This book discusses renewable energy systems and applications, and demonstrates how an accelerated transition to 100% renewable energy can be achieved. It examines the systems from a thermodynamic perspective, focusing on the irreversible aspects of the current energy system and highlighting the solutions developed to date.

Presenting global research and developments, this book is intended for those working within the field of renewable energy research and policy who are interested in learning how they can contribute to the transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources.

This book introduces novel approaches and practical examples  of autonomous nuclear power plants that minimize operator intervention.

Autonomous nuclear power plants with artificial intelligence presents a framework to enable nuclear power plants to autonomously operate and introduces artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to implement its functions. Although nuclear power plants are already highly automated to reduce human errors and guarantee the reliability of system operations, the term “autonomous” is still not popular because AI techniques are regarded as less proven technologies. However, the use of AI techniques and the autonomous operation seems unavoidable because of their great advantages, especially, in advanced reactors and small modular reactors.

The book includes the following topics:

Monitoring, diagnosis, and prediction.

Intelligent control.

Operator support systems.

Operator-autonomous system interaction.

Integrationinto the autonomous operation system.

This book will provides useful information for researchers and students who are interested in applying AI techniques in the fields of nuclear as well as other industries. This book covers broad practical applications of AI techniques from the classical fault diagnosis to more recent autonomous control. In addition, specific techniques and modelling examples are expected to be very informative to the beginners in the AI studies.

This book covers the fundamentals and applications of carbon dioxide vapor compression refrigeration thermodynamic cycles. In particular, it presents new application areas, such as making ice and snow in the Winter Olympic Games, food cooling and refrigeration. The book explores the physical and chemical characteristics of CO2 fluid, and the unique traits of its thermodynamic cycle. The contributors explain how CO2 refrigeration is a developing, eco-friendly technology, and emphasize its importance for refrigeration and air-conditioning in the current and future market.

This book is a valuable source of information for researchers, engineers and policy makers looking to expand their applicable knowledge of high-potential refrigeration technology using carbon dioxide. It is also of interest to postgraduate students and practitioners looking for an academic insight into the industry’s latest eco-friendly technologies.

This book describes how equipping buildings with smart meters is essential to improve the prediction of energy costs within smart grids and to help end-users optimize their energy consumption. The book reports on the results of the European Upper Rhine INTERREG project SMI (www.smi.uha.fr), which connects artificial intelligence and micro-societal analysis. It is multidisciplinary and addresses the following aspects: social, legal, environmental, and technical.

One of the critical factors for the transition to clean energy is the flexibility of the power grid. A flexible grid requires a constant flow of data about the network and its demand, on the other hand, clients who produce electrical power can be an active part of the demand response if they are informed about the power needs of their appliances.

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” This common management saying also holds true for the area energy efficiency. Without a clear understanding of their energy usage, consumers are unable to take steps to reduce their consumption. A new intelligent tool is presented that is more efficient, safe, and acceptable to consumers. Thus, users of this intelligent tool will be able to collect and predict the consumption of their electrical appliances. At the same time, the consumption information is anonymized before being relayed to the energy supplier. In parallel, new techniques will be evaluated to improve the security level of the smart meter in a highly heterogeneous network.

In the new millennium, understanding China’s energy economy is crucial for politicians, businesspeople and energy economists, as China’s energy policy choices will mean both challenges and opportunities for the world in terms of an increasing share of primary energy consumption and investment. This book initially reviews the literature on China’s energy economy and in so doing reveals that many important areas have been overlooked or are outdated in their coverage. Given the size of China and its global importance, the book then review s China’s current energy situation and fills the gaps in the literature for those who are interested in and concerned about China’s economic development and energy reform in the new millennium.  

