Detta arbete innefattar att undersöka hur vätgas kan användas i Sverige, dels för energilagring men även som bränsle för fordon. Den ökande användningen av varierande förnyelsebara energikällor i den svenska energimixen innebär problem med stabilitet i kraftnätet, något som energilagring kan vara en lösning på. Samtidigt finns mål att fasa ut fossila energikällor, exempelvis diesel och bensin, något som transportsektorn är mycket beroende av. Enligt intervjuerna så är ett av de stora hindren för att implementera vätgas i Sverige att det saknas standarder och regelverk. Likaså framkommer det att de intervjuobjektens projekt inom vätgas i nuläget inte är pengamässigt lönsamma. I beräkningarna framkom det att varken det nuvarande fallet eller målfallet leder till lönsamma investeringar. Den sektor som är närmast lönsamhet är transportsektorn som kräver antingen en minskning på 90 % av komponenternas kostnad eller en 10-faldig ökning av priset på fossila bränslen. Slutsatserna dragna i denna studie är att det finns användningsområden för vätgas inom flera områden, bränsle, energilagring och inom industrin, utöver den användningen inom industrin som finns idag. För att ha en hållbar produktion av vätgas bör denna vara med elektrolys som baseras på emissionsfri elektricitet, exempelvis från solceller. De ekonomiska målen, i studien kallat target case, är inte tillräckliga utan ytterligare kostnadsminskningar kommer att behövas. / There is a rising demand for energy and at the same time, fossil fuels need to be phased out due to global warming. This means that the energy needs to come from renewable energy resources, for instance photovoltaics. One issue with such energy sources is that they may have variating production which can induce issues with stability in the electrical grid. This study aims to investigate hydrogen in Sweden as energy storage and vehicle fuel. Methods used are literature review, interviews and calculations. According to the interviews are one of the main issues with implementing hydrogen the lack of standards. Today it is the local fire department who approves of hydrogen system which induces irregularities in the handling. It is also said that none of the projects in the interviews is profitable moneywise, something that also can be seen in the calculations. In order to reach break-even some serious changes with regarding costs of components or the alternative, for instance, fossil fuel and electricity. The application closest to break even is transportation which demands a 90 % decrease in component price or a 10-fold increase in fossil fuel price. In conclusion, there are future applications for hydrogen as energy storage, vehicle fuel and in industry, apart from the current industry applications. The most sustainable way to produce hydrogen is via electrolysis with emission-free electricity. In order for hydrogen to become economically viable, the target case is not enough but even greater cost reductions are needed.

Komatsu Forest AB in Umeå saw an opportunity to increase performance during fast varying loads, e.g., when starting to feed after the felling cut, that proved more difficult to reach with their new line of stage V forest harvesters. It was believed that this issue was magnified as a result of new environmental regulations which limited their diesel engines' fuel injection quantity with low turbo boost pressure. It was in Komatsu Forest's interest to make comprehensive measurements of hydraulic and engine parameters in order to investigate what was limiting performance. This thesis includes a literature study into a number of viable options for storage types for a heavy hybrid vehicle with the purpose to recommend the best suited type for Komatsu's harvesters. It also includes extensive measurements made on a producing harvester where hydraulic and engine parameters as well as for example valve currents were logged and used as grounds in making the energy storage recommendation. With results from the measurements, the goal was to estimate how much energy is needed, how much energy can be stored and lastly to design an energy storage to supply additional power to increase performance. With successful measurements, it was possible to detect that approximately five kJ of energy with a maximum momentary power of 37 kW was sufficient to achieve a smoother first feeding. Furthermore, approximately 9-14 kJ of energy and between 0,3 and 0,5 l of hydraulic fluid was estimated as potential stored energy and volume from feeding stops of different sized trees plus an additional 3 kJ and 0,1 l of fluid from cutting stops. The best suited energy storage then proved to be an accumulator mounted on the P-line, which resulted in an appropriate accumulator volume of 4 l with an estimated pressure range of 250-280 bar.

