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To better address climate change and environmental pollution, it is of great practical significance to comprehensively evaluate the impact of low-carbon energy transition policies on carbon emission reduction. This paper conducts a policy quantitative evaluation of low-carbon energy transition policies from three dimensions: policy intensity, policy objective, and policy instrument. On this basis, the ridge regression model is used to analyze the carbon emission reduction effect of policies. The results show that (1) changes in policy quantities mainly cause the evolution of total policy effectiveness. The government's emphasis on low-carbon energy transition has fluctuated. (2) The two policy objectives of optimizing the use of fossil energy and developing a low-carbon concept are less synergistic with other policy objectives and neither has a significant impact on carbon reduction. (3) The government prefers to adopt command control policy instruments, but their actual carbon emission reduction effects are inferior to that of economic incentive policy instruments. These findings can provide a decision-making basis for the government to further formulate and optimize policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the global climate change and energy crisis, solar energy has become the focus of research, development, and utilization throughout the world. Therefore, an empirical study on the awareness of residents for solar photovoltaic power generation is of great significance. Based on the 330 questionnaire data, by adopting the single factor variance analysis (S-N-K test) methodology, this paper first analyzed the differences between various groups of residents from varied perspectives of Chinese residents, i.e., different ages, different education attainments, different income levels, different genders, and different industries. Then, it conducted a regression analysis of the demographic variables by using linear regression models. The results indicate that: (1) the awareness of different types of Chinese residents is significantly different; (2) education and income levels have significant impacts on their awareness. Finally, this paper proposed corresponding policy recommendations based on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretical study of the effects of subsidizing energy contracts. The major findings are as follows. First, under the pressure of competition, technology promotion of energy service companies (ESCOs) reduces the price of energy contracts, while improving both demand and energy conservation. Second, subsidies for energy contracts improve market demand, ESCO's profits, and energy conservation. Finally, subsidies stimulate ESCO's ability to innovate, whereas competition deters innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the comparison of the experimental results with numerical simulation. The numerical simulation was performed using TRNSYS. Fourteen weeks of data (January 28 to May 7) were collected and compared against numerical simulation results obtained using TRNSYS. For the 14-week period, the results showed that there was close agreement between the experimental measurement and the numerical simulation. The measured average temperature was 8.1 °C compared to the simulated average temperature of 8.6 °C. The measured maximum and minimum temperatures were 21 °C and -7.8 °C, respectively, while the numerical simulation maximum and minimum temperatures were 17.8 °C and -7.5 °C, respectively. For the five-year seasonal simulation, the system became fully charged by June 14. The maximum temperature the sand-bed achieved annually was 24.83 °C, occurring approximately on July 10, with a minimum of 11.1 °C occurring on January 24. The results demonstrate that sand-bed solar thermal storage systems are suitable for climates in regions with long periods of freezing temperatures which can contribute towards the net-zero energy status of a residential home. We reported the first experimental study, to the authors' knowledge, of sand-bed solar thermal storage conducted in a region with an extended freezing period carried out on a home situated in Palmer, Alaska, 61.6°N, 149.1°W [see G. Hailu et al., Energies 10, 1873 (2017)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy, which is inexhaustible and abundant, has become an economically viable and environmentally preferable alternative to fossil fuels. There is the inherent advantage of solar energy in mitigation of climate change, generation of employment, and reduction of poverty, as well as increased energy security and supply. It is therefore important to continue to evaluate the global solar radiation levels in countries such as Nigeria with considerably high solar energy potential. In this paper, we report such evaluation for southern Nigeria; in particular, the correlations of meteorological estimates from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and calculated Hargreaves estimates for this region of Nigeria (latitude of 4.75°-7.77°N and longitude of 3.33°-8.32°E) are carried out and the results show a good agreement in all the sites, thereby strengthening the case we make for decentralized renewable energy investments in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to define low carbon society (LCS) based on the phase diagram with the variables from the IPAT [Human Impact (I) on the environment equals the product of population (P) affluence (A) and technology (T)], starting from the problem definitions: (1) Economy is not everything for LCS and (2) it is not clear if speed on the constraint is more important than liberation from it. To tackle these problems, two research questions are set: (1) What