Sustainable Energy and Fuels: Materials, Processing Methods, and Development

Sustainability refers to the concept that all people should be able to meet their basic needs indefinitely, without compromising future generations. Sustainability, in terms of energy, embraces the same principles. One day the world will run out of fossil fuels. We need to realize how important sustainable energy is and its significance when it comes to the future of our planet. Sustainable energy includes any energy source that cannot be depleted and can remain viable forever. It does not need to be renewed or replenished; sustainable energy meets our demand for energy without any risk of failing or running out. This is why sustainable energy is the answer to our energy needs. Furthermore, sustainable energy doesn’t harm the environment (or at most, there is a minimal risk), increase climate change, or cost a heavy price. Although there is a cost associated with creating and building ways to capture sustainable energy, the energy sources themselves are typically free. The main objective of this book is to provide an up-to-date review of conduction mechanisms, structure construction, operation, performance evaluation, and applications of various renewable energies and fuels. The current trend in innovation is likely to explore the potential to connect novel materials, design methods, and new techniques, which would allow us to maintain existing resources and develop new methods by employing smart technologies. This book provides a complete insight into recent advancements in nanomaterials, renewable energy design, and applications. The purpose of this book is to provide relevant theoretical frameworks that include materials, modeling, circuit design, and the latest developments in experimental work in the field of renewable energy and fuels.

This book:

• Presents solar energy conversion including photovoltaics and artificial photosynthesis
• Discusses important topics such as energy management standards, biofuels, biorefining, and capacitive desalination
• Illustrates the importance of novel materials and process improvements for sustainable energy and fuels
• Includes research problem statements with specifications and commercially available industry data
• Covers catalysis for energy technologies, including the sustainable synthesis of fuels and chemicals, molecular, and bioinspired catalysis

The text is primarily written for senior undergraduates and graduate students, and academic researchers in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, environmental engineering, and renewable energy.

Piush Verma is working as Registrar at Guru Kashi University (GKU), Bathinda. Before joining GKU, Bathinda, he worked as a professor in electrical engineering at National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research Chandigarh (NITTTR) India, from 2019 to 2023. Before joining NITTTR, Dr Verma was Vice Chancellor of Bahra University Shimla Hills. Dr. Verma was Campus Director at Rayat-Bahra Group of Institutions, Patiala Campus, for more than ten years. He has served Thapar Group for more than 17 years, which includes Thapar University, Thapar Research & Development Centre, and Patiala and M/s Crompton Greaves Hydro Division Ltd. Dr. Verma completed his PhD and Master of Engineering with honors from Thapar University, Patiala. He has nearly 36 years of teaching, research, industry, and administrative experience. During these periods, he published many research papers and filed one patent. He has supervised a number of ME theses and PhDs, in the area of electrical, electronics, and communication engineering. He is a member of IEEE, USA, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, India, and a Senior Member of the International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology (IACSIT), Singapore. He was honored with the Best Administration Award from the MHRD Ministry (AIMTC) and the Institution of Engineers (India). He has visited more than 20 countries, including the USA, UK, France, Indonesia, Dubai, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Canada for collaborative research projects and invited lectures. He is a member of the Board of Studies for Electrical Engineering, Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar. He is a member of the Board of Studies GNE (Deemed University) Ludhiana, and a member of the Board of Research Studies at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur. He is the recipient of the Best Paper Award from the Institution of Engineers. Dr. Verma is a reviewer for IEEE Transactions, USA, and Electrical Power Components and Systems, of Taylor & Francis, UK.

Ahmed Boubakeur was born on April 1, 1952, in Biskra, Algeria. In June 1975, he obtained an engineering degree in electrical engineering from the École Nationale Polytechnique (ENP) in Algiers. He obtained a certificate of specialization in high-voltage engineering, and in May 1979, he defended his doctoral thesis in technical sciences (PhD) at the Institute of High Voltages of the Polytechnic School of Warsaw, Poland (currently Technical University of Warsaw (TUW)). He has a certificate in intellectual property from the WIPO Worldwide Academy (2002) and a certificate in eco-management from ENP/EPF Lausanne (2003). He is currently a full professor at ENP, where he has taught and directed research works in the field of high-voltage engineering since 1979. In the same field, he has provided graduation and post-graduation (master's level) courses in some Algerian universities (Béjaïa, Batna, Jijel) and has been a visiting professor at the Polytechnic School of the University of Nantes (France) and at the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT). He has given conferences at the Wroclaw University of Sciences and Technology (Poland) and at Cardiff University (UK). He has supervised 24 master's theses since 1984 (ENP, U-Tizi-Ouzou, U-Béjaïa, U-Batna) and 14 doctorate theses (PhD) since 2000 (ENP and U-Béjaïa). He is currently supervising several theses, some of which are in the new system (LMD).

