Journal of Solar Energy and Sustainable Development

Simulating the energy, economic and environmental performance of concentrating solar power technologies using SAM: Libya as a Case Study

2023-12-11T05:21:54+00:00

According to the Libyan government’s newly released strategic plan, renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources would provide 30% of the country’s power by 2030. The goal of this research is to shed light on solar energy technologies that may be used to generate clean and sustainable electricity. An energy-economicenvironmental study of five Concentration Solar Power (CSP) technologies (parabolic trough, solar dish, linear Fresnel reflector, solar tower, and concentrated PV solar cell) was conducted for 22 selected locations in Libya. The Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) was chosen as a reference for identifying which technology would be most suited for each site.
The economic estimates include the cost of environmental damage caused by carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) emissions from fossil-fuel-powered power plants. This technique allows clean and renewable energy to compete fairly in the global energy market, even in countries that produce oil and subsidize electricity.
According to the data, the solar mirror technology in Libya has the lowest LCOE of all the technologies evaluated in this study. The LCOE estimates varied from 0.01 to 0.04 dollars per kWh. The clean energy produced by the solar tower surpassed 100 MW, or about 400.332 GWh. Furthermore, the adoption of clean concentrating solar energy technology avoided the discharge of 4,235 tCO₂/year/MWp.

Electricity from wastewater treatment plants

2023-12-11T05:44:34+00:00

Wastewater treatment plants that are located in high places can provide opportunities for generating sustainable energy, by installing hydroturbines at inlet and exit pipesof wastewater treatment plants, as well as exploiting the sludge resulting from the treatment process as a source for generating biogas, which can be used to generate electric power. Then the treated water is used to irrigate ornamental trees in the roads, gardens and forests, as well as the residues of the fermentation process are used as organic fertilizer and to improve the quality of agricultural soil. In this research, a hybrid system consisting of a hydroelectric station and an electric generator working on biogas was proposed at the wastewater treatment plant in Gharyan. This is because the city is distinguished by its high location, about 713 m above sea level. The obtained results showed that the proposed hybrid renewable energy system will provide the wastewater treatment plant an electric power of 490 kW, which is sufficient to cover 87.5% of the plant’s electrical energy consumption.
The amount of treated water was about 13,000 m3/day, and the amount of organic fertilizer was about 17 tons/day. The investment value was estimated at about $1,478,000, and the leveized cost of energy LCOE was estimated at about 2.88 ¢/kWh. The annual net profit from the proposed system is estimated at $307,765/year, and the payback time money at 3.44 years. The proposed system will prevent the release of an annual amount of CO₂ gas estimated at 1,886 tons.

Seasonal correlation between the Atlantic multiple oscillation (AMO) and Mediterranean temperature

2023-12-11T13:49:56+00:00

Numerous studies on the surface of the planet have focused on the role that oceans play in the increase in temperatures brought on by climatic changes. This study has primarily emphasized the long-term warming of the Atlantic Ocean and how it affects the seasonal temperature changes of the Mediterranean Sea as a whole as well as its constituent western, central, and eastern areas. In the fall and summer, a substantial positive connection of roughly (Pearson correlation r= 0.69) and (r=0.65), respectively, between the entire Mediterranean Sea and the AMO is evident, but this correlation declines in the spring and winter.

Positive correlation increases in the western portion of the Mediterranean and diminishes in some areas as we move closer to the eastern Mediterranean; it reaches a maximum of (r=0.61) to (r=0.57) in the fall and summer seasons, respectively, and declines in the spring and winter. According to the findings, there is a noticeable increase in water temperature in the fall and summer, particularly in the western Mediterranean, which is influenced by AMO.