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Abstract: Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are becoming significant energy and environmental issues relating to municipal solid waste (MSW) deposited in landfills in Taiwan. The nation, although not a Party to the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol, has diligently striven to mitigate and phase out them. The landfill gas (LFG), which is now considered as a renewable energy with emphasis on electricity generation, has been recognized as one of the main GHGs emissions associated with its composition mostly consisting of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The objective of this paper is to present an updated overview of LFG-to-electricity in Taiwan. The description is thus centered on biogas sources and their energy utilizations, and then aimed at MSW generation and management. Using the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended methodology, anthropogenic methane emissions from MSW landfills in Taiwan during 1992–2003 were estimated to be around 360 thousand metric tons annually during 1992–1999, then decreased to approximately 103 thousand metric tons in 2003 due to the MSW recycling and incineration policies during this period. The promotion measures relating to LFG-to-electricity are also summarized in the paper. Finally, we overview four LFG-to-electricity facilities currently commercialized in Taiwan, and briefly evaluate their economic and environmental benefits. It is shown that total LFG-to-electricity is around based on the LFG generation rate of , heating value of 5500 kcal/m3, and energy efficiency of 25%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Taiwan is an energy-importing nation with more than 97% of energy consumption supplied by imported fuels. In this regard, renewable energy like waste-to-energy is become attractive. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of energy utilization from the cogeneration system of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration in recent years. The description is thus centered on MSW generation, incineration treatment and its energy utilization status. The energy policy relating to MSW-to-energy is also summarized in the paper. Finally, we present the regulatory system including Air Pollution Control Act, Energy Management Law and Statute for Upgrading Industries, which is not only to establish the environmental standards on MSW incineration facility, but also to provide economic and financial incentives to promote the use of MSW-to-energy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Taiwan is a subtropical island nation with high dependence upon imported energy, about 97% of its energy is supplied by imported fuels. Environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are becoming significant issues in Taiwan. In this regard, renewable energy like bio-gas energy, wind energy and solar energy are thus becoming attractive because the Energy Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other government energy expenditures pledged about annual US$ 100 millions in total to promote renewable energy and energy conservation based on the renewable energy development policy approved by the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) in January 2002. Also, the Taiwan government announced the ambitious target to achieve about 6500 MW of energy from renewable sources by 2020, which is equivalent to increase Taiwan’s installed capacity of power supply from renewable sources to above 10%. The objective of this paper is to present an updated overview of energy policy from renewable sources in Taiwan, including the government’s organizational response and special funds for supporting renewable energy promotion and technology development. Then, current status of usage and technology development of renewable energy is further addressed in this paper, concentrating on biomass energy, solar energy and wind power. Finally, the paper will focus on some integrated research and development programs to promote renewable energy technology, and summarize two research projects of biofuel energy (i.e. bio-hydrogen production and fast pyrolysis technology from organic wastes) in progress under the joint-funds of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the National Science Council. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Taiwan is a high energy-importing nation with more than 95% of its energy supplied by imported fuels. Environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are becoming significant environmental issues. In this regard, renewable energy like waste-to-energy are thus becoming attractive due to the energy policy for the sustainable development and environmental pollution mitigation in Taiwan. The objective of this paper is to present an updated overview of energy utilization from mass agrowastes in industries. The description is thus centered on new/revised promotion legislation/regulations especially concerning the agrowaste-to-energy in the measures of environmental protection and economic/financial incentives. The Statute for Renewable Energy Development is being enacted to further enhance and promote the green energy utilization, which is also addressed in the paper. Finally, we present the biomass energy utilization of three mass agrowastes (i.e. bagasse and rice husk from mills, and piggery wastes from swine farms) in progress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper addresses both historical and current UK policy relating to renewable energy. It discusses the stated aims of policy, and discusses to what extent policy has addressed these aims, and the level of success enjoyed with respect to each goal. The paper also addresses the context in which UK policy has developed, and the effects this has had on both the creation and employment of that policy. Finally, it comments on the likely future direction of policy in the UK. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Global steel production is currently dependent on coal and capital-intensive production facilities with long economic lifetimes. While the Paris Agreement means carbon neutrality must be reached globally by 2050–2070, with negative emissions thereafter, coal-based steel production today accounts for around 8% of global energy-related CO 2 emissions. Its production may stabilize or even decline in industrialized countries, but it will increase significantly in the emerging economies. In the past, the focus of CO 2 reduction for steel has been on moderate emissions reductions through energy efficiency measures and on exploring carbon capture and storage. However, as (1) the cost of renewable electricity is declining rapidly, (2) carbon capture and storage has not materialized yet, and (3) and more and more countries set deep emission reduction targets, electricity- and hydrogen-based steelmaking has gathered substantial momentum over the past half-decade. Given the short time frame and the sector's deep carbon lock-in, there is an urgent need to understand the national climate and energy policy as well as the current implementation of low-CO 2 and renewable electricity that would enable a shift from coal-based to electricity-based steelmaking. In this paper, we first identify the countries that are likely to be major steel producers in the future and thus major CO 2 -emitters. Then we map medium- and long-term CO 2 reduction and renewable targets as well as the current share of low-CO 2 and renewable electricity by country. Based on these data, we develop a set of indicators that map the readiness of steel-producing countries for a sustainable transition. Our findings show that although binding long-term CO 2 reduction targets are being implemented, medium-term CO 2 reduction do not yet affect coal based steel production. Overall, the global steel industry seems not be on track yet, though differences between steel producing countries are large. Common shortcomings across countries are a lack of access to renewable electricity and a lack of demanding medium-term CO 2 reduction targets. The paper ends with recommendations on how to enable a low-carbon transition of the global steel industry in line with the Paris Agreement. • Four major steel producing countries have committed to carbon neutrality by mid-century. • 2030 CO 2 reduction targets do not affect coal-based steelmaking. • Access to renewable electricity is limited in most countries. • One third of the