Finite fossil fuel resources, as well as the instability of renewable energy production, make the sustainable management of energy production and consumption some of the key challenges of the 21st century. It also involves threats to the state of the natural environment, among others due to the negative impact of energy on the climate. In such a situation, one of the methods of improving the efficiency of energy management – both on the micro (dispersed energy) and macro (power system) scale, may be innovative technological solutions that enable energy storage. Their effective implementation will allow it to be collected during periods of overproduction and to be used in situations of scarcity. These challenges cannot be overestimated - modern science has a challenge to solve various types of problems related to storage, including the technology used or the control/ /management of energy storage. Heat storage technologies, on which research works are carried out regarding both storage based on a medium such as water, as well as storage using thermochemical transformations or phase-change materials. They give a wide range of applications and improve the efficiency of energy systems on both the macro and micro scale. Of course, the technological properties and economic parameters have an impact on the application of the chosen technology. The article presents a comparison of storage parameters or heat storage methods based on different materials with specification of their work parameters or operating costs.

O magazynowaniu energii, medycynie estetycznej prowadzącej do nieśmiertelności i czasie, który pochłania nauka, mówi dr inż. Krzysztof Fic z Politechniki Poznańskiej.

W pracy przedstawiono koncepcję, model matematyczny oraz obliczenia symulacyjne dynamiki układu magazynowania energii elektrycznej wykorzystującego ciepło zgromadzone w rozgrzanym metalu, w metalurgicznym piecu do topienia aluminium. Przyjęto, iż do odzysku energii elektrycznej zastosowany będzie układ pracujący na zasadzie organicznego cykl Rankine’a (ORC). Analizie poddano również właściwości obiegu pośredniego pomiędzy układem magazynowania a odzysku. Przedstawiono przykładowy scenariusz ładowania przy uwzględnieniu rzeczywistej charakterystyki czasowej konwersji energii elektrycznej za pomocą farmy wiatrowej. Założono przy tym hipotetyczną charakterystykę zapotrzebowania na energię elektryczną przez użytkownika. Przedstawiono wyniki obliczeń numerycznych, z których wynika, że układ taki znakomicie nadaje się do stabilizacji zmiennej charakterystyki wytwarzania w odniesieniu do zapotrzebowania odbiorców na energię elektryczną oraz ciepło. Przedstawiono wyniki przebiegów czasowych ładowania pieca energią uzyskaną z farmy wiatrowej oraz rozładowania przez hipotetycznego użytkownika. Podano również charakterystyki zmienności ciepła akumulowanego w piecu, temperatury czynnika magazynującego, sprawności. W obliczeniach uwzględniono również wpływ oporu cieplnego izolacji na charakterystyki magazynowania energii. Zauważono, iż kluczowymi parametrami wpływającymi na sprawność układu są charakterystyka użytkowania układu (głównie czas oczekiwania na rozładowanie oraz ilość zmagazynowanej energii) oraz jakość izolacji termicznej pieca.

The article discusses the problem of the supply of a by-product, which is synthetic gypsum produced as a result of flue gas desulphurization in conventional power plants. The state of production and forecast for the future are presented. Currently, synthetic gypsum is almost entirely used as a raw material in the gypsum products plant located in the immediate vicinity of the power plant. Since the mid-1990s, in Poland, an increase in the production of synthetic gypsum associated with the construction of a flue gas desulphurization installation in Polish conventional power plants has been observed. In the near future, the upward trend will continue in connection with the construction of new coal units in power plants. Significant surpluses of this raw material will appear on the market, which will not be used on an ongoing basis in the production of gypsum components. However, due to the EU’s restrictive policy towards energy based on coal and lignite, within the next few decades, the share of conventional power plants in energy production will be gradually reduced. As a consequence, the supply of synthetic gypsum will also gradually decrease. Therefore, it is advisable to properly store the surplus of this raw material so that it can be used in the future. Taking this into account, it is already necessary to prepare methods for storing the expected surpluses of synthetic gypsum. For this purpose, post-mining open pits are particularly suitable, especially in mines of rock raw materials. The article proposes a legal path enabling the post-mining open pits to be transformed into a anthropogenic gypsum deposit.

