Bezpieczeństwo energetyczne w polityce spójności Unii Europejskiej

Author(s): Zbigniew Mikołajewicz / Language(s): Issue: 380/2015

The article attempts to analyse and evaluate the energy security of the European Union and the entire Community regarded as an important component of the EU cohesion policy. Concepts and goals, as well as scope and stages of the formation of the European energy security, as well as the achievements of the European Union in regulatory activities in this domain were discussed. Mediocre achievements of real activities of the EU for common energy policy were depicted on the example of gas power industry system. A high share of the imported fuels (oil, gas, coal) in the general fuel consumption in the European Union and the degree of dependence of individual EU countries on Russian gas import were underlined. It is desirable to reduce the dominant position of Russia used nowadays for political objectives (Ukraine) determining the European energy security.

EU funds and limited cooperation: energy infrastructure development in the Visegrad Group

Author(s): Matúš Mišík,Veronika Oravcová / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2018

The paper analyses the development of energy infrastructure within the Visegrad Group. Improving interconnectivity has been considered key to solving energy security challenges and a way of preventing repetition of the 2009 gas crisis. Focusing on the natural gas sector, the paper claims that the European Union and its funds are crucial to the development of new energy infrastructure within the region. In addition to the EU’s financial instruments, its general support is important in incentivizing stakeholders in the region to improve interconnectivity. The paper focuses on the North–South Gas Interconnections in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe, which is a priority corridor that transits all the Visegrad countries, and examines projects for improving interconnectivity between these countries. New infrastructure not only helps improve energy security but is the first step in developing an internal energy market dependent on the physical ability to transport natural gas across the Union.

Beyond gas beyond 2020: new vision on energy security for the Visegrad Four in 2020–2030

Author(s): Ágnes Törőcsik,Enikő Kácsor,Alfa Diallo / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2018

This article presents the research results of the Beyond Gas Beyond 2020 project conducted from June 2018 to October 2018 in the V4 countries. The hypothesis of the research was that dependency on import gas has lost its importance in regional energy security with the building of the Polish LNG terminal, the Slovak–Hungarian gas interconnector and several other regional pipelines projects. The research focused on whether the growing share of renewable-based energy production from domestic sources might further enhance the regional energy security position and tried to identify the new determinants of the V4 energy security position. The results show that, despite great improvement in the security of supply indexes in the region, the region has not eliminated its gas dependency. Furthermore, new challenges have been identified, related to the increasing share of nuclear and RES in 2020–2030 and the growing need for flexible generation units in the system. Actions, to provide efficient solutions to these challenges at the regional level, have also been discussed and identified.

Foratom Chief: Balance of power is shifting against nuclear in the EU

Author(s): Yves Desbazeille / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2018

Association Agreement progress – Ukraine has accelerated reforms in energy efficiency and renewables

Author(s): Andrii Chubyk / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2018

The Association Agreement has exerted significant pressure on government policy in Ukraine to reform industries and private household sectors by improving energy efficiency and introducing low-carbon generation from renewables. In the space of a few years, the Ukrainian authorities have adopted a comprehensive package of legislation compliant with EU directives and regulations and have started numerous modernization projects at the national and regional levels, including the state Warm Loans program, comprising regional, district and municipal support programs for improving energy efficiency. Others involve the utilization of local resources instead of imported natural gas, the introduction of tax and regulation incentives for commercial and small-scale private solar and wind power plants, and the development of electric transport. Most of the changes have been driven by the provisions of the Association Agreement and 2020 Action Plan. In 2015 Ukraine joined Horizon 2020 enabling it to work with the EU in science and research. In 2016, the Centre for Global Studies–Strategy XXI, a think tank based in Kyiv, was invited to a consortium of European organizations involved in “Enabling the Energy Union through understanding the drivers of individual and collective energy choices in Europe” (Enable.eu). This article highlights the main findings of case studies in Ukraine.

