Jie Zhu

An analysis of climate change policy‐making and implementation in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss policy making process in the field of climate change in China. It aims to describe the main climate change‐related policies and to discuss the role of China in international climate change negotiations.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative method has been used for this paper. A preliminary desk study based on the analysis of the primary and secondary sources published in both English and Chinese (Mandarin) has been conducted. Literature on policy analysis and evaluation and the role of political actors in it, as well as examples of energy efficiency studies in other countries has been studied to develop an analytical framework for the empirical data interpretation. The main sources for information about Chinas situation are books, articles, as well as internet resources and newspapers covering Chinas politics, the climate change regime, and Chinese climate policy.Findings – The paper provides insights into Chinas climate change polic...

Novel liquid regeneration system with solar evacuated tubes and evaporative bed

AbstractA novel liquid regeneration system integrated with solar evacuated tubes and an evaporative bed was made and tested. Two vacuum tubes were used to heat potassium formate (HCOOK) solution. The hot solution was supplied to an inclined evaporative bed where water was evaporated from the solution by the flow of warm/hot air flow over the bed. The warm/hot air could be provided by a solar air collector. For high efficiency regeneration, a high solution temperature and low vapour pressure in the warm/hot air are required, but as these conditions are contradictory, tests were carried out to establish the optimum compromise in terms of air flowrate and solution temperature. Experimental work indicated that a solution temperature of 45 to 50°C was optimum option for solution regeneration, using a blowing air temperature of approximately 42°C, which could be provided by a solar air collector. In these experiments, 277 to 761 mL of water were evaporated from a 10·5 L HCOOK solution with a concentration betwe...

Modelling and testing of a novel evaporative cooler

This paper describes the development of a novel indirect evaporative cooler for chilled ceiling applications. The cooler is based on the integration of porous ceramic containers and heat pipes. Computer modelling and experimental work have been carried out under various operating conditions. Prototype systems have been developed and these have been tested in an environmental chamber under simulated weather conditions. The results demonstrate the potential of this novel cooler to be applied to the building air conditioning systems.

Solar Façade for a Combined Heating and Cooling System in London

A combined heating and cooling system was developed and the system performance was simulated by a mathematical model. This is a building integrated system whereby the facade is used as a solar collector. The system consists of two cavities, i.e. the air is heated throughout the Cavity 1 whereas the air in Cavity 2 is cooled via indirect evaporative cooling. The simulation study used weather conditions of London for a south-facing façade with plate area of 40m2; and followed by a simple economic analysis for the system. Space heating is needed for most of the months, however cooling is more favorable for the months of June, July and August. It is estimated that present system is able to give an annual energy saving of 10,877kWh, which is equivalent to 5,874kgCO2/year of emission avoidance. Moreover, it is cheaper compared to the conventional solar flat plate air heaters. For a discount rate of 5% and 30 years of lifetime, the economic analysis found that the total system cost is approximately £4,952, which gives a payback period for less than a year.