steelmaking countries strongly rely on coal for their economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen years after the publication of the article entitled "Energy Education: breaking up the rational energy use barriers" in 2004, what were the paths taken and scientific contributions made towards a rational energy use as regards energy education? This paper aims to answer this question by collecting data on the Web of Science database to identify publications citing the aforementioned article using different levels of approach. The selected papers were structured in clusters utilizing software for such a purpose, which allowed organizing and listing reviewed works from which a cluster of keywords has been structured to identify the most frequently cited terms. Once found, the following step was to perform a content analysis to allow organizing authorship and contributions. During this process, the term "barriers" in the context of rational energy use was not restricted to its class, but it was present in the analysis of other terms that constitute other classes. Energy education is presented as one of the ways to make society more aware and active while taking actions towards rational energy use. However, to achieve greater effectiveness of such an educational process, the human aspect requires special attention through a clearer definition of personal values, attitude, and behaviour because of its importance for activities aimed at energy issues. • Energy education is crucial for energy rational use. • Other approaches for energy education were identified. • Individual's psyche influence on energy rational use. • Several barriers permeate energy and its use. • Energy education enables energy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomy is often cited as a key aspect of energy systems. Previous academic literature on energy autonomy has predominantly approached it from a technological perspective, and conceptualized it as self-sufficiency of energy production. In addition to self-sufficiency, autonomous energy users and communities often aim to create energy systems that treat different stakeholders as equals, with a balanced distribution of costs and benefits. This paper has two aims. First, it aims to clarify the concept of 'energy autonomy'. Second, it aims to provide an overview of existing literature addressing energy autonomy, identifying relevant publications and publication outlets, as well as main research themes and activities. The results, based on a systematic review of 71 peer-reviewed academic articles, show that energy autonomy research has increased in the last twenty years. The results also show how existing literature has understood, and used, the concept of energy autonomy in varying ways. Furthermore, the paper reveals how motivations, technologies, and scales differ in energy autonomy projects. While the aim of reaching energy autonomy is often motivated by economic and/or social reasons, these aspects are nevertheless rarely discussed in academic literature as the predominant focus tends to be on technological issues and self-sufficiency. The paper concludes with energy policy implications and avenues for future research. • Systematic review of academic literature on energy autonomy. • Explores energy autonomy concept regarding scale, motivations, technology, and time. • Previous research focuses on technological issues and energy self-sufficiency. • Economic and social reasons behind energy autonomy are less discussed in literature. • Provides policy implications and avenues for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy system modeling has a central role in assessing the future energy system and helping policy makers to set targets and subsidizing mechanisms. In the years, different energy system models have been developed with the aim of supporting political decision-makers in the design of energy policies. It is relevant to compare and cross-validate these models in order to add robustness to the final results and technical feasibility of the identified transition pathways. Two main methods to compare these models exist i) comparison of the technical features and characteristics of the models and ii) comparison of the final results. While there are several reviews focusing on the comparison of models based on their technical characteristics and features, to the authors' knowledge, no review article exists on comparison techniques based on final results. The scope of this paper is to carry out a review of existing methods and techniques to compare energy system frameworks, models, and scenario results regarding their final results. • Review of techniques for comparisons of frameworks, models and scenario results. • Comparison indicators in economy, energy, environment and computation are obtained. • A challenge of the comparison of models is the analysis of the four resolution fields. • Advanced comparisons should include statistical techniques to assess result deviations. • Most comparisons neglect sector-coupling, while it is of increasing importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, market-mediated financial incentives for energy-efficient construction drawn from information policy, including energy performance certificates (EPC), have been intensively researched. While hedonic-based research seems to confirm a positive correlation between residential prices and EPC ratings, opinion-based studies have found that these ratings have a negligible effect on price formation. This paper explores whether insufficient control of non-energy-related architectural attributes in hedonic specifications is responsible for such a divergence. To achieve this, a case-by-case quality assessment is performed for a sample of listed apartments in Barcelona. Then, architectural assessment is introduced as a control in the context of hedonic analysis. The results suggest that EPC ratings show a positive correlation with prices (1.8% price increase for each EPC increment) only when location, general architectural attributes, and basic quality attributes are controlled. Conversely, when architectural quality is thoroughly controlled, such a correlation disappears. However, EPC rating remains as a price driver (7.5% price increase for A/B/C ratings) for the upper tier of apartments in central and affluent zones. Such findings have relevant implications for developers and energy policy. • The concomitance of housing energy performance with its quality attributes is problematic. • Strict control of housing quality attributes leads to a zero energy premium. • Only upper-tier dwellings (A/B/C) in affluent districts receive a 7.5% energy premium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy is among the most relevant types of renewable energy and plays a vital role in the projected European energy mix for 2020. The aim of this paper is to comprehensively present current risks and risk management solutions of renewable energy projects and to identify critical gaps in risk transfer, thereby differentiating between onshore and offshore wind parks with focus on the European market. Our study shows that apart from insurance, diversification, in particular, is one of the most important tools for risk management and it is used in various dimensions, which also results from a lack of alternative coverage. Furthermore, policy and regulatory risks appear to represent a major barrier for renewable energy investments, while at the same time, insurance coverage or alternative risk mitigation is strongly limited. This emphasizes the need for new risk transfer solutions to ensure a sustainable growth of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although energy efficiency improvement can reduce energy consumption, reduction of the effective price will also increase the demand for energy services. Part of this reduction is then offset because of the energy efficiency improvement. The magnitude of this energy rebound effect is one of the important factors that must be considered in the formulation and implementation of energy policies. The textile industry is a traditional pillar industry in China. It is an important part of the national economy and contributes significantly to international trade. This study uses the Morishima elasticities of substitution (MES) model combined with asymmetric energy prices, trans-log cost function, and other econometric methods to establish a framework to measure the rebound effect in China׳s textile industry. The empirical results of this paper indicate that the rebound effect for China׳s textile industry is 20.991%. This reveals that energy efficiency improvement is conducive for energy saving to a certain degree. Notwithstanding, these results also prove that energy efficiency improvement is not the only way for China׳s textile industry to realize energy saving and emission reduction. Finally, based on the analysis, future policy priorities are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) and scenario analysis have been applied respectively to analyze the impact of CO 2 -emission and its potential reduction in China׳s power industry. According to the results of LMDI, there are six factors that affect the carbon emission in the power industry. Electricity intensity (EI), and economic activity (EA) are the primary driving factors for the increment in emissions, accounting for 42.33% and 57.05% of the total increment during 1985 to 2011. Results also demonstrated that energy efficiency (EE) contributed 13.54% abatement during 1985 to 2011, and will play a key role in emission abatement in the future. Furthermore, the paper estimate the trend of power sector׳s carbon dioxide emission under three scenarios (basic, moderate and optimum) in order to determine the mitigation potential. The potential mitigation rate will equal to 22.03% and 37.57% in 2020 in Case A and Case B respectively in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North Seas offshore grid serves to connect offshore wind power to onshore systems, and to interconnect power systems in Northern Europe. Its development is a priority for the European climate and energy policy, which has led to a number of studies on the subject. Nonetheless, research questions, assumptions and typologies can vary considerably among them, and thus to guide future research this paper reviews the published works that use bottom–up energy models. This review develops a simple and effective methodology that can be applied to other reviews of energy systems models. It jointly considers the studies of interest, the system characteristics, a categorization framework and relevant indicators. The analysis indicates most studies focus on investment and operation of the grid using optimization models, with rare use of other research questions or other model approaches. Moreover, results vary significantly, and their comparability is limited due to differences in assumptions, methodology and detail of results publication. Nonetheless, integrated typologies frequently present economic, operational and environmental benefits, although the reviewed studies do not unambiguously warrant immediate and full cooperation on grid governance. Lastly, future research should be attentive to the presentation and resolution of data, assumptions and results, as well as consider grid characteristics relevant to the research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the renewable power generation module, which complements large scale macro-econometric input–output models by introducing technological change endogenously into the model. So far, technological change in renewable power generation technologies is either set exogenously (autonomous energy improving technological change) or price-induced in economic models. Introducing endogenous technological change is necessary to adequately analyze not only the direct effects, but also the indirect effects on important macro-economic indicators such as growth, employment, welfare and trade as well as their feedback to the electricity sector. The development of PV module and wind turbine prices is modeled using learning curves at the global scale, i.e. depending on global capacity installed of each of these technologies. National capacity additions in turn depend on global prices, national policies and economic development. While demand-pull policies enhance capacity installations, technology-push policies do not seem to have a significant direct influence. The empirical results confirm the overshooting of PV installations in Germany, which can be slowed down by introducing degression of feed-in tariffs over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China׳s 12th Five-Year Plan, released in March 2011, specifies water management targets in addition to energy and carbon intensity targets. Energy and water resources are becoming the major bottlenecks restricting sustainable development in China. Energy and water are interconnected and complementary; however, macroenergy policies do not consider the impact on water resources, while water related policies do not consider the impact on energy consumption. In this paper, an energy-water evaluation methodology based on an input–output model was introduced, and correlation between energy and water supply sectors was established by this methodology. The correlation coefficients for the energy-water nexus, allowing the water savings associated with energy saving policies in China to be estimated, particularly for key industrial sectors during the 12th Five-Year Plan period were provided. These results indicate that by achieving the energy saving targets in the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, progress will also be made toward achieving the water use targets. It is believed that targets for the synergies between energy savings and water conservation should be improved. The effect of water conservation resulting from energy savings varies greatly in different sectors, and to maximize the synergies, energy and water conservation technologies should be promoted in key industrial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of the technological paradigm for the development of wind energy technology, and aims to contribute towards recommendations on technology policy and management. The paradigmatic research was conducted using a novel data analysis system (DAS) and a wind energy generation technological diffusion mathematical model. The wind energy generation technological paradigm (WEGTP) composed of paradigm competition, diffusion and shift was established to explain the technological changes in the use of wind energy. Simulation results show that the development of installed capacity for wind energy generation has a strong inertia force along with the S-curve. Global annual installed wind capacity reached a peak in 2012 and is estimated to be saturated by 2030. Hybrid wind and solar energy generation technology appeared to be more promising than wind energy technologies that rely only on onshore or offshore winds. To further accelerate wind energy development, specific subsidies and incentives need to be provided in areas such as capital costs and technological support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy sustainability and environmental preservation have become worldwide concerns with the many manifestations of climate change and the continually increasing demand for energy. As cities and nations become more technologically advanced, electricity consumption rises to levels that may no longer be manageable if left unattended. The Smart Grid offers an answer to the shift to more sustainable technologies such as distributed generation and microgrids. A general public awareness and adequate attention from potential researchers and policy makers is crucial. This paper presents an overview of the Smart Grid with its general features, functionalities and characteristics. It presents the Smart Grid fundamental and related technologies and have identified the research activities, challenges and issues. It demonstrates how these technologies have shaped the modern electricity grid and continued to evolve and strengthen its role in the better alignment of energy demand and supply. Smart Grid implementation and practices in various locations are also unveiled. Concrete energy policies facilitate Smart Grid initiatives across the nations. Interestingly, Smart Grid practices in different regions barely indicate competition but rather an unbordered community of similar aspirations and shared lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing with great pressure to feed the demand outstripping the supply situation as well as alleviate the energy pollution problem, China has accelerated the pace of shale gas exploration. During the 12th Five-Year-Plan (FYP) period, Chinese government and petroleum enterprises actively promoted the development of shale gas industry, and made certain progresses in various aspects. Meanwhile, a series