Three years after the Paris Agreement: more disturbing science data, some rhetoric and too little action

Author(s): Juraj Mesík / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2018

The Global Warming of 1.5°C report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018 concludes that limiting the average global temperature increase to below +1.5°C may still be doable, but would require “rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land, urban and infrastructure, and industrial systems. These systems transitions are unprecedented in terms of scale, …, and imply deep emissions reductions in all sectors.” More specifically: “In model pathways with no or limited overshoot of 1.5°C, global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions decline by about 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030 (40–60 per cent interquartile range), reaching net zero around 2050...” Despite some of the warmest years on record and devastating climate-related disasters, governments around the world do not appear to be embracing the challenge. The case of Trump’s America illustrates the psychological, educational, ideological and vested interests underpinning this failure. Europe, despite its generally encoura ging rhetoric, is not on track to achieve the below +2°C future and continues to fail in many directions. Of particular significance is Europe’s failure to bring together its climate and security strategies in one comprehensive package aimed at speedy and deep cuts in financial flows from Europe to Putin’s Russia.

NOVEL MICROBIAL FUEL CELL WITH EXCHANGABLE MEMBRANE – APPLICATION OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVICE FABRICATION

Author(s): Dawid Zawadzki,Karina Michalska / Language(s): English Issue: 28/2018

Research about exploitation the potential of waste and sludge increased drastically in the recent years. One of the most promising alternative methods of waste management is Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), which generate clean bio-electricity using microorganisms. Organic compounds, sewage, municipal solid waste could be used as a source for microbial nutrition. The construction of MFC is one of the most important parameter in laboratory studies and during scale-up. The efficiency of MFC depends on many factors including type of membrane. To obtain optimization in terms of various operating conditions, a prototype of Microbial Fuel Cell with exchangeable membrane was projected and fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM) technology. This novel device allows to research effects of different types of separator membranes. Preliminary research showed possibility to produce 3D printed MFC systems.

ENERGY ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPAL WASTE IN DUBROVNIK

Author(s): Paweł Król,Goran Krajačić / Language(s): English Issue: 28/2018

In each touristic city waste management system has to overcome the impact of visitors. Dubrovnik, famous as popular touristic destination, particularly notices tourists visiting city. Therefore potential impact of waste management in touristic cities, such as Dubrovnik, is presented. The paper includes estimation of yearly waste production by inhabitants and tourists visiting those city. Waste digestion is a method for biogas production.On the basis of the preceding estimation combined-cycle installation generating heat and electricity is proposed. The model combines Brayton cycle with low temperature Kalina model based on Rankine cycle.Literature analysis presents state of the art in this field. The simulation is prepared in Cycle-Tempo. Numerical analyses lead to technical issues, which have to be taken into consideration during waste utilization with such installation. Thus benefits and threats are discussed. The presented analysis assesses the maximal electric gain, which subsequently should consider waste preparation and purification.

OVERVIEW OF THE EXISTING HEAT STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES: SENSIBLE HEAT

Author(s): Sergii Bespalko / Language(s): English Issue: 28/2018

Over the past several decades, much attention has been given to the development of technologies utilizing solar energy to generate inexpensive and clean heat for heating purposes of buildings and even for electricity generation in the concentrating solar thermal power (CSTP) plants. However, unlike conventional heat generating technologies consuming coal, natural gas, and oil, heat produced by solar energy is intermittent because it is significantly affected by daily (day-night) and seasonal fluctuations in solar insolation. This fact issues a considerable challenge to the adoption of solar energy as one of the main renewable heat sources in the future. Therefore, along with the development of the different solar technologies, the heat storage technologies have also been the focus of attention. Use of the storage devices, able to accumulate heat, enables not only enhance the performance of the heating systems based on solar energy but also make them more reliable.This paper gives an overview of the various sensible heat storage technologies used in tandem with the fluctuating solar heat sources.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND OF PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Author(s): Aneta Vasiljevic-Shikaleska,Goran Trpovski,Biljana Gjozinska / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2018