The book is different from previous studies in several important ways: Firstly, it presents recent,  pioneering research rather than a simple textbook, several sections of which have been published in high-quality energy journals. Secondly, the book first subdivides China's energy intensity change into aspects of budget constraint, technological change, factor substitution, energy demand and economic growth using a newly developed econometric approach. Thirdly, it provides many new and different econometric findings and derives many new policy implications for China's energy economy. And lastly, it brings to light a wealth of new knowledge for those who are interested in China's energy economy, the world energy market and global environmental and climate change issues.

Climate change is mainly caused by emissions of CO2 from burning fossil fuels, which provides over 85% of the world’s energy. Strategies for mitigating climate change are connected with handling economic and social activities through their effects on the use of energy. Climate Change Mitigation investigates the costs of mitigation measures in comparison to their benefits, and compares the effects of implementing mitigation measures on various areas such as energy security and energy economy.

 “For 20 years, diplomats have struggled to make progress on climate change, mostly because global diplomacy is not well-linked to the realities of how nations and firms control emissions and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. In this excellent book, Dr Yamaguchi has assembled experts to guide the redesign of global policy. The authors underscore how global warming efforts must resonate with other policy goals.” David G. Victor, Director, Laboratory on International Law and Regulation and Professor, University of California San Diego

“Climate Change Mitigation clarifies that climate change cannot be controlled by sacrificing economic growth or other global problems; however, action to control climate change cannot be delayed.Climate policy is pervasive and affects all dimensions of international policy;but it cannot be too ambitious: a balanced approach between mitigation and adaptation, economic growth and resource management, and short term development and long term investments, should be adopted. I recommend its reading.” Carlo Carraro,President, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

“The International Energy Agency estimates for every $1 of investment now toward sustainable energy, $4 of future spending can be saved. There is a business case for companies to reduce energy use. Companies in the energy and resource intensive industries must lead the way.” Chad Holliday, Chairman. World Business Councilfor Sustainable Development and former Chair and CEO, DuPont

Providing up-to-date numerical data across a range of topics related to renewable energy technologies, Renewable Energies and CO2 offers a one-stop source of key information to engineers, economists and all other professionals working in the energy and climate change sectors. The most relevant up-to-date numerical data are exposed in 201 tables and graphs, integrated in terms of units and methodology, and covering topics such as energy system capacities and lifetimes, production costs, energy payback ratios, carbon emissions, external costs, patents and literature statistics.

The data are first presented and then analyzed to project potential future grid, heat and fuel parity scenarios, as well as future technology tendencies in different energy technological areas. Innovative highlights and descriptions of preproduction energy systems and components from the past four years have been gathered from selected journals and international energy departments from G20 countries.

As the field develops, readers are invited and encouraged to contact the authors for feedback and comments. The ongoing data collection and analysis will be used – after proper acknowledgment of contributors - to develop new editions. In this way, it is ensured that Renewable Energies and CO2 will remain an up-to-date resource for all those working with or involved in renewable energy, climate change, energy storage, carbon capture and smart grids.

As the energy sector shifts and changes to focus on renewable technologies, the optimization of wind power becomes a key practical issue. Reactive Power Management of Power Networks with Wind Generation brings into focus the development and application of advanced optimization techniques to the study, characterization, and assessment of voltage stability in power systems. Recent advances on reactive power management are reviewed with particular emphasis on the analysis and control of wind energy conversion systems and FACTS devices.

Following an introduction, distinct chapters cover the 5 key areas of FACTS devices, voltage stability, wind generators, reactive power optimization and management. These are supported with applications and example including real-life data from the Spanish Power system.

Together with power system engineers, operators and planners will also benefit from this insightful resource. Reactive Power Management of Power Networks with Wind Generation provides a key reference to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in electrical and power engineering.

Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets provides a study of environmental regulation when energy markets are imperfectly competitive. This theoretical treatment focuses on three relevant cases of energy markets. First, the residential space heating sector where hybrid regulation such as taxation and emissions trading together are possible. Second, the electricity market where transactions are organized in the form of multi-period auctions. Third, namely natural gas (input) and electricity (output) markets where there is combined imperfect competition in vertical related energy markets.

