Showing papers in "International Journal of Energy Research in 2020"

Impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on air transport mobility, energy, and environment: A case study

Abstract: The recent pandemic caused by COVID-19 has globally affected air transport mobility as well as the airline industry in general. Numerous restrictions have been implemented in airline transport, which is potentially leading toward severe long-term impacts on the global airline industry. In this paper, air transport mobility was analyzed regarding Europe (EU) based on the available data from the relevant sources associated with the airline industry. Data were analyzed in specific periods from January to April of 2020, which corresponded with the initialization of the pandemic in the EU and later in its full development. Specifically, two airports were selected in Croatia as case studies to analyze the impact of COVID-19 more thoroughly on mobility together with the estimation of carbon footprint during the pandemic and the year before the pandemic state. The results revealed that COVID-19 gradually affected air transport mobility in the EU where a peak was reached in April with a reduction in the number of flights in the EU region reaching more than 89%. Cargo traffic was not significantly affected by the pandemic, and was even increased in some cases due to the supply of medical equipment in the fight against the disease. The analyzed case study revealed the reduction in air transport mobility for selected airports to be more than 96%, which directly affected the reduction of CO2emissions to factor 1.81 for the commercial airport of Zagreb and 3.49 for the seasonal airport of Split. A normalization of air transport mobility is expected to be reached through a 1-year period with a continued reduction in the number of flights ranging from 15% to 25%, based on the projections and expectations from relevant EU associations.

Covid?19 coronavirus: Closing carbon age, but opening hydrogen age

Abstract: Humankind started with wood as their energy source for many of their daily things and continued their energy source finding journey over the centuries through various periods, such as coal era (particularly with industrial revolution), oil era (primarily after the first world war), and natural gas era (increasingly after 1980s). There is an ultimate destination in this energy journey toward hydrogen as carbon-free fuel and energy carrier. This is clearly illustrated in Figure 1 which indicates that Carbon/ Hydrogen (C/H) ratio has been decreasing over the centuries and is expected to be zero with hydrogen. This is an indication of a clear move toward carbon-free economy or carbon-free society. There have been some researchers and scientists who have argued about the carbon content of wood being more than the carbon content of coal. There are, however, sources suggesting that C/H ratio of wood is about 10 (a ratio of 1 Hydrogen to 10 Carbons) due to the fact that wood is made of cellulose and lignin and that its composition may change among the types of woods but in bounds. However, one should note that most wood is considered cellulose (for details, see: https://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/WoodsHtoCratio.pdf). Furthermore, one may argue on point about hydrogen that at present it is mostly produced out of fossil fuels (about 50% from natural gas, 30% from oil, and about 15% from coal) worldwide which may not be seen fully clean. This is true! That's why I provide Figure 2 to illustrate the life cycle emissions in terms CO2 equivalent per kilogram of hydrogen produced which clearly shows that clean hydrogen is needed and has to be produced by using renewable energy sources and nuclear to disassociate water into hydrogen and oxygen in a more environmentally benign manner. Figure 2 clearly indicates that we cannot follow the path of fossil fuels for hydrogen production and rather need to deploy nuclear and renewable energy options for hydrogen production through electrolysis, thermochemical processes, photonic processes, etc. We are now in global coronavirus pandemic which has been literally affecting everyone, every community, every city, every country, every region, every sector, every economy, etc. Of course, everyone has been impacted by the virus, one way or another by either directly or indirectly. All dimensions of societal needs, such as health, economy and finance, labor, education, environment, energy, defense, food and agriculture, technology, sustainability, and many more are affected. We have been witnessing that many developing and/or developed countries have been establishing task forces, expert groups, advisory committees, science boards, etc., to identify measures, guide governments, and take actions on health-related matters and issues only. It is my observation that such health-related efforts look sufficient while many harshly criticize the organizations and governments. Since politics is not my goal here, I strongly recommend all these countries to immediately start launching task forces, in addition to heath related committees, including but not limited to: