enzymatic desizing of starch-sized cotton fabrics leads to wastewaters with an extremely high chemical oxygen demand due to its high sugar content. Nowadays, these liquors are still disposed without use, r...

Authors: Klaus Opwis, Thomas Mayer-Gall, Jochen S Gutmann, Christoph Dammer, Tanja Titscher, Anna Nickisch-Hartfiel, Oliver Grün, Christoph Spurk, Christine Schloderer, Axel Köppe, Christian Dörfler and Herbert Bachus

Optimisation of the use of biomass for energy production (Optimierung der energetischen Biomassenutzung)-a funding programme introduces itself

In 2009 the German funding programme for "Promoting Projects to Optimise the Use of Biomass for Energy Production" ("Biomass for Energy") has started and fostered a wide range of projects to combine sustainabl...

Authors: Daniela Thrän, Diana Pfeiffer, Angela Gröber, Stefan Steiert, Vanessa Zeller, Christian Weiser, Peter Deumelandt, Peter Zimmermann and Wolfgang Wimmer

Impact of changes in diet on the availability of land, energy demand, and greenhouse gas emissions of agriculture

Recent scientific investigations have revealed a correlation between nutrition habits and the environmental impacts of agriculture. So, it is obviously worthwhile to study what effects a change in diet has on ...

Authors: Karin Fazeni and Horst Steinmüller

Development of a pellet boiler with Stirling engine for m-CHP domestic application

A new sustainable technology has been designed by Fondazione Bruno Kessler through its unit Renewable Energies and Environmental Technologies. This technology is realized integrating in a single system (1) a S...

Authors: Luigi Crema, Fabrizio Alberti, Alberto Bertaso and Alessandro Bozzoli

Potential uses of Elodea nuttallii-harvested biomass

Elodea nuttallii (PLANCH) St. John, an aquatic plant native to North America, shows invasive traits outside of its area of origin. In Europe, the plant has spread rapidly in water bodies. In Germany, the massive ...

Authors: Marcela Muñoz Escobar, Maryna Voyevoda, Christoph Fühner and Andreas Zehnsdorf

Sustainability assessment of energy technologies: towards an integrative framework

To be able to design and use energy technologies with regard to the needs of sustainable development, sustainability assessments are necessary prior to the respective decisions. However, as is known, they pose...

Authors: Armin Grunwald and Christine Rösch

Spatial dimensions of sustainable energy systems: new visions for integrated spatial and energy planning

The turn to sustainable energy system is a major societal goal at the global level. In this paper, we argue that this radical shift in energy provision towards increased energy efficiency and the use of renewa...

Authors: Gernot Stoeglehner, Nora Niemetz and Karl-Heinz Kettl

Editorial

Authors: Michael Narodoslawsky and Dagmar Fiedler