The development of free or low carbon technologies supported by energy policies, aiming at increasing security of supply, is also explored whilst considering competition policies that reduce market power in energy markets thus improving market efficiency. Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets discusses the key issues of whether imperfect competition can lessen the ability of environmental policy to reduce pollution and/or to minimize the cost of meeting environmental targets.

Policymakers, analysts and researchers gain a thorough understanding of the performance of environmental policy from Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets leading to better design of simulation models of performance and costs of environmental regulation.

As industrial, commercial, and residential demands increase and with the rise of privatization and deregulation of the electric energy industry around the world, it is necessary to improve the performance of electric operational management. Intelligent Energy Demand Forecasting offers approaches and methods to calculate optimal electric energy allocation to reach equilibrium of the supply and demand.

Evolutionary algorithms and intelligent analytical tools to improve energy demand forecasting accuracy are explored and explained in relation to existing methods. To provide clearer picture of how these hybridized evolutionary algorithms and intelligent analytical tools are processed, Intelligent Energy Demand Forecasting emphasizes on improving the drawbacks of existing algorithms.

Written for researchers, postgraduates, and lecturers, Intelligent Energy Demand Forecasting helps to develop the skills and methods to provide more accurate energy demand forecasting by employing novel hybridized evolutionary algorithms and intelligent analytical tools.

Whilst financial rights have appeared as a successful ingredient in North-American power markets, they have their shortcomings both theoretically and in practice. Financial Transmission Rights: Analysis, Experiences and Prospects present a systematic and comprehensive overview of financial transmission rights (FTRS).

Following a general introduction to FTRs, including chapters to explain transmission pricing and the general properties of FTRS, experts in the field provide discussions on wide scope of topics. These include:

Varying perspectives on FTRS: from electrical engineers to economists,

Different mathematical formulations of FTRS

Financial Hedging using FTRS, and

Alternative solutions to FTRs

The detail, expertise and range of content makes Financial Transmission Rights: Analysis, Experiences and Prospect  an essential resource for electricity market specialists both at academic and professional levels.

“This is THE BOOK we were all expecting to address all key ‘Financial Transmission Rights’ issues. It is comprehensive and reader friendly. You can pick at will in its menu: more or less theory, a bit of maths or none, empirical review of real cases or numerical simulations of many feasible options. Big names rally there to delight you like: Hogan , Oren, Perez-Arriaga, Smeers, Hobbs and… Rosellón. More than a must read: a light house, a map and a survival kit.”

 Jean – Michel Glachant, Director Florence School, Holder Loyola de Palacio Chair, Chief-editor Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy.

"In the last two decades, economists have developed a better understanding of the impact of financial rights on risk management, market power and network expansion in electricity markets, while power systems have experimented with such rights. Striking a good balance between academics and practitioners, always at the frontier of the field, written bythe best experts, this volume is essential reading for all those- power systems’ managers and users, regulators, students and researchers- who want to understand the new electricity environment and predict its evolution."

Jean Tirole, Toulouse School of Economics and Institute for Industrial Economics (IDEI)

Further comments inside.

Fuel cells are one of the most promising clean energy conversion devices that can solve the environmental and energy problems in our society. However, the high platinum loading of fuel cells - and thus their high cost - prevents their commercialization.  Non- or low- platinum electrocatalysts are needed to lower the fuel cell cost.

Electrocatalysis in Fuel Cells: A Non and Low Platinum Approach is a comprehensive book summarizing recent advances of electrocatalysis in oxygen reduction and alcohol oxidation, with a particular focus on non- and low-Pt electrocatalysts.  All twenty four chapters were written by worldwide experts in their fields. The fundamentals and applications of novel electrocatalysts are discussed thoroughly in the book.

The book is geared toward researchers in the field, postgraduate students and lecturers, and scientists and engineers at fuel cell and automotive companies.  It can even be a reference book for those who are interested in this area.

