Articles

Methanation of CO₂ - storage of renewable energy in a gas distribution system

This article presents some crucial findings of the joint research project entitled «Storage of electric energy from renewable sources in the natural gas grid-water electrolysis and synthesis of gas components»...

Authors: Tanja Schaaf, Jochen Grünig, Markus Roman Schuster, Tobias Rothenfluh and Andreas Orth

Small town identity and history's contribution to a response in policy change: a case study of transition from coal to biomass energy conversion

In 2002, the provincial government of Ontario first announced plans to close all coal-burning thermoelectric generating stations. Facing the loss of local jobs should the local generating station close, Atikok...

Authors: Jason Ernest Elvin Dampier, R Harvey Lemelin, Chander Shahi and Nancy Luckai

Sustainability appraisal of residential energy demand and supply - a life cycle approach including heating, electricity, embodied energy and mobility

This paper introduces the concepts, methods and the implementation of a calculator for the energetic long term analysis of residential settlement structures (ELAS). The freely available online tool addresses, ...

Authors: Gernot Stoeglehner, Wolfgang Baaske, Hermine Mitter, Nora Niemetz, Karl-Heinz Kettl, Michael Weiss, Bettina Lancaster and Georg Neugebauer

Onshore wind energy use in spatial planning—a proposal for resolving conflicts with a dynamic safety distance approach

The political agenda on wind power usage intends its further expansion in a large scale. As most energy sources, wind power can have negative impacts on humans and environment; this expansion can be accompanie...

Authors: Georg Felber and Gernot Stoeglehner

Applying Bayesian model averaging for uncertainty estimation of input data in energy modelling

Energy scenarios that are used for policy advice have ecological and social impact on society. Policy measures that are based on modelling exercises may lead to far reaching financial and ecological consequenc...

Authors: Monika Culka

Benchmarking biofuels—a comparison of technical, economic and environmental indicators

The global demand for energy, particularly for transport fuels, will continue to increase significantly in the future. In addition to other options, like increased technological efficiencies, traffic reduction...

Authors: Franziska Müller-Langer, Stefan Majer and Sinéad O'Keeffe

Intelligent automation and IT for the optimization of renewable energy and wastewater treatment processes

Environmental systems often have a very complex structure. Methods from computational intelligence (CI) that are often inspired by nature can help to improve these systems. On the one hand, CI methods can be u...

Authors: Michael Bongards, Daniel Gaida, Oliver Trauer and Christian Wolf

Utilization of renewably generated power in the chemical process industry

The chemical process industry, mainly the production of organic and inorganic base chemicals, has a significantly high demand for electrical and thermal energy. This demand is constant in time and quantity due...

Authors: Julia Riese, Marcus Grünewald and Stefan Lier

The production of renewable energy in the form of methane using electrolytic hydrogen generation

An extrapolation of the world energy consumption from 1990 to 2010 indicates a complete exhaustion of the world reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium, and coal by 2043, 2047, 2051, and 2055, respectively. For ...

Authors: Koji Hashimoto, Naokazu Kumagai, Koichi Izumiya, Hiroyuki Takano and Zenta Kato

Situative governance and energy transitions in a spatial context: case studies from Germany

While the traditional form of electricity generation and supply is based on centralized structures with large-scale power plants, the objective of a strongly decentralized form of energy supply is increasingly...

Authors: Gerhard Fuchs and Nele Hinderer

The future of the energy transition in Germany

Although the goals of the country’s energy transition (Energiewende) are widely accepted in Germany, the specific route to get there is itself a matter of great controversy. The individual measures that are part ...

Authors: Erik Gawel, Paul Lehmann, Klaas Korte, Sebastian Strunz, Jana Bovet, Wolfgang Köck, Philipp Massier, Andreas Löschel, Dominik Schober, Dörte Ohlhorst, Kerstin Tews, Miranda Schreurs, Matthias Reeg and Sandra Wassermann

Design of local roadway infrastructure to service sustainable energy facilities

This paper aims to identify specific local roadway infrastructure design guidelines associated with the construction and operation of sustainable energy source facilities, such as ethanol plants, biomass plant...