are the basic indicators, objects, and constraints to shape the argument of LCSs and (2) what are the historical paths of several countries and what can be said for their future paths toward carbon societies? Time series data from 1900 or before are used, while the phase diagram with the variables from the IPAT equation is used as the core methodology. In addition to the IPAT variables, the importance of land per capita shall be considered as another basic indicator for LCS related to the carrying capacity. The three different kinds of objects [i.e., total gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, and social indicator] and the two constraints (i.e., total emission and emission per capita) are considered, and it is shown that the combination of these objects and constraints strongly affects the argument of the carrying capacity of climate and land, development of economic system and economic man, and other human developments. Among the four cases analyzed in the phase diagram, the case where GDP per capita is object and total emission is constraint is given the most attention and requires the further research in the future since it does not contradict with a definition of LCS. It is also suggested that if changing the direction of the path with low carbon technology development takes time and cost, institutional arrangement would be additionally necessary in addition to market mechanism where optimal solutions are found on constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new model has been developed in this paper to evaluate the impact of different photovoltaic modules on room, floor, and solar cell temperature, along with daylight savings and solar cell electrical efficiency. Computations have been carried out on a building-integrated semitransparent photovoltaic thermal system integrated with the roof of a room for Varanasi climatic conditions in winter months. The electrical efficiency of the module and temperature coefficient impact the system's performance significantly. Mono-Si, poly-Si, amorphous Si, and Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) systems are discussed. Compared with the previous model, the results of the study indicate that there is a 4.39% decrease in the overall exergy efficiency; hence, the PVT system is recommended for energy efficiency, and m-Si is suitable for electrical exergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is clear that much more drastic and early actions than those that are presently being undertaken are needed to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The Asian region, accounting for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions and growing at a rapid economic pace, has a major role to play in the world's transition to a low carbon society (LCS). To design leapfrog pathways to low carbon and sustainable development, it is important to have a scientific tool that can develop LCS pathways and analyze the effectiveness of policies to achieve them under different scenarios. The Asia-Pacific Integrated Assessment Model (AIM) is an effective tool to support these analyses. It has been developed by researchers in Asia and used in policymaking processes in Asia. It can provide comprehensive and consistent assessment of various policies, including macro-economic policies and technological measures. It can analyze trade-offs between rapid economic growth in Asia and its environmental impact and assess sustainable development policies. This paper presents the processes of designing LCS policies and how modeling tools can support the analyses of the leapfrog pathways to a LCS. As a modeling tool, the family of AIM models is explained and their applications in Asia are presented. Procedures to design and implement low carbon policies together with the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The very mounting demand for the electricity supply and the raising concern about global warming and climate change have motivated the electricity sector to adopt renewable and local sources of energy. The incorporation of such sources into the distribution network poses a variety of benefits as well as challenges to the Distribution System Operators. The paper analyses a real life 4.3 MVA unbalanced distribution feeder in Kerala, India for its voltage profile improvement and power loss reduction with the addition of Photovoltaic (PV) units at the specified locations with optimal sizing. A methodology based on the Learning Automata (LA) algorithm is developed in order to find out the suitable size of the PV units to be installed at suitable locations in an unbalanced distribution feeder. The LA algorithm is efficient in handling the uncertainty associated with the PV power generation which is modelled using Beta Probability Density Function. The proposed algorithm is validated using the balanced feeder in the literature and extended for several unbalanced test feeders and the selected practical distribution feeder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is essential for the development of a city. The energy structure of China, dominated by coal, has caused serious problems, such as resource depletion, environmental pollution, and climate change. These problems have posed severe challenges to the sustainable development of mega--cities such as Shanghai. In order to ensure security of energy supply and alleviate the corresponding environmental pollution, these cities should effectively restructure their energy supply. This paper quantitatively analyzed the future energy consumption demand in Shanghai and its effects on environmental quality based on the MARKAL model with the aim of providing theoretical support for the government decision regarding energy policy, energy