The aim of the paper was to investigate consumers environmental awareness and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour as one of the fundamental issues for saving the environment and mitigate the climate changes. For that purpose a survey was conducted by distributing questionnaires randomly among the macedonian consumers. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate collected data. The results indicate that the public awareness about the environmental protection, particularly the effects arising from the human activities which at most affect the climate changes, is on a very satisfactory level (WAI=0.84). In that direction, the respondents hold a positive attitude towards saving the energy in their households by utilizing energy efficient home appliances and saving the energy wherever possible. On the other hand, as indicated by the values of WAI for both, selection of the waste (WAI=0.45) and recycling/reusing of the wasted materials (WAI=0.46), respondents awaraness is on a noticeably lower level. The findings also show that the performances of the public concerning the waste minimization and energy efficiency are affected by the demographic characteristics (age, level of education and the income level) of the respondents. It was observed that generally the pro-environmental behavior is most highly expressed among the respondents from 34 to 49 years old and those ones having income between 15.000 and 30.000 mkd denars, whereas the influence of the educational backround (high school or university diploma) is negligible. As a whole, although the environmental awareness of the public is on a satisfactory level, the proenvironmental behavior in practice is still moderate and more intensive activities have to be undertaken to induce the public to act in a more pro-environmental way.

Regulacje a kryzys energetyki wiatrowej w Polsce

Author(s): Andrzej Graczyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 499/2017

Celem artykułu jest analiza i ocena wpływu regulacji na wstrzymanie rozwoju energetyki wiatrowej w Polsce. Analiza dynamiki wielkości charakteryzujących moc zainstalowaną i wielkość produkcji instalacji wiatrowych wskazuje na wstrzymanie ich rozwoju już od roku 2015. System wsparcia bazujący na świadectwach pochodzenia energii (system kwotowy) okazał się nieskuteczny w dostosowaniu liczby świadectw pochodzenia do wyznaczanego popytu na te świadectwa. Nadwyżka podaży świadectw spowodowała silny spadek ich ceny na rynku. Regulacje dotyczące ograniczania wzrostu opłaty zastępczej, która wyznacza maksymalną cenę świadectw, będą blokowały rozwój tego systemu wsparcia w przyszłości. Wprowadzony od 2015 r. system aukcyjny (taryf gwarantowanych) wyeliminował niemal całkowicie rozwój nowych instalacji oraz przechodzenie do niego producentów pozostających w systemie kwotowym. Regulacje dotyczące lokalizacji instalacji wiatrowych na lądzie zablokują powstawanie nowych farm wiatrowych.

Kształtowanie gospodarczego wykorzystania dolin rzek jako szansa rozwoju biogospodarki

Author(s): Krzysztof Kud / Language(s): Polish Issue: 499/2017

W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono wdrażane na świecie, współczesne koncepcje ograniczania strat wywoływanych przez zmiany klimatu. Badania dotyczyły oczekiwań rolników gospodarujących na terenach zalewowych Wisłoka względem działań podejmowanych przez gminy w celu łagodzenia skutków powodzi i suszy. Przedstawiono także wyniki dotyczące oceny działań gmin w sytuacjach kryzysowych. Istotnym elementem badań była skłonność rolników do wprowadzania zmian w dotychczasowym wykorzystaniu zagrożonych terenów. Zagospodarowanie dolin rzek, narażonych na występowanie zjawisk ekstremalnych, w sposób zgodny z naturalnymi funkcjami tych terenów, daje szansę uzyskiwania korzyści wpisujących się w założenia biogospodarki. Sformułowane wnioski można potraktować jako rekomendacje do tworzenia polityki ograniczania strat wywoływanych przez powodzie i susze.

Zielona gospodarka szansą przezwyciężenia kryzysu ekologicznego w Polsce

Author(s): Marian Woźniak,Jadwiga Nycz-Wróbel / Language(s): Polish Issue: 499/2017