Authors: Karim A AbdelWarith, Panagiotis Ch Anastasopoulos, Wayne Richardson, Jon D Fricker and John E Haddock

Demand response behaviour of domestic consumers with photovoltaic systems in the UK: an exploratory analysis of an internet discussion forum

Domestic consumers with photovoltaic (PV) systems in the UK can benefit financially by time-shifting their electricity demand to coincide with the output of the PV. This behaviour is a form of demand response ...

Authors: Eoghan McKenna and Murray Thomson

Alternative fuels from forest residues for passenger cars - an assessment under German framework conditions

Due to the available volumes, biogenic residues are a promising resource for renewable fuels for passenger cars to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we compare three fuels from forest resid...

Authors: Oliver Hurtig, Ludwig Leible, Stefan Kälber, Gunnar Kappler and Ulrich Spicher

Agricultural biogas production in Germany - from practice to microbiology basics

Worldwide, anaerobic digestion for sanitation and utilization of the produced biogas as energy carrier have a long-standing history. Concomitantly, digested residues from biogas plants are utilized as valuable...

Authors: Michael Lebuhn, Bernhard Munk and Mathias Effenberger

The institutional space of community initiatives for renewable energy: a comparative case study of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark

Community initiatives for renewable energy are emerging across Europe but with varying numbers, success rates and strategies. A literature overview identifies structural, strategic and biophysical conditions f...

Authors: Marieke Oteman, Mark Wiering and Jan-Kees Helderman

Optimal renewable energy systems for industries in rural regions

Energy systems for smart regions will require on the one hand a much higher share of renewable energy sources for heat and electricity and on the other hand a high standard integration of industry and utilitie...

Authors: Stephan Maier and Ariadni Gemenetzi

Reflections on the uptake of climate change policies by local governments: facing the challenges of mitigation and adaptation

There is a growing body of literature that examines the role of local governments in addressing climate change vis-à-vis mitigation and adaptation. Although it appears that climate change mitigation strategies - ...

Authors: Thomas Hoppe, Maya M van den Berg and Frans HJM Coenen

Development of methods and practices of virtual reality as a tool for participatory urban planning: a case study of Vilnius City as an example for improving environmental, social and energy sustainability

Multiple channels of sustainable urban development could be managed in the process of an inter-disciplinary cooperation and creative involvement of all stakeholders. The paper aims to verify how the specific m...

Authors: Gintaras Stauskis

Fungi open new possibilities for anaerobic fermentation of organic residues

Large amounts of fibre-rich organic waste material from public green and private gardens have to be treated environmentally friendly; however, this fibre-rich biomass has low biogas yields. This study investig...

Authors: Marian Kazda, Susanne Langer and Frank R Bengelsdorf

Local power: exploring the motivations of mayors and key success factors for local municipalities to go 100% renewable energy

This paper investigates the decision-making processes of mayors on the municipal level in Brandenburg, Germany, to support 100% renewable energy policies as well as the respective key success factors. Three di...

Authors: Henner Busch and Kes McCormick

Energy policy by beauty contests: the legitimacy of interactive sustainability policies at regional levels of the regulatory state

To achieve the ambition of the energy transition in the built environment, Dutch local governments try to motivate citizens to participate as communities in policy processes. There is a general expectation tha...

Authors: Maurits PT Sanders, Michiel A Heldeweg, Elly GP Straatman and Johan FDB Wempe

The use of three perspectives to make energy implementation studies more culturally informed

In our research on the social and technical feasibility of a small-scale electrical power system in Tanzania, we have perceived a need for an alternative framework or method for social scientific studies of li...

Authors: Caroline Bastholm and Annette Henning

Power to the people: local energy initiatives as seedbeds of innovation?

Two decades after the launch of Local Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the emergence and development of local initiatives in sustainable development. Local energy communities are a clear manifest...

