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Rapid growth in population and economic development in Iran and its neighboring countries has resulted in a dramatic increase in electricity demand over the past few years. A substantial amount of electricity must be produced to meet this growing demand in this region. By installing conventional fossil power plants, using renewable energy, and interconnecting with neighboring countries, this growing demand can be accomplished. The main aim of this research is to identify prospects and challenges in the electrical sector around Iran. To this end, this paper evaluates the existing and future state of the electrical sector in Iran and its neighboring countries. Despite the fact that there is still a long way to go in terms of renewable energy in this region, there are some promising targets for the future that will allow fossil fuels to be replaced effectively. Notwithstanding this, we should point out that a number of cross-border interconnection projects are being pursued by Iran and its neighbors in order to integrate their networks and supply this growing demand. Finally, this study presents an overview of the future prospects and challenges of electricity capacity expansion, cross-border interconnections, and electricity transmission corridors in this region. The review results provide comprehensive background knowledge to all the researchers in order to investigate further into the field. This paper assists energy policy makers regarding the development of sustainable energy planning. • •In addition to providing a general overview of the geographical location, population growth, and economic indicators of Iran and its neighboring countries, this paper presents the current state of the Iranian electricity sector and its neighboring countries in light of the trends in electricity production, energy mix, price, and exports and imports. • •This paper explores the existing and future states of electricity capacity expansion in the region, specifically focusing on renewable energy sources. • •The existing and future states of cross-border electricity interconnections are examined to present a comprehensive overview of the cross-border interconnections in this region. • •This region's potential electricity transmission corridors are proposed to create the opportunity to transmit electricity across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the banner of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), governments, industry, and civil society organisations have supported many energy access projects since 2015. Notably, funding and investments allotted to renewable energy are regarded not only to provide 'energy for all' but also support the delivery of other SDGs related to climate change, food security, health, and poverty reduction, among others. With less than 10 years left to meet the SDG 7 targets, it is timely to take stock and examine how the provision of access to energy is driving development initiatives, impacting local communities, and influencing governance processes. This paper offers a critical review and analysis of the impact of access to energy projects based on empirical work from eight country case studies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It interrogates how these projects contribute towards achieving SDG 7 and other sustainable development goals, highlights challenges, and then draws lessons for research, policy, and development practice. To advance SDGs, it recommends action in four areas: addressing rural-urban disparities, ensuring that energy is linked to sustainable outcomes, balancing top-down and bottom-up agendas, and appraising implications of techno-economic factors. [Display omitted] • Energy access has been constrained by multiple factors outside of policy decisions. • Governance decisions have overlooked local actors who are key to project sustainability. • Improved efficiency is more vital to energy security and access than increased generation. • Alignment between policies, governance processes, and institutional commitments is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy scarcity and environmental pollution from biogenic residues and wastes are major challenges in the 21st century, which can be converted to useful renewable energy and reduce environmental threats. In Bangladesh, a tremendous amount of biogenic residues is generated which remains largely underutilized. Mono-digestion, which is a common practice in Bangladesh for biogenic residue processing, resulted in low biogas yield. However, Bangladesh has a vast source of biogenic residues which can be utilized through anaerobic co-digestion to increase biogas production. In this paper, a desk study and comprehensive review has been conducted in finding potentiality of biogenic residues in biogas production from available biogenic residues in Bangladesh. Research studies on co-digestion of biogenic residues were reviewed critically, and their practices and benefits on energy production and impact on the environment were stipulated in this study. The study shows that co-digestion of biogenic residues in appropriate ratio increases the biogas production, improves digested quality and reduces GHG emissions. [Display omitted] • Biogas production potential from agricultural and livestock sectors were analyzed. • State of art co-digestion options of animal dung as main feedstock was reviewed. • Co-digestion of crop residues and animal dung lessened environmental burden. • Digestate can be used as bio fertilizer or converted into other forms of fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional petrol vehicles emit a substantial quantity of greenhouse gases, leading to increasingly serious global warming problems. The expansion and development of renewable power generation technologies is conducive in promoting the use of electric vehicles, which are more environmentally friendly. This paper proposes a multi-objective power expansion model considering renewable energy policy objectives. The model regards the problem as a multi-period optimisation task, taking the newly installed capacity and the power generation capacity of each power generation technology as decision variables, and simulating the uncertain factors in the planning process using Geometric Brownian Motion and Monte Carlo approaches. The optimisation objective of the model is to minimise expected costs, reduce risk and environmental impacts, and incorporate changing policy objectives into the constraints to meet policy makers' expectations for renewable energy development. Then, a decentralised target search-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is proposed to solve the model. Its effectiveness is verified by a numerical example using real data from the Chinese power system. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm exhibits improved performance compared with benchmark algorithms and provides high quality and diverse Pareto-optimal solutions to decision makers. Finally, the optimal plans for power expansion and generation mix under different preferences and policy objectives are discussed and corresponding recommendations are made. [Display omitted] • Planning for the expansion of power generation under uncertainties is determined. • Strategies for the expansion of power generation towards renewable energy are optimised. • A novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with a constraint handling method is developed. • The impact of multiple renewable energy policies on power generation expansion planning is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One crucial requirement for power systems is the necessity to enhance flexibility, enabling the seamless integration of a substantial amount of renewable energy generation. While flexibility holds significance in current power systems, the escalating penetration of renewable energy resources emphasizes an ongoing and growing need for flexibility in the future, given the intermittent nature of these energy sources. To address the crucial aspects of decarbonization for sustainable development and recognizing decentralization as a strategy for grid development, this research concentrates on flexibility in the context of microgrids. Diverging from many existing review papers that explore flexibility in the broader power system context, this study pioneers an investigation from the local energy system's perspective, introducing a novel classification of flexibility resources. The exploration begins with elucidating various concepts and definitions of flexibility. Subsequently, flexibility resources available to microgrids are systematically categorized based on the operation modes. A comprehensive review of conducted research follows, highlighting diverse categories and emphasizing primary flexibility resources. Special attention is given to recent concepts