Zero-energy buildings (ZEBs) are attracting increasing interest internationally in policies aiming at a more sustainably built environment, the scientific literature and practical applications. Although “zero energy” can be considered at different scales (e.g., community, city), the most common approach adopts only the perspective of the individual building. Moreover, the feasibility of this ob...

using photovoltaic systems is gradually expanded by increasing energy demand. abundance and availability of this energy, has turned to one of the most important sources of renewable energy. unfortunately, photovoltaic systems have two big problems: first, those have very low energy conversion efficiency (in act between 12 and 42 percent under certain circumstances). second, the power produced b...

The high variability of renewable energy resources presents significant challenges to the operation of the electric power grid. Conventional generators can be used to mitigate this variability but are costly to operate and produce carbon emissions. Energy storage provides a more environmentally friendly alternative, but is costly to deploy in large amounts. This paper studies the limits on the ...

The use of renewable energy sources either as distributed generators in public AC networks or as isolated generating units supplying is one of the new trends in power-electronic technology. Renewable energy generators equipped with electronic converters can be attractive for several reasons, such as environmental benefits, economic convenience, social development. The main environmental benefit...

This dissertation is generally interested in policy and pollution-relevant questions within the field of environmental economics, focusing either on regulated firms' behavior or individuals' reactions. The first chapter focuses on one regulatory policy aimed at decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and its impact on the firm it is regulating. In order to increase the use of renewable energy for e...

In this study, the opportunity to invest in combined heat and power (CHP) plants and second-generation biofuel production plants in Europe is investigated. To determine the number and type of production plants, a mixed integer linear model is used, based on minimization of the total cost of the whole supply chain. Different policy scenarios are studied with varying values of carbon cost and bio...

Low-Carbon Technologies (LCTs) play an important role in achieving China’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) targets. According to the result of our scenario analysis, if advanced energy-saving technology, renewable energy, and other measures are promoted and extensively applied, China’s carbon emission will achieve its peaking at around 2027. With proper energy policies, Chin...

geothermal investors need to be confident with the methods and results of exploration programs. also cutting the upfront cost of geothermal exploration will further encourage investors to consider investment in this emerging clean energy field. hence, it is of paramount importance to improve prospecting techniques in order to explore where economic concentrations of geothermal energy are to be ...

the renewable energy sources and plug-in electric vehicles (pevs) are becoming very popular because of the combination of high fuel costs and concerns about emission issues. this paper presents modelling and control of a building integrated fuel cell and plug-in electric vehicles (bifc-pev) in smart distribution systems. in bifc-pev system, conventional building elements could be replaced by sp...