of preferential and supportive policies were developed to encourage shale gas exploration. However, as the shale gas industry is still in the initial stage in China, there are many challenges and difficulties existing in shale gas development. This paper presents a systematical review on the current status and policies of shale gas industry in China, aiming to provide important reference to the policy-makers for introducing and improving policies. Firstly, the current status including progresses and difficulties is presented. Subsequently, the recent policies for shale gas development are reviewed. The analyses of current policies and implementation barriers are followed. Finally, specific policy suggestions are proposed and a general conclusion is drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on adolescents’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards Renewable Energy Sources (RES), in order to detect their particular educational needs. Considering adolescents as key players in energy policy implementation, we focused on devising effective and efficient strategies in educational policy at secondary formal education. Drawing on the responses of 234 students at two high schools in a typical Greek provincial town and employing multinomial logistic regression analysis, we detected their demands through four coloured lenses, pink, white, green and blue. The analysis points out that the curriculum should be developed on the basis of four main strategic directions: equity, flexibility, enhancement of the participatory approach and creativity, so as to meet students’ indifference, neutrality and confusion about energy issues and RES technologies but also help them explore new potential career paths and grow into active citizens. In light of the limitations in RES education, our results could be generalised and contribute to effective policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitigation of global energy demands and climate change are the most important factors in the modern days. Development and application of solar energy have been regarded by the government of India and common people, and they thought that solar photo voltaic energy can provide more energy in future compare to other renewable energies. In the last decade, solar photovoltaic energy research and development has supported by the central government and state governments. This paper discusses the progress of current solar photovoltaic energy in India. It highlights the renewable energy trend in India with major achievements, state wise analysis of solar parks and industrial applications. Finally, it discusses the Indian government policies and initiatives to promote solar energy in India. This review on solar photovoltaic energy will help decision makers and various stakeholders to understand the current status, barriers and challenges for better planning and management in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of the social discount rate and the consideration of hurdle rates in energy systems optimisation models affect the creation of sound and comprehensive scenarios useful for energy modellers. Due to the lack of studies about the use of different discounting options in energy optimisation models, the goal of this paper is to fill that gap by establishing the foundations for a debate among energy modellers, policy-makers and stakeholders in this regard. So firstly, we introduced the concept of discount rates both social and technology-specific including a thorough literature review concerning figures, scopes and approaches. Secondly, two models, ETSAP-TIAM and TIMES-Norway, were used to assess the behaviour of the energy systems at different regionalisation levels, Europe and Norway respectively. Thirdly, we analysed the evolution of the electricity production mixes and system costs for both models and considering several values for the discount rates. Finally, results showed that the energy system is strongly affected by changes in the social discount rate. The lower the social discount rate is, the higher the renewable contribution. The social discounting exerts influence on capital intensive investments so it is quite important to look at the energy carriers pathways (fossil-renewable transition). This is what happens in the case of ETSAP-TIAM for Europe. Reversely, in the case of TIMES-Norway, as the electricity system is almost 100% renewable, it is important to take into account the hurdle rates of the technologies to enrich the competition by including their particular risks and barriers. In summary, we recommend using a value not higher than 4–5% for the social discount rate for the European countries as well as to include an exhaustive portfolio of hurdle rates for all the technologies included in the energy optimisation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and network utilities are grappling with how to manage increasing costs of electricity supply, the prospect of distributed generation while still meeting social objectives of access and affordability in remote areas. Due to geographical isolation and dispersed populations, remote Australian communities are generally electrified by distributed networks using diesel generation. This is expensive, environmentally damaging and fails to exploit vast renewable resources available. These communities are often regarded as “low hanging fruit” from a renewable energy deployment perspective. This paper examines why that fruit has not been readily picked in Australia in the context of a case study of three remote West Australian communities. In Western Australia, the local electricity distribution network service provider (DNSP) responsible for regional networks, developed a scheme (the Scheme) to incentivise renewable energy deployment in remote communities. This scheme aims to encourage communities to install renewable energy from the “bottom up” by providing a feed-in tariff capped at $0.50/kW h, to reduce the supply cost and environmental damage from diesel generation. However, to date there has been limited deployment of renewable energy in remote communities. The scheme and viability of renewable energy is assessed for three indigenous communities located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. These communities are connected to isolated, diesel powered networks. Viability is assessed from the DNSP and community perspectives and incorporates quantitative and qualitative financial, social / human and institutional factors. Renewable energy deployment is found to benefit the DNSP and can also benefit communities subject to their cost of capital and to the imposition of connection charges. However a range of barriers are currently frustrating deployment and a dynamic and adaptive approach that recognises local challenges and provides the communities with a pathway to installation is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocarbon resources represent a cardinal source of energy. Numerous studies have employed the system dynamics (SD) approach for hydrocarbon resources modelling. This paper reviews relevant literature, discusses the concept of uncertainty in SD-based modelling for energy resources estimation, and summarizes methods used to manage uncertainty. Although the SD methodology has the capability to manage uncertainties on a stand-alone basis, it is insufficient for handling dynamically complex issues characterized by several high levels of uncertainties, known as deep uncertainties. Augmentation with multi-method approaches improves the thoroughness of analysis and allows evaluation of many different policy options. We also highlight topics for researchers, policy makers, and energy planners who are faced with the responsibility of making policy decisions in the face of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building energy code change in Australia, and many other developed nations, is subject to standardised economic tests, with a net present value calculation at the heart of the economic analysis. Although many nations have introduced minimum energy efficiency standards for residential and commercial buildings, increases in stringency have been hindered by limitations to the range of private and societal impacts typically incorporated in regulatory impact assessments. Given the policy move towards net zero energy homes, a more comprehensive set of inputs and robust assumptions are needed to support further regulatory change. Yet the literature provides substantial evidence of many private and societal costs and benefits not commonly incorporated into the economic assessments that underpin regulatory change. Drawing on a case study of Australian and UK residential regulatory change assessments, this paper highlights limitations to the range of inputs and assumptions currently incorporated within the economic arguments applied during residential energy code change processes, and presents a more comprehensive economic argument that could support further stringency improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed the changes in carbon-dioxide (CO 2 ) emission in China׳s cement industry over the period 1991–2010. Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) was applied for the decomposition analysis. Five determinants were examined and the results divided into five time intervals, according to China׳s five-year economic plans. The results show that labor productivity was the major driving force of increase in CO 2 emission in China׳s cement industry, and energy intensity was the major contributor to CO 2 emission reduction. The other three factors also generated certain level of effects. This article provides some policy suggestions which could be adopted to reduce CO 2 emission in this energy-intensive industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of renewable energy, which is an important way to solve the environmental protection, has now become a research focus around the world. As a developing country with rapid growth, China gains the rapid development of economy, but the environmental pollution is becoming increasingly serious in recent years. Electricity industry plays an important role for energy-saving and emission-reduction in China, in order to reduce the environment pollution, it needs to consider how the electricity consumption affects the carbon emissions. In this paper, a stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STRIPAT) model was built, which estimates the relationship between the carbon emissions, population, GDP per capita, electricity consumption and energy consumption. It found that population, GDP per capita and the ratio of electricity consumption in energy consumption are change 1%, the carbon emissions will change 1.207%, 0.901% and −1.188% respectively. Based on the relationship, there electricity energy development scenarios were assumed and analyzed, and it found that the way to reduce carbon emissions should consider improving technical ability, which should accounting for improving the ratio of electricity power ratio in the energy consumption, improving the efficiency of using fossil energy and the development of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grid connected solar photovoltaic (GCPV) systems are fast becoming a regular feature of electricity power networks in urban and peri-urban areas within most Pacific Island Countries. A number of systems have been installed with many in the pipeline. This relatively new technology, utilizing the intermittent solar energy resource has presented new challenges to small island utilities that were hitherto almost completely dependent on diesel generators and hydropower. The present paper describes the current status of GCPV systems in the Pacific region and reviews some of the issues that arise in the deployment of this technology. It also reports a case study involving a 45 kW p GCPV system located at the University of the South Pacific (USP) marine campus in Fiji. One of the first two GCPV systems established in Fiji, this system has an annual production of ~54,000 kW h and supplies about 10% of the electricity requirements of the campus. The actual system performance agreed well with the simulated results. This system also reduces USP׳s annual carbon footprint by more than 27,000 kg CO 2e . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uganda is gifted by nature with abundant energy resources, mainly renewables, which can potentially provide the country with sufficient capacity to meet future growth in energy demand. Surprisingly, Uganda has one of the lowest electricity penetration levels, with only 9–12% of the total population having electricity access; 2–3% of them living in rural communities. There is multitude of challenges facing the energy sector of Uganda, forcing energy demand to always exceed the supply. For decades, hydropower has been and is still the base electricity supply of the country with a supplement of limited biomass, diesel based thermal and solar electricity. The objective of this paper is to review the potential and progress of renewable based distributed generation in Uganda. The potential of the country’s natural renewable resources and existing distributed generation is described and existing government policies are assessed. The challenges facing the energy sector and the suggested remedies are discussed. Various distributed generation systems that could be incorporated into the energy system of the country to improve renewable energy (RE) utilization and possibly contribute to the electricity needs of the population are also proposed and discussed. Exploitation of abundant RE resources through distributed energy generation around the region will not only improve the electricity needs of the country but also increase the economic welfare of the growing population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The finiteness of fossil fuels implies that future electric power systems may predominantly source energy from fuel-free renewable resources like wind and solar. Evidently, these power systems without fuel will be environmentally benign, sustainable, and subject to milder failure scenarios. Many of these advantages were projected decades ago with the definition of the soft energy path , which describes a future where all energy is provided by numerous small, simple, and diverse renewable sources. Here we provide a thorough investigation of power systems without any fuel-based generation from technical and economic standpoints. The paper is organized by timescale and covers issues like the irrelevance of unit commitment in networks without large, fuel-based generators, the dubiousness of nodal pricing without fuel costs, and the need for new system-level models and control methods for semiconductor-based energy-conversion interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the innovative methods for decentralized low-scale purification of water is the humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination technology. Many research activities have been carried out recently with the aim of improving this technology. The economic and environmental benefits of the HDH technology are enormous including feasibility of being powered by sustainable energy sources such as solar and geothermal, ability to operate at low temperature, low maintenance requirements, and simple construction needs. The principal HDH components, latest research on HDH systems driven by renewable energy, and recent innovations on HDH design for sustainable water production are discussed in this paper. It is worth noting that the development of the key features and sustainability aspects of HDH desalination technology are still under research and more improvements are needed to optimize process performance parameters in terms of quantity of water produced, specific renewable energy required, and specific cost of water produced. However, HDH technology has been proven to be an inexpensive and reliable desalination system in terms of environmental friendliness for small scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the existence and nature of a causality relationship between clean energy consumption and economic growth for a panel of eleven sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1971–2007. We apply the panel unit root test that accounts for the presence of multiple structural breaks [13] and the newly-developed panel cointegration methodology which allows for cross-section dependence and multiple structural breaks [38] as well as a bootstrap-corrected Granger causality test. The estimation results show that there is cointegration between clean energy consumption and economic growth. Further, the results from the panel causality tests indicate that there is indeed a unidirectional Granger causal flow from clean energy consumption to economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sichuan Province is one of the most important economic inland areas and is characterized