Globally, 2.6 billion people still cook with biomass, resulting in interlinked health, environmental and drudgery challenges. The uptake of improved biomass cookstoves has barely kept up with population growth, yet SDG7 hopes for universal access to modern energy by 2030. This paper explores a potentially transformative new approach to facilitate access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for cooking by leveraging rapid progress in electrification and falling prices of solar PV and lithium-ion batteries: battery-supported electric cooking.
Healthcare-associated infections cause a massive burden for the health care system and the patients. Although the standard sterilization protocol with saturated steam (>121°C and >205 kPa) is effective, generating high-temperature and high-pressure steam is challenging without reliable access to electricity or fuel. While abundant solar energy is readily available, utilizing sunlight to generate steam beyond 100°C requires costly and bulky optomechanical components. In this work, we developed a stationary solar thermal device capable of providing the required saturated steam.
Background: Agricultural production in controlled indoor farming offers a reliable alternative to food and nutrition supply for densely populated cities and contributes to addressing the impending food insecurity. Leafy vegetables, rich in vitamins, minerals, fibres and antioxidants, account for over half of the indoor farming operations worldwide. Light is the foremost environmental factor for plant growth and development, and the success of indoor farming largely depends on lighting qualities.
In this paper, we use standard scenarios focussing on renewable energy, energy efficiency and grid investments. We take stock of the literature and quantitative data on available sources of financing for clean energy to qualitatively match supply and demand of specific sources of finance in the European context. Our analysis shows that under the current investment mandates and lending criteria the required funds for a successful energy transition are available. In fact, the current landscape of financing sources can provide between two and six times what is necessary.
The new European Commission plans to raise the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target from 40% towards 55% by 2030 and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Achieving this will require accelerated energy efficiency measures, deeper electrification of sectors currently consuming conventional fuels and the deployment of more renewables, faster. This opinion article looks specifically at the role of photovoltaics (PV), based on scenarios from the Commission's 2018 long-term strategy (LTS) for energy and climate.
Chitin is the structural material of crustaceans, insects, and fungi, and is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose on earth. Chitosan, a deacetylated derivative of chitin, can be obtained by deacetylation of chitin. It is a functionally versatile biopolymer due to the presence of amino groups responsible for the various properties of the polymer. Although it has been used for various industrial applications, the recent one is its use as a biodegradable antimicrobial food packaging material.
Addressing efficient management of energy has become a central objective due to the scarcity of traditional energy sources and global warming. To cope with this overarching issue, some technological solutions such as Smart Grids, Internet of Things or Demand response are proposed. However, the majority of them overlooks the role of human beings in the equation.
This review focuses on how culture can complicate and impede attempts at promoting more efficient, more sustainable, and often more affordable forms of mobility as well as energy use in homes and buildings. In simpler terms: it illustrates the cultural barriers to a low-carbon, low-energy future across 28 countries. Rather than focus on energy supply, it deals intently with energy end-use, demand, and consumption.
A possibility of developing an environmental-friendly photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar panel, which can shut high temperature radiation within a panel box, was experimentally confirmed. The panel has a decompression-boiling heat collector, which can absorb heat from the PV module and can keep the air and the cover glass inside the panel box at lower temperature by using lower boiling temperature of working fluid under vacuum condition. The panel also has an emboss-processed cover glass, which can totally reflect the high temperature heat radiation from the PV module within the panel box.
