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Hot-carrier solar cells are envisioned to utilize energy filtering to extract power from photogenerated electron-hole pairs before they thermalize with the lattice, and thus potentially offer higher power conversion efficiency compared to conventional, single absorber solar cells. The efficiency of hot-carrier solar cells can be expected to strongly depend on the details of the energy filtering pr
Biorefinery applications are receiving growing interest due to climatic and waste disposal issues and lack of petroleum resources. Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is suitable for biorefinery applications due to high biomass production and limited cultivation requirements. This paper focuses on the potential of Jerusalem artichoke as a biorefinery crop and the most viable products in
This report analyses the technical opportunities for a complete decarbonisation of the basic material industry in Sweden by 2050. From this assessment, the report discusses policy implications for the industry sector given the overall framework set by the ongoing international climate negotiations. Relying on current production systems and applying “end-of-pipe” solutions will be insufficient to
This study presents a survey of the most important techno-economic factors for the implementation of biorefineries based on agricultural residues, in the form of straw, and biochemical conversion into ethanol and biogas, together with production of electricity and heat. The paper suggests locations where the necessary conditions can be met in Sweden. The requirements identified are regional availa
A concept that lies at the heart of political rhetoric is that of ‘workfare’. The issue, however, is what types of arguments have been invoked to assert the value of the concept. During the 1960s and 1970s, extensive criticism emerged towards a working life that was said to hinder women’s emancipation; a working life that wasted resources and had a negative impact on the environment; a working lif
For district heating systems, prediction of the heat load is a very important topic for energy storage and optimized operation. For large and complex heating systems, most prediction models in previous publications only considered the influence of outdoor temperature, whereas the indoor temperature and thermal inertia of buildings were not included. For an energy-efficient residential building in
Heat transfer enhancement is of great importance for energy efficiency improvement. The utilization of spirally corrugated tubes is one of the efficient ways to strengthen heat transfer. In this article, based on a validated numerical model, the effects of geometric parameters of a six-start spirally corrugated tube, including the pitch p and the corrugation depth e, on the shell side heat transfe
Seaweed cultivation is a large industry worldwide, but production in Europe is small compared to production in Asian countries. In the EU, the motivations for seaweed farming may be seen from two perspectives; one being economic growth through biomass production and the other being the provisioning of ecosystem services such as mitigating eutrophication. In this paper, we assess the economic poten
The need for more functionality and higher performance has increased the number of transistors to billions in current processors. A high number of transistors on the same chip area increases the power density, which in turn heats up the devices and lowers the life time of batteries. The increasing demand for devices relying on battery and harvested energies in the Internet of Things (IoT) era has
The energy hub concept is gradually getting popular due to its capability to integrate renewable energy technologies into the energy grid with a minimum impact. Designing distributed energy hubs is a challenging task due to the coupling of optimum dispatch and energy system sizing problems. Operation of the system needs to be considered for 8760 time steps and energy system sizing optimization can
The win-win opportunities connected to green growth are appealing to academics and policy makers alike, but empirical evaluations about the effectiveness of green growth policies are still scattered. Taking South Korea as case study, which set up a highly ambitious green growth program in 2009, our research casts light on the extent to which the Korean Green Growth Strategy has been effective in d
Our future built environment will not only consume energy, it will also produce (partly) its own energy need. Solar energy has been proven to be a valid strategy for producing on-site renewable energy. Planning for integrating solar energy in buildings involves many players and decision-making. In this article, a process map defining which decisions regarding solar energy needs to be discussed in
Until recently, the methylotrophic yeasts, including Hansenula polymorpha, have not been considered as a potential producer of biofuels, particularly, ethanol from lignocellulosics. However it is already known that the thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast H. polymorpha is capable to ferment xylose, glucose and cellobiose, the main sugars of lignocellulosic hydrolysates, under elevated temperature.
The Swedish parliament has decided that by 2045, Sweden will not be a net emitter of greenhouse gases. There is also a goal to have a fossil fuel free transport sector by 2030. However, the transport sector is still dominated by fossil fuels and many efforts are needed to lower emissions. Sweden has a relatively high share of biofuels, around 20% of the energy use in domestictransportation. Howeve
This study examines renovation strategies among owners of rental housing in Sweden in response to European energy policies that promote deep renovation as a means to reduce carbon emissions from residential buildings. Case studies of eleven housing companies, seven public and three private, were designed with the aim to examine housing owners' attitudes and renovation strategies, and how policies
Energy security, climate change and air pollution are all motivations for further development of fuel cells. Still, technical problems relating to water management, continue to hinder the marketability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The impact of dynamic contact angle (CA) boundary conditions, according to the Kistler model, is evaluated in this paper with the VOF approach, focusing on
The aim of this study is to develop a model capable of predicting the behavior of a district heating substation, including being able to distinguish datasets from well performing substations from datasets containing faults. The model developed in the study is based on machine learning algorithms and the model is trained on data from a Swedish district heating substation. A number of different mode
The idea of using the thermal mass of a building to maintain a more constant indoor climate is not new. This particular propertyof a building, including its exterior envelope, plays an important part in the reduction of peak power demands, which is becomingan increasingly urgent issue for the heating energy suppliers. The latest smart-grid technology creates new opportunities wherecommunication be
The need for new renewable products has enhanced the interest in cellulose and hemicellulose as raw material. The wood plant cell wall is a complex mixture of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and minor amounts of pectin, proteins and extractives. Several interactions between the compounds make them difficult to separate without modification. O-acetyl-galactoglucomannan (O-acetyl-GGM), the major he
The German “Energiewende” (energy transition) is meant to be a contract between generations. The rebuilding of the whole energy system is designed and financed today in order to safeguard our children and grandchildren against fundamental risks: the enormous economic, social and environmental costs of a fossil-nuclear energy system, the risks of the nuclear fuel-cycle and the impacts of climate ch