such as power-to-gas/hydrogen conversion, using electrolyzers as flexible loads for (green) hydrogen production, and various storage devices, as they offer flexibility during both off-grid and grid-connected operation modes in microgrids. Furthermore, a comparative analysis is undertaken, detailing the objective function(s) and flexibility resources employed in different research studies. To quantify flexibility, the latest metrics are categorized and explained. The study concludes by presenting suggestions for future research directions and summarizing key findings. [Display omitted] • Reviewing the concept of flexibility from the point of view of microgrids. • Novel classification for flexibility resources based on microgrids operating modes. • Special attention to recent technologies such as power-to-gas/hydrogen. • A comparative analysis, detailing the objective function(s) and flexibility resources. • Categorization and explanation of the latest flexibility metrics and their application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual power plants possess the capability to effectively manage the inherent conflict between dispersed electricity generation and user demand, hence optimising market advantages. Nevertheless, the presence of severe weather conditions, geopolitical factors, the phenomenon of global warming, and several other global concerns greatly enhance the level of uncertainty related to the establishment of sustainable energy sources and the corresponding demand from users. Consequently, these factors expose the limitations of virtual power plants in effectively controlling power supply. The active involvement of community members has the potential to invigorate the process of development. This study presents a novel model, referred to as the CE-based cVPP (CE-cVPP) model, that combines the principles of circular economy (CE) and community-based virtual power plant (cVPP). The objective of this model is to enhance the effectiveness of sustainable development efforts. This research redefines the concept of a CE-cVPP, elucidates its defining features, scopes, and classification, and constructs a technological framework, together with an explanatory community case structure. The CE-cVPP energy life cycle framework is constructed based on the principles of the circular economy paradigm. This study investigates the enduring and sustainable benefits of the CE-cVPP across four dimensions: energy, environment, economics, and society. In conclusion, this paper provides a comprehensive examination of the energy, digital, and circular economy perspectives, encompassing critical analysis, problems, prospective analysis, and future directions. • Circular economy and community-based Virtual Power Plant (CE-cVPP) is a paradigm for the future energy sector. • CE-cVPP is a novel sustainable pattern that combines circular economy and community virtual power plants. • CE-cVPP features renewable energy, electricity, gas, cold, heat, and biodegradable waste. • CE-cVPP promotes economic, social, and ecological sustainability. • CE-cVPPs enhance the power and energy system's adaptability, versatility, and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community renewable energy is increasing globally, but many northern and remote Indigenous communities remain energy insecure. Community appropriate sustainable energy solutions requires more than building renewable energy projects – it requires local socio-technical capacity to design, implement, and maintain renewable energy projects. Yet, notwithstanding advances in renewable energy technology there is limited understanding of the socio-technical capacity of northern and remote Indigenous communities to engage in energy transitions. Based on a review of energy transitions scholarship and northern contexts and informed by a workshop engaging northern and Indigenous community members from Canada and Alaska, this paper presents foundational pillars for assessing the socio-technical capacity needs of communities to pursue and sustain local energy transitions. These pillars are inter-dependent and emphasize the importance of local energy champions and inter-local energy networks to enable innovation and capacity building; community values that articulate immediate and longer-term goals for energy transition, including the social and economic opportunities to be realized by a more sustainable energy system; community knowledge of local energy resources, technologies, and opportunities, and embedded skills to support transitions; and the skills innovation to pursue and manage new energy systems, coupled with youth engagement as future community energy leaders. The proposed framework is intended to support the early stages of community energy transition planning. • Energy transition in remote communities involves more than building new projects. • Socio-technical capacity is critical to renewable energy security in remote off-grid areas. • Seven pillars are proposed to guide local capacity assessment for community energy. • Renewable energy in remote communities means self-sufficiency and self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the demand for renewable energy continues to rise, the significance of electrocatalysis research for hydrogen production has also increased. To explore the developmental trends in this field, a scientometric-assisted review was conducted using clustering analysis of keywords from 43,564 papers published between 2013 and 2022. The results of the study demonstrate a globally diverse research landscape, with contributions from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. China emerges as the most prolific contributor, with consistent growth in research productivity over the past decade. The USA, South Korea, India, and Germany were among the top five leading countries in electrocatalysis research. Singapore, USA, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Germany lead research impact, measured by total citations per total paper. China has the highest collaboration in electrocatalysis research, with collaborations with the USA, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the UK, Germany, Canada, Korea, and India. Importantly, the study reveals six clusters of electrocatalysis research, with different author keywords, each covering a range of topics and materials. The implications of each of the six clusters in electrocatalysis are examined critically. This study offers valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and funding organizations in making critical decisions by identifying the main themes and trends in hydrogen evolution through electrocatalysis research. • To explore the developmental trends in this field, a scientometric-assisted review was conducted on renewable energy • The results of the study demonstrate a globally diverse research landscape. • This study offers valuable insights in hydrogen evolution through electrocatalysis research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to the massive entrance of new renewable energies such as wind or solar, hydraulic turbines have to work far from its designed point and withstanding multiple transients, such as starts and stops, that shorten the useful life of the machine and cause fatigue damages. The present paper reviews the complex problem of fatigue in Francis turbines particularly focused on the experimental data available for static and dynamic stresses. For this purpose, many researches, which include different Francis turbines covering a wide range of design head and power, have been considered. The experimental stresses characteristics measured with strain gauges installed on the turbine runner and obtained from previous works have been analyzed for the different operating conditions and transient states occurring in the normal life of actual Francis units. The actual computational capabilities and techniques typically used to estimate such stresses have been discussed in detail. Potential future techniques to simplify complex strain measurements on the turbine runner, computational and statistical methods to estimate turbine stresses are reviewed in this paper. Finally, the relative damage of the different operating conditions and useful life estimation of the turbine, based on past strain measurements of the runner, are addressed. Highlights • This paper reviews the complexity of fatigue life estimation of Francis turbines in all the involved steps. • Data and conclusions of different manufacturers and researchers are summarized and compared. • The main characteristics of stresses have been identified and the capabilities of numerical techniques discussed. • Potential future experimental and numerical techniques to simplify actual experimental measurements are shown. • Existing data of relative damages has been compared. Probabilistic fatigue models in hydro turbines have been addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract African countries are in a unique position to reap the socio-economic and environmental benefits of renewable resources as a means for meeting increasing energy demand in a sustainable way. A critical obstacle for the deployment of renewable energy technologies in Africa is the difficulty of attracting sufficient and affordable finance. This paper compares the impact of financial conditions on the cost of electricity generation across six renewable and three fossil-based technologies in 46 African countries. The results show large cost variations and highlight the extent to which renewables are disadvantaged by current financial practices. The energy-economy-environment model TIAM-ECN is used to show how lowering financing costs results in a much higher deployment of renewables. For example, solar PV could account for 10–15% of total electricity generation by 2050, even without explicit climate policy, thanks to financial de-risking programmes. The results demonstrate that changes in financing schemes could outweigh the impact of technology learning. This paper also demonstrates that, once ambitious climate policies are in place, reducing financing costs for renewables could be an efficient way to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Financial de-risking is thus a key ingredient for unlocking the renewable energy potential in Africa. Highlights • We show how renewables are disadvantaged by today's financial practices in Africa. • We show how lower financing costs result in a higher deployment of renewables. • PV can account for 10–15% of electricity generation by 2050 without climate policy. • Changes in financing schemes could outweigh the impact of technology learning. • Financial de-risking is key for unlocking the renewable energy potential in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Green and renewable bio-diesel prepared from oils catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) will have a great impact on clean energy structure and industrial application. The core issue of catalytic oils HDO research is still the development of catalysts with high performance, and it has become the research focus of researchers in recent years. The bio-diesel after deoxygenationis similar to petroleum fuel in composition, which has better fuelproperties because of its higher cetane number, higher energy density, and very low sulfur content. Therefore, the prepared bio-diesel can be employed directly in fuel industry. In order to ensure that the catalyst has superior deoxidization performances, it should have good "H-H" dissociation ability, "C-O" and "C=O" adsorption and activation abilities. To obtain the expected products, feasible production processes, and suitable catalyst systems are needed. In this paper, the status and reaction system of oil HDO conversion in recent years are reviewed, and the catalytic performances of the corresponding catalyst in the oil HDO reaction is described in detail. In addition, this review also involed the effects of support, promoters, interaction between active components and support on the HDO activity and selectivity, and detailed information about the reaction mechanism. The HDO performances of the corresponding catalyst can be effectively improved by optimizing the active components and controlling the properties of the support. The catalyst used into the HDO reaction is mainly concentrated on the supported catalyst. In addition, the choice of the support is based on the prepared catalyst with the best physical and chemical properties. What's more, ensuring the prepared catalyst has simple deoxidation route, suitable acid strength, high "C-O" hydrogenolysis activity and low carbon deposition performances. The selection of the metal active component mainly depends on the model compound, owing to the deoxidization pathway of the model compound is mainly determined by the active center. The reaction pathway mainly contains hydrolysis, HDO, cracking, hydrogenation, decarbonylation, and decarboxylation reaction. In addition, several outlooks on the development of catalyst with high performance, the future research, and the development direction of bio-diesel produced by oils HDO reaction are also addressed in this paper. Highlights • Green and renewable bio-diesel can be prepared from oils catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). • Noble metal catalysts and non noble metal catalysts each have advantages in oil hydrodeoxygenation. • The development of new catalyst is beneficial to hydrodeoxygenation of oils to produce bio-diesel. • Deep excavation of hydrodeoxygenation mechanism is conducive to prepare catalysts with superior performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Renewable energy targets announced in 2014 present an opportunity to reform Indonesia's electricity sector which is dominated by fossil fuels. In this paper we discuss Indonesia's current renewable energy policies and future outlook for achieving the targets. This paper serves as a literature review of Indonesia's changing energy policy landscape, as part of a broader research investigating renewable energy targets and the role of the private sector. Despite Indonesia's wealth of renewable energy resources, numerous studies have identified multiple constraints to the development of renewable energy, including geographical, institutional and investment factors. Influential groups are calling for the Indonesian Government to put in place a clear policy framework that facilitates private sector investment. Therefore, interventions to facilitate investment in energy infrastructure in Indonesia must address the monopolised power market system that oversees a changing, complex malaise of electricity pricing regulations which make investment risky and uncertain. This study will enrich the existing literature on renewable energy policy which emphasises the importance of engaging the private sector. It is based on a rigorous qualitative assessment of Indonesia's changing policy that affects the progress of the renewable energy targets. The lessons from Indonesia's experience may provide insights for policymakers notably in developing countries.Keywords: energy in Indonesia, private sector investment, renewable energy Highlights • Indonesia's renewable energy targets show awareness of the need for renewable energy to solve the energy trilemma challenge. • The targets represent forward thinking policy that moves from the abstract to measurable targets. • Private sector participation is imperative to address today's under investmentin Indonesia's electricity infrastructure. • Indonesia needs to reinforce its commitment to renewable energy to resolve constraints impeding private sector investment. • Indonesia needs to embark on electricity sector reform that encompasses decarbonisation as part of its strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Energy systems are quickly evolving through the development of new technologies and the emergence of new operational and market design paradigms. In particular, the global push for sustainability is driving the transition towards a pronounced redesign. In fact, renewable energy integration is occurring at a massive scale, and several other exciting developments are finding their place in modern energy systems, such as distributed energy resources, demand response, energy storage technologies, and local energy markets. In this dynamic context, the process of energy policy design and implementation has found new challenges, and in supporting this key process, expansion planning models and tools can play an essential role. For example, these models can be employed to estimate the impact of a multitude of policy instruments. Thus, there is a wide interest in these tools and a variety of such models, as evidenced by a rich literature and a fast-paced evolution of this research area. Motivated by this, this work presents a comprehensive and up-to-date review on expansion planning models and tools with emphasis on their application to energy policy analysis. In particular, this paper reviews the most significant policy instruments, with an emphasis in renewable energy integration, the optimization models that have been developed for expansion planning, and existing decision-support tools for energy policy analysis. Finally, this paper also discusses the trends in the literature and the most pressing current challenges in the development and use of expansion planning models for energy policy analysis. Highlights • Provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview on expansion planning models. • Reviews the most significant policy instruments with an emphasis in renewable energy integration. • Describes the salient features of using expansion models on energy policy analysis. • Discusses the future trends and challenges of smart grid