The near future will put a lot of demand on the increasing need for energy production and storage. Issues regarding the modern-day battery technology’s environmental benignity, safety and cost to sustain such demands thus serve as a huge bottleneck, necessitating the research into alternative electrochemical energy storage solutions. Conducting redox polymers are a class of materials which combines the concepts of conducting polymers and redox active molecules to work as fully organic electrode materials. In this work three conducting redox polymers based on 3,4-ethylenedioxythiopene and 3,4-propylenedioxythiopene (EPE) with hydroquinone, catechol and quinizarin pendant groups were investigated. The polymers were electrochemically characterized with regards to their ability to cycle protons (aqueous electrolyte) and cations (non-aqueous electrolyte), their kinetics and charge transport and as cathodes in a battery. In non-aqueous electrolyte, hydroquinone and catechol did not exhibit redox activity in a potential region where the backbone was conducting as they were not redoxmatched. Quinizarin showed redox-matching as concluded by in situ conductance and UV-vis measurements when cycling Na+, Li+, Ca2+ and Mg2+-ions in acetonitrile. Comparison of the kinetics revealed that the rate constant for Ca2+-ion cycling was several magnitudes larger than the rest, and galvanostatic charge/discharge showed that 90% of the polymer capacity was attainable at 5C. An EPE-Quinizarin cathode and metallic calcium anode coin cell assembly displayed output voltages of 2.4 V, and the presented material thus shows promising and exciting properties for future sustainable battery chemistries.

This report studies the importance of solar cooking when moving towards a more sustainable and egalitarian future. The problems regarding its implementation, in fact, technological, social and economic problems, are presented. A historic overview is offered as well as the theory behind the technology. After studying the current situation concerning cooking, different devices have been analysed and considered, from small ones suitable for households to bigger ones for institutions. Furthermore, several backup systems are also proposed aiming to obtain an ideal Integrated Solar Cooker (ISC). Possible hybrid systems have also been evaluated during the work. Furthermore, state-of-the-art technology in Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is also commented and taken into account for the most efficient combination of technologies. Several photovoltaic kitchens are mentioned in this report as well. Two main conclusions have been drawn: trying to solely rely on the sun is a mistake and the ideal and universal ISC does not exist. Other factors besides the income are determinant when choosing an energy source, therefore, a thorough investigation in every particular case is completely necessary for a successful implementation of an ISC. However, the countless devices available make the adoption of solar technology possible in every situation, helping to achieve some of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The purpose of this study is to analyse how a battery energy storage system (BESS) can support the frequency and voltage stability for an islanded microgrid containing a hydropower plant. Two different microgrids, both situated in Sweden, are evaluated. Modelling and dynamic simulations are conducted in the PowerFactory tool. The result shows that both the frequency and the voltage control can be improved with the BESS. However, with the allowed limit of ± 1 Hz, not all simulated scenarios including a BESS meets the requirement. A large difference between the BESS and generator capacity might be a possible cause for this. By dividing the larger loads so that smaller loads are attained, the frequency deviation might be reduced. Furthermore, by adjusting the systems PID-parameters according to the island mode operation, faster regulation can be attained. The system operates according to the Master slave control strategy, with the hydropower being the master unit with voltage control and the BESS being a slave unit with PQ control. The ability to operate an islanded microgrid can ensure the supply of electricity to inhabitants and vital functions in society. By utilizing a BESS for increasing electric stability, emission of CO2 is indirectly mitigated. As cost for BESS are expected to decrease rapidly, they will be accessible for utilization all over the world.

