Transportation is another sector that has increased its relative share of primary energy use. This sector has serious concerns as it is a significant source of CO2 emissions and other airborne pollutants, and it is almost totally based on oil as its energy source. An important aspect of future changes in transportation depends on what happens to the available oil resources, production and prices. At present, 95% of all energy for transportation comes from oil. (more…)
Under both former President Bush and new President Obama, the U.S. government has vowed to reduce reliance on imported oil. The ...
Global energy consumption in the last half century has increased very rapidly and is expected to continue to grow over the next ...
From prehistory until the Industrial Revolution, most energy sources used by humans were localized (i.e., available within 5–10 mil ...
Do we have the resources? Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine which ran on biodiesel vegetable oil in the late 1800s. At the ...
One study that does address the peak-oil scenario directly is a 2005 report conducted for the National Energy Technology Labora ...
The term hybrid energy system refers to those applications in which multiple energy unit conversion devices are used together to supply an energy requirement. These systems are often used in isolated applications and normally include at least one renewable energy source in the configuration. Hybrid energy systems are used an alternative to more conventional systems, which typically are based on a single fossil fuel source. Hybrid energy systems may also be used as part of distributed generation application in conventional electricity grid. (more…)
There are numerous possible applications for hybrid power systems. The most common examples are (1) remote AC network, (2) dist ...
The characteristics and components of a hybrid system depend greatly on the application. The most important consideration is wh ...
Renewable energy generators are devices that convert energy from its original form in the renewable energy source into electric ...
The primary electric drivetrain components for fuel cell vehicles are the same as those for any electric vehicle: traction motors, ...
In this new century, there is considerable pressure on the top six automakers to reduce their environmental and ecological footprint calculation. The automaker that wins the race to build and sell the superior car will shape consumer preferences, thereby boosting sales and profits. The winning firm will fashion a corporate strategy that drives automobile emissions to near zero while simultaneously providing high levels of performance, safety, and comfort. (more…)
Corporate environmental strategy (CES) involves the tools, management programs, processes, and product development choices that all ...
In the pursuit of superior cars, electronic products, and computing, several leading multinational corporations began in the last q ...
Although it is significant that many of the above four imperatives are qualitative, not quantitative, such new efforts have begun t ...
This latter form of new car taxes can actually serve as an impediment to higher fuel economy to the extent that increased energ ...
There are several options that, ultimately, must be integrated when attempting to realize a change in corporate culture: the legal ...
The product gas can be burned in boilers to generate heat and raise steam, in internal combustion engines to generate electricity and heat at small to medium scale (from a few kilowatts to a few megawatts), and in gas turbines to generate electricity (Brayton cycle) and heat at small to large scale. In large-scale systems using gas turbines, the exhaust gas from the gas turbine can be used to raise steam in a heat recovery steam generator to generate additional electricity using a steam turbine (Rankine cycle), resulting in combined cycle operation. (more…)
Gasification is a thermo chemical process that has been exploited for more than a century for converting solid feedstocks to ga ...
The moisture content of the feedstock affects the gas composition and the energy balance of the process since gasification is an en ...
Biomass Storage Biomass storage is required to ensure the continuous operation of the facility. To limit the space required for ...
Natural gas and oil are common source energy used to give electricity. How efficient is coal if we compare to these other source of ...
Many characteristics of traditional engines make them attractive for use in power generation and propulsion technology. They tend t ...
The global dependence on fossil fuels developed during the Industrial Revolution, two centuries of economic and social development that transformed the way modern humans work and live. Most historians agree that the Industrial Revolution began in the early 1700s in Great Britain when machinery began to replace manual labor and animal power, and fossil fuels replaced wind, water, and wood as main energy sources. Before this period in history, humans manufactured goods by hand or using very simple machines, and most people worked at their homes, which were typically located in rural areas. (more…)
Fossil fuels, had a broader impact in current society, still oil is the one that have far reaching effect. Oil, in all its forms is ...
The leading automotive brands are being focused to produce electric vehicles because they believe they represent a harmony to the e ...
From prehistory until the Industrial Revolution, most energy sources used by humans were localized (i.e., available within 5–10 mil ...
Tanker transportation and oil transport functions as an important link to facilitate the flow of oil and products from their li ...
Gasoline is used mainly by cars, motorcycles, and light trucks; diesel is used mainly by heavier trucks, buses, and trains. Togethe ...