Authors: Maarten Arentsen and Sandra Bellekom

Renewable energies and their impact on local value added and employment

Beyond the motivation to reduce the environmental impact of energy production, the economic rationale is a key incentive for local communities to become involved in renewable energy (RE). Substituting imported...

Authors: Katharina Heinbach, Astrid Aretz, Bernd Hirschl, Andreas Prahl and Steven Salecki

Electricity blackouts and hybrid systems of provision: users and the ‘reflective practice’

Interest in the role of the user has provided promising insights when considering the transition towards more decentralised forms of energy provision. There is, however, a shortage of analysis on the reflexivi...

Authors: Jenny Rinkinen

Rural households’ preferences and attitudes towards biomass fuels - results from a comprehensive field survey in Bangladesh

Biomass fuel is the main source of rural household energy in many developing countries in South and Southeast Asia. This paper examines the preference and attitude towards biomass fuels of consumers living in ...

Authors: Md Kamrul Hassan, Pradipta Halder, Paavo Pelkonen and Ari Pappinen

The promotion of domestic grid-connected photovoltaic electricity production through social learning

An effective social learning process which enhances public understanding of photovoltaic installations in residential dwellings and the economic instruments used by governments to encourage investment in this ...

Authors: Greg Hampton and Simon Eckermann

The trend of natural illuminance levels in 14 Chinese cities in the past 50 years

Maximizing natural illuminance, seeking sustainable ecological development, and saving electricity are very important. The annual total natural light illuminance values of 14 typical Chinese cities in differen...

Authors: Ying He, Aiying Wang and Haijing Huang

Energy, Sustainability and Society is celebrating two years of successful open-access publication

Authors: Michael Narodoslawsky and Dagmar Fiedler

Floating layer formation, foaming, and microbial community structure change in full-scale biogas plant due to disruption of mixing and substrate overloading

The use of biogas as renewable resource of energy is of growing interest. To increase the efficiency and sustainability of anaerobic biogas reactors, process failures such as overacidification, foaming, and fl...

Authors: Tobias Lienen, Anne Kleyböcker, Manuel Brehmer, Matthias Kraume, Lucie Moeller, Kati Görsch and Hilke Würdemann

New approach for optimizing energy by adjusting the trade-off coefficient in wind turbines

As fossil fuels run out, more attention should be paid to renewable energies, among which wind energy is one of the best. Therefore, the optimization of its energetic efficiency in variable speed wind turbines...

Authors: Alireza Fakharzadeh J, Fatemeh Jamshidi and Leila Talebnezhad

Olivine: a supergreen fuel

The hydration and carbonation of olivine, the most common mineral on Earth, produce a large amount of heat. Unfortunately, the reaction is too slow for normal technological applications, but when thermally wel...

Authors: Roelof D Schuiling

Energy scenarios for the Minas Gerais State in Brazil: an integrated modeling exercise using System Dynamics

Developing medium- to long-term energy scenarios is a key to achieve goals of energy security and greenhouse gas emission reduction through the implementation of effective public policies.

Authors: Marcos Vinícius Eloy Xavier, Andrea Marcello Bassi, Cibele Mally de Souza, Wilson Pereira Barbosa Filho, Kevin Schleiss and Felipe Nunes

Development of a fuel efficient cookstove through a participatory bottom-up approach

Since 1940s, other than a few success stories, the outcomes of efforts of development and dissemination of improved cookstoves ^a have not been so fruitful. This paper presents a bottom-up approach that was succes...

Authors: Vijay H Honkalaskar, Upendra V Bhandarkar and Milind Sohoni

Biogas production from wheat straw: community structure of cellulose-degrading bacteria

Wheat straw is one of the most abundant crop residues produced in the world, making it highly interesting as a substrate for biogas production. However, due to the complex structure, its degradability and gas ...

Authors: Li Sun, Bettina Müller and Anna Schnürer

Intercontinental cross-linking of power supply - calculating an optimal power line corridor from North Africa to Central Europe

An oversupply of solar radiation in Northern Africa as well as high energy consumption in the economic centers of Central Europe give reason to an international cross-linking of regenerative power supply. A fu...

