This book presents resent research advances in the area of eco-triobology. In the last years, eco-tribology or environmentally friendly tribology has gained increasing importance in sustainable engineering. Environmentally acceptable tribological practices save resources by optimizing product usage and reducing energy. This book covers current developments in all areas covered by the term eco-tribology, including biomimetics surfaces, control of friction and wear, environmental aspects of lubrication and surface modification techniques as well as tribological aspects of green applications, such wind-power turbines or solar panels.

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of advanced research in the field of efficient, clean and renewable energy production, conversion and storage. The ten chapters, written by internationally respected experts, address the following topics: (1) solar and wind energy; (2) energy storage in batteries; (3) biomass; and (4) socio-economic aspects of energy. Given its multidisciplinary approach, which combines environmental analysis and an engineering perspective, the book offers a valuable resource for all researchers and students interested in environmentally sustainable energy production, conversion, storage and its engineering.

This undergraduate textbook educates non-science majors-our future policy makers-on how science works, the rules that underpin our existence, our impact on nature, and nature's impact on us. The book provides a concise, historically based, non-mathematical treatment of modern physics relevant to societal issues. It challenges readers to examine the problems we face (and their own beliefs) in light of the scientific method. With a narrative structure, Science and Society explains the scientific process and the power it brings to dealing with the natural world. The reader will gain a deeper understanding of scientific results reported by the media, and thus the tools to develop a rational, fact-based assessment of energy and resource policy. Praise for Science and Society: "Anyone who thinks society can be managed without science should think again, or better: read this book. Eric Swanson explains how science permeates society, and with simple examples of the scientific process he shows its special power in dealing with the natural world. This is a must read for the world's seven billion scientists." F.E. Close, OBE, Oxford University, author of, among others, "Half-Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy", "The Infinity Puzzle", and "Neutrino"

RAMADy, Mahdi OPec in a sHALE oil world -where to NEXT? With PREFACE by Dr. Sadad Al Husseini , former Board Member and Executive Vice President , Saudi Aramco. "OPEC has played an important role since its founding and continues to do so, but it has to recognize that this role has now changed and the organization has to adapt to new challenges. This book provides some possible solutions" Abdulsamad Al Awadhi, former Kuwait National Representative at OPEC . "Authoritative, well-informed, and excellent account of the role of OPEC in managing the oil market, present, past, and future" Hassan Qabazard, former Director of Research Division , OPEC. ". The call for action by Mohamed Ramady and Wael Mahdy in this book makes it clear that time, and not oil, is the precious commodity that is running out fast on OPEC's side", Sadad Al Husseini , former Board Member and EVP Saudi Aramco "OPEC is dead. Long live OPEC". The organization is now going through a mid life crisis in its 54 years of existence trying to figure out where it goes next in a world where OPEC has been relegated from being the energy swing producer, and Saudi Arabia as the 'Sultan of the Swing,' to one where it now faces competition from both non- OPEC traditional well as non-conventional shale producers. The Authors examine how OPEC has had to come to terms with the reality that the earlier decades 'call on OPEC' has now been replaced by a 'call on non-OPEC' and that a new 'swing' has been identified- the producers of shale oil. Drawing upon the Authors combined academic and practical first hand insights on OPEC, the book discusses how a new OPEC paradigm has emerged following the oil price rout of 2014, whereby the organization's principal concern is now protecting market share, without being in charge unlike earlier fleeting periods of the late 1970's, which brought with it a lasting myth of the OPEC cartel. Mohamed Ramady is Visiting Associate Professor, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia; Wael Mahdi is Bloomberg OPEC Energy Correspondent.

This book gives an overview of the physics of Heusler compounds ranging from fundamental properties of these alloys to their applications. Especially Heusler compounds as half-metallic ferromagnetic and topological insulators are important in condensed matter science due to their potential in magnetism and as materials for energy conversion. The book is written by world-leaders in this field. It offers an ideal reference to researchers at any level.

This work tackles the problems of understanding how energy is transmitted and distributed in power-grids as well as in determining how robust this transmission and distribution is when modifications to the grid or power occur. The most important outcome is the derivation of explicit relationships between the structure of the grid, the optimal transmission and distribution of energy, and the grid's collective behavior (namely, the synchronous generation of power). These relationships are extremely relevant for the design of resilient power-grid models. To allow the reader to apply these results to other complex systems, the thesis includes a review of relevant aspects of network theory, spectral theory, and novel analytical calculations to predict the existence and stability of periodic collective behavior in complex networks of phase oscillators, which constitute a paradigmatic model for many complex systems.

