The analysis of energy consumption in reverse osmosis desalination plants is the most important and relevant factor to study, because this parameter indicates the level of efficiency and competitiveness of the plant. The direct consequence of the high specific energy consumption (SEC) of a desalination plant in the production of water is one of the main obstacles to the exponential expansion of this technology worldwide. The methodological procedure used to carry out the work is based on the analysis of energy consumption, maintenance costs, staff, membranes, and reagents of three desalination plants with a production of more than 23,000 m³/day located in the Canary Islands (Spain); all data are obtained from real analyses collected “in situ” from 2015 to 2018. One of the main objectives of the current research on desalination plants is to reduce the SEC of seawater desalination plants (SWRO), incorporating energy recovery systems (ERS) and high efficiency pumps (HEP), and to implement different operational configurations with the aim of minimizing the energy requirements necessary to obtain a good product quality at minimum production cost.

One of the main objectives of new operating regimes, such as transactional power systems, is to make the power grid more resilient to catastrophes and disturbances, while at the same time making it possible to supply electricity to the largest number of customers. Although this is true, it is well known among power system operators that not all customers are the same. The consequence of this is that any discussion around the impact of transactional power systems on power system resilience should consider the needs of its critical users (such as control centers, fire stations, and hospitals) over other users. In assessing power system resilience, a metric is needed that gives “bonus points” to those systems that, under all circumstances, can continue to provide electricity to their critical users. In order to serve as a parameter in the assessment of power grid resilience, the research presented here discusses the proportion of critical loads existing in critical infrastructures. Once the critical loads are characterized, the next step is the inclusion of these loads in resilience metrics. This paper proposes resiliency metrics in which certain customers (those categorized as critical) are assigned a higher weight than others. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for all power systems, and that the assignment of such weights to customers can vary significantly from one operator to another based on their unique systems and the current and expected states of their critical customers.

This research aims to optimize and compare the annual costs of energy services in buildings with critical loads and analyze case studies for hospitals and higher education institutions in the United States. Besides electricity and natural gas costs, the study considers all the infrastructure costs of capital amortization and maintenance. In addition, it studies energy resilience improvement due to distributed generation, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, internal combustion engine, and fuel cell sources. The optimization considers the electrical consumption, the heating and cooling demands, and the operational strategy of the energy storage systems. To simulate real scenarios, energy tariffs were modeled and considered, and final optimization results were produced. Some of the microgrid load was considered critical to model resilience benefits. The results show that if favorable energy tariffs are applied, the benefits of increasing energy resilience represent a novel market with high potential in facilities with significant critical loads. This methodology can be used in similar scenarios, adapting each particular load profile and critical load to provide a combined optimal solution regarding resilience and economic benefits.

This study examines the economic viability of an emerging technology for potential upscaling and commercialization in a specific location: the village of New Stuyahok, Alaska. The proposed technology is hydrothermal liquefaction, which utilizes kelp macroalgae and fishing waste as feedstock. These materials were chosen due to their easy availability in the village and their alignment with the local economy. The economic evaluation is based on the net present value (NPV) and sensitivity models. Different feedstock ratios (on a dry basis), such as 100:0, 50:50, and 30:70 of kelp and fishing waste, respectively, were evaluated to determine the optimal combination. The results indicated that the process is economically viable only when a high proportion of fishing waste is used. This can be ascribed to the constrained output yield of the kelp biomass and the relatively negligible influence exerted by alginate production on the NPV. However, the ratio 50:50 appears to be economically promising if the costs can be reduced by at least 13.5% or the benefits can be increased by 12.1%. Nevertheless, government support could play a crucial role in expediting the implementation of this technology once it becomes market-ready. This means being practical, scalable, and economically viable, enabling reduced investments or increased benefits that signify its readiness. Utilizing such a tool offers valuable insights into the framework of the proposed technology and the use of local natural resources.

Nowadays, we are heading towards global decarbonisation, with each sector involved contributing partial solutions to the problem, without realising that an overall vision is necessary. Photovoltaics emerged as a technology that requires a lot of surface area, which is why it has been integrated into buildings and other human infrastructures (BPVI). The effects of the implementation of AVS on an island have been analysed, observing the territory’s energy use, population, and social and topographical realities, collecting all the peculiarities that could be affected by a massive implementation of this technology. The method to be followed is a SWOT and TOWS analysis, widely employed in all types of scientific studies. The increase in the island’s resilience has been assessed, as has its decreasing its dependence on the outside. In this case, it has been observed that conventional PV is currently being installed on agricultural land to decarbonise electricity production, which mostly relies on oil and does not consider that the island is a territory with a high food dependence on the outside; a high unemployment rate; a high factor of soil desertification, meaning fires are frequent; a high rate of abandonment of agricultural land; and a shortage of flat land. Therefore, we affirm that the island’s carbon footprint will increase by not taking all these factors into account. In addition to punishing the local economy by destroying fertile soil, local food and jobs, the current method of energy production increases the need for subsidies to import food products from abroad. In addition, we claim that the use of AVS reduces the water needs of the crop, which is relevant on an island with great water scarcity. It is concluded that 11 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals would be improved with the use of agrovoltaic technology.