The efficiency of fossil power generation has improved in recent decades with the different types of fuel and advancing technologies playing a crucial role in this trend. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considered among the lowest countries in the world in terms of generation efficiency. As a consequence, recent studies have proposed upgrading the generation stock with highly efficient units, and increasing the share of natural gas over oil to improve the average efficiency. However, despite efforts being made in that direction in the past few years, they have not had a significant impact and there have been few studies in the literature aimed at tackling what the real issues are in the kingdom. This research explores the causes leading to the current level of energy efficiency in KSA using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and a simulation model, subsequent to which a new framework is developed aimed at delivering sustained continuous improvement. Firstly, LSS is applied to identify the primary area of waste and secondly, the actual efficiency is measured using real data collected from KSA. Subsequently, the outcomes are analysed through utilising a simulation model that has been designed and tested to ensure accurate results are obtained. Following this, an improvement plan is proposed using mathematical models and mathematical programming, which was implemented using a simulation model. Finally, controlling the obtained improvement is included for sustaining its continuity. The main contribution of this thesis lies in the integration of LSS and a simulation model to identify the most influential factors in relation to the generation efficiency level in KSA in terms of their impact on fuel and emissions. Moreover, this research involves developing a new merit order using a mathematical model and mathematical programming for optimisation. The novelty can be seen in combining the quality and quantity of production to generate a single operation measure. The results show that the power plants' operation is a primary cause of the current level of efficiency, while the generation stock has the potential to deliver higher efficiency levels. Around 3.5 and 6% improvement in efficiency have been achieved over the two research stages. This figure has resulted in a fuel saving worth $1.8 billion, significant reduction in subsidies and 8.5 Mtonnes reduction in the total CO2 produced. Finally, this thesis provides a framework based on incentives for power providers that can ensure continuous improvement.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Helsinki, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-139). Also available on the World Wide Web.

In the last ten years, the fossil fuel divestment movement at higher education institutions has emerged as a key component of the global climate movement. It has also posed a challenge to the dominant paradigm of sustainability in higher education by calling on institutions to help incite outward systemic change to ensure justice for those most impacted by environmental problems, rather than simple efforts to green the campus. As the movement sees a resurgent escalation in the U.S., this study uses data from active and inactive campaigns across the country to assess the key characteristics of institutions and campaigns that have been involved. Records from an organization involved in national coordination of the movement, campaign Facebook pages, and an online survey distributed to campaigns were used to obtain data. The results provide an overview of the current state of active campaigns and divested institutions, where divestment activity occurs and at what type of institutions, the types of groups leading campaigns and their goals, how campaigns construct their arguments, and the barriers and drivers faced by campaigns. The study offers valuable insight into the nature of the movement during its first ten years with implications for both higher education institutions and activist participants. Institutions should embrace divestment as a necessary direction for sustainability in a time of societal crisis and work to break down barriers faced by campaigns that attempt to initiate this process. The movement, though robust in the Northeast and on the West Coast, may need to work to expand, particularly into areas in the South and western half of the country that have had very few campaigns. In addition, though justice has been heralded as a key tenet of the movement, campaigns were found to be limited in their conception and application of this principle by often employing it in the abstract rather than in regards to recognition of specific populations impacted by injustice or action to mitigate such injustices. This could be further developed in the movement, for example, through more focus on solidarity with frontline communities or targeting communities in need for reinvestment.

名古屋大学年代測定総合研究センターシンポジウム報告

Geothermal Energy is one of the common talks at present. It has the potential to run long term and can provide base-load energy, at the same time it helps to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. It is found almost everywhere on earth. The resources of geothermal energy range from shallow ground to hot water or hot rock, which can be found few kilometers below the surface and even deeper to magma where the temperature is extremely high. Since its discovery from the ancient times, many technologies have been developed to understand or use geothermal energy properly.  This report is based on literature survey of geothermal energy compared to other energy sources in terms of construction, supply energy and the advantage-disadvantage of the system. From this study it has been found that geothermal power plant does not need external fuel to operate, that’s why the price of geothermal energy does not go up like oil and gas, in USA the cost of geothermal electricity ranges from $0.06 to $0.10 per kilowatt-hour and besides it is one of the most clean, reliable and renewable energy source, which is environment friendly and cheaper than other energy sources.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to examine the environmental work of the municipal of Växjö and to investigate how the leaders have worked with this action program; a fossil fuel free Växjö. To accomplish this propose the following question was used:</p><p>• How did the leaders of this successful action program a fossil fuel free Växjö work?</p><p>The empirical part is based on the years reports, written by the municipal it self. Also reviewed articles were use for the empirical framework. The outcomes that were discovered during the writing of this thesis were that the cooperation between the actors was very strong. Since the aim of the program for a fossil fuel free Växjö was clear and the cooperation between the leaders within the program was so good, were the outcomes also positive. To sum up was the will to get a better environment that gave Växjö attention for its good work.</p>