Postępująca degradacja środowiska oraz wyczerpywanie się zasobów naturalnych doprowadziły do powstania światowego kryzysu ekologicznego, w którym człowiek naruszył równowagę ekosystemów. Stwarza to konieczność zwrócenia większej uwagi na potrzebę ochrony biosfery Ziemi, połączoną ze zmianą systemów gospodarowania na zieloną gospodarkę rozumianą jako działalność prowadzącą do wzrostu dobrobytu społeczeństwa i poprawę jakości życia, głównie przez zmniejszenie zagrożenia dla środowiska naturalnego i ograniczenie tempa wyczerpywania się zasobów naturalnych. Cele pracy to ukazanie, w jaki sposób Polska przyczynia się do pogłębienia globalnego kryzysu ekologicznego, a także próba odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy zielona gospodarka może być sposobem przeciwdziałania temu kryzysowi. W pracy wykorzystano wyniki badań wtórnych, ukazujących wpływ Polski oraz krajów Unii Europejskiej i świata na globalny kryzys ekologiczny powstały w wyniku zanieczyszczenia powietrza. W badaniach wykorzystano głównie dane Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego oraz Europejskiej Agencji Ochrony Środowiska dotyczące zanieczyszczenia powietrza powstałego w wyniku przedsiębiorczych oraz bytowych działań człowieka.

Harmful Damage of Enhanced Danger: Economic and Legal Aspects

Author(s): Yurii Ivanov,Oksana Kurilina,Tetiana Protsiuk,Elvira Podoliak,Oleksandra Khytra / Language(s): English Issue: 08/2018

The article is devoted to the study of the legal nature of liability for damage caused by the source of enhanced danger. The conditions and grounds for liability for damage caused by a source of enhanced danger are considered. Determine the obligation to insure civil liability in obligations to compensate for damage caused by a source of enhanced danger. The scientific novelty is to analyze the national legislation on the legal regime of the source of high danger and to identify the elements of the danger of such sources.

TiO2 Thin Films by Solution Technique for Solar Cells

Author(s): Charles Mogunde,Cliff Orori Mosiori / Language(s): English Issue: 08/2018

Titanium dioxide has a number of applications in solar cells. In this study, TiO2 thin films were synthesized using a simple but less expensive, low temperature and large area deposition method referred to as chemical bath deposition. Their electrical and optical properties were examined at various temperatures where it was observed that the films exhibited low reflectance which increased with increase in wavelength with refractive indices of 2.2–2.5 in the visible spectra. Sheet resistivity ranged between 13.54±0.095 Ω/m to 17.27±0.209 Ω/m. They were use to fabricate photovoltaic cell which exhibited the following parameters: a short circuit current, Isc=0.002445 A, open voltage, Voc = 0.04731 V, a fill factor, FF=0.551 and an efficiency, η=0.531 %. They were recommended for diode applications.

Effect of TiO2 Compact Layer on DSSC Performance

Author(s): Nicholas Musila,Mathew Munji,Justus Simiyu,Eric Masika,Raphael Nyenge / Language(s): English Issue: 09/2018

Dye-sensitized solar cells offer an economically reliable and suitable alternative in moderating the challenges presented by the existing convectional photovoltaic cells. Whereas, for convectional solar cells the semiconductor adopts both the duty of light absorption and charge carrier transport, these two functions are separated in dye-sensitized solar cells. However, the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells has remained relatively low. For this reason, this research was aimed at how to increase the dye-sensitized solar cells performance. To achieve this, compact cover of TiO2 was deposited on a conductive glass substrate by using Holmarc’s Spray Pyrolysis system, using Ultrasonic Spray Head and spraying in vertical geometry, while TiO2 nanoparticles and nanotubes were deposited by screen printing technique on top of a transparent conducting FTO glass slide with or without the TiO2 compact layer. Transmission characteristics showed that introducing TiO2 compact layer on the conductive film lowers the transmission while reflectance properties were less than 15 % for all the prepared thin films. SEM micrographs showed that TiO2 nanotubes had a skein-like morphology with abundant number of nanotubes intertwined together to form a large surface area film. Solar cell performance properties revealed that introducing compact layer to dye-sensitized solar cells improved the performance by 145 % (from 1.31 % to 3.21 %) while TiCl4 treatment on compact layered dye-sensitized solar cells increased the efficiency by 28.79 % (from 0.66 % to 0.85 %).