This dissertation provides the first systematic analysis of the dynamic energy efficiency of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for optical interconnects, a key technology to address the pressing ecological and economic issues of the exponentially growing energy consumption in data centers. Energy-efficient data communication is one of the most important fields in "Green Photonics" enabling higher bit rates at significantly reduced energy consumption per bit. In this thesis the static and dynamic properties of GaAs-based oxide-confined VCSELs emitting at 850 nm and 980 nm are analyzed and general rules for achieving energy-efficient data transmission using VCSELs at any wavelength are derived. These rules are verified in data transmission experiments leading to record energy-efficient data transmission across a wide range of multimode optical fiber distances and at high temperatures up to 85 DegreesC. Important trade-offs between energy efficiency, temperature stability, modulation bandwidth, low current-density operation and other VCSEL properties are revealed and discussed.

This book provides an insightful overview of the current state of earth building. The author approaches the subject from the perspective of the building material's life cycle, featuring in-depth explanations of the cycle's individual steps: extraction and classification of construction soil; production of earth building materials and earthen structures; planning, construction and renovation of earth buildings; and demolition and recycling of earthen structures. This unique resource provides examples of sophisticated earth building projects and illustrates the diverse applications of earth as a building material. Compared to conventional mineral building materials, earth possesses particularly positive ecological qualities such as its energy balance and recyclability. Architects, engineers, students, manufacturers and distributors of building materials, building contractors, building biologists, public authorities and preservationists will benefit from this book's ample coverage of restoring, optimizing and building with this material of the past, present and future.

This book describes scalable and near-optimal, processor-level design space exploration (DSE) methodologies. The authors present design methodologies for data storage and processing in real-time, cost-sensitive data-dominated embedded systems. Readers will be enabled to reduce time-to-market, while satisfying system requirements for performance, area, and energy consumption, thereby minimizing the overall cost of the final design.

This book analyzes the continuous operation of a power plant with condensing power units in combined heat and power mode (CHP-mode) over a period of one year. Focusing on the operation of one and two power-unit systems with differing heat exchanger configurations, this book uses mathematical modeling of the steam-water cycle of a 370 MW power unit to calculate the operating characteristics and mass-energy balance of the system. Featuring comprehensive thermodynamic analysis of the quasi-unsteady operation of power units in cogeneration for electrical power generation, as determined by the Polish Power System, this work also includes an economic analysis of the power plant, presenting the costs and economic effectiveness of such a system.

This book provides information on the distribution of the available energy resources throughout the continent and how it is linked to the development of individual states. Africa is considered one of the poorest continents in the world, mainly because its development has historically depended on imported resources including technical expertise. This view and its associated resource management strategy are based on the perception that Africa lacks sufficient energy resources to drive its development agenda. Analyses of individual countries' energy potentials, exploitation levels and distribution mechanisms are provided with a view to identifying additional factors that are stifling Africa's economic development. One critical factor is the relationship between available energy resources and the energy mixes chosen by different states, and how these can be exploited to produce the right blend of energy for various applications such as industrial, transport, domestic, and recreational uses. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources in terms of their environmental, industrialization and distribution costs, impacts, and the development options best suited for improving Africa's economic situation. This analysis is based on the assertion that Africa is indeed blessed with abundant energy resources, which have not been effectively exploited. The book not only reviews Africa's energy situation in general, but also reveals that, while there are certainly circumstances peculiar to individual countries, the similarities, especially within Sub-Saharan African countries, outweigh the differences. That being said, the challenges and available opportunities in each country should be viewed with due consideration given to the prevailing national resource management environment. Many initiatives in Africa fail because of the many loopholes in the management structures, which allow corruption, theft, and mere selfishness to thrive. In addition to the negative impacts of these factors on implementation activities, there is also a general lack of institutional support for initiatives that could otherwise be very progressive. Thus, taken together, these retrogressive practices stifle African energy development plans. The book offers a valuable guide for developers, investors, researchers and environmentalist, providing in-depth insights on the relationship between available energy resources and development trends in Africa. "By harnessing the wind and sun, your vast geothermal energy and rivers for hydropower, you can turn this climate threat into an economic opportunity." US President Obama's address to the African Union (2015)

This book reflects the outcome of the 1st International Workshop on Turbulent Spray Combustion held in 2009 in Corsica (France). The focus is on reporting the progress of experimental and numerical techniques in two-phase flows, with emphasis on spray combustion. The motivation for studies in this area is that knowledge of the dominant phenomena and their interactions in such flow systems is essential for the development of predictive models and their use in combustor and gas turbine design. This necessitates the development of accurate experimental methods and numerical modelling techniques. The workshop aimed at providing an opportunity for experts and young researchers to present the state-of-the-art, discuss new developments or techniques and exchange ideas in the areas of experimentations, modelling and simulation of reactive multiphase flows. The first two papers reflect the contents of the invited lectures, given by experts in the field of turbulent spray combustion. The first concerns computational issues, while the second deals with experiments. These lectures initiated very interesting and interactive discussions among the researchers, further pursued in contributed poster presentations. Contributions 3 and 4 focus on some aspects of the impact of the interaction between fuel evaporation and combustion on spray combustion in the context of gas turbines, while the final article deals with the interaction between evaporation and turbulence.

