Artificial Neural Networks for Renewable Energy Systems and Real-World Applications presents current trends for the solution of complex engineering problems in the application, modeling, analysis, and optimization of different energy systems and manufacturing processes. With growing research catering to the applications of neural networks in specific industrial applications, this reference provides a single resource catering to a broader perspective of ANN in renewable energy systems and manufacturing processes. ANN-based methods have attracted the attention of scientists and researchers in different engineering and industrial disciplines, making this book a useful reference for all researchers and engineers interested in artificial networks, renewable energy systems, and manufacturing process analysis.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURED DIRECTED BY AND STARRING CHIWETEL EJIOFOR - AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX When William Kamkwamba was just 14 years old, his family told him that he must leave school and come home to work on the farm - they could no longer afford his fees. This is his story of how he found a way to make a difference, how he bought light to his family and village, and hope to his nation. Malawi is a country battling AIDS, drought and famine, and in 2002, a season of floods, followed by the most severe famine in fifty years, brought it to its knees. Like the majority of the population, William's family were farmers. They were totally reliant on the maize crop. By the end of 2001, after many lean and difficult years, there was no more crop. They were running out of food - had nothing to sell - and had months until they would be able to harvest their crop again. Forced to leave school at 14 years old, with no hope of raising the funds to go again, William resorted to borrowing books from the small local library to continue his education. One day, browsing the titles, he picked up a book about energy, with a picture of a wind turbine on the front cover. Fascinated by science and electricity, but knowing little more about the technology, William decided to build his own. Ridiculed by those around him, and exhausted from his work in the fields every day, and using nothing more than bits of scrap metal, old bicycle parts and wood from the blue gum tree, he slowly built his very own windmill. This windmill has changed the world in which William and his family live. Only 2 per cent of Malawi has electricity; William's windmill now powers the lightbulbs and radio for his compound. He has since built more windmills for his school and his village. When news of William's invention spread, people from across the globe offered to help him. Soon he was re-enrolled in college and travelling to America to visit wind farms. This is his incredible story. William's dream is that other African's will learn to help themselves - one windmill and one light bulb at a time - and that maybe one day they will be able to power their own computers, and use the internet, and see for themselves how his life has changed after picking up that book in the library.

Hydrogen Safety for Energy Applications: Engineering Design, Risk Assessment, and Codes and Standards presents different aspects of contemporary knowledge regarding the hazards, risks and safety connected with hydrogen systems. Sections cover the main hydrogen technologies and explore the scientific aspects of possible sources and consequences of accidental events that can occur when hydrogen is used, including in its vehicular applications. Risk assessment, as well as the safety measures/safety barriers applicable in such situations are also considered. Finally, a short survey concerning legal aspects is presented.

Technologies for Solar Thermal Energy: Theory, Design and Optimization presents concepts surrounding industrial process heat and thermal power generation, including detailed theory and practical considerations for design, performance analysis, and economic assessments. Addressing the significance of power generation from solar thermal energy, the book covers the different power cycles for solar thermal power plant and comparison analysis, along with the advantages of solar thermal power systems compared with photovoltaic systems, corresponding energy storage technology, working materials, and the design method of a solar thermal power plant. This book is most valuable for lecturers, postgraduate and undergraduate students who will benefit from technological advances. In addition, researchers and engineers can use this book for modern theories and design aspects to enhance knowledge and conduct research in the field of solar thermal energy.

Handbook of Algal Biofuels: Aspects of Cultivation, Conversion and Biorefinery comprehensively covers the cultivation, harvesting, conversion, and utilization of microalgae and seaweeds for different kinds of biofuels. The book addresses four main topics in the algal biofuel value-chain. First, it explores algal diversity and composition, covering micro- and macroalgal diversity, classification, and composition, their cultivation, biotechnological applications, current use within industry for biofuels and value-added products, and their application in CO2 sequestration, wastewater treatment, and water desalination. Next, the book addresses algal biofuel production, presenting detailed guidelines and protocols for different production routes of biodiesel, biogas, bioethanol, biobutanol, biohydrogen, jet fuel, and thermochemical conversation methods. Then, the authors discuss integrated approaches for enhanced biofuel production. This includes updates on the recent advances, breakthroughs, and challenges of algal biomass utilization as a feedstock for alternative biofuels, process intensification techniques, life cycle analysis, and integrated approaches such as wastewater treatment with CO2 sequestration using cost-effective and eco-friendly techniques. In addition, different routes for waste recycling for enhanced biofuel production are discussed alongside economic analyses. Finally, this book presents case studies for algal biomass and biofuel production including BIQ algae house, Renewable Energy Laboratory project, Aquatic Species Program, and the current status of algal industry for biofuel production. Handbook of Algal Biofuels offers an all-in-one resource for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals working in the areas of biofuels and phycology and will be of interest to engineers working in renewable energy, bioenergy, alternative fuels, biotechnology, and chemical engineering. Furthermore, this book includes structured foundational content on algae and algal biofuels for undergraduate and graduate students working in biology and life sciences.

