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The Spreadsheet Energy System Model Generator (SESMG) is a tool for modeling and optimizing energy systems with a focus on urban systems. The SESMG is easily accessible as it comes with a browser-based graphical user interface, spreadsheets to provide data entry, and detailed documentation on how to use it. Programming skills are not required for the installation or application of the tool. The SESMG includes advanced modeling features such as the application of the multi-energy system (MES) approach, multi-objective optimization, model-based methods for reducing computational requirements, and automated conceptualization and result processing of urban energy systems with high spatial resolution. Due to its accessibility and the applied modeling methods, urban energy systems can be modeled and optimized with comparatively low effort.
The global salinity gradient power (SGP) potential is between 1650 - 2000 TWH/a and can be converted by mixing two solutions with different salinities. The harnessing of SGP for conversion into power can be accomplished by means of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) and reverse electrodialysis (RED). PRO and RED are membrane-based technologies and have different working principles. PRO uses a semipermeable membrane to seperate a concentrated salt solution from a diluted solution. The diluted solution flows through the semipermeable membrane towards the concentrated solution, which increases the pressure within the concentrated solution chamber. The pressure is balanced by a turbine and electricity is generated. RED uses the transport of ions through cation and anion exchange membranes. The chambers between the membranes are alternately filled with a concentrated and diluted solution. The salinity gradient difference is the driving force in transporting ions that results in an electric potential, which is then converted to electricity. The comparison shows that there are two different fields of application for PRO and RED. PRO is especially suitable at extracting salinity energy from large concentration differences. In contrast, RED are not effect by increasing concentration differences. So PRO are supposed to focus on applications with brines or waste water and RED on applications with river water and seawater. Moreover, just a few measured values from processes under real conditions are available, which makes it difficult to compare PRO and RED.