Authors: Katrin Walter and Stephan Bosch

Ballerini, D Biofuels: Meeting the Energy and Environmental Challenges of the Transportation Sector

Authors: Arne Gröngröft and Franziska Müller-Langer

The unintended consequences of greening America: an examination of how implementing green building policy may impact the dynamic between local, state, and federal regulatory systems and the possible exacerbation of class segregation

The aim of this paper is to analyze the unintended consequences of green government policies. This paper begins by providing a background on how the implementation of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA)...

Authors: Roshan Mehdizadeh and Martin Fischer

From coal to wood thermoelectric energy production: a review and discussion of potential socio-economic impacts with implications for Northwestern Ontario, Canada

The province of Ontario in Canada is the first North American jurisdiction withlegislation in place to eliminate coal-fired thermoelectric production by theend of 2014. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) operates ...

Authors: Jason Ernest Elvin Dampier, Chander Shahi, Raynald Harvey Lemelin and Nancy Luckai

Enzymatic monitoring and control of a two-phase batch digester leaching system with integrated anaerobic filter

Biogas is one of the most promising regenerative energies. The simple fundamental principle underlying behind biomethanation is the conversion of biomass into biogas by microorganisms in four steps, whereby pr...

Authors: Carina Gasch, Ina Hildebrandt, Falk Rebbe and Isolde Röske

Acculturation of renewable energy technology into remote communities: lessons from Dobrov, Bourdieu, and Rogers and an Indonesian case study

Renewable energy technology can meet the energy needs of remote communities if local renewable energy resources are available and if it is deployed in a way that meets reasonable community expectations, thus a...

Authors: Maria Retnanestri and Hugh Outhred

Public evaluation of electricity technologies and future low-carbon portfolios in Germany and the USA

This paper aims to create insights into people's technology preferences in striving to achieve a low-carbon electricity generation system. The investigation seeks to analyze informed rather than mere opinion-b...

Authors: Dirk Scheer, Wilfried Konrad and Oliver Scheel

Envisioning the sustainability of the production of short rotation coppice on grassland

Short rotation coppices (SRC) offer a chance to enhance sustainable biomass production and to enlarge domestic wood resources. On arable land, SRC are less competitive in many regions compared to cropping syst...

Authors: Christine Rösch, Cisco Aust and Juliane Jörissen

Social sustainability in certification schemes for biofuel production: an explorative analysis against the background of land use constraints in Brazil

This article examines the scope of voluntary certification schemes, based on the sustainability criteria of the European Renewable Energy Directive for biofuel production in the context of social sustainabilit...

Authors: Anna Mohr and Linda Bausch

Review of Tackling Long-Term Global Energy Problems: The Contribution of Social Science by Daniel Spreng, Thomas Flüeler, David L. Goldblatt and Jürg Minsch (Editors)

Authors: Linda Bausch and Anna Mohr

The role of irrigation in determining the global land use impacts of biofuels

Recent studies have evaluated the land use consequences of biofuel programs and the associated carbon fluxes. However, all of these studies have effectively ignored the distinction between rainfed and irrigate...

Authors: Farzad Taheripour, Thomas W Hertel and Jing Liu

Characterization by length heterogeneity (LH)-PCR of a hydrogen-producing community obtained in dark fermentation using coastal lake sediment as an inoculum

Sustainable biohydrogen production can be achieved by dark fermentation of organic wastes, and studies were carried out using a range of substrates and inocula. The bacterial populations involved were mainly i...

Authors: Rita Di Bonito, Antonella Marone, Giulia Massini, Chiara Patriarca, Silvia Rosa, Antonella Signorini, Cristiano Varrone, Corinna Viola and Giulio Izzo

Socioeconomic impacts of wind farm development: a case study of Weatherford, Oklahoma

There have been increasing efforts nationally and internationally to promote renewable energy as a response to the awareness of the limited supply of fossil fuels, to meet growing energy demand, and to reduce ...

Authors: John Scott Greene and Mark Geisken

Book review on The Geopolitics of Energy

Authors: Michael Narodoslawsky