This book explores the philosophical understanding of the "energy consumption" in warehousing process that can be found in the literature. It presents known technical solutions that, if they are used in cold storage rooms, can effectively reduce energy consumption: through lower power consumption and/or energy recovery, such as the use of photovoltaic panels. The final part of the book explores the problems discussed on the basis of a concrete example - a project involving energy recovery in a refrigerated warehouse.This publication also describes the design of refrigerated warehouses, taking into account their energy intensity. In the case of logistic warehousing systems, the pallets in warehouses can offer a source of energy - namely of the potential energy stored in the loads on the shelves. Given that today's construction warehouses have heights on the order of several tens of meters, that energy can be considerable. In the case of refrigerated warehouses and cold storage facilities, it is necessary to monitor the stored goods in order to maintain a constant freezing temperature, in keeping with the requirements of the HACCP system. Inevitably, this calls for constant cooling of the air inside the warehouse, and thus produces a fixed, high and constant level of energy usage. And, just as in any other context, it becomes important to identify methods for reducing energy consumption.

Escalating energy demand may be the most important issue facing the United States and the world today. There is little disagreement that research and development (R&D) is needed to develop new energy technologies for the future; however, there is less agreement over the specific research agenda to be pursued and how that agenda is funded. This book addresses the social importance of new energy technologies, illustrates policy-relevant applications of evaluation techniques and proposes new perspectives for a US energy investment strategy. Through detailed examples related to solar, geothermal, and vehicle technologies, the authors outline the need for robust evaluation methods to document social returns to taxpayers' R&D investments. They argue that such evaluations are necessary for the public sector to make rational decisions about the allocation of its scares resources. The evaluation methods considered involve developing alternative technology and market pathways from which the benefits of government research can be measured. Researchers and graduate students, policy makers involved in energy technology, and energy R&D program managers will all find much of value in this important and timely book.

This book examines the impact of post-colonial leadership on political integration in Nigeria, offering an in-depth understanding of the historical and contemporary forces that shape Nigeria's national politics as well as African politics generally. Okafor discusses how Nigeria's pre-colonial and colonial political histories along with contemporary external forces like neo-colonialism, as well as internal social, economic and political structures and developments, have affected emerging post-independence politics in the country. The study climaxes with an Africa-centered theory of political and integrative leadership and then uses it as a prism for analyzing six Nigerian post-independence political leaderships, encompassing Nigeria's First and Second Republics, along with their military interregna. The concluding chapter includes a discussion of the implications of the study for leadership and political integration in Africa in general.

Whereas power systems have traditionally been designed with a focus on protecting them from routine component failures and atypical user demand, we now also confront the fact that deliberate attack intended to cause maximum disruption is a real possibility. In response to this changing environment, new concepts and tools have emerged that address many of the issues facing power system operation today. This book is aimed at introducing these ideas to practicing power systems engineers, control systems engineers interested in power systems, and graduate students in these areas. The ideas are examined with an emphasis on how they can be applied to improve our understanding of power system behavior and help design better control systems. The book is supplemented by a Mathematica package enabling readers to work out nontrivial examples and problems. Also included is a set of Mathematica tutorial notebooks providing detailed solutions of the worked examples in the text. In addition to Mathematica, simulations are carried out using Simulink with Stateflow.

A work on turbulent premixed combustion is important because of increased concern about the environmental impact of combustion and the search for new combustion concepts and technologies. An improved understanding of lean fuel turbulent premixed flames must play a central role in the fundamental science of these new concepts. Lean premixed flames have the potential to offer ultra-low emission levels, but they are notoriously susceptible to combustion oscillations. Thus, sophisticated control measures are inevitably required. The editors' intent is to set out the modeling aspects in the field of turbulent premixed combustion. Good progress has been made on this topic, and this cohesive volume contains contributions from international experts on various subtopics of the lean premixed flame problem.