Fundamentals of Wind Farm Aerodynamic Layout Design, Volume Four provides readers with effective wind farm design and layout guidance through algorithm optimization, going beyond other references and general approaches in literature. Focusing on interactions of wake models, designers can combine numerical schemes presented in this book which also considers wake models' effects and problems on layout optimization in order to simulate and enhance wind farm designs. Covering the aerodynamic modeling and simulation of wind farms, the book's authors include experimental tests supporting modeling simulations and tutorials on the simulation of wind turbines. In addition, the book includes a CFD technique designed to be more computationally efficient than currently available techniques, making this book ideal for industrial engineers in the wind industry who need to produce an accurate simulation within limited timeframes.

Advanced Nanomaterials and Their Applications in Renewable Energy, Second Edition presents timely topics related to nanomaterials' feasible synthesis and characterization and their application in the energy fields. The book examines the broader aspects of energy use, including environmental effects of disposal of Li-ion and Na batteries and reviews the main energy sources of today and tomorrow, from fossil fuels to biomass, hydropower, storage power and solar energy. The monograph treats energy carriers globally in terms of energy storage, transmission, and distribution, addresses fuel cell-based solutions in transportation, industrial, and residential building, considers synergistic systems, and more. This new edition also offers updated statistical data and references; a new chapter on the synchronous x-ray based analysis techniques and electron tomography, and if waste disposal of energy materials pose a risk to the microorganism in water, and land use; expanding coverage of renewable energy from the first edition; with newer color illustrations.

Non-Conventional Energy in North America: Current and Future Perspectives for Electricity Generation provides an analysis of the current state of non-conventional energy sources used in the United States and Canada. The book works through all non-conventional renewable energy power sources, such as solar, wind and nuclear, considers the associated pros and cons, their impact on society, the climate and the population, and their potential. As well as coverage on the amount of power generated from each source, this book considers various imposed policies and programs alongside public opinion to provide readers with an understanding of current and future potentials for sustainable energy. Readers in government, energy experts, economists, academics and scientists will find this book to be a great reference on which types of power generation they would like to develop in their regions to promote economic and social development. The book will equip readers with the knowledge to make future decisions to diversity the energy mix in their respective regions.

Biochemicals and Materials Production from Sustainable Biomass Resources provides a detailed overview of the experimentally developed approaches and strategies that facilitate carbon-based materials and fine chemicals derivation from biomass feedstocks with robust catalyst systems and renewed conversion routes. In addition, the book highlights theoretical methods like techno-economic analysis of biobutanol synthesis. As academia and industry are now striving to substitute fossil-based chemicals with alternative renewable resources, second-generation lignocellulosic biomass which does not depend on the food cycle has become increasingly important. Lignocellulosic biomass is composed of three major polymeric components - lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. The polymers can be degraded into monomeric counterparts through selective conversion routes like hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose and of hemicellulose to xylose.