With the growing attention to the exploitation of renewable energies and heat recovery from industrial processes, the traditional steam and gas cycles are showing themselves often inadequate. The inadequacy is due to the great assortment of the required sizes power and of the large kind of heat sources. Closed Power Cycles: Thermodynamic Fundamentals and Applications offers an organized discussion about the strong interaction between working fluids, the thermodynamic behavior of the cycle using them and the technological design aspects of the machines.

A precise treatment of thermal engines operating in accordance with closed cycles is provided to develop ideas and discussions strictly founded on the basic thermodynamic facts that control the closed cycles operation and design. Closed Power Cycles: Thermodynamic Fundamentals and Applications also contains  numerous examples which have been carried out with the help of the Aspen Plus®R program.

Including chapters on binary cycles, the organic Rankine cycle and real closed gas cycles, Closed Power Cycles: Thermodynamic Fundamentals and Applications acts a solid introduction and reference for post-graduate students and researchers working in applied thermodynamics and energy conversion with thermodynamic engines.

By outlining a new design or the Kuroshio power plant, new approaches to turbine design, anchorage system planning, deep sea marine engineering and power plant operations and maintenance are explored and suggested. The impact on the local environment, particularly in the face of natural disasters, is also considered to provide a well rounded introduction to plan and build a 30MW pilot power plant.

Following a literature review, the six chapters of this book propose a conceptual design by focusing on the plant’s core technologies and establish the separate analysis logics for turbine design and the relay platforms. This is tempered against the ecological impact of both the construction and operation of the plant.

These proposed technologies and plans can be further applied to power generation in other waters such as the Gulf Stream, the East Australian Current the Humboldt Current and the East Africa Coastal Current. Engineers, students and industry professionals are provided with a solid introduction to power plant technology as well as a design with specific real world applications

Jackups, semisubmersibles and drillships are the marine vessels used to drill offshore wells and are referred to collectively as mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs). MODUs are supplied through newbuild construction and operate throughout the world in highly competitive regional markets. The Offshore Drilling Industry and Rig Construction Market in the Gulf of Mexico examines the global MODU service and construction industry and describes the economic impacts of rig construction in the United States.

The industrial organization and major players in the contract drilling and construction markets are described and categorized. Dayrates in the contract drilling market are evaluated and hypotheses regarding dayrate factors are tested. Models of contractor decision-making are developed, including a net-present value model of newbuilding investment and stacking decisions, and market capitalization models are derived. Jackup construction shipyards and processes are reviewed along with estimates of labor, equipment, and material cost in U.S. construction. Derivation of newbuild and replacement cost functions completes the treatise. 

The comprehensive and authoritative coverage of The Offshore Drilling Industry and Rig Construction Market in the Gulf of Mexico makes it an ideal reference for engineers, industry professionals, policy analysts, government regulators, academics and other readers wanting to learn more about this important and fascinating industry.

Despite efforts to increase renewables, the global energy mix is still likely to be dominated by fossil-fuels in the foreseeable future, particularly gas for electricity and oil for land, air and sea transport. The reliance on depleting conventional oil and natural gas resources  and the geographic distribution of these reserves can have geopolitical implications for energy importers and exporters.

Global Energy Policy and Security examines the security of global and national energy supplies, as well as the sensitivity and impacts of sustainable energy policies which emphasize the various political, economic, technological, financial and social factors that influence energy supply, demand and security. Multidisciplinary perspectives provide the interrelated topics of energy security and energy policy within a rapidly changing socio-political and technological landscape during the 21st century.

Included are two main types of interdisciplinary papers. One set of papers deals with technical aspects of energy efficiency, renewable energy and the use of tariffs. The other set of papers focuses on social, economic or political issues related to energy security and policy, also describing research, practical projects and other concrete initiatives being performed in different parts of the world. This book will prove useful to all those students and researchers interested in the connections between energy production, energy use, energy security and the role of energy policies.