The article presents the current state of the CNG market used as an alternative fuel for car engines. Attention was paid to European Union directives requirements and the current state of the directives’ fulfillment. The economic aspect of CNG usage was analyzed and the approximate costs of driving 10,000 km on different fuels in the last four years were presented. The PtG process which uses electric energy (hydrogen production) and carbon dioxide captured from the flue gas for the production of synthetic methane were discussed. The scheme of the SNG plant with the indication of its most important components was presented, and attention was paid to the mutual complementation of PtG technologies with carbon dioxide capture technology. The benefits of synthetic methane production are presented and the use of compressed natural gas to power engines in vehicles has been described. First, the focus was on the single-fuel use of CNG in bus and truck engines, paying particular attention to the ecological aspect of the implemented solutions. It has been shown that the use of compressed natural gas will reduce almost 100% of the particulates emission from the combustion process. The advantages and disadvantages of the alternative fuel supply are given. Next, the aspect of dual-fuel use in diesel engines was analyzed on the example of a smaller engine. The degree of reduction of harmful compounds emission from the combustion process is shown. Finally, attention was paid to the possible scale effect, referring to the number of motor vehicles in Poland.

In this article, the contribution of renewable energy sources (RES) to the worldwide electricity production was analyzed. The scale of development and the importance of RES in the global economy as well as the issues and challenges related to variability of these sources were studied. In addition, the chemical conversion of excess energy to renewable methanol has been presented. The European Union regulations and targets for the years 2020 and 2030 concerning greenhouse gases reduction were taken into consideration. These EU restrictions exact the further development of renewable energy sources, in particular, the improvement of their efficiency which is closely related to economics. Moreover, as a part of this work, energy storage were described as one of the ways to increase the competitiveness of renewable energy sources with respect to conventional energy. A method for the conversion of carbon dioxide separated from high-carbon industries with hydrogen obtained by the over-production of green energy were described. The use of methanol in the chemical industry and global market have been reviewed and thus an increasing demand was observed. Additionally, the application of renewable methanol as fuels, in pure form and after a conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether and fatty acid methyl esters has been discussed. Hence, the necessity of modifying car engines in order to use pure methanol and its combination with petrol also was analyzed.

On May 17, 2018, the National Center for Research and Development announced the initiation of a new procedure within the Hydrogen Storage Program. The objective was to develop a Hydrogen Storage System for use with fuel cells and its demonstration in a Mobile Facility. This is to create an alternative to the use of fossil fuels and create a field for competition in creating solutions in the field of access to “clean” energy. The National Center for Research and Development is responsible for the development of assumptions, regulations and implementation.

The analysis presents the main assumptions of the program is correlated to the current legal situation related to the financing of Research and Development. An in-depth study concerns the ways of using innovative partnership and its placement in the system of European Union legal acts. The idea of the pre-commercial procurement procedure (Pre-Commercial Procurement), which was developed to support the implementation of prototypes of solutions – resulting from research and development – with a high potential for possible commercialization, was described in details. This procedure is characterized by ensuring the financing of a product or service at an early stage of development. Although this creates the risk of failure of the project, it stimulates technological development.

Considering concrete nonlinearity, the wave height limit between small and large amplitude sloshing is defined based on the Bernoulli equation. Based on Navier-Stokes equations, the mathematical model of large amplitude sloshing is established for a Concrete Rectangle Liquid-Storage Structure (CRLSS). The results show that the seismic response of a CRLSS increases with the increase of seismic intensity. Under different seismic fortification intensities, the change in trend of wave height, wallboard displacement, and stress are the same, but the amplitudes are not. The areas of stress concentration appear mainly at the connections between the wallboards, and the connections between the wallboard and the bottom.

Na temat miksu energetycznego różne grupy społeczne mają odmienne zdania. Zmienia się on w czasie, w tempie, którego większość konsumentów energii nie docenia. Zmienia się nawet w Polsce, z pewnością niebędącej liderem transformacji energetycznej.