A Thermo-Economic Approach to Energy From Waste provides readers with the tools to analyze the effectiveness of biomass waste conversion into value-added products and how thermochemical conversion methods can be commercialized with minimum environmental impact. The book provides a comprehensive overview of biomass conversion technologies through pyrolysis, including the types of reactors available, reactor mechanisms, and the upgradation of bio-oil. Case studies are provided on waste disposal in selected favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro, including data on subnormal clusters and analyses of solid waste in the 37 slums of Catumbi. Step-by-step guidance is provided on how to use a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to analyze the potential impact of various waste-to-energy conversion technologies, and a brief overview of the common applications of LCA in other geographical locations is presented, including United States, Europe, China, and Brazil. Finally, waste-to-value-added functional catalysts for the transesterification process in biodiesel production are discussed alongside various other novel technologies for biodiesel production, process simulation, and techno-economic analysis of biodiesel production. Bringing together research and real-world case studies from an LCA perspective, the book provides an ideal reference for researchers and practitioners interested in waste-to-energy conversion, LCA, and the sustainable production of bioenergy.

Storing Energy: With Special Reference to Renewable Energy Sources, Second Edition has been fully revised and substantially extended to provide up-to-date and essential discussion that will support the needs of the world's future energy and climate change policies. New sections cover thermal energy storage, tidal storage, sustainability issues in relation to storing energy and impacts on global energy markets. Various systems are discussed, including mechanical/kinetic, thermal, electrochemical and other chemical, as well as other emerging technologies. Incorporating advancements described in the book will help the people of the world further overcome the problems related to future energy and climate change.

Integrated Wastewater Management and Valorization using Algal Cultures provides a holistic view on coupled wastewater treatment and biomass production for energy and value-added products using algal cultures. Algal cultures provide low-cost nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) treatment and recovery from wastewaters, carbon-dioxide sequestration from waste gases, value-added generation in the form of bio-energy and bio-based chemicals, biosorption of heavy metals and biogas upgrading. The book addresses all these aspects in terms of role of algal cultures in environmental sustainability and circular economy. The production of high value products is addressed through pretreatment and anaerobic co-digestion of wastewater-derived microalgal biomass and microalgal biorefineries. The simultaneous dissolution and uptake of nutrients in microalgal treatment of anaerobic digestate is discussed, as is coupled electrocoagulation and algal cultivation for the treatment of anaerobic digestate and algal biomass production. Finally, optimization of algal biomass production is discussed using metagenomics and machine learning tools, and scale-up potential and the limitations of integrated wastewater-derived microalgal biorefineries is discussed. Integrated Wastewater Management and Valorization using Algal Cultures offers an integrated resource on wastewater treatment, biomass production, bioenergy and value-added product generation for researchers in bioenergy and renewable energy, environmental science and wastewater treatment, as well as environmental and chemical engineering.

Waste and Biodiesel: Feedstocks and Precursors for Catalysts is a comprehensive reference on waste material utilization at various stages of the biodiesel production process. The book discusses the technologies for converting cooking oil and waste animal fats to biodiesel, along with the efficacy of municipal waste derived lipids in biodiesel production. The use of wastewater-grown microalgae feedstock, oleaginous fungi, bacteria and yeast produced using waste substrate are also discussed. The use of various catalysts is addressed, including CaO derived from waste shell materials, fish and animal waste, inorganic waste materials like red mud and cement waste, and whole cell enzymes using waste substrate. Each chapter addresses the challenges of high production costs at a pilot and industrial scale, offering methods of cost reduction and waste remediation. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and industry professionals in environmental science, energy and renewable energy.

Production of Biodiesel from Non-Edible Sources: Technological Updates offers a step-by-step guide to the production of biodiesel, providing comparisons of existing methods, new and state-of-the-art technologies, and real-world examples of implementation. The book discusses all potential non-edible feedstocks for biodiesel production, providing their properties, availability, and processing, including deeper insights into kinetic models and simulation of biodiesel fermentation. Readers will gain knowledge of existing parameters and methods for biodiesel production, optimization, scale-up, and sustainability, along with guidance on the practical implementation of these methods and techniques. Finally, environmental sustainability, techno-economic analysis, and policymaking aspects are considered and put into the context of future prospects. This book offers a step-by-step guide for researchers and industry practitioners involved in bioenergy, renewable energy, biofuels production and bioconversion processes.

