Sustainable energy integration within the circular economy

journal article in Web of Science

en

This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) presents a selection of the presentation at the 24th Conference of Process Inte-gration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES'21), which was held as a hybrid (face2face + online) conference in Brno, Czech Republic, on the 31st October to the November 3, 2021. The main features were related to the scope of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. Topics covered in this VSI also include climate and emission neutrality of energy systems, sustainable energy systems optimisation, energy recovery and integration. Topics covered in this VSI also cover circular economy, which has been identified as a viable strategy towards achieving sustainable development. It aims to decouple economic growth from resource use and waste generation. However, most technologies that promote circularity necessitate increased energy use to enhance material recovery and recycling. To ensure that the advances made in creating a more circular economy are not in conflict with mitigating climate change and achieving close to net zero emissions by 2050, a portfolio of technologies and strategies that reduce the carbon emissions intensity of the energy sector should be implemented. Climate and emission-neutral energy systems that utilise renewable energy, such as solar and geothermal power, decarbonise the energy sector's emissions. Developing more sustainable and renewable en-ergy devices such as photovoltaic/thermal collectors, phase change materials, and solar devices, together with establishing infrastructure that supports these technologies, such as 6G wireless networks, would improve effi-ciency during energy generation, transmission, and use. The design and implementation of energy recovery and integration networks would reduce operational energy requirements in process industries. Finally, to maximise the benefits derived from these strategies, optimisation models which consider temporal and geographical constraints should be developed to determine their proper deployment. Sustainable development could be achieved by successfully integrating sustainable energy within a circular economy.

This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) presents a selection of the presentation at the 24th Conference of Process Inte-gration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES'21), which was held as a hybrid (face2face + online) conference in Brno, Czech Republic, on the 31st October to the November 3, 2021. The main features were related to the scope of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. Topics covered in this VSI also include climate and emission neutrality of energy systems, sustainable energy systems optimisation, energy recovery and integration. Topics covered in this VSI also cover circular economy, which has been identified as a viable strategy towards achieving sustainable development. It aims to decouple economic growth from resource use and waste generation. However, most technologies that promote circularity necessitate increased energy use to enhance material recovery and recycling. To ensure that the advances made in creating a more circular economy are not in conflict with mitigating climate change and achieving close to net zero emissions by 2050, a portfolio of technologies and strategies that reduce the carbon emissions intensity of the energy sector should be implemented. Climate and emission-neutral energy systems that utilise renewable energy, such as solar and geothermal power, decarbonise the energy sector's emissions. Developing more sustainable and renewable en-ergy devices such as photovoltaic/thermal collectors, phase change materials, and solar devices, together with establishing infrastructure that supports these technologies, such as 6G wireless networks, would improve effi-ciency during energy generation, transmission, and use. The design and implementation of energy recovery and integration networks would reduce operational energy requirements in process industries. Finally, to maximise the benefits derived from these strategies, optimisation models which consider temporal and geographical constraints should be developed to determine their proper deployment. Sustainable development could be achieved by successfully integrating sustainable energy within a circular economy.

Circular economy; Editorial; Sustainable Energy Integration; VSI PRES'21

01.05.2023

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTDTHE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTDTHE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, ENGLAND

1364-0321

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