Thesis (M. Sc. (Chemistry)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017. / In order to meet the great demand of energy supply globally, there must be a transition from dependency on fossil fuel as a primary energy source to renewable source. This can be attained by use of hydrogen gas as an energy carrier. In the context of hydrogen fuel cell economy, an effective hydrogen generation is of crucial significant. Hydrogen gas can be produced from different methods such as steam reforming of fossil fuels which emit greenhouse gases during production and from readily available and renewable resources in the process of water electrolysis. Hydrogen generated from water splitting using solar energy (photocatalysis) or electric energy (electrocatalysis) has attracted most researchers recently due to clean hydrogen (without emission of greenhouse gases) attained during hydrogen production. In comparison with photocatalytic water splitting directly using solar energy, which is ideal but the relevant technologies are not yet commercialized, electrolysis of water using catalyst is more practical at the current stage. The platinum group noble metals (PGMs) are the most effecting electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) but their scarcity and high cost limit their application. In this study, we presented the noble metal free organic-inorganic hybrid composites and their HER electrocatalysis performances were investigated. Polyaniline-metal organic framework (PANI/MOF) composite was prepared by chemical oxidation of aniline monomer in the presence of MOF content for hydrogen production. The properties of PANI, MOF and PANI/MOF composite were characterised for their structure and properties by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), square wave (SWV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). There was a clear interaction of MOF on the backbone of the PANI matrix through electrostatic interaction as investigated by both Raman and FTIR. The MOF exhibited irregular crystals with further wrapping of MOF by PANI matrix as evidenced by both SEM and TEM analyses. The PANI composite exhibited some nanorods and microporous structure. x The determined energy band gap of the composite was in good agreement with previously reported catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The thermal stability of PANI increased upon addition of MOF. Experiments probing the electrochemical, HER and photophysical properties revealed that the composite was very stable and robust with significant improvement in properties. The resulting composite is a promising low-cost and environmentally friendly hydrogen production material. In this work we also reported about novel poly (3-aminobenzoic acid)-metal organic framework referred as PABA/MOF composite. Spectroscopic characterisations (UV-vis and FTIR) with support of XRD and TGA revealed a successful interaction between PABA and MOF. Morphological characterisation established that PABA is wrapping MOF and the amorphous nature of the materials were not affected. The catalytic effect of PABA and PABA/MOF composites on HER was studied using exchange current density and charge transfer coefficient determined by the Tafel slope method. A drastic increase in catalytic H2 evolution was observed in PABA and composite. Moreover, they merely require overpotentials as low as ~-0.405 V to attain current densities of ~0.8 and 1.5 Am-2 and show good longterm stability. We further demonstrated in the work the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction of MOF decorated with PABA. These novel MOF/PABA composites with different PABA loading were synthesised via in situ solvothermal synthesis of MOF in the presence of PABA. It was deduced that PABA with different loading amount have an influence on the morphologies, optical properties and thermal stabilities of MOF. Interestingly, the MOF/PABA composites exhibited the great significant on the HER performance and this is potentially useful in HER application for hydrogen fuel cell. / Sasol Inzalo foundation and National Research Foundation of South Africa

The City of Stockholm’s energy and climate goals are analyzed and projected in several scenarios. Using the year 2015 as the baseline year, a database covering the energy performance and fuel use within the City is created. This starting point is used to project the performance of the City until the year 2050. The projection is made with the use of scenarios and the simulation software LEAP by formulating scenarios that combine ongoing, planned and conceivable measures. All these scenarios aim to the reduction of emissions with the long term aim to set the City of Stockholm a fossil fuel free city by 2050. Various paths can be followed towards that goal and these are analyzed and classified based on cost and applicability. According to the simulation of scenarios, the immediate action and the long-term planning are shown to play an essential role in achieving the City’s goals. In addition, the significance of policy, the behavioral aspect and the continuous gradual development are found to be three basic pillars towards the target that the City has set. Specifically, the City should focus on energy efficiency in both generation and utilization. Available technology can help to this direction at an affordable cost and with remarkable potential. However, in order to achieve the target of an entirely fossil fuel free city by the year 2050, the City of Stockholm needs to support a shift of transportation modes towards public transport. Currently, the transportation sector has a low share of clean fuels and is likely going to be the most challenging sector to affect. Among the challenges in the transportation sector comes the fact that there is always a given risk when trying to introduce a new dominant fuel, based on assumptions of future car fleets and volatility of markets. Biofuels may for instance lead to a shortage in the market with higher biofuel and food prices as a result while changing the entire vehicle fleet takes 20 years on average. The best possible scenario does demonstrate one possible path toward a fossil fuel free City of Stockholm 2050 by taking a number of aggressive actions. This does not account for possible new technologies nor changes in the economy at large.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / With the rapid rise in energy demand and ever-escalating environmental hazards, the need for transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources is of paramount importance, requiring better and efficient energy storage devices such as supercapacitors. Supercapacitors are energy storage devices with high power density and long cycle life, but relatively low energy density when compared to batteries. New and advanced electrode materials are required to improve the energy density requirements of next-generation supercapacitors. However, the search for new types of active materials to be used as supercapacitors' electrodes continues to be a tough challenge. Herein, ruthenium antimony oxide (RuSbO) and ruthenium antimony oxide graphene (RuSbO-G) were synthesized via the microwave-assisted method for the first time and tested as a possible electrode material for an asymmetric supercapacitor. Graphene oxide prepared by modified Hummer’s method was exfoliated at low temperature and used for the synthesis of RuSbO-G. / 2025

A stylised analytical framework is used to show how the global carbon tax and the amount of untapped fossil fuel can be calculated from a simple rule given estimates of society's rate of time impatience and intergenerational inequality aversion, the extraction cost technology, the rate of technical progress in renewable energy and the future trend rate of economic growth. The predictions of the simple framework are tested in a calibrated numerical and more complex version of the integrated assessment model (IAM). This IAM makes use of the Oxford carbon cycle of Allen et al. (2009), which differs from DICE, FUND and PAGE in that cumulative emissions are the key driving force of changes in temperature. We highlight the importance of the speed and direction of technological change for the energy transition and how time impatience, intergenerational inequality aversion and expected trend growth affect the time paths of the optimal global carbon tax and the optimal amount of fossil fuel reserves to leave untapped. We also compare these with the adverse global warming trajectories that occur if no policy actions are taken.