EU Critical Raw Materials Act: too ambitious or not ambitious enough?: A case study on the implications of the three Critical Raw Material Act proposals on satisfying demand for neodymium in wind turbines more sustainably through recycling in Germany

The mitigation of climate change and the transition to a more sustainable and circular use of resources are two of the largest challenges of our time. To this end, the European Commission proposed the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) and Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) in March 2023 as further pillars to its Green Deal. While the NZIA focuses on...

Life-Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Megawatt Airborne Wind Energy System

A key motivation for airborne wind energy is its potential to reduce the amount of material required for the generation of renewable energy. On the other hand, the materials used for airborne systems’ components are generally linked to higher environmental impacts. This study presents comparative life-cycle analyses for future multi-megawatt...

The Social Acceptance of Airborne Wind Energy: A Literature Review

Airborne wind energy (AWE) systems use tethered flying devices to harvest higher-altitude winds to produce electricity. For the success of the technology, it is crucial to understand how people perceive and respond to it. If concerns about the technology are not taken seriously, it could delay or prevent implementation, resulting in increased...

AWESOM: Airborne Wind Energy System on Mars

Mitigating a century of European renewable variability with transmission and informed siting

To reach its goal of net greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050, the European Union seeks to massively expand wind and solar power. Relying on weather-dependent power generation, however, poses substantial risks if climate variability is not adequately understood and accounted for in energy system design. Here we quantify European wind and solar...

Energy production benefits by wind and wave energies for the autonomous system of Crete

At autonomous electricity grids Renewable Energy (RE) contributes significantly to energy production. Offshore resources benefit from higher energy density, smaller visual impacts, and higher availability levels. Offshore locations at the West of Crete obtain wind availability ≈80%, combining this with the installation potential for large scale...

Wave Limitations for Floating AWES: A method for determining effects of wave induced motions on horizontally landing Airborne Wind Energy Systems on floating foundations

Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) is a field of engineering that utilizes tethered aircraft for the generation of electrical power. The potential for the application of AWE in deep-water offshore environments on top of floating foundations is enormous. Where conventional wind turbines would require a very stable platform to reduce motions at the...

Market Entry Strategy: The case of Bluewater in tidal current industry

The near wake of the VAWT: 2D and 3D views of the VAWT aerodynamics

The analysis, modeling and design of the lift-driven Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) has challenged the wind energy community for many decades; this limited progress in knowledge has severely impaired the development of the VAWT, giving rise to the myth that the VAWT rotor is inherently inefficient (in comparison with the more conventional...

Grid support by power electronic converters of distributed generation units

An increasing number of small Distributed Generation (DG) units are connected to the grid. The introduction of DG causes several problems, which are mainly related to the differences between DG units and conventional generators. Four problems have been considered in this thesis: damping of harmonics, voltage control, the behaviour of DG units...