technology, adjustment of energy supply structure, etc. Different scenarios have been set up in light of the natural gas distributed supply system, clean and efficient coal-fired power technologies, energy-saving of industrial boilers technologies, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (advanced power generation technology), and wind power technologies. The results obtained by the MARKAL model show that total consumption of the whole society energy in Shanghai will reach 143 572 700 tons of standard coal in 2015, and 199 645 800 tons of standard coal in 2020. Thus, the future demand for energy consumption is huge astronomical, with about an average annual growth rate of 4%. The consumption of coal and other primary energy could decline by improving the energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy use, which would reduce pollutants emissions. At the same time, Shanghai should continue research on carbon dioxide emissions technology and its application in response to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at determining the optimum tilt angle for south facing flat-plate solar collectors in Iran. Solar radiation on a horizontal surface was estimated by applying an empirical method and employing meteorological data from 80 selected cities. A mathematical model was used for estimating the solar radiation at different tilt angles. Daily, monthly, seasonally, bi-annually, and yearly optimum tilt angles and solar radiations were determined for 80 selected cities. Recommendations were made on the optimum tilt angle adjustment for different places in the country in order to benefit the best solar radiation available. The averaged benefits of annual solar radiation for 80 cities were 21.3% for daily, 21% for monthly, 19.6% for seasonal, 19.3% for bi-annual, and 13.3% for yearly adjustments compared with the radiation on the horizontal collector. Based on these results, adjusting tilt angles, at least twice a year, is recommended. Optimum tilt angles for cloudy sky cities with a low clearness index are lower than those for cities at the same latitude angle having a higher clearness index. In addition to latitude angle, the climate conditions are also important for determining the optimum tilt angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of escalating human activities on greenhouse gas emission, global warming, and changes in global climate patterns is almost certainly the most discussed issue in the first decade of the 21st century. Two-thirds of Africa’s energy consumption consists of various forms of highly inefficient traditional biomass. In rural areas, low energy consumption is both a cause and consequence of poor development and also of the degradation of the natural environment. The burning of biomass or vegetation as a conventional land preparation method has a net negative impact on the soil organic carbon as well as on the environment through the oxidation of carbon into carbon dioxide, an anthropogenic greenhouse gas. This paper reports the findings of an experiment to investigate the impact of the heat due to burning on soil organic carbon at soil depths of 0–5 and 5–10 cm. It was observed that 21% decline in soil organic carbon resulted in the release of 1446 CO2 kg ha-1 into the atmosphere. This underscores the fact that burning of biomass as a land preparation method may not be sustainable when viewed against the backdrop that the African continent encompasses the most vulnerable regions and populations for current climate variability. This study is significant in that it is the first to shed light on the effects of burning on soil carbon in the coastal savanna ecosystem of Ghana and would potentially provide the impetus for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mid- and long-term energy requirements and greenhouse gas emission scenarios for China were presented by using the Integrated Policy Assessment Model of China. Technologies are the key component to reach a low carbon future. Technologies are identified with the scenario analysis. In order to realize the low carbon future, a technology roadmap was presented to reach the emission reduction up to 2050 in China. Twenty-eight key technologies are given in the paper for the technology roadmap, presenting learning curves. With full adoption of these key technologies, we do see ample opportunities for China to make the emission stable after 2020, without a large increase, and even start to have a deep reduction after 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are responsible for nearly 75% of the world’s energy consumption; expectedly, about 90% of future growth will occur in urban areas. However, we consider that cities will be at the forefront of implementing groundbreaking technologies and policies, as evidenced in the initiatives taken by many cities here and worldwide to resolve issues in energy and climate change. In addition to affording energy and environmental benefits, investments in energy efficient and renewable technologies have huge potential to boost local economies, as demonstrated by the recent federal allocation of stimulus funding. Inclined to give priority to stopgap measures, many cities tend to regard comprehensive long-term planning as secondary. However, such solutions would bring multiple benefits to the community. The paper showcases an energy and environment systems model to provide a quantitative vision of technology and management strategy options for effectively deploying energy efficiency and renewable energy for reducing the carbon footprint, while sustainably maintaining the energy demands of the community and the servicing environmental infrastructure. We provide results of a case study completed for New York City, to showcase usefulness of long-term planning for achieving low carbon cities. Combined with appropriate stakeholder participation, such a technology explicit bottom-up approach holds the promise of influencing the current energy planning, environmental regulatory regime, including multimedia aspects of carbon control for cities locally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and land use conflicts represent two of the greatest challenges worldwide. One possible solution are agrivoltaic (APV) systems, in which agricultural production is combined with a photovoltaic (PV) system in the same area. However, there is insufficient information on the environmental impacts of this technology. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the environmental impacts of an agrivoltaic system with conventional potato production using life cycle assessment (LCA). For this purpose, three scenarios were developed and compared in terms of their environmental impact: An APV system with combined potato and electricity production (scenario 1), a system with spatially separated potato and photovoltaic (PV) electricity production (scenario 2), and a potato scenario in which the electricity purchase was covered by the German electricity mix (scenario 3). The APV system (scenario 1) and the system with ground-mounted PV modules (scenario 2) performed better than scenario 3. In the Land Use category, scenario 1 caused the lowest environmental impact. Comparing the PV scenarios, scenario 2 had lower impacts in 12 of the 17 impact categories due to lower steel consumption. Also, comparing scenario 1 with scenario 3, lower impacts of the APV system were observed in 13 categories. The impacts of APV systems are generally similar to those of ground mounted PV systems, and impacts of both PV systems are lower than the existing, conventional systems of separate energy and crop production. However, due to ongoing advances in system design, materials used for the mounting structures and in the development of solar modules, it can be expected that the impact of APV will be significantly reduced in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind technology is projected to play a key role in mitigating climate change effects and contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions, but its sustainability critically depends on current and future climate conditions. In this study, the climate change impacts on wind resources and wind energy potential in Greece are assessed, yielding a wealth of information that could be used by stakeholders. A detailed evaluation of future wind characteristics over Greece is carried out using EURO-CORDEX RCA4 model data with a horizontal resolution of ∼12 km, taking into consideration future RCP scenarios for the short term decadal climatology of 2040, which is the expected end-life of installed wind turbines. The RCA4 model demonstrated accurate performance when compared to actual observational data from the HNMS network, thus allowing higher confidence in assessments of future periods. Future projections revealed changes in the mean wind speed of the order of ±5% that did not vary significantly for the different RCP scenarios, although on a monthly basis that variability could reach ±20%. Decadal changes in the mean wind potential were of the order of ±15% for the two RCPs (2.6 and 8.5). Wind gusts exceeding 52 m/s, linked to the wind turbine structural integrity and robust performance, appeared more frequently in RCP 8.5 by about 2–4 times per decade, affecting mostly the South Ionian Sea. The findings also indicate a tendency for calming of the "Etesians" winds over the Aegean Sea in future summers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monthly optimum tilt angles of a flat-plate solar collector capable of south or north orientations were modeled for the tropical Caribbean island of Trinidad at 10.6° N latitude, using measured monthly average daily global and diffuse horizontal irradiation data from the period 2005–2010, as input to six transposition models comprising three isotropic (Liu and Jordan, Koronakis, and Badescu) and three anisotropic (Hay and Davies, 'Hay and Davies, Klucher and Reindl', and Ma and Iqbal) models. The anisotropic models were in good agreement with one another, and an easily implementable technique was devised to determine the best suited decomposition-transposition model matches from six decomposition models due to Liu and Jordan and Klein, Page, Collares-Perreira and Rabl, Iqbal, Erbs et al., and Ibrahim. These matches can be used by territories having a similar climate to Trinidad but lacking measured diffuse horizontal irradiation or plane-of-array measurements, and the technique can be implemented globally by other host territories. The Ma and Iqbal model was chosen to simulate in detail the aforementioned collector as well as the one that was south-oriented only. A south/north-oriented collector required twelve monthly and two seasonal [April: 12.5° (north-oriented), October: 32° (south-oriented)], and annual [11.2° (south-oriented)] adjustments with corresponding gains in the collectable annual global solar irradiation compared to that on a horizontal surface of 9.3%, 7.9%, and 1.5%, respectively. In contrast, a south-oriented collector required eight monthly (September–April) and two seasonal (March: 0° and October: 35.5°) adjustments with lower corresponding gains of 7.6% and 7.1%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of energy crisis, extensive depletion of fossil fuel, and climate change, the vertical-axis Savonius-type wind or hydrokinetic turbines appear to be promising candidates to extract energy from wind or free-flowing water because of their superior self-starting capability and design