by an abundance of renewable energy resources in the form of solar, wind, biomass, and, in particular, hydropower. After the rapid growth of installed hydropower capacity during the past decade, the non-hydro renewable energy resource development is booming in Sichuan Province. This development is bringing about a series of problems as well. In this paper, we give an overview of Sichuan׳s renewable energy development in the past five years, analyze the existing problems, and examine the underlying causes in terms of environment, market, technology, and policy. On that basis, we propose a method for future renewable energy development in Sichuan and suggest that Sichuan׳s government should improve the pricing mechanism and the mandatory share policy for non-hydro renewable energy. Additionally, R&D on the plateau type of wind turbines and the smart micro-grid should be strengthened. Finally, given the mature hydropower industry in Sichuan, the combined operation of wind–hydro and solar–hydro plants is recommended to improve the stability of renewable electricity generation output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct use and power generation based on geothermal sources are growing at a steadfast pace around the world. Although available abundantly in many parts of the world, geothermal energy sources have been under-utilized in desalination applications. Geothermal sources have the potential to serve as excellent heat sources for thermal desalination processes. Since thermal desalination processes require large quantities of heat sources, geothermal based energy source represents a feasible, sustainable, and an environmentally friendly option. The advantage with geothermal source is that it can act as a heat source and a storage medium for process energy utilization. If these water sources have high dissolved solids, then they can serve as feed water for the desalination process. Since external energy consumption is minimized except for the mechanical energy requirements, geothermal enabled desalination processes could have less environmental impacts when compared to other nonrenewable energy driven desalination processes. Cogeneration schemes for simultaneous water and power production are also possible with geothermal sources as well as poly generation with multiple process benefits involving cooling and heating applications. This paper provides the present state-of-the-art of geothermal desalination with discussion on the benefits of geothermal desalination over other renewable and nonrenewable energy driven desalination configurations. Present status of the worldwide geothermal desalination and the potential for future developments in this technological area were discussed in detail with case studies for Australia, Caribbean Islands, Central America (Coasta Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), India, Israel, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, and Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of Decentralized Energy Systems (DES) signals a new frontier in urban energy planning and design of local energy systems. As affordability of renewable energy technologies (RET) increases, cities and urban regions become the venues, not only for energy consumption but also for generation and distribution, which calls for systemic and paradigmatic change in local energy infrastructure. The decentralizing transitions of urban energy systems, particularly solar photovoltaic and thermal technologies, require a comprehensive assessment of their sociotechnical co-evolution – how technologies and social responses evolve together and how their co-evolution affects urban planning and energy policies. So far, urban planning literature has mainly focused on the impact of physical urban forms on efficiency of energy consumption, overlooking how the dynamics of new energy technologies and associated social responses affect local systems of energy infrastructure, the built environments and their residents. This paper provides an interdisciplinary review on the co-evolving technical and social dynamics of DES focusing on Distributed Generation (DG), MicroGrids (MG), and Smart MicroGrids (SMG), in order to draw insights for their integration in urban planning and policy, in particular reference to climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the simultaneous scheduling of electrical vehicles and responsive loads to reduce operation cost and emission in presence of wind and PV powers in microgrid. In the proposed method, the electrical vehicles are used for peak shaving and load curve modification while the responsive loads are employed to supply the reserves needed to compensate the intrinsic uncertainties of wind and PV powers. Furthermore, a developed two-stage model is proposed to determine the expected operation cost of microgrid (energy and reserve). In the first stage, the generation and reserve power costs are minimized while in the second stage, the costs associated with unit scheduling changes resulting from wind and PV power variations are minimized. The proposed model is implemented in a microgrid with various distributed generations. The simulation results have shown that the incorporation of electrical vehicles and responsive loads leads to decrease the system operation costs and emissions while the uncertainties related to wind and PV are compensated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to present a survey of the Perturbed-based Extremum Seeking Control (PESC) methods and their applications in Photovoltaic (PV) arrays under Partially Shaded Conditions (PSCs). A new PESC scheme is also proposed to seek and track the Global Maximum Power Point (GMPP) of the PV power. This scheme has better performance than other GMPP methods and it may revive the specialists׳ interest in applying this PESC scheme in PV applications and others multimodal problems from industry. Different PV and nonlinear multimodal patterns were used to test the proposed control scheme. The results obtained have shown very good performance related to search speed and tracking accuracy of the GMPP under different PSCs simulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of renewable energy technologies (RET), like solar and wind power plants, into a power system introduces both expansion and operational challenges. Earlier studies have indicated the requirements for additional backup power facilities requirements for every addition of RET plants, due to the unique generation characteristics of these RET plants. Of late, alternative strategies of creating power storage facilities using power from RETs and drawing constant supply from such storage facilities are drawing the attention of power system planners. In this paper, generation expansion planning (GEP) mathematical modeling studies are carried for a candidate power system, to study the impact of introduction of solar power plant with storage facility. The study is planned in a four-level hierarchy, based on (a) investment strategies of introducing solar plants as an alternative candidate plant or as a replacement of existing high emission plants (HEP) (b) whether the solar plant with storage (SPWS) or with no storage (SPWNS) capacity and (c) inclusion of treatment/penalty costs on emissions from high emission plants. The sensitivity of the system performance factors, like, the capacity added, overall costs and EENS for variations in assumed Forced outage rate (FOR%) for SPWNS and SPWS is also carried for assumed solar penetration levels of 5–10% and 10–20% for 6-year and 14-year planning horizons. The system performance was highly sensitive to the assumed FOR%. The model investigations offer an encouraging scenario in power system planning when SPWS is introduced as an alternative investment candidate plants into the system. This study, while attempting to illustrate the complexity of decision making process in introducing solar plants into an existing system provides a four-level hierarchy in understanding comprehensive set of policy issues that might arise in GEP and enables planners to adopt situation-specific solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of micro-grid should be in such a way that a safe and secure protection is provided in both grid-connected and stand-alone operation modes. Nevertheless, the function of micro-grid in these two modes creates some new protection problems. During grid-connected operation mode, since micro-grid provides a large short-circuit current