technologies on expansion models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents a thorough review of 75 modelling tools currently used for analysing energy and electricity systems. Increased activity within model development in recent years has led to several new models and modelling capabilities, partly motivated by the need to better represent the integration of variable renewables. The purpose of this paper is to give an updated overview of currently available modelling tools, their capabilities and to serve as an aid for modellers in their process of identifying and choosing an appropriate model. A broad spectrum of modelling tools, ranging from small-scale power system analysis tools to global long-term energy models, has been assessed. Key information regarding the general logic, spatiotemporal resolution as well as the technological and economic features of the models is presented in three comprehensive tables. This information has been validated and updated by model developers or affiliated contact persons, and is state-of-the-art as of the submission date. With the available suite of modelling tools, most challenges of today's electricity system can be assessed. For a future with an increasing share of variable renewables and increasing electrification of the energy system, there are some challenges such as how to represent short-term variability in long-term studies, incorporate the effect of climate change and ensure openness and transparency in modelling studies. Highlights • We review 75 modelling tools currently used for analysing energy and electricity systems. • Updated and validated key information about the models is presented. • The paper can aid new modellers to choose an appropriate model for their purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In recent years, providing green and reliable energy supply to islands has appeared in the strategic plans of many countries. This paper introduces three representative island microgrids that have been built and are operating in the East China Sea. Key technologies of the island microgrids are discussed, including the analysis of island resources and load, selection of energy storage, control strategies, and energy management systems. Through analyzing their operation data for one year, this paper demonstrates the impacts of the three microgrids from the perspectives of technology, economics, and sustainability. Summarizing the experiences and insights gained from their construction and operation, this paper provides references for the future development of island microgrid projects. Highlights • Three representative island microgrids in the East China Sea are demonstrated. • Key technologies such as control technology and energy management for island microgrids are studied. • Renewable energy penetration is discussed for the design and operation of island microgrids. • The operation data for a year of the three island microgrids are analyzed from various aspects. • Experiences and insights gained from the construction and operation are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small island developing states of the Pacific suffer from both the high cost of fossil fuel imports and from numerous climate-related disasters. These vulnerabilities will worsen unless there is a substantial global shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy (RE) sources, coupled with significant improvements in energy efficiency. Apart from traditional biomass-fuelled cooking, the most substantial uses of RE in the Pacific in 2016 were hydropower in some of the hillier island countries and the thousands of household photovoltaic (PV) systems in the remoter parts of island countries. This paper considers also the prospects for grid PV, geothermal, and biofuels – all of which have good technical potential in at least some islands. Barriers to wider use of RE in the region are mostly institutional and financial, but also include opportunity costs, environmental factors, and the limited skills base in small island states. The paper examines the mixed progress since the 1990s towards overcoming these barriers. The Fiji Electricity Authority has a reasonably realistic plan to have 81% of its supply from RE by 2020, drawing on hydropower (~ 50% in 2015), biomass (including bagasse), and some solar and wind. Tonga has its Renewable Energy Roadmap with clear milestones. Several other Pacific Island countries have ambitious RE targets but some are rather vague about how they are to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liberalization of electricity markets and the development of renewable energy sources has led to new challenges for decision makers. These challenges are accompanied by an increasing uncertainty about future electricity price movements. The increasing amount of papers, which aim to model and predict electricity prices for a short period of time provided new opportunities for market participants. However, the electricity price literature seem to be very scarce on the issue of medium- to long-term price forecasting, which is mandatory for investment and political decisions. Our paper closes this gap by introducing a new approach to simulate electricity prices with hourly resolution for several months up to three years. Considering the uncertainty of future events we are able to provide probabilistic forecasts which are able to detect probabilities for price spikes even in the long-run. As market we decided to use the EPEX day-ahead electricity market for Germany and Austria. Our model extends the X-Model which mainly utilizes the sale and purchase curve for electricity day-ahead auctions. By applying our procedure we are able to give probabilities for the due to the EEG practical relevant event of six consecutive hours of negative prices. We find that using the supply and demand curve based model in the long-run yields realistic patterns for the time series of electricity prices and leads to promising results considering common error measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical energy becomes necessary for human being. Generation of electrical energy mostly depends on fossils fuel, they are limited in nature and also responsible for environmental pollution. Renewable energy resources provides a better alternative for future,In comparison to conventional energy resources economical aspect is a major issue of renewable energy sources with the feasibility and efficiency. These limitations are tried to overcome by deployment hybrid renewable energy resources. There are certain criteria to analyze and implement the sized, optimized and cost efficient system. This paper focus on hybrid energy systems based on solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind resources. This paper shed lights on various parameters of economic feasibility, sizing strategies with logical advancements to enhance their utilization, future prospects, and their arrangement. Strategies to develop an effective storage system is also presented here.A brief review on developments in optimization techniques, reliability index and cost analyzing techniques for hybrid renewable energy systems are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the barriers that inhibit the deployment of renewable energy technologies to achieve long-term reductions in carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels is paramount to Barbados. Although there are targets towards renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal) uptake, the share of these technologies in the energy mix does not exist in Barbados due to the total dependence on fossil fuels. In this paper, a review of potential challenges and the main problems for deployment of alternative energy sources is presented. Through interviews, questionnaires with a focus group of key personnel's, the paper documents the lack of renewable energy sources (with emphasis on solar energy) as one of the main alternatives to meet the carbon emission targets set by the country. The barriers and challenges facing the implementation of solar energy deployment have been clarified. From the results, it is evident that significant policy barriers still exist at the country level, which has reduced the effectiveness of a concerted national effort to deploy renewables. The current policy landscape which benefits from fossil fuel imports, the lack of technical know-how and the lack of research and development in the renewable energy space are amongst the key barriers identified. The paper also outlines the key policy's frameworks, regulatory environment and the lack of incentives, which encompasses the renewable energy sector, and presents a critical analysis of the barriers faced by the industry. A mitigation framework is proposed to bridge the gap of solar energy (renewable energy) deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on feature selection