A feasibility study on upgrading an existing heat distribution network to a low-temperature distribution grid has been carried out during this project. The integration of a solar thermal system combined with a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) for covering the space heating demand of the buildings as well as the application of CO2 heat pumps and water storage tanks for domestic hot water (DHW) production were investigated in order to apply more renewable energy sources. The energy analysis included several measures, such as modeling the energy demand of the buildings, finding a reasonable number of solar collectors to be installed and dimensioning a ground source heat pump (with the use of CoolPack and Engineering Equation Solver EES) and a geothermal storage (Earth Energy Designer Software EED) as well as CO2 heat pumps (CoolPack/EES). An economic analysis of all proposed measures has been carried out based on the Net Present Value (NPV) and Net Present Value Quotient (NPVQ). Initial costs, annual costs, annual savings as well as the payback time of the energy systems have been calculated. It is found that it is not feasible to invest in the proposed energy system for space heating because the payback time (28 years) of the system is longer than the lifetime of the solar thermal system. Furthermore, the solar gain from the solar collectors is not sufficient for recovering the ground temperature of the BTES with solar energy only which is why external sources would be needed for supplying the remaining energy needed to recover the ground temperature. Results show that an integration of CO2 heat pumps and water storage tanks for DHW production is very promising as the payback time for the investigated system is only 4 years which is why this part should be investigated further.

The use of an attached sunspace is one of the most popular passive solar heating techniques. One of the main drawbacks of the sunspace is getting over heated by the sun energy during the hot season of the year. Even in northern climates overheating could be problematic and there is a considerable cooling demand. Shading is one of the most efficient and cost effective strategies to avoid overheating due to the high irradiation especially in the summer. Another strategy is using ventilation system to remove the excess heat inside the sunspace. However this rejected energy can be captured and stored for future energy demands of the sunspace itself or nearby buildings. Therefore the Solar blind system has been considered here for the shielding purpose in order to reduce the cooling demand. By considering the PV/T panels as the solar blind, the blocked solar energy will be collected and stored for covering part of the heating demand and the domestic hot water supplies of the adjacent building.  From a modeling point of view, the sunspace can be considered as a small-scale closed greenhouse. In the closed greenhouse concept, available excess heat is indeed utilized in order to supply the heating demand of the greenhouse itself as well as neighboring buildings. The energy captured by PV/T collectors and the excess heat from the sunspace then will be stored in a thermal energy storage system to cover the daily and seasonal energy demand of the attached building. In the present study, a residential building with an attached sunspace with height, length and width of 3, 12 and 3.5 meters respectively has been assumed located in two different locations, Stockholm and Rome. Simulations have been run for the Solar blind system integrated with a short-term and a long-term TES systems during a year to investigate the influence of the sunspace equipped with a PV/T Solar blind on the thermal behavior of the adjacent building. The simulated results show that the Solar blind system can be an appropriate and effective solution for avoiding overheating problems in sunspace and simultaneously produce and store significant amount of thermal energy and electricity power which leads to saving considerable amount of money during a year.

