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Date submitted2020-05-13
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Date accepted2020-06-24
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Date published2020-10-08
Barriers to implementation of hydrogen initiatives in the context of global energy sustainable development
Modern trends in the global energy market linked to the Sustainable Development Goals often lead to the adoption of political decisions with little basis in fact. Stepping up the development of renewable energy sources is an economically questionable but necessary step in terms of its social and ecological effects. However, subsequent development of hydrogen infrastructure is, at the very least, a dangerous initiative. In connection with mentioned above, an attempt to examine hydrogen by conducting an integral assessment of its characteristics has been made in this article. As a result of the research conducted, the following conclusions concerning the potential of the widespread implementation of hydrogen in the power generation sector have been made: as a chemical element, it harms steel structures, which significantly impedes the selection of suitable materials; its physical and volume characteristics decrease the general efficiency of the energy system compared to similar hydrocarbon solutions; the hydrogen economy does not have the necessary foundation in terms of both physical infrastructure and market regulation mechanisms; the emergence of widely available hydrogen poses a danger for society due to its high combustibility. Following the results of the study, it was concluded that the existing pilot hydrogen projects are positive yet not scalable solutions for the power generation sector due to the lack of available technologies to construct large-scale and geographically distributed infrastructure and adequate international system of industry regulation. Thus, under current conditions, the risks of implementing such projects considerably exceed their potential ecological benefits.
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Date submitted2015-10-03
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Date accepted2015-12-10
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Date published2016-08-22
Directions and prospects of using low grade process fuel to produce alumina
- Authors:
- O. A. Dubovikov
- V. N. Brichkin
Power consumption across the globe is constantly increasing for a variety of reasons: growing population, industrialization and fast economic growth. The most widespread gaseous fuel – natural gas – has the low production cost. It is 2-3 times cheaper than liquid fuel production and 6-12 times cheaper than coal production. When natural gas is transported to distances from 1.5 to 2.5 thousand km by the pipeline, its cost with account of transportation is 1.5-2 times less than the cost of coal and the fuel storage facilities are not needed. Plants powered by natural gas have the higher efficiency as compared to the plants operating on other types of fuel. They are easier and cheaper to maintain and are relatively simple in automation, thus enhancing safety and improving the production process flow, do not require complicated fuel feeding or ash handling systems. Gas is combusted with a minimum amount of polluting emissions, which adds to better sanitary conditions and environment protection. But due to depletion of major energy resources many experts see the future of the global energy industry in opportunities associated with the use of solid energy carriers. From the environmental perspective solid fuel gasification is a preferred technology. The use of synthetic gas was first offered and then put to mass scale by English mechanical engineer William Murdoch. He discovered a possibility to use gas for illumination by destructive distillation of bituminous coal. After invention of the gas burner by Robert Bunsen, the illumination gas began to be used as a household fuel. The invention of an industrial gas generator by Siemens brothers made it possible to produce a cheaper generator gas which became a fuel for industrial furnaces. As the calorific value of generator gas produced through gasification is relatively low compared to natural gas, the Mining University studied possibilities to use different types of low grade process fuel at the Russian alumina refineries as an alternative to natural gas, access to which is restricted for some of the regions.
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Date submitted2009-09-22
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Date accepted2009-11-23
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Date published2010-06-25
Scientific-technical progress and innovation development in sociological science history
- Authors:
- V. N. Zavrazhin
The paper is dedicated to the consideration of interrelation of scientific-technical progress and social progress as one of the most important subjects of sociological science. Some classical and modern macrosociological theories are in the centre of attention, that develop progressive approach in understanding the place and role of scientific-technical progress and innovation development in the life of society. The emphasis is made on the actualization of macrosociological analysis of the problems stated in the paper in the current global economic crisis context.
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Date submitted2009-09-14
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Date accepted2009-11-28
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Date published2010-06-25
Formаtion of a new type individuality under the conditions of generation of integration of interdependent communities
- Authors:
- A. I. Mikheev
This paper deals with the question of model generation of a new type individuality, that contemporary society demands for an advanced, deteriorative-free, balanced and creative development, which renders possible the elaboration of a system of formation of the given linguistic identity as a result of foreign language teaching.
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Date submitted2009-08-20
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Date accepted2009-10-01
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Date published2010-02-01
Impact of the global financial crisis on German economy
- Authors:
- A. P. Rusakova
- Yu. M. Sishchuk
Issues of the global financial crisis as well as searching for and analyzing ways to stabilize economies have recently become a widely discussed topic in the mass media. The paper studies impact of the global crisis on German economy, industry and banking system as well as the basic measures taken by the German government during recent months to surmount the crisis. Material for the paper was collected from numerous publications in German periodicals such as «Der Spiegel», «Bild», «Zeit», as well аs from the following German news websites: www.main-netz.de ; www.n24.de ; www.focus.de .