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Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Energy Use at the University of Almeria (Spain)

Author

Listed:
  • Mehdi Chihib

    (Department of Engineering, CEIA3, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain)

  • Esther Salmerón-Manzano

    (Faculty of Law, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR), Av. de la Paz, 137, 26006 Logroño, Spain)

  • Mimoun Chourak

    (Mechanics and Applied Mathematics Department, Industrial and Seismic Engineering Research Team, National School of Applied Sciences of Oujda, Mohammed First University, 60000 Oujda, Morocco)

  • Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno

    (Departamento de Física Aplicada, Radiología y Medicina Física, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro

    (Departamento de Física Aplicada, Radiología y Medicina Física, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused chaos in many sectors and industries. In the energy sector, the demand has fallen drastically during the first quarter of 2020. The University of Almeria campus also declined the energy consumption in 2020, and through this study, we aimed to measure the impact of closing the campus on the energy use of its different facilities. We built our analysis based upon the dataset collected during the year 2020 and previous years; the patterns evolution through time allowed us to better understand the energy performance of each facility during this exceptional year. We rearranged the university buildings into categories, and all the categories reduced their electricity consumption share in comparison with the previous year of 2019. Furthermore, the portfolio of categories presented a wide range of ratios that varied from 56% to 98%, the library category was found to be the most influenced, and the research category was found to be the least influenced. This opened questions like why some facilities were influenced more than others? What can we do to reduce the energy use even more when the facilities are closed? The university buildings presented diverse structures that revealed differences in energy performance, which explained why the impact of such an event (COVID-19 pandemic) is not necessarily relevant to have equivalent variations. Nevertheless, some management deficiencies were detected, and some energy savings measures were proposed to achieve a minimum waste of energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehdi Chihib & Esther Salmerón-Manzano & Mimoun Chourak & Alberto-Jesus Perea-Moreno & Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro, 2021. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Energy Use at the University of Almeria (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:5843-:d:560223
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    Cited by:

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    2. Małgorzata Sztorc, 2022. "The Implementation of the European Green Deal Strategy as a Challenge for Energy Management in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Tomasz Wołowiec & Iuliia Myroshnychenko & Ihor Vakulenko & Sylwester Bogacki & Anna Maria Wiśniewska & Svitlana Kolosok & Vitaliy Yunger, 2022. "International Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Economics and Environmental Pollution: A Scoping Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    4. Sharifah Nurain Syed Nasir & Norasikin Ahmad Ludin & Ahmad Afif Safwan Mohd Radzi & Mirratul Mukminah Junedi & Norhashimah Ramli & Anezah Marsan & Zul Fauzi Azlan Mohd & Muhamad Roszaini Roslan & Zulf, 2023. "Lockdown impact on energy consumption in university building," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 12051-12070, October.
    5. Luis Bernardo López-Sosa & José Juan Alvarado-Flores & Teresita del Niño Jesús Marín-Aguilar & Juan Carlos Corral-Huacuz & Arturo Aguilera-Mandujano & Gerardo Manuel Rodríguez-Torres & Mario Morales-M, 2021. "COVID-19 Pandemic Effect on Energy Consumption in State Universities: Michoacan, Mexico Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
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