simplicity. The present investigation focuses on comparative analysis between Savonius wind turbines (SWTs) and Savonius hydrokinetic turbines (SHTs) at the same input power. To accomplish this, two configurations are considered, viz., 2-bladed and 3-bladed turbine designs having semicircular blade profiles. Experimental studies revealed that the SWTs operate in a slightly wider range of tip-speed ratios than the SHTs. It is also observed that, like SHTs, 2-bladed SWTs result in an improved (47%) peak power coefficient (CPmax) than 3-bladed SWTs. In line with this, the computational studies, conducted to complement the experimental analysis, showed the superiority of 2-bladed SWTs over the 3-bladed SWTs. Both experimental and computational analyses reveal that the SHTs and SWTs show identical drag and lift characteristics for given kinetic energy of the inlet fluid stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technique that makes use of supervised machine learning (support vector regression) to correct systematic errors in long-term model wind time series is presented. The technique-Empirical Wind Output Correction (EWOC)-is computationally efficient and is particularly effective over complex terrain. In addition to error correction, EWOC acts as a non-linear feature identification tool by ranking the input site characteristics according to their ability to reduce the overall error. Independent regression functions are constructed for the mean and variance of the wind speed using an observational training data set comprising 109 onshore sites throughout Europe. Corrections are applied to Virtual Met Mast TM (VMM) corrected time series, hindcast Numerical Weather Prediction output (Euro4), and raw Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications and ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA)-interim reanalysis data. Reductions of approximately 40% in the Mean Absolute Error of the mean and variance of the wind speed compared to the source data are obtained. The quality of fit of the EWOC corrected wind speed distributions is examined through their Kullback-Leibler Divergences (KLD). Reductions of approximately 40% and 60% in the KLD are achieved compared to VMM corrected and raw ERA data, respectively. Possible methods for improving and extending the technique are suggested, including ways of maximising the size and quality of the training data set using a limited set of wind speed observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane is an important greenhouse gas contributing to the global climate change leading to global warming and livestock accounts as one of the major sources of methane emission. Although, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has developed guidelines to quantify emissions from enteric fermentation and manure management, it is recently reported that the National methane emission in U.S. is underestimated by a factor of 1.5-1.7. This study estimated the emission of methane in Mexico based on the animal census data from 2012. On an average, the total livestock in Mexico produced about 344 275 t.d-1 of animal manure. Further, a manure map of different states of Mexico was developed, and their potential methane emission was estimated. It is calculated that the total methane emission from enteric fermentation and manure is about 40 447.68 and 1307.04 Gg CO2 Eq., respectively. In the case of animal manures, beef and swine manures, respectively, contributed about 47% and 27% of total methane emission. Based on the data obtained, the bioenergy potential of Mexico by way of manure treatment using anaerobic digestion was calculated and is approximately 5910.35 TJ, which can generate 410.41GWh of electricity and reduce emissions of methane by 2240.64 Gg CO2 Eq. The data clearly suggest that anaerobic digestion is a sustainable technology, not only for generation of renewable bioenergy but also for significant reduction in methane emission from animal manures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioenergy has a key role in the European Union (EU) policy aimed at enhancing energy security and mitigating climate change. In the implementation of EU policy at national, and--especially--at regional and local levels, the inclusion of stakeholders' opinions is crucial to increase social acceptance and to reduce conflicts between the parties. This study analyzes stakeholders' opinions of biomass-based energy development at the local level (Sarentino valley, South Tyrol region, Italy) by using the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)-AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) approach. SWOT-AHP methodology was implemented in three stages: stakeholders analysis, identification of the SWOT factors, and evaluation of the SWOT factors. Strategic factors were evaluated using the outcomes of a question- naire administered to five groups of stakeholders (public administrations, NGO and associations, academia, farmers, and forest-wood chain actors). The results showed a firm prevalence for the strengths (33.3%) and opportunities (32.9%) over the potential threats (18.8%) and weaknesses (15%) of the actual bioenergy supply chain in Sarentino valley. SWOT-AHP methodology could be useful in the development and implementation of a local and regional participatory decision making process in the forest-wood-energy supply chain as it can provide structural and quantified analysis of the subjective preferences of the stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of anthropogenic climate change is not merely a question of natural processes, but first and foremost, a question of economy, society, and culture. The humanities are therefore crucial to analyzing issues like migration, new risks because of extreme weather events, violent conflict, and the impact of global warming on political stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in energy supply have traditionally been valued because they make more energy available than would otherwise be the case and/or make it available at lower cost. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can also be viewed in this way to some extent, for example, as a means to keep coal as an electricity generation fuel in Europe and the USA. But the underlying driver for CCS is really that less fossil carbon is being emitted to the atmosphere. Since long-term cumulative emissions are the determining factor for climate change, long-term retention of stored CO2 is important. Long-term “leakage” risks also apply, however, to fossil fuels that are displaced in the short term by nonfossil energy sources (i.e., nuclear, renewables) since the fossil fuels may subsequently be used and the CO2 released to the atmosphere. If CCS is to achieve effective reductions in CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, however, it is important that projects are either near carbon-neutral, able to capture around 90% or more of the fossil carbon in the fuel used, or carbon-negative, capturing CO2 from biomass or directly from the air. Another class of CCS project, which involves capturing CO2 from hydrocarbon production (e.g., natural gas purification or oil sands processing) is still carbon-positive since the CO2 from the product fuel is likely to be released to the atmosphere. This class of CCS project should therefore be viewed as a “license to operate” for projects producing fossil fuels but not as an example of the approach that is needed to achieve the large cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., 80% or more in developed countries by 2050) now being suggested. Near carbon-neutral and carbon-negative CCS projects will have to produce carbon free energy vectors such as electricity, hydrogen, or heat. These in turn can be used to displace direct fossil use by the transport and building sectors. To make CCS available as a reasonably well-proven option by around 2020, a first tranche of demonstration plants need to be deployed as quickly as possible. A second, larger tranche of reference plants then needs to continue the learning process and demonstrate the technology at scale and ready for multiple repeat orders. After this second tranche, CCS should be ready to contribute to a rapid decarbonization of the electricity supply from coal, natural gas, and biomass power plants in developed countries in the decade 2020–2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation mobility in India has increased significantly in the past decades. From 1970 to 2000, motorized mobility (passenger-kilometer) has risen by 888%, compared to an 88% population growth (S. K. Singh, India: Implications For Energy Demand and CO2 Emission (Transport Policy, 2006)). This has contributed to many energy and environmental issues, and an energy strategy that incorporates efficiency improvement and other measures needs to be designed. Unfortunately, existing energy data do not provide information on driving forces behind energy use and sometimes show large inconsistencies. Many previous studies address only a single transportation mode such as passenger road travel, did not include comprehensive data collection or lack analysis or detail on energy demand by each mode and fuel mix. The current study will fill a considerable gap in current efforts, develop a database on all transport modes including passenger air and water and freight in order to facilitate the development of energy scenarios, and assess the significance of technology potential in a global climate change model. An extensive literature review and data collection has been done to establish the database with a breakdown of mobility, intensity, distance, and fuel mix of all transportation modes. Energy consumption was estimated and compared to aggregated transport consumption reported in IEA India transportation energy data. Different scenarios were estimated based on different assumptions of freight road mobility. Based on the bottom-up analysis, we estimated that the energy consumption from 1990 to 2000 increased at an annual growth rate of 7% for the midrange road freight growth case and 12% for the high range road freight growth case corresponding to the scenarios in mobility, while the IEA data only show a 1.7% growth rate in those years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy, with an average growth rate of 30%, is the fastest growing source of renewable energy in the world. India occupies the fifth place in the world in wind energy generation after USA, Germany, Spain, and China and has an installed capacity of more than 9756 MW as of January 31, 2009. New technological developments in wind energy design have contributed to the significant advances in wind energy penetration and to get optimum power from available wind. In this study, an attempt has been made to analyze and review the development and dissemination of wind energy in India. The diffusion prospect of wind energy generation in the potential states of India is also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors reflect on "Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (JRSE)," the new journal published by the American Institute of Physics. The authors cite the possible contribution of renewable energy in addressing the problems for energy sources and climate change, and explain the role of the journal in disseminating information. They explain the part of contributors on its success and invite people to submit their research and article related to the journal's topics.