Since 1991, he has taught intellectual property and standardization at ENP. He taught the graduated intellectual property course at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Batna, as well as at the ENSET d’Oran (ENP-Oran) as part of his post-graduate training in innovation. He has also taught legal metrology at ENP since 2011. He organized and participated in the supervision of an ENP/EPF Lausanne eco-management training course in 2002 and 2003, contributing to the introduction of environmental management tools in the training of ENP engineers.

From 1980 to August 2021, he published 56 publications in internationally renowned journals, 120 papers at international congresses (IEEE conferences, ISH, CLDP, etc.) and 72 papers at national conferences (CNHT, etc.), all of which have been published in edited proceedings. He is a member of scientific committees and organizing committees of several national and international conferences (CNHT, CNCEM, ICEE, COMADEM, CISTEM, etc.). His research axes concern various topics of insulation technology (partial discharges, breakdown, aging of insulating materials, diagnosis, etc.) and insulation coordination (pollution of insulators, earthing, lightning and lightning protection, etc.).

He is a member of the Association of Graduates from ENP (AD-ENP) and a member of the Association of High Voltage Electric Networks ARELEC (Algeria). He is a CIGRE member (through the ARELEC as Algerian NC), Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of the DEI-Society, and for a few years, he was a member of the Education Society and of the NPS Society. He is a member of the IEEE Algeria Section and of the DEI IEEE Algeria Section Chapter. He is a reviewer for various journals including those of IET (MST and GTD) and IEEE (transaction on DEI). He has been a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Electrical and Power Engineering (created in 2007), and from July 2014 to August 2019, he was a member of the Editorial Board and Associate Editor of the journal IET Science Measurement and Technology. Since January 2021, he has been Associate Editor and member of the editorial board of the ENP Engineering Science journal. He has served at ENP as Head of Department of Fundamental Sciences (1983–1985), Head of Department of Electrical Engineering (1985–1986), Director of (Undergraduate) Studies (1986–1989 and 1995–2003), and finally, Deputy Director in charge of continuing education and external relations (2005–2019). Since 1995, he has contributed to the rapprochement between ENP and industry and has set up some models of university-industry relationships in Algeria which have been the subject of international communications (UNESCO congresses, QRM/I.MEch.E in Oxford, etc.) and which continue to serve to simplify the realization of scientific and educational works in collaboration with industrial enterprises.He participated in the organization of the ENP Young Innovator competition and helped to set up an innovation center at ENP (opened in June 2007). He has collaborated in European Tempus projects on the quality of training, innovation, and the employability of engineers. The latter led to the establishment of the “House of Industry” at ENP. He participated in various commissions of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research: President of the National Pedagogical Committee of Electrical Engineering from 1986 to 1988, President of the Commission on Training-Employment Relations from 1995 to 1997, member of the Commissions on Training Programs, and member of the National Equivalences Commission and other think tanks on higher education systems. He has also participated in working groups at the ministries responsible for SMEs, industry, trade, and ICT. He was a member of the Scientific Committees of USTHB (three years) and EMP Engineers School (six years).

Leila Mekhnache is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Batna 2, Algeria, and Head of the National Higher School for Renewable Energies, Environment & Sustainable Development (RE2=SD), opened in June 2020. She received her master's and doctorate from the École Nationale Polytechnique of Algiers in 2004, which was based on the application of neural networks in the diagnosis and aging prediction of high-voltage insulations, and it was the first application of AI in the field of high voltage. Her research work is in the fields of diagnosis, prediction, and maintenance of high-voltage systems using artificial intelligence. She also worked on numerical methods (FEM) in high-voltage insulation and electromagnetics. She has participated in many international conferences, and she has published more than 100 papers and publications. She is a member of many technical and scientific boards for international journals and conferences. She is now leading a project for a renewable power plant for 2 MWc in Batna 2 with many applications (smart grid, smart home, and applications in agriculture, traffic, and water desalination).

Balwinder Raj is currently working as an associate professor in the ECE Department, at NIT, Jalandhar, India. He has more than 15 years of teaching/research experience. He completed a B.Tech in electronics engineering (PTU Jalandhar), M.Tech in microelectronics (PU Chandigarh), and a PhD in VLSI design (IIT Roorkee), India, in 2004, 2006, and 2010, respectively. For other research work, the European Commission awarded him a Mobility of Life research fellowship for postdoc research work at the University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Italy, in 2010–2011. He also worked as a visiting researcher at KTH University, Sweden, from October to November 2013, and at Alto University, Finland, in July 2017. He has visited countries such as Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Thailand for research collaborative projects, invited lectures, and conferences. Dr.Raj has authored/co-authored five books, 12 book chapters, and more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed international/national journals and conferences. He has guided eight PhDs, and currently four PhD scholars are working with him. He guided more than 40 M.Tech students. Dr. Raj completed five research projects from DST Delhi, SERB Delhi, and CIMO Finland. Currently, he is handling two research projects from AICTE and ISRO. His areas of interest in research are classical/non-classical nanoscale semiconductor device modeling, memory design for AI applications, low-power VLSI design, digital/analog VLSI design, and FPGA implementation.