problems that arise in renewable energy applications. Feature selection is an important problem in machine learning, both in classification and regression problems. In renewable energy systems, feature selection appears related to prediction systems in the most important sources such as wind, solar and marine resources. The objective of the paper is twofold: first, a review of the most important prediction systems for renewable energy applications involving feature selection is carried out. Analysis and discussion of different feature selection problems in prediction systems are considered. We show that wrapper FSP approaches are those mostly used due to their higher performance. They include a diversity of algorithms, prevailing fast-training approaches. The lack of an uniform framework for FSP and the diversity of tackled problems impede a systematic assessment of the performance and properties of the applied methods. Thus, the simultaneously use of several global search mechanisms should be the preferred option. In a second part of the paper, we explore this possibility, by introducing a novel approach for feature selection based on a novel meta-heuristic, the Coral Reefs Optimization algorithm with Substrate Layer. This approach is able to combine different search mechanisms into a single algorithm, providing a global search procedure of high quality. We use an Extreme Learning Machine for prediction within this novel approach. The performance of the system is evaluated in a problem of wind speed prediction from numerical models input, using real data from a wind farm in Spain, where comparison with alternative regression algorithms is carried out. Improvements up to 20% in hourly and daily wind speed prediction are obtained with the proposed system versus the algorithms without the feature selection process considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy situation of the African island states which include Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles are overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels with paradoxically high potential of renewable energy which are sparsely developed. This paper lay emphasis on the present electricity situation in these countries and highlights the potential of renewable energy resources on their territories. Among Africa islands, demographic and economic features are dissimilar and their power sector is complex by unique challenges. It is seen that there is a critical lack of electricity in Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar, which are 21% and 13% respectively, due to political instability and high spending on diesel. Moreover, the electricity consumption per capita is alarming in Guinea-Bissau, Comoros and Madagascar where it is below the average consumption for low income countries. Sustainable energy supply can be achieved by renewable energy sources, however, not all renewable resources are technically and economically feasible for development in these countries, for example wind in Comoros and hydro in Mauritius have little potential – which this paper elaborated further. Based on these analysis, a roadmap was developed, on to how to address some of the energy issues in these countries and accelerate the uptake of renewable energy. Through energy governance reform, political decision makers can drive change within their government, especially when a reform entails opening market opportunities and stimulating private participation and exerting pressure on existing government agencies to work efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observing present scarcity of fossil fuel and emissions of greenhouse gases, electricity generated from Renewable Energy (RE) sources turns out to be the best alternative for generating the power. In RE system, the inverter is normally used to condition the DC power into AC to meet the requirements of load and transmission system. The inverter offers myriad benefits; however, the presence of harmonics (particularly low-order) in the output voltage affects the efficiency and performance of inverter, causes switching losses and decreases the lifetime of the system. In last three decades, significant research has been done to develop the efficient control technique for eliminating the unwanted harmonics. The preliminary review of existing control techniques revealed that the selective harmonic elimination pulse-width modulation (SHEPWM) is more proficient to eliminate the low-order harmonics. However, non-linear transcendental equations used in this technique pose a challenge to solve particularly for calculus-based methods. With the advent of powerful and low-cost computers, bio-inspired intelligent algorithms (BIAs) seem to be a better approach for solving these complex equations. This review paper presents the detailed principle operation of nine well-known BIAs and discusses their application in inverters for harmonic elimination (HE). Moreover, different objective functions are also discussed in this paper which is used by the researchers for HE. Additionally, the performance of five renowned BIAs, namely, Imperialist Competitive Algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization, Differential Evolution, Bee Algorithm and Genetic Algorithm is critically evaluated. Their performance is analyzed in terms of accuracy, computational complexity, convergence speed, and a number of control parameters. The conclusion has been made on the basis of information extracted from the literature and evaluation results with future recommendations. This single paper covers all the essential information regarding HE in inverters, which will help researchers to design the efficient RE conversion system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, there have been several initiatives for the deployment of cross-Mediterranean HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) links to enable the transmission of electrical power from renewable energy sources between North Africa and Europe. These initiatives were mainly driven by the potential economic, environmental and technical benefits of these HVDC interconnections. In previous studies on these projects, some technical aspects of critical importance have not been addressed or studied in sufficient detail. One of these key aspects relates to the impact and possible benefit of these HVDC links on the dynamic performance of the European system which is the major focus of this paper. Several issues relating to the dynamic performance of the system are addressed here. Based on the experience gained from existing AC/DC projects around the world, this paper shows that the HVDC links between North Africa and Europe can greatly improve the dynamic performance of the European system especially in the southern regions. In addition, some challenges on the operation and control of these HVDC links are highlighted and solutions to overcome these challenges are proposed. This review paper, therefore, serves as a preliminary study for further detailed investigation of specific impacts or benefits of these interconnections on the overall performance of the European system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the environmental and energy crisis, many countries around the world are electrifying transportation, which will significantly change the way the current power grid operates. It is expected that the deployment of future smart grids will allow two-way energy and information flows through plug-and-play operation of small distributed mobile power generators like electric vehicles (EVs) to benefit the prosumers and at the same time make the grid more efficient and robust. However, the issues associated with the energy and information transfer, battery technologies, battery charging schemes, their standards and management need to be addressed in order to achieve the full benefits of EV integration in the future smart grids and internet of energy (IoE) with local renewable generation. As the current grid with existing infrastructure cannot ensure maximum benefits from EVs, this paper reviews the EV technologies, their connectivity, impacts on grid and standards required for the efficient and economic operation of EVs with distributed energy resources in the IoE. The evolution, comparison, and storage potential of EV technologies are thoroughly discussed. This paper also extensively reviews the connectivity issues, for example current EV charging schemes, software tools required to design smart charging, associated challenges, and possible solutions. The architecture of distributed energy management schemes with EVs and the IoE is discussed in detail. Finally, the standards related to EV integration, energy transfers, and safety aspects are provided. Based on the comprehensive review, future directions are put forward which will be useful for researchers and engineers working with EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the editorial for the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews joint special issue devoted to the research work discussed and presented at the 11th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES), held from the 4th September to the 9th September 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal and the 2nd South East European (SEE) SDEWES Conference held from June 15th to June 18th, 2016 in Piran, Slovenia. This special issue is in line with the journal's aim of publishing research from across the ever-broadening field of renewable and sustainable energy with a strong review element. Previous SDEWES conference special issues have gathered a significant knowledge base in the field of sustainable development that reflects the continuous research efforts of the SDEWES research community. Therefore, this editorial provides not only an overview of the papers published in this particular special issue, but also a wider overview of the current trends in the domain of sustainable and renewable energy. This year's special issue focuses particularly on the benefits of the bio-based economy, energy security issues, fossil fuel thermal plant alternatives and environmental constraints, district heating and cooling together with cross sector energy efficiency and energy conservation issues. Sustainable transport systems, the issue of fuel poverty in urban neighbourhoods and renewable energy to support development of peripheral rural areas, optimising passive building design for hot climates and solar-powered heating and cooling are further topics featured in this special issue. In the process of selecting papers for this special issue, the guest editors invited in total 23 extended manuscripts for consideration for publication. After a rigorous review process by expert reviewers overseen by the guest editors a total of 16 articles were accepted for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable Energy and Sustainable Supply Chain Management have been extensively studied over the last decade. However, techniques based on the modelling and simulations have not been applied extensively in the supply chain of renewable energy. The main purpose of this study is to identify the latest System Dynamics contributions and trends related to the supply chain of renewable energy. An overview of works published in several journals and related to the application of the System Dynamics approach in Renewable Energy Supply Chain (RESC) is provided. Only 10 papers focusing on the application of system dynamics in RESC were found and these were classified into three groups of analysis. Although the literature is scarce, this work shows the importance of system modelling considering: (i) improving the understanding of supply chain in renewable energy and (ii) developing modelling and simulation approaches in renewable energy systems. This paper represents a source for elaborating a System Dynamics framework applied on RESC and provides a comprehensive bibliography of papers published in the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy demands, environmental impacts of energy conversion, and the depletion of fossil fuels are constant topics of discussion in the energy industry. Renewable energy technologies have been proposed for many years to address these concerns. However, the transformation from traditional methods of power generation, usually based on fossil fuels, to power generation based on renewable resources presents many challenges associated with emerging, or less established, technologies. This paper examines the role of renewable energy in the U.S. and its potential to meet current and future energy needs in a way that is technically and economically sound. Renewable energy technologies, ranging from well-developed and established to new and emerging technologies, are presented in terms of their technical potential, current state of the technology, potential for further growth, and economic potential. While renewable energy sources are abundant across the U.S., issues of dispatchability, variability, scalability, energy storage, geographic limitations, and investment costs are critical in determining future progress. The analysis in this paper can be used to guide the integration of renewable energy systems toward becoming a larger share of energy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy demand across the globe has increased in many folds due to technological advancement, rapid growth in industries and increase in household energy demand. This led the engineers and planners to think and find the means to harvest the alternative energy sources other than the fossil fuel. Solar, wind, biomass, mini hydro are some of the resources used worldwide to generate energy as per the availability of resources. This paper presents a comparative performances of various stand alone solar photovoltaic(PV), grid connected PV and hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) studied across the globe. The standalone PV system is used to supply electricity to a small habitats/hamlets or to a single household. Hybrid energy system consists of two or more energy sources for generation of power for rural electrification in off grid locations and in grid connected PV systems, excess electricity produced is injected to the grid thereby generating additional income. The research works carried out by various researchers around the globe on renewable energy sources particularly for rural electrification is discussed in this paper. Besides this the utilisation of renewable electricity for Plug-in-Electric Vehicles (PEV) studied across the globe were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional technologies of carbon capture and storage (CCS) are being focused on capturing CO 2 in large-scale demonstrations, which has been proved to result in the high cost and energy penalty. Meanwhile, typical innovative measures, commonly defined as the second generation CCS technologies, elude conventional ones by integrating with solar energy and thus contributing to a more energy-efficient conversion of CO 2 . However, few reviews pay attention to thermodynamic processes and parameters of these novel technologies, and there is a lack of systematic evaluation and comparison among them. This paper firstly presents a guided tour on the state-of-art of typical and innovative CCS technologies integrated with solar energy. An overview on thermodynamic processes, including chemical reactions, operating conditions and efficiency indexes of five typical technologies is presented so that the current development level can be clarified. Since the high energy requirement and related operating cost are the main barriers to the application of existing CCS technologies, the minimum work and second-law efficiency are applied as the main indicators in the second part of this paper which relates to performance evaluation. In addition, the performance windows for innovative technologies are illustrated for the comparison of technological maturity. The results show that energy requirement of innovative CCS technologies from the flue gas is avg. 100–200 kJ/mol CO 2 and the second-law efficiency of them is only 5–12%. Therefore, the maturity and popularity of these novel technologies are still relatively low. But the well-integrated systems and diversified output of these technologies can benefit existing energy infrastructures in a long period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Society's dependence on fossil fuels to meet energy demands has resulted in an enormous release of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere, thereby perpetuating global climate change. The consequences of climate change have prompted progressive governments such as British Columbia to establish legislative GHG emission reductions targets, which have lead to energy conscience municipalities within the province voluntarily committing to helping achieve such targets. Best practices examined from European municipalities share a common theme of renewable energy adoption and municipally-owned utilities. An emerging renewable energy technology are tidal current turbines (TCTs), which function to extract kinetic energy from the lateral movement of the tides in areas with considerable tidal velocities. This paper examines the history, physics, operational parameters, and plausible environmental impacts of TCTs in order to make a case for their sustainable implementation. The feasibility of the municipalities of North Pender Island, South Pender Island, and Saturna of the Southern Gulf Islands Region (SGIR), British Columbia, to help meet established GHG emissions reduction targets through the implementation of TCTs is analyzed, demonstrating that the deployment of 10 TCTs can produce 38,266,602 kWh/yr of electricity, mitigating 1138 t of