Energy resources and infrastructure

Hydrogen energy is generally considered to be one of the cleanest energy sources and shows great potential to become a major player in the energy market as it has high energy conversion efficiency and causes fewer emissions of CO2. It is a highly flammable material that can be used to heat homes, water, and even power engines. Now (2020), transmission system operators in Germany have created a concept for the establishment of a grid...

The creative association Advanced Energy Technologies has presented a map of the global energy hydrogen infrastructure. The compilers have attempted to demonstrate on a small map of the world the main statistical indicators of the production and use of hydrogen for energy purposes, to display the largest or most notable infrastructure facilities, and to present a list of regional and national development programs. The main purpose of...

Despite the obvious oversupply of oil on world markets, it is too early to talk about excluding this resource from the things that define the modern energy. The share of oil in global primary consumption exceeds 30%, and a significant change in this ratio in the next two decades is unlikely to be expected. Moreover, a decrease in investments in geological exploration on the one hand and an increase in the share of hard-to-recover oil...

Lithium is considered to be a strategically important metal due to a number of its unique properties. In terms of power engineering, the most important quality is that lithium successfully combines value of standard electrode potential and density, which makes it indispensable for the production of storage batteries. U.S. The Geological Survey publishes Lithium Statistics and Information1 on a yearly basis. The last issue was published...

Cobalt has been used as cathode material for a very long time as it offers high conductivity and stable structural stability throughout charge cycling. There are, however, two major drawbacks attached to the use of cobalt: the high cost and political instability in the regions where cobalt is mined. Therefore, scientists are putting a lot of effort into finding ways to minimise or eliminate the use of cobalt in batteries. Now (2020),...

Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations provides a complete picture of the world's forests and an understanding of how this resource was changing in the period from 1990 to 2020 in 236 countries and territories. According to the report, forested area on the planet is 4.06 billion hectares (ha), which is 31% of the total land area. The largest proportion of...

Gas hydrate occurs naturally in seafloor sediments when water and methane mix at moderate pressures and relatively low temperatures. It resembles ice and concentrates enormous amounts of methane in the global oceans and in permafrost areas. On the U.S. Atlantic Margin, BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) discovered potential deep water gas hydrate deposits that guided the planning for the Mid-Atlantic Resource Imaging Experiment...

In September this year, the World Bank published “Waste Global Database” on their website. In their earlier paper “What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050”, the authors reported that 3.40 billion tonnes of waste would be generated worldwide by 2050, against today’s 2.01 billion tonnes. This colossal renewable resource requires close attention since it is both a source of significant greenhouse gas...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been collecting, analysing and reporting data on global forest area since 1946. The report 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment provides extensive data on changes in forest area and conditions from 1990 to 2015 for 234 countries and territories. These indicators are particularly important when considering climate change issues and the environmental situation of...

Tuscany is an historic area in the West of Italy, between the Ligurian and the Tyrrhenian Seas and the Apuan Alps (Alpi Apuane). The cultural heritage of Tuscany is daunting. It is the birthplace of Dante and Petrarch, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Puccini and Mascagni. This region has accumulated many fine architectural sites and pieces of artwork. Who doesn’t know the silhouettes of the Cathedral of Florence or Pisa, the Uffizi...