Geopolymer concrete as green building materials: Recent applications, sustainable development and circular economy potentials.

Large scale application of carbon capture to process industries – A review

Battery energy storage systems and SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats) analysis of batteries in power transmission

Countries are working into making agriculture more sustainable by integrating different technologies to enhance its operation. Implementing improvements in irrigation systems is crucial for the water-use efficiency and works as a contributor to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the United Nations specifically Goal 6 and Target 6.4. This paper aims to highlight the contribution of SMART irrigation using Internet of Things (IoT) and sensory systems in relation to the SDGs. The study is based on a qualitative design along with focusing on secondary data collection method. Automated irrigation systems are essential for conservation of water, this improvement could have a vital role in minimizing water usage. Agriculture and farming techniques is also linked with IoT and automation, to make the whole processes much more effective and efficient. Sensory systems helped farmers better understand their crops and reduced the environmental impacts and conserve resources. Through these advanced systems effective soil and weather monitoring takes place along with efficient water management. Irrigation systems have been determined as positive contributor toward optimized irrigation systems that could enhance the use of continuous research and development which focus on enhancing the sustainable operations and cost reduction. Lastly, the challenges and benefits for the implementation of sensory based irrigation systems are discussed. This review will assist researchers and farmers to better understand irrigation techniques and provide an adequate approach would be sufficient to carry out irrigation related activities. 

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An overview of smart irrigation systems using iot

The current worldwide energy directives are oriented toward reducing energy consumption and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The exponential increase in the production of electrified vehicles in the last decade are an important part of meeting global goals on the climate change. However, while no greenhouse gas emissions directly come from the operations of the electrical vehicles, the electrical vehicle production process results in much higher energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions than in the case of a classical internal combustion vehicle; thus, to reduce the environment impact of electrified vehicles, they should be used for as long as possible. Using only batteries for electric vehicles can lead to a shorter battery life for certain applications, such as in the case of those with many stops and starts but not only in these cases. To increase the lifespan of the batteries, couplings between the batteries and the supercapacitors for the new electrical vehicles in the form of the hybrid energy storage systems seems to be the most appropriate way. For this, there are four different types of converters, including rectifiers, inverters, AC-AC converters, and DC-DC converters. For a hybrid energy storage system to operate consistently, effectively, and safely, an appropriate realistic controller technique must be used; at the moment, a few techniques are being used on the market.

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Battery-Supercapacitor Energy Storage Systems for Electrical Vehicles: A Review

The current editorial summarized some of the scientific works presented in the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Protection (SEEP) conference-held at the University of the West of Scotland, UK, 2018. The selected work was directly related to the scope of the Renewable, Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER) journal. During the conference activities, experts from all around the world in the subjects of: renewable energy, climate change, optimization, and economics presented and discussed the progress made in renewable energy sources, as well as the new strategies for protecting the environment from the hazards connected with fossil fuel utilization. The methods presented in the conference focused on several directions: the development of efficient energy conversion systems with low/no environmental impacts; the suggested policies to widespread renewable energies; the restriction in the emission of greenhouse gases, and the recent progresses in CO2 capture. This editorial focused on the renewable energy developments and their positive effect on the climate change, and briefly summarized the accepted manuscripts in this issue. 

Renewable energy and climate change

Biogas is one of the promising renewable energy sources that successfully implemented at domestic and industrial scales. This work presents a preliminary evaluation of the role and contribution of biogas as a sustainable energy source towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This work summarizes the common feedstock and impurities in the biogas as well as the advantages and disadvantages of biogas compared with fossil fuels. Challenges and barriers associated with biogas production in developing and developed countries were elaborated and connected with SDGs. Finally, the relation between the circular economy, biogas, and related SDGs was presented. The biogas has been found to have direct impacts and contributions to 12 out of the 17 SDGs. The main contributions of the biogas come from its ability to increase renewable energy, reduce climate change, enhance the waste management process, and create jobs. A set of 58 indicators was provided as a guideline for the stakeholders within the biogas industry to extend the benefits of the biogas toward the achievement of the SDGs and minimize any possible trade-off. The results of this work will help the different players within the biogas industry to form policy to ensure that biogas contribution to the SDGs is maximized. 

Biogas role in achievement of the sustainable development goals: Evaluation, Challenges, and Guidelines

• Cooling methods of PV panels were summarized. • Role of NePCM in cooling the PV panels were discussed. • Parameters affecting the performance of NePCM were illustrated. • The challenges facing the NePCM were given. Phase change materials (PCMs) are one of the promising materials in thermal energy storage (TES) systems, while commonly utilized PCMs have weak thermal conductivity. Therefore, elevating high relatively thermally conductivity for the PCM composites using various nanoparticles with different named the nano-enhanced phase change material (NePCM) is an encouraging solution for regulating the PV temperatures and hence prolonging the lifetime of the utilized photovoltaics. The present paper introduces the cooling methods of PV panels as well as reviews the PV/PCM systems. Additionally, the cooling of photovoltaics based on the NePCM methods are studied showing the preparing methods of the NePCM nanocomposites. The results indicated the dispersion of NPs into the PCMs modifies the thermo-physical properties of PCM like melting temperature, supercooling degree, heat of fusion, viscosity, etc., as well as the mass fraction of NPs affects remarkably the enhanced thermal conductivity (TC) of NePCM nanocomposites. Thus, the NePCMs introduce superior characteristics of heat transfer as a result of intensifying the TC of PCM. Therefore, adding the nanoparticles to the PCM had a noteworthy potential for intensification the thermos-physical properties of PCM so it is a promising choice for TES in solar photovoltaics applications. 

A. Olabi

Papers

Renewable energy and climate change

Biogas role in achievement of the sustainable development goals: Evaluation, Challenges, and Guidelines

Geopolymer concrete as green building materials: Recent applications, sustainable development and circular economy potentials.

Phase change materials based on nanoparticles for enhancing the performance of solar photovoltaic panels: A review

A review of solar chimney for natural ventilation of residential and non-residential buildings