The United States depends heavily on imported oil to fuel its transportation infrastructure. The use of alternative fuel derived from plant oils was examined by researchers in the mid-1970s to determine if internal combustion engines could be fueled from sources other than petroleum. (more…)
Biodiesel is an ester that can be made from substances such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can either be used in ...
In 1998, several initiatives were implemented in Brazil, aiming to introduce biodiesel into the Brazilian energy matrix. The in ...
For every 100 units of biodiesel fuel produced using this method, there are 11 units of glycerin as a by-product. Glycerin is u ...
Two factors have contributed to an aggressive expansion of the European biodiesel industry. Reform of the Common Agricultural P ...
Researchers at the University of Cádiz (UCA) propose a technological change in the current process onhow to make biodiesel mo ...
Transport applications tend to demand rapid start-up and instant dynamic response from fuel cell systems, so a high-temperature fuel cell is unlikely to be competitive as the main engine in applications such as cars and buses. The prime candidate for these vehicle propulsion systems is the Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells, which exhibits both of the above characteristics while also having very high power density. This is important as it must also occupy a similar amount of space to an internal combustion engine. Of recent interest has been the development of auxiliary power units for vehicles, in which the fuel cell meets the onboard electric load of the vehicle. Both Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells and ITSOFCs are under development for this application. (more…)
Fuel cells are typically classified according to type of electrolyte. While many varieties of fuel cells have been demonstrated ...
Alkaline fuel cell, often known as the Bacon fuel cell following the British inventor’ name. It has become the most created fue ...
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen with oxygen to generate electricity, heat and water to produce. ...
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells have high-power density, rapid startup, and low-temperature operation (around 80 to 120 C), and ...
The fuel cell can trace its roots back to the 1800s when a Welsh-born, Oxford-educated barrister, Sir William Robert Grove, realize ...
Fuel cell vehicles are being developed because they promise to meet the requirements expected of automobiles in a market increasingly constrained by environmental and resource limitations. Air pollution and oil dependence have been persistent challenges for vehicles powered by petroleum fuels (gasoline and diesel). Global warming presents a new challenge in the need to limit carbon dioxide (CO) emissions from fossil fuel combustion. (more…)
There are different types of vehicle propulsion systems and the transportation fuels that have been studied for their potential ...
The internal combustion engine has dominated the car and light-truck market for over 100 years. Although remarkable improvement ...
The commercialization prospects for fuel cell vehicles depend not only on their performance and cost, but also on how well th ...
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that directly converts a fuel to electricity by means of reactions on the surfaces of ...
The leading automotive brands are being focused to produce electric vehicles because they believe they represent a harmony to the e ...
The spark-ignition and compression-ignition engine and internal combustion engines technologies that are currently employed in motor vehicles were developed more than 100 years ago. These conventional vehicle technologies are fueled by petroleum-derived gasoline and diesel fuels (the socalled conventional fuels). Over the past 100 years, the conventional technologies have been dramatically improved, reducing cost and increasing performance. (more…)
ISO document 14040 identifies four areas for using life cycle analysis (LCA) results: (1) identifying opportunities to improve ...
The fuel cycle for a given transportation fuel includes the following processes: energy feedstock (or primary energy) product ...
There are different types of vehicle propulsion systems and the transportation fuels that have been studied for their potential ...
Because different studies have different system boundaries and parametric assumptions, the studies described in Section 7 resulted ...
For processes that produce multiple products, energy and emission burdens have to be allocated to individual products. ISO 14040 ad ...
The development of the ‘‘new’’ wind and solar technologies is of great importance for the future contribution of RESs to energy supply. Although the present wind and solar technology contribution of 0.4% to total primary energy consumption per capita is still very small, the growth of these industries has been considerable in the past 6 to 8 years. Today they provide 10 times the energy of 10 years ago. Wind energy shows the most remarkable growth dynamics; its contribution is now reaching energetically relevant dimensions. (more…)
Although technology change (usually involving an improvement in energy efficiency) is not inherently a geographic process, it does ...
In Europe, modern renewable energy sources technologies were explored thoroughly for the first time after the oil embargo/ price cr ...
In 2001, there were 14,000 small wind turbines for home/domestic use in the United States. The market potential for national an ...
In 2006, total world wind generating electricity capacity was around 72,000 MW, producing some 160 terawatt-hours (TWh) per yea ...
Global energy consumption in the last half century has increased very rapidly and is expected to continue to grow over the next ...