CO2e, achieving 9.9% of the cumulative municipal GHG emissions mitigation targets. The paper then examines a case study in the Shetland Islands and Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters, Scotland, suggesting that jurisdictional regulatory powers over TCT installation and operation be devolved from the British Columbia government to the municipal governments of North Pender Island, South Pender Island, and Saturna, so that such communities can reap the benefits associated with a municipally-owned utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global anthropogenic activities resulting in the emission of harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere have increased the challenges faced from climate change. The greater awareness of the need to mitigate climate variability has brought about intense focus on the adverse impacts of fossil-fuel based energy on the environment. Being the single largest source of carbon emissions, energy supply has attracted much attention and more so that, climate change impacts extend beyond national boundaries. Since energy use is sine qua non to economic development, scientists have reiterated the necessity of developing and utilising renewable energy. Although, past and present CO 2 emissions have and are majorly caused by industrialized countries, it is envisaged that future GHGs emissions would be mostly from developing countries as they industrialize. Renewable energy sources that include biomass, hydroelectric, wind, solar and hydrothermal systems, are carbon-neutral, releasing relatively no emissions. This paper discusses the initiatives associated with the provision of renewable energy to the energy mix in Nigeria as an indication of the country’s commitment to adopt a sustainable development strategy in shaping the economy. It reviews the literature and employs a discourse analysis to examine the limited use of renewable energy sources in Nigeria and the factors prevailing against their development. The paper concludes by identifying social and political obstacles as most significant roadblocks towards rapid implementation of a green economy through the deployment of renewable energy for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy demand in China has risen rapidly and reached an unprecedented level due to the high-speed economic growth and modern development. As a result, the Chinese government faces a growing pressure to address the energy shortage and environmental deterioration, mainly resulting from an over-dependence on fossil energy. China has become both the largest energy consumer and CO 2 emitting country in the world in 2015. Utilization of potential for renewable energy is necessary for changing inappropriate energy consumption structure, protecting environment and achieving sustainable economic and social development. In view of such mentioned situation, this paper firstly introduces the energy structure as well as the development status of renewable energy in China, which includes hydropower, wind power, solar power, biomass power and other renewable energy. Besides, based on the current situation in China, the paper makes a preliminary prediction of the development of renewable energy in the country for the future decades, and proposes targeted countermeasures and suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costly and eco-destructive diesel based systems are usually used for electrifying rural areas in Malaysia. Fuel transportation is another obstacle in this regard. Moreover, unpredictable fluctuation of fuel price makes the system cost unstable. The diesel based systems can be replaced with renewable energy (RE) based systems. Thus, a feasibility analysis is necessary to assess the potentiality of RE resources. This paper analyzes the potentiality of renewable energy in Sarawak, East Malaysia. The wind speed is insufficient, but solar energy is abundant at the location. Hence, the feasibility of photovoltaic (PV), Battery and Fuel Cell (FC) based systems are investigated for the load of a village longhouse comprising 50 families located in Kapit, Sarawak. Both systems, including FC (PV/Battery/FC) and excluding FC (PV/Battery) are analyzed and compared with conventional diesel based system. The analysis focuses on net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE). Other cost parameters such as installation cost, operation and maintenance cost (O&M), operating cost are also analyzed. HOMER software provided by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NERL) is used as an analyzing tool. This paper also focuses on the operational strategy and sensitivity analysis of the hybrid system for optimal performance. The HOMER optimization results and sensitivity analysis show that the PV/Battery system is economical and environmentally friendly with total net present cost of $ 335,297 and cost of energy of 0.323 $/kWh with no emission. Thus it can be a suitable replacement of diesel based system. The FC based system has higher costs; thus despite of its benefits, it is not suggested as the best system for the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe has a large tradition of Small Hydropower stations (SHP); these proliferate wherever there was an adequate supply of moving water and a need for electricity. As electricity demand grew many of these plants were abandoned. Today with the rising price of energy, SHP can be a solution to help rural electrification, furthermore SHPs do not consume the water that drives the turbines. The advantage of this technology is extremely robust and systems can last for 50 years or more with little maintenance. This paper summarizes an overview of SHP Hydropower in Europe. Hydropower on a small scale, or micro-hydro, is one of the most cost effective energy technologies to be considered for rural electrification in less developed countries. Europe is a market leader of SHP technology. Optimal turbine designs are available and new technical developments offer automated operation of SHP. The present role of SHP in Europe in the development of renewable energy sources is discussed through this paper. The main producers of SHP electricity in Europe are Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Sweden. On the other hand, 10 European countries are ranked based on the total numbers of SHPs: Germany (7,512), Italy (2,427), France (1,935), Sweden (1,901), Spain (1,047), Poland (722), Romania (274), Portugal (155) and UK (120). The research shows that there is a considerable scope for development and optimization of this technology. This opens new perspectives because it has a huge, as yet untapped potential in most areas of Europe and can make a significant contribution to future energy needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiji is an island country with just over 300 small islands and approximately 853,000 people. It is a small island developing state (SIDS) that is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuel for its energy needs. The paper attempts to determine the past and current energy situation in Fiji, challenges faced and strategizes to overcome these challenges. In 2014, Fiji generated 859 GW h of grid electricity from 259.8 MW of power plants. Here, 45.4% of grid electricity was produced by hydro, 50.9% by diesel generators and the remaining by biomass. However, Fiji's transport sector is completely dependent on fossil fuels with fuel import bill equivalent to an average 58% of export earnings and taking up 21% of total import bill. The smallness of Fiji and dispersed islands within Fiji group leads to many challenges to have accessible, affordable and sustainable energy supply. These challenges are comprehensively discussed in this paper. Strategies such as increasing private-public partnership in renewable energy projects, changing customer behavior, setting up a credible feed-in tariff structure, developing locally owned business in renewable energy and energy efficiency, setting up of risk mitigation facilities and strengthening institutions supporting energy sector are discussed to overcome or minimize challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the history of renewable energy development in the BRICS countries. The financing models for renewable energy development of BRICS countries include bank financing, institutional loans, industry funds, and international financing. This paper identified several problems with financing in BRICS countries, including a lack of financing channels, investment shortage for small and medium-sized enterprises and imperfect government policies. The solutions to these problems include expanded capital markets, the financing of leasing services, and build-operate-transfer and build-own-operate projects; further, a financial citizen participation model should be employed similar to that as Germany and European Union emissions trading system (EU