The rising share of photovoltaic (PV) energy requires sophisticated digital techniques to control, monitor and integrate them with the grid. For movable systems, tracking is necessary. Especially for remote areas, where no trained personnel might be nearby to intervene, such technologies are vital to ensure reliability and power quality, and to harness the solar potential of these locations. This is important to use PV energy in the grid, as well as for desalination, water pumping and hydrolysis. Digital Technologies for Solar Photovoltaic Systems: From general to rural and remote installations focuses on the latest research and developments in PV energy system operation and integration. It provides extensive coverage of R&D to overcome critical limitations to the use of remote PV systems. Chapters cover phase-shifting transformers, grid-connected PV micro-inverter, distribution automation, PV powered water pumping, maximum power point tracking and solar tracking, soiling effects and measurement, cleaning methods, IoT based PV module cooling and cleaning, control of energy storage, and energy management. This book is a highly useful reference guide for researchers, designers, operators, and experts involved with PV systems, as well as for graduate students.

Sustainable production of hydrocarbon biofuels from biomass, fuels that are fully compatible with existing internal combustion engines, will allow the global transport economy to transition to a sustainable energy source without the need for capital-intensive new infrastructures. Hydrocarbon Biorefinery: Sustainable Processing of Biomass for Hydrocarbon Biofuels presents a comprehensive and easy to understand consolidation of existing knowledge for the production of hydrocarbon biofuels from biomass. Three major areas for the conversion of biomass to hydrocarbon biofuels are addressed: i) Chemical and thermochemical conversion processes, ii) Biological and biochemical conversion processes, and iii) Conversion processes of biomass-derived compounds. Additionally, the book includes process design, life cycle analysis of various processes, reaction engineering, catalysts, process conditions and process concepts, and is supported with detailed case studies. The economic viability of each process is specifically addressed to provide a clear guide for the economic development of future hydrocarbon biofuels. Hydrocarbon Biorefinery: Sustainable Processing of Biomass for Hydrocarbon Biofuels offers an all-in-one resource for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals working in the area of bioenergy and will be of interest to energy engineers, chemical engineers, bioengineers, chemists, agricultural researchers, and mechanical engineers. Furthermore, this book provides structured foundational content on biorefineries for undergraduate and graduate students.

Innovative Energy Conversion from Biomass Waste offers a new approach to optimizing energy recovery from waste using thermochemical conversion. Instead of conventional pinch technology, the book proposes integrated systems employing exergy recovery and process integration technologies to minimize exergy loss due to entropy generation. This innovative approach is demonstrated in three case studies using high-potential low-rank fuels from industrial waste products with high moisture content, high volatile matter, and high hemicellulose content. From these case studies, readers are provided with three different examples of biomass type, pre-treatment route, and conversion, from fruit bunch cofired within existing coal power plants, black liquor in a stand-alone system, and rice waste processing integrated into existing agricultural systems. Innovative Energy Conversion from Biomass Waste is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners alike, and will be of interest to environmental scientists, biotechnologists, and chemical engineers working in waste-to-energy and renewable energy.

Value-Chain of Biofuels: Fundamentals, Technology, and Standardization presents the fundamental aspects of biofuel production, from biomass conversion technologies and biofuels' end products to related policy regulation and standardization. Sections explore the current biofuels industry, addressing pretreatment, feedstocks, and conversion processes, review different pathways to produce biofuels, including bioethanol, biochar, biogas/bio-hydrogen, bio-oil, biodiesel, and many others, and finally, present policy regulation and standardization on biofuel production, with a focus on applications. Case studies are provided alongside reviews from academic and industry perspectives, discussing economics and lifecycle assessments (LCA) of biofuel production, as well as analyses of supply chains. Offering a comprehensive and timely overview, this book provides an ideal reference for researchers and practitioners working in bioenergy and renewable energy, but it will also be of interest to chemists, bioengineers, chemical engineers, and the agricultural and petrochemical industries.

Biofuels and Bioenergy: Opportunities and Challenges is the first of two volumes that address the technological developments and challenges in the production of a broad range of biofuels and bioenergy products from renewable feedstock. The book emphasizes the opportunities and challenges involved in various processes including fermentation, transesterification, microbial fuels cells, liquefaction, gasification, and pyrolysis. These are also considered from a biorefinery perspective and discuss all common biomass feedstocks. In addition, the book presents new research on microalgae from waste water treatment, large scale production of microalgae, microbial biooil production, biogas production, computational tools for manipulation of metabolic pathway for enhanced biogas production, production of biofuel from genetically modified microalgal biomass, techno-economic analysis, environmental impact and life cycle analysis. Biofuels and Bioenergy is an ideal reference on the latest research for researchers and students working in the area of biofuels and renewable energy.