Design Construction and Performance Evaluation of Solar Still for Rural Dwellers

Author(s): Safyanu Bashir Danjuma,Aliyu Mohammed Lawal,Ibrahim Shuaibu Muhammad,Ojonimi Yusuf Usman / Language(s): English Issue: 10/2018

This paper is aimed at designing, constructing and performance evaluation of a solar still. The solar still is design and constructed with locally source materials for rural dwellers. The still absorber plate is constructed with 2 mm galvanised plate painted black with an area of 2 m2 to absorb solar radiation effectively. The side wall and the base is constructed with concrete. Sawdust and felt is used between the retaining wall and base to resist heat transfer from the system to the surrounding vice-versa. The top cover of the still is constructed with transparent glass pane of 4 mm housed in an aluminium frame. The catch basin that collects the condensate is constructed with PVC pipe channel of 50 mm. The performance of the still was evaluated with; Overall yield (sum of daily yield and over-night yield) at a different water depth of (20, 40, 60 mm), (5127 ml/m2/hr, 4558 ml/m2/hr, and 3852 ml/m2/hr). The efficiency of the system at different water depth (20, 40, 60 mm) 51.27 %, 45.58 %, and 38.52 %. The water analysis before and after distillation was certified safe and portable for human consumption.

Transmittance and Extinction Coefficient of Sea and Well-Water in Mombasa County, Kenya

Author(s): Charles Mogunde,Cliff Orori Mosiori / Language(s): English Issue: 10/2018

Using a laser transmitter in the range of 200 nm to 1200 nm, transmittance and total extinction coefficients were determined for two different but close related optical media which are ocean water and shallow well water in Mombasa County, in Kenya. The results were interpreted using Lambert–Beer’s law as applied for very small ranges of concentrations. It was established that the total extinction coefficients for two forms of water showed linearity with values of total extinction coefficients found to be µt = 7.734 (g/ml)-1 mm-1 and µt = 127.6 mm-1 at a wavelength of 638 nm for ocean water and shallow well water respectively.

EKONOMICZNA EFEKTYWNOŚĆ TERMOIZOLACJI ŚCIAN ZEWNĘTRZNYCH MUROWANEGO DOMU MIESZKALNEGO

Author(s): Agnieszka Sobolewska,Mariusz Sobolewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 509/2018

The objective of this study is to determine the economic efficiency of increasing the thermal insulation in the external walls of a brick detached house. The paper presents the cost of performing the ETICS system in two most commonly used technologies: with polystyrene and mineral wool boards. The variable costs of heating the model house have been determined in a few variants associated with various heating systems. The obtained results showed that the economic efficiency of improving the thermal insulation of external walls is achieved. The highest indexes were obtained in the case of a model house heated by electricity. The improvement of external walls thermal insulation using polystyrene EPS shows more economic efficiency than using mineral wool (MW). The effectiveness of the investment considered decreases when the thermal insulation of the external walls inecreases.

Evaluation of the Public Pipe-borne Water supply in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Author(s): Rafiu Babatunde IBRAHIM,Emmanuel Adigun TOYOBO,Samuel Babatunde Adedotun,Sulaiman Yunus / Language(s): English Issue: 3 (47)/2018

This paper assesses the residents’ access to public pipe-borne water in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. The authors analyzed spatial distribution and functionality of public pipe-borne water. They also examined intra-urban variation in the distribution of public pipe-borne water in the study area. The study used primary data which were obtained through random sampling techniques of 400 households, using structured questionnaire in the twelve political administrative wards of the examined area. Physical enumeration was also adopted to identify the functional and non-functional public pipe-borne water points. Descriptive statistics in the form of frequency table and percentages with chi-square were used to describe residents’ demand and accessibility of public pipe-borne water. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to examine intra-urban variations in the functionality of public pipe-borne water. The results revealed that distribution of public pipe-borne water cut across different localities in the twelve political administrative wards that Ilorin West Local Government consisted of. Although the highest proportion (60.24%) of public pipe-borne water points were observed to be functioning, a significant proportion (39.26%) were not functioning. The highest proportion (95.5%) of the respondents were of the opinion that public pipe-borne water is not regularly available. The findings from Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences (F=2.702, P=0.004) in the functioning of public pipe-borne water infrastructural elements existing in the examined area. The study concludes by suggesting the need for the government to ensure regular public water supply to meet the residents’ daily needs for water consumption and domestic use, which continue to increase every day.