The German initiative Energiewende aims to decrease their dependence on nuclear andfossil-based energy, and to increase the share of variable renewable energy sources (V-RES).This transformation calls for new technical solutions that can meet future stakeholderneeds. Distributed battery storage (DBS), which can be used as a complement to theunreliable V-RES, is such a solution.In this thesis, the possibilities for incorporating DBS into the German energy market werefirst analyzed. This was followed by calculations of the economic potential for DBS, and lastlya possible business model for Vattenfall associated with the identified businessopportunities was developed. The assessment shows big opportunities of incorporating DBSinto the future energy system since it can increase the reliability and stability of thedecentralized generation of V-RES. DBS will also be the cheapest solution for an averagehousehold 2030, making the technology a profitable solution. A suitable business model hasalso been identified for Vattenfall, which focuses on the activities of leasing the DBS-units toprosumers and utilizing excess capacity for ancillary services to TSO’s and DSO’s. Theancillary services that can be utilized include frequency regulation and peak shaving.Theoretically the thesis contributes with knowledge about the increasing possibilities of DBSbecoming a large part of the future German power system. The thesis will also be a practicaltool for utilities on how to adapt their business offering with regards to the new market.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Physics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Titanium dioxide is among the most abundant materials and it has many of interesting physical and chemical properties (i.e., low density, high thermal and mechanical strength, insensitivity to corrosion) that make it a compound of choice for electrodes materials in energy storage. There are, however, limitations on the theoretical side to using the main electronic structure theories such as Hartree-Fock (HF) or densityfunctional (DFT) especially for large periodic and molecular systems. The aim of the theses is to develop a new, widely transferable, self-consistent density functional tight binding SCC-DFTB data base of TiO2, which could be applied in energy storage anodes with a large number of atoms. The TiO2, LiTiO2 and NaTiO2 potentials were derived following the SCC-DFTB parameterization procedure; where the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA) exchange-correlation functional were employed yielding Slater-Koster DFTB parameters. The results of derived parameters were validated by being compared with those of the bulk rutile and brookite polymorphs. The structural lattice parameters and electronic properties, such as the bandgaps were well reproduced. Most mechanical properties were close to those in literature, except mainly for C33 which tended to be underestimated due to the choice of exchange-correlation functional. The variation of the bulk lattice parameter and volume with lithiation and sodiation were predicted and compared reasonably with those in literature. The newly derived DFTB parameters were further used to calculate bulk properties of the anatase, which is chemically more stable than other polymorphs. Generally, the accuracy of the lattice structural, electronic and mechanical properties of the bulk anantase were consistent with those of the rutile and brookite polymorphs. Furthermore, nanostructures consisting of a large number of atoms, which extend beyond the normal scope of the conventional DFT calculations, were modelled both structurally and electronically. Structural variations with lithiation was consistent with experimental and sodiation tends to enhance volume expansion than lithiation. Anatase TiO2 and LiTO2 nanotubes of various diameters were generated using NanoWrap builder within MedeA® software. Its outstanding resistance to expansion during lithium insertion and larger surface area make the TiO2 nanotube a promising candidate for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. The outcomes of this study will be beneficial to future development of TiO2 nanotube and other nanostructures. Lastly, our DFTB Slater-Koster potentials were applied to recently discovered trigonal bipyramid (TB), i.e. TiO2 (TB)-I and TiO2 (TB)-II polymorphs, which have enormous 1D channels that provide suitable pathways for mobile ion transport. All structural, electronic properties were consistent with those in literature and all elastic properties agreed excellently with those that were calculated using DFT methods. Finally, the bulk structures of the two polymorphs, were lithiated and sodiated versions and electronic and structural properties were studied, together with the lithiated versions of associated nanostructures consisting of a large number of atoms. Generally, the TiO2 (TB)-I structure was found to be mechanically, energetically more stable and ductile than TiO2 (TB)-II. Hence, it will be beneficial to use TiO2 (TB)-I as an anode material for sodium ion batteries (SIB), due to its unique ductility and larger 1D channels. / National Research Fund (NRF), Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), Material Modelling Centre

Nowadays continuous increase of energy consumption increases the importance of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources so the CO2 emissions can be reduced. To use the energy in a more efficient way is also favorable for this purpose. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is a technology that can make use of waste heat, which means that it can help energy systems to reduce the CO2 emissions and improve the overall efficiency. In this technology an appropriate material is chosen to store the thermal energy so it can be stored for later use. The energy can be stored as sensible heat and latent heat. To achieve a high energy storage density it is convenient to use latent heat based TES. The materials used in this kind of storage system are called Phase Change Materials (PCM) and it is its ability of absorbing and releasing thermal energy during the phase change process that becomes very useful. In this thesis a simulation model for a system of thermal energy transportation has been developed. The background comes from district heating systems ability of using surplus heat from industrials and large scale power plants. The idea is to implement transportation of heat by trucks closer to the demand instead of distributing heat through very long pipes. The heat is then charged into containers that are integrated with PCM and heat exchangers. A mathematical model has been created in Matlab to simulate the system dynamics of the logistics of the thermal energy transport system. The model considers three main parameters: percentage content of PCM in the containers, annual heat demand and transport distance. How the system is affected when these three parameters varies is important to visualize. The simulation model is very useful for investigation of the economic and environmental capability of the proposed thermal energy transportation system. Simulations for different scenarios show some expected results. But there are also some findings that are more interesting, for instance how the variation of content of PCM gives irregular variation of how many truck the system requires, and its impact on the economic aspect. Results also show that cost for transporting the heat per unit of thermal energy can be much high for a small demands compared to larger demands.