Salinity Gradient Heat Engines classifies all the existing SGHEs and presents an in-depth analysis of their fundamentals, applications and perspectives. The main SGHEs analyzed in this publication are Osmotic, the Reverse Electrodialysis, and the Accumulator Mixing Heat Engines. The production and regeneration unit of both cycles are described and analyzed alongside the related economic and environmental aspects. This approach provides the reader with very thorough knowledge on how these technologies can be developed and implemented as a low-impact power generation technique, wherever low-temperature waste-heat is available. This book will also be a very beneficial resource for academic researchers and graduate students across various disciplines, including energy engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Handbook of Biofuels looks at the many new developments in various type of bioenergy, along with the significant constraints in their production and/or applications. Beyond introducing current approaches and possible future directions of research, this title covers sources and processing of raw materials to downstream processing, constraints involved and research approaches to address and overcome these needs. Different combinations of products from the biorefinery are included, along with the material to answer questions surrounding the optimum process conditions for conversion of different feedstocks to bioenergy, the basis for choosing conversion technology, and what bioenergy products make economic sense. With chapters on the techno-economic analysis of biofuel production and concepts and step-by-step approaches in bioenergy processing, the objective of this book is to present a comprehensive and all-encompassing reference about bioenergy to students, teachers, researchers and professionals.

Silicon Anode Systems for Lithium-Ion Batteries is an introduction to silicon anodes as an alternative to traditional graphite-based anodes. The book provides a comprehensive overview including abundance, system voltage, and capacity. It provides key insights into the basic challenges faced by the materials system such as new configurations and concepts for overcoming the expansion and contraction related problems. This book has been written for the practitioner, researcher or developer of commercial technologies.

Microgrids: Modeling, Control, and Applications presents a systematic elaboration of different types of microgrids, with a particular focus on new trends and applications. The book includes sections on AC, DC and hybrid AC/DC microgrids and reflects state-of-the-art developments, covering theory, algorithms, simulations, error and uncertainty analysis, as well as novel applications of new control techniques. Offering a valuable resource for students and researchers working on the integration of renewable energy with existing grid and control of microgrids, this book combines recent advances and ongoing research into a single informative resource. The book highlights recent findings while also analyzing modelling and control, thus making it a solid reference for researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Biomass, Biofuels, and Biochemicals: Algae-Based Biomaterials for Sustainable Development, Biomedical, Environmental Remediation and Sustainability Assessment, a new release in the Biomass, Biofuels, and Biochemicals series, covers algae-based biomaterials-the green and renewable material that can be produced from various micro- and macro-algae species and utilized for several applications, including biomedical healthcare and environmental remediation. The book provides assessments of the current development of algae-based biomaterials, delivering information on diverse feedstocks and technologies for biomaterial production with a perspective surrounding sustainable development. In addition, circular bioeconomy aspects are included, giving researchers a comprehensive, sustainable development view. This valuable addition to the series delivers a much-needed reference for today's applications in biomedical and environmental remediation.

Most solar cells currently in commercial use are p-type solar cells, due to their historically lower cost and ease of manufacture compared to n-type solar cells. However, due to improved manufacturing technology and falling cost in general, the cost difference between the two types has shrunk, making n-type solar cells an attractive option for future commercial high-efficiency solar cells. n-type solar cells are less prone to light-induced degradation, and are also less affected by iron impurities. This makes n-type solar cells more efficient compared to their p-type counterparts, with efficiencies of up to 25% being feasible in production. Challenges in the manufacturing process and regarding degradation still remain to be solved, in order to realise n-type solar cells' full potential. The challenges, solutions and opportunities afforded by n-type solar cells are explored in this volume. This book conveys current research and development for n-type solar cells and modules. With a systematic build-up, chapters cover the base material, wafer production, and the cell concepts including recent passivation techniques. Also covered are the related issues of solar module technology, such as encapsulation and interconnection, and degradation process management, including comparisons with p-type solar cells. In addition, economic and ecologic aspects and cost modelling are addressed. This thorough, concise reference is a valuable resource for researchers from industry and academia working in the field of photovoltaics.