This book addresses the core issues involved in the dynamic modeling, simulation and control of a selection of energy systems such as gas turbines, wind turbines, fuel cells and batteries. The principles of modeling and control could be applied to other non-convention methods of energy generation such as solar energy and wave energy.

A central feature of Dynamic Modeling, Simulation and Control of Energy Generation is that it brings together diverse topics in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, electro-chemistry, electrical networks and electrical machines and focuses on their applications in the field of energy generation, its control and regulation. This book will help the reader understand the methods of modelling energy systems for controller design application as well as gain a basic understanding of the processes involved in the design of control systems and regulators. It will also be a useful guide to simulation of the dynamics of energy systems andfor implementing monitoring systems based on the estimation of internal system variables from measurements of observable system variables.

Dynamic Modeling, Simulation and Control of Energy Generation will serve as a useful aid to designers of hybrid power generating systems involving advanced technology systems such as floating or offshore wind turbines and fuel cells. The book introduces case studies of the practical control laws for a variety of energy generation systems based on nonlinear dynamic models without relying on linearization. Also the book introduces the reader to the use nonlinear model based estimation techniques and their application to energy systems.

Systems engineered by man to harness solar heat in a controlled manner now include a diverse range of technologies each serving distinctive needs in particular climate contexts.  This text covers the breadth of solar energy technologies for the conversion of solar energy to provide heat, either as the directly-used output or as an intermediary to other uses such as power generation or cooling.  It is a wholly updated, extended and revised version of “Solar Energy Thermal Technology” first published in 1992.  The text draws on the own author’s research and that of numerous colleagues and collaborators at Cranfield University, University of Ulster, Dublin Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and University of Nigeria.

The initial chapters deal with relevant fundamental aspects of solar energy meteorology, radiative heat transfer, material properties and energy storage.  Solar energy collectors are discussed in detail before a set of chapters dealwith each of the full range of applications.  The early chapters consider: the solar energy resource, its distribution in geographical, spectral, skyward geometrical and temporal domains; the physics of solar energy absorption, transmission and loss at surfaces; and techniques for storing collected solar energy.  Specific collector sub-systems are then discussed in chapters seven to nine. For each system, practical issues are discussed and a proven analytical procedure for predicting performance described.  Similarly analyses are presented in the concluding chapters on solar energy systems.  These range from dryers to greenhouses to systems that render buildings solar energy systems in themselves and the associated design issues.

The context for any use of solar energy is the prevailing climate.  This text, being global in scope, definates the most appropriate regions for particular technologies and applications.  It is a research-orientated academic work citing publications on the peer-reviewed literature covering engineering and applied science topics intended both for student use, as a reference tool for teaching solar energy and for those researching solar thermal applications in universities, industry or national/commercial laboratories.  Insight into the challenges of implementation including practical constraints and operational considerations are provided to aid those undertaking feasibility studies, technical assistance, training assignments or operating testing facilities.

The trade of global bioenergy commodities, such as ethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets has been growing exponentially in the past decade, and have by 2013 reached true “commodity” volumes, i.e. tens of millions of tonnes traded each year, and billions (both in US$/€) of annual turnover. 

IEA Bioenergy Task 40 was founded in 2004 and is now in its 4^th triennium. For the past 9 years, task 40 has monitored the developments in international bioenergy trade, including the organization of about 20 workshops on trade-related topics, and the publication of over 100 studies, country reports, newsletters, etc. The amount of material produced over the years and insights gained in how biomass markets and international trade of biomass and biofuels has developed is impressive. Besides that the group has produced overviews and insights, also a large amount of practical experience has been brought together in what works and what doesn’t. Last but not least, based on all this, there are clear(er) views on how to proceed to build working sustainable international biomass markets in the future. This book compiles those lessons and insights into an easily accessible book publication.