JEDI: Jobs and Economic Development Impacts Model, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (Fact Sheet)

The global economic development is, to a great extent, dependent on access to large amounts of cheap energy sources. The growing social awareness of ecology and the enormous damage to the Earth’s ecosystem due to the production of energy from conventional sources have forced fundamental changes in the energy sector. Renewable energy is considered to be an opportunity for such changes. The current state of the art allows such changes to be made without restricting economic development. Therefore, activities related to the energy transition are being taken all over the world. The European Union has definitely managed to achieve the most tangible effects in this regard. This article presents the findings of the research aimed at presenting the current state of renewable energy in the European Union and analyzing the changes reported in this sector in the last decade. The research was carried out using a selected set of 11 indicators characterizing renewable energy in individual countries. These indicators were selected on the basis of literature review and own studies of the state of renewable energy and its development prospects. Based on these indicators, changes in the energy structure of individual European Union countries between 2008–2018 were determined. The study is divided into two main stages. The principal components analysis (PCA) was used for the first analysis. In turn, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was adopted to assess the level of renewable energy development in the European Union countries. Both these methods and the extended statistical analysis were applied to determine the state of renewable energy development in the European Union countries in the studied period and to divide the Member States into classes with different levels of development. The results of the study showed that the EU countries are characterized by significant differences in the development of RES during the period in question. The unquestionable leaders in this respect are Sweden, Austria, Finland, and Latvia. Based on the findings, it is possible to evaluate the effects of activities related to renewable energy development and to prepare assumptions for future activities. Additionally, both the research and its findings broaden the knowledge of the directions of renewable energy development in individual European Union countries. This is particularly important in the context of changes related to the need to reduce harmful substance emissions and the implementation of the European Green Deal idea.

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The Effects of Heat Treatment on the Chemical Alterations of Oak Wood

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.688.44 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 688 ◽

pp. 44-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Iveta Čabalová ◽

František Kačík ◽

Tereza Tribulová

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Heat Treatment ◽

High Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Liquid Chromatography ◽

Thermal Treatment ◽

High Performance ◽

Treated Wood ◽

National Renewable Energy Laboratory ◽

Oak Wood

Samples prepared from oak (Quercusrobur L.) wood were exposed to heat treatment at temperatures of 160, 180, 200 and 220 oC for 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours. In both untreated and thermally treated wood there were determined extractives and lignin by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) procedures, cellulose by Seifert's method, holocellulose according to Wise, hemicelluloses as difference between holocellulose and cellulose. Monosaccharides were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (NREL).The results show that hemicelluloses are less stable at thermal treatment than cellulose. The amounts of lignin and extractives rose by increasing both temperature and time of the treatment while the amounts of hemicelluloses decreased. Thermal treatment also resulted in significant decreases of the yields of non-glucosic saccharides. Degradation of carbohydrates can cause the deterioration of mechanical properties of wood.

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