to the fault point, the protection can be performed by existing protective devices within the distribution networks, but in islanded mode, fault currents are drastically lower than those of grid-connected mode; hence, the employment of traditional overcurrent-based protective devices in micro-grids is no longer valid. In order to overcome this challenge, different approaches have recently appeared in the literatures. This paper presents a micro-grid protection scheme based on positive-sequence impedance using Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and designed Microprocessor- Based Relays (MBRs) along with a digital communication system. The proposed scheme has the ability to protect radial and looped micro-grids against different types of faults with the capability of single-phase tripping. Furthermore, since the MBRs are capable of updating their pickup values (upstream and downstream equivalent positive-sequence impedances of each line) after the first change in the micro-grid configuration (such as transferring from grid-connected to islanded mode and or disconnection of a line, bus, or DG either in grid-connected mode or in islanded mode), they can protect micro-grid lines and buses against subsequent faults. Finally, in order to verify the effectiveness of the suggested scheme and the designed MBR, several simulations have been undertaken by using DIgSILENT PowerFactory and MATLAB software packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has an active participation in global solar energy contribution through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and its many states are also walking hand in hand with the national government through individual state solar policies. The state of Gujarat, through the ‘Gujarat Solar Power Policy 2009 (GSPP 2009)’, has been leading the country in solar power generation. The feed-in-tariff based GSPP 2009 is a unique experiment of the state to develop individual solar projects as well as public-private partnership based large-scale ‘solar parks’. Of the about 2700 MW (in September 2014) installed solar energy capacity in India, Gujarat occupies a share of more than 900 MW. This paper, through semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with project developers involved in implementation of the Charanka solar park, Gujarat, investigates the industry perspectives on the GSPP 2009. With an installed capacity of 216 MW (in April 2012), the Charanka Solar Park is the Asia׳s largest solar park. Findings from this study indicate that the attractive fixed feed-in-tariff and strong implementation mechanisms are the key strengths of the policy. On the other hand, the key challenges are lack of trust of financial institutions on solar energy projects, and tradability and bankability of the solar power purchase agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than a decade ago, in China׳s electric power industry, the investment for generation side and power grids was inadequate and the gap between power supply and demand kept enlarging. In order to relief the problems above, power industry reform has been carried out in 2002 under the guidance of “No. 5 Document” by the Central Government. The reform in 2002 has made a series of achievements, including the enhancement of operation efficiency of power industry and the fulfillment of power demand all over the country. During the past decade, as the rapid development of the society and economy, the external environment of China׳s power industry has changed greatly. However, the pricing and planning mechanism of China׳s power industry still operates following the requirements of “No. 5 Document”, this has led to a number of problems including twisted pricing mechanism, irrational power system planning, inefficient utilization of renewable energy and so on. These problems have not only hindered the development of power industry in China for quite a long time, but also brought negative influence on the business operation of upstream and downstream industries. Therefore, Chinese government has issued “No. 9 Document” in 2015 and launched a new round of power industry reform. Policies were carried out to form new pricing mechanism, new policies about renewable energy generation and power system planning process to solve the problems mentioned above. This paper has reviewed the history of reform in 2002 and summarized the existing problems of China׳s power industry. Besides, the main policies of “No. 9 Document” were deeply analyzed, and their significance as well as backwards were illustrated. At last, solutions were proposed accordingly and these solutions have considerable theoretical and practical significance to China׳s electric power industry reform in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geothermal energy piles utilize the almost constant ground temperature at shallow depths below the ground surface to heat and/or cool built structures. Heat is extracted from and/or injected into the ground through the use of a heat carrier fluid that flows in pipes attached to the reinforcement cage of the pile foundations. The performance of the energy piles can be improved by enhancing the heat exchange between the heat carrier fluid and the ground. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence from literature on multidisciplinary methods to improve the thermal properties of elements in a geothermal energy pile. Geometrical optimization such as the number of pipes and their arrangement can be done to reduce the total pile thermal resistance. Nanofluids can be used as the heat carrier fluid to enhance the fluid conductive and convective heat transfer. Highly thermally conductive fillers can be mixed with the pipe material to enhance its thermal conductivity. The thermal properties of the concrete can also be enhanced by adding highly thermo-conductive materials to the concrete mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iran is rich in energy resources and oil has dominated the politico-socio-economic life of this country, but nevertheless Iran has no documented policy and vision for its massive resources. This poses a major challenge to policy makers and the society. It is necessary to have a clear picture of Iran׳s energy status in recent years showing the flow of energy supply, demand, consumption, import and export to know how the energy situation in Iran is and identify its weaknesses and strengths. This paper is the first step in that direction and presents an overview of Iran energy situation and the potential and current state of renewable energy application. The status of energy in Iran is compared to world’s energy status via five key factors, and finally this comparison shows hints for designing roadmap of energy for Iran to attain sustainable and secure energy in long term. The novel contribution of this work is the STEEP analysis of Iran energy situation for designing the long-term supporting mechanisms for sustainable and secure energy for Iran based on Social (S), Technological (T), Economical (E), Environmental (E) and Political (P) criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the problem of generation expansion planning and the integration of an increasing share of renewable energy sources (RES) technologies in the power grid. A survey of papers addressing the use of optimization models for electricity generation planning is presented. From this, an electricity planning model able to integrate thermal and RES power plants was proposed. An analysis of different electricity scenarios for a mixed hydro–thermal–wind power system is presented using the proposed mixed integer optimization model. The results show the importance of these tools to support the strategic energy policy decision making under different regulatory or political scenarios. The expected impacts in terms of costs and CO 2 emissions are evaluated for a 10 year planning period, and a set of optimal scenarios is analyzed. The use of the model to obtain and characterize close to optimal scenarios is shown to be strategically useful. In particular the impact of different wind power scenarios is addressed, demonstrating the relevance of assessing other possible strategies that, despite not being original Pareto solutions, may be worth considering by the decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper empirically examines the impact of energy prices on economic growth in Pakistan using various channel variables. For this purpose, a macroeconometric model