Energy is the mainstay of industrial societies, and without an adequate supply of energy the social, political and economic stability of nations is put into jeopardy. With supplies of inexpensive fossil fuels decreasing, and climate change factors becoming more threatening, the need to conserve energy and move steadily to more sustainable energy sources is more urgent than ever before. The updated Second Edition of this successful handbook includes chapters from leading experts on the economics and fiscal management of energy, with a focus on the tools available to advance efficiency and conservation measures. Updated coverage of renewable energy sources, energy storage technologies, energy audits for buildings and building systems, and demand-side management is provided. The appendix of the handbook provides extensive data resources for analysis and calculation.

The book at hand gives an overview of the state of the art research in Computational Sustainability as well as case studies of different application scenarios. This covers topics such as renewable energy supply, energy storage and e-mobility, efficiency in data centers and networks, sustainable food and water supply, sustainable health, industrial production and quality, etc. The book describes computational methods and possible application scenarios.

This book introduces the issues and problems that arise when implementing smart energy management for sustainable manufacturing in the automotive manufacturing industry and the analytical tools and applications to deal with them. It uses a number of illustrative examples to explain energy management in automotive manufacturing, which involves most types of manufacturing technology and various levels of energy consumption. It demonstrates how analytical tools can help improve energy management processes, including forecasting, consumption, and performance analysis, emerging new technology identification as well as investment decisions for establishing smart energy consumption practices. It also details practical energy management systems, making it a valuable resource for professionals involved in real energy management processes, and allowing readers to implement the procedures and applications presented.

This book focuses on spatial planning - an important determinant of energy saving and renewable energy supply. Revealing the key driving forces for spatial development supporting the shift towards energy efficiency and renewable energy supplies, it shows the importance of integrated spatial and energy planning approaches for a timely and sustainable change of energy systems, thus supporting policies of climate protection. As operating within the context of renewable energy sources is becoming a major policy issue at the international, European and national level, spatial dimensions of renewable energy systems as well as challenges, barriers and opportunities in different spatial contexts become more important. This book analyses not only the fundamental system interrelations between resources, technologies and consumption patterns with respect to energy, but also the links to the spatial context, and provides guidelines for researchers as well as practitioners in this new, emerging field. It presents innovative analytical tools to solve real-world problems and discusses the most important fields of action in integrated spatial and energy planning including planning contents, planning visions and principles as well as planning process design and planning methodology.

This book is based on multidisciplinary research focusing on low-carbon healthy city planning, policy and assessment. This includes city-development strategy, energy, environment, healthy, land-use, transportation, infrastructure, information and other related subjects. This book begins with the current status and problems of low-carbon healthy city development in China. It then introduces the global experience of different regions and different policy trends, focusing on individual cases. Finally, the book opens a discussion of Chinese low-carbon healthy city development from planning and design, infrastructure and technology assessment-system perspectives. It presents a case study including the theory and methodology to support the unit city theory for low-carbon healthy cities. The book lists the ranking of China's 269 high-level cities, with economic, environmental, resource, construction, transportation and health indexes as an assessment for creating a low-carbon healthy future. The book provides readers with a comprehensive overview of building low-carbon healthy cities in China.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th IFIP WG 5.5/SOCOLNET Advanced Doctoral Conference on Computing, Electrical and Industrial Systems, DoCEIS 2016, held in Costa de Caparica, Portugal, in April 2016. The 53 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 112 submissions. The papers present selected results produced in engineering doctoral programs and focus on research, development, and application of cyber-physical systems. Research results and ongoing work are presented, illustrated and discussed in the following areas: enterprise collaborative networks; ontologies; Petri nets; manufacturing systems; biomedical applications; intelligent environments; control and fault tolerance; optimization and decision support; wireless technologies; energy: smart grids, renewables, management, and optimization; bio-energy; and electronics.

This thesis focuses on chalcogenide compound quantum dots with special crystal structures and behaviors in an effort to achieve the synergistic optimization of electrical and thermal transport for high-efficiency thermoelectric materials. The controllability and large-scale synthesis of chalcogenide quantum dots are realized through simple colloid synthesis, and the synergistic optimization of the materials' electrical and thermal transport properties is successfully achieved. Furthermore, the book explores the mechanism involved in the integration of high thermoelectric performance and reversible p-n semiconducting switching in bimetal chalcogenide semiconductors. As such, the thesis will be of interest to university researchers and graduate students in the materials science, chemistry and physics.

This book presents a collection of recent research on building diagnosis techniques related to construction pathology, hygrothermal behavior and durability, and diagnostic techniques. It highlights recent advances and new developments in the field of building physics, building anomalies in materials and components, new techniques for improved energy efficiency analysis, and diagnosis techniques such as infrared thermography. This book will be of interest to a wide readership of professionals, scientists, students, practitioners, and lecturers.