is estimated using GMM estimation technique using quarterly data for the period 1991–2011. The results indicate that the overall effect of energy prices on growth is negative, confirming results from existing empirical literature for Pakistan. However, our methodology allows us to go beyond previous research and describe what drives this overall result. We find evidence that high energy price decreases real interest rate, investment and stock prices. It also decreases the real value of local currency. High energy price puts pressure on government expenditures and increases unemployment in the country. The results reveal that energy price positively affects output growth through its impact on real interest rate and government consumption, while it negatively affects output growth through investment, stock prices, real exchange rate and unemployment. The results show that most of the effect of energy price on economic growth is captured by stock prices, real exchange rate, government consumption and unemployment. In turn, real interest rate and investment captures a small effect of energy price on economic growth. The study highlights that to improve economic growth policy makers in Pakistan should design appropriate policies to control energy prices and to plan energy conservative policies that will motivate to explore alternative energy sources to meet high energy demand in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is an important factor in achieving a low-carbon economic development path in China. This paper investigates the factors influencing renewable electricity consumption in China. Specifically, the factors that influence the share of renewable electricity in total electricity consumption in China is investigated using data from 1980 to 2011 and employing the Johansen cointegration technique and vector error correction model. The result of the analysis shows that there is a long run relationship between renewable electricity consumption and GDP per capita, trade openness, foreign direct investment, financial development and share of fossil fuel in energy consumption. Economic development and financial development promotes renewable electricity consumption while foreign direct investment, trade openness and the lobby of conventional energy sources undermine the share of renewables in total electricity consumption in China. While the effects of shocks to the other variables appear to die out over time, the “lobby effect” is persistent and explosive. The results also show that there is a uni-directional short run causality from financial development to renewable electricity consumption and from renewable electricity consumption to trade openness. The Chinese government should pursue policies that not only increase the amount of renewable electricity, but also increase the share of renewables in total electricity consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Falling costs and supportive government policies have seen remarkable growth in residential photovoltaic systems in jurisdictions around the world. While there have been detailed studies of the financial attractiveness of PV for home owners under different policy and retail market arrangements, there has been less consideration of the impacts of such systems on some other key industry participants. In this paper we undertake an investigation of the annual short-term revenue impacts of PV systems for those households installing them, for their electricity retailers and network service providers (NSPs), and for all electricity customers more in general, in the Australian State of NSW. We use actual half-hourly PV generation and electricity consumption for 80 households in Sydney to estimate the ‘real world’ impacts of a range of former, current and possible future PV policy and retail tariff arrangements including gross and net Feed-in-Tariffs (FiT). We found that the short-term revenue impacts differ significantly for different commercial arrangements and, are highly variable and largely driven by the PV performance and its match with household consumption patterns. Results highlight that current net metering policies in Australia with low net FiT rates may provide only moderate revenue incentives to households, yet quite adverse revenue impacts on NSPs and retailers depending on the level of PV export. While NSP short-term revenue losses will likely involve increasing electricity tariffs in the longer term, losses for retailers may add risks to the profitability of household customers with PV. The challenge for policy makers is to facilitate socially valuable PV deployment whilst appropriately managing the impacts on all key electricity industry stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of new-power generation sources, the difference between maximum and minimum power requirements from a power grid is growing. However, the peaking power installed capacity, such as pumped-hydro energy storage and gas-fired power, is too small to meet the peaking regulation requirements. Chinese coal-based energy resources structure determines coal-fired power plants to be the main source of power. This means that coal-fired power units will need to undertake more peak shaving tasks for a long period of time. In this paper, we provide an overall review of China׳s coal-fired power units׳ peak regulation with a detailed presentation of the installed capacity, peak shaving operation modes and support policies. High energy-consumption problems, environmental pollutants and safety barriers when coal-fired power units run in low-load operation are noted from the power generation perspective. Some policy recommendations are given to solve the peak shaving problem to some extent and to ensure the sustainable development of the power energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses biogas production in East Africa and the implications to household income and sustainable development. A household model that links livestock, biogas and crop production is analyzed. A base model was compared with three scenarios with an increase in crop yield from the use of bioslurry. The results demonstrated that investing in biogas plants only for energy replacement would not give farmers positive benefits at the current interest rates. The combined effects of lower interest and increases in yield could encourage farmers׳ investments in biogas plants that could lead to increases in household income and food security and reduction in deforestation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Malaysian government has attempted to develop renewable energy (RE) through newly introduced regulatory supports after 30 years of failure to achieve a greater than one percent non-hydroelectric RE share in the total power mix. The government is currently assessing the onshore wind energy potential in Malaysia to determine the possibility of including wind energy in its FiT scheme. However, wind energy development in this low-energy location is not as straightforward as it would seem. Many previous wind studies in Malaysia have relied on poor data and simplistic or inadequate methodologies, resulting in grossly inaccurate estimates of wind potential. Moreover, two wind turbine generator demonstration projects executed by the government have failed. However, above all, the greatest factor impairing the progress of RE development in Malaysia is the weak and uncertain political support of these efforts. This lack of robust support is particularly true where fossil fuels are still heavily subsidised amid the subsidy reform in 2013. A review of global wind energy development shows that successful projects depend heavily on a sound and robust regulatory framework supported by strong and consistent political will. This dependence is not observed in Malaysia, where the government continues to subsidise private independent fossil fuel power producers but levies taxes on electricity consumers to fund RE development. These levies do not effectively support RE development, given the magnitude of the RE fund compared to fossil fuel subsidies. In the absence of strong and sincere political will, the progress of RE development in Malaysia has been notably slow. As a result, the prospect of wind energy development in Malaysia currently remains vague. This paper discusses the above issues in detail and recommends selected regulatory mechanisms based on the global experience of supporting RE development in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]