ETS). A financial citizen participation model means that legal entities, private individuals, and agricultural enterprises invest in renewable energy infrastructure through equity. A regional reserve ratio monetary policy is suggested to allow regions to develop renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China currently faces the dual constraints of developing low-carbon economy and enabling sustainable energy utilization. It is an inevitable choice for the strategic transformation of economy development and energy development in China to develop renewable energy. Since renewable energy is a capital-and tech-intensive industry, which requires a large amount of investment and a high level of technology innovation. Investors face many different uncertainties when making a renewable energy project investment decision. Therefore, it has great significance for the development of renewable energy to evaluate the risks in renewable energy investment projects, and then make the best investment decisions. Based on above background, the topic of renewable energy investment risk is studied in this paper using system dynamics method. In the first part of the work, three main risks in renewable energy investment, technical risk, policy risk and market risk, have been discussed, and then causal loop diagram of investment risk and risk assessment model have been established by the system dynamics method, after that a numerical example was given in the last part of the paper. The result of the numerical example indicated that policy risk was the main factor affecting the investment in the early development stage, while policy risk and technology risk decline gradually, market risk has gradually become the main uncertainty affecting the investment in the mature development stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is a hugely populated country in South Asia. The country produces its electricity mainly from natural gas followed by liquid fuels. Although the installed electricity generation capacity of the country has been increased to 12,261 MW, there is scarcity of electricity in the hot summer season which is a barrier to industrial development as well as socio-economic development. Combustion of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere which causes global warming. Bangladesh can be badly affected by greenhouse effect and global warming. These problems can be mitigated by incorporating renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, hydro, biomass, etc.) to the country's electricity generation. Renewable energy resources are considered as clean and can serve the electricity demand in the remote areas where grid connection is not possible. The potential of solar energy and biomass is enormous in Bangladesh and people have already started to harness energy from these sources. The government and the policy makers should come forward to encourage the people of rural areas as well as urban areas to use renewable based electricity. The government of Bangladesh has set up a plan to generate 5% of the country's total electricity from renewable sources within 2015 and 10% within 2020. However, within 2015 the country has been able to generate only 3.5% of the total electricity from renewable sources. This paper presents a thorough review of the current status and future potentials of renewable energy sector in Bangladesh. In this paper the updated information is provided for the overall renewable energy sector of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small scale hydropower is one of the technology options to generate and supply electricity to grid off and rural applications with almost zero emission. Malaysia is blessed with abundance of water sources and receives high rain volume per year which can be used to generate power. This paper is carried out to present the potential of small scale hydropower in Malaysia and its current status at low head location and rural electrification. Moreover, the relevant research literatures for small scale hydropower technology and the challenges facing by small renewable energy power in Malaysia are also reviewed. The review of available works display that the estimated hydropower resources in Malaysia are registered to be 29,000 MW, of which 500 MW is from small (mini)-hydro power. For this, a total of 149 sites for small hydropower potential have been identified in the country and the expected potential by 2020 is 490 MW. Despite hydro-power technologies are preferable choices for energy generation in Malaysia, they have not been fully exploited yet due to some technical, economical, and institutional challenges. Therefore, this paper can provide information for further investigations on the application of small scale hydropower for rural electrification in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become a critical perspective in managing firms via a holistic approach by considering economic, environmental and social dimensions of firms. With the rising significance of sustainable development, the theories of sustainability in firms have evolved during the past six decades. This article offers a critical review of the evolving theories linking sustainability to firms, and discusses their implications for future renewable energy research. The relationships among different theories are critically analysed, and the directions for future research are discussed. The paper shows that, the main theories linking sustainability to firms, in a chronological order, are: 1) Corporate Social Responsibility, 2) Stakeholder Theory, 3) Corporate Sustainability, and 4) Green Economics. Currently various innovative approaches and new theories emerged, such as Co-evolution Theory and Multi-level Perspective, reflecting three directions of theory development, namely 1) shifting from "what" to "how", 2) growing use of interdisciplinary approach, and 3) towards broader systems. Renewable energy studies associated with firms and future research opportunities in this area are also critically analysed. The comprehensive review offered in this paper provides a useful reference for policy makers, corporate managers and researchers interested in corporate sustainability and renewable energy related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major contributor to global warming is human-generated greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions that pollute the air. GHGs emissions are a global issue dominated by emission of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Notably, CO 2 accounts for an estimated 77% of GHGs and thus has a huge impact on the environment. The capture, sequestration, and utilization of CO 2 emissions from flue gas are now becoming familiar worldwide. These methods are a promising solution to promote sustainability for the benefit of future generations. Previously, many researchers have focused on capturing and storing CO 2 ; however, less effort has been spent on finding ways to utilize flue gas emissions. Moreover, several issues must be overcome in the field of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology, especially regarding the cost, capacity of storage and the durability of the storage reservoir. In addition, this paper addresses new technology in carbon capture and sequestration. To make CCS technology more feasible, this paper suggests a sustainable method combining CCS and biofuel production using CO 2 as a feedstock. This method offers many advantages, such as CO 2 emission mitigation and energy security through the production of renewable energy. Due to the many advantages of biofuels, the conversion of CO 2 into biofuel is a best practice and may provide a solution to pollution while encouraging sustainability practises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combustion of fossil fuels for purposes of energy production has accelerated the rate at which the planet is warming, thereby causing adverse effects on natural ecosystems across the globe. The consequences of climate change arising from the use of conventional fuels such as coal, oil, and gas demands a shift towards the use of sustainable, emissions-free renewable energy technologies. When planning for the implementation of new energy systems, several factors must be examined in order to determine the viability of a system to meet energy demands in a sustainable and efficient manner. This paper provides an overview of tidal current turbines (TCTs), examining how they function to produce electricity, the possible environmental impacts surrounding large-scale implementation, associated economic factors, and public acceptability. A case study of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is presented as an implementation site, demonstrating the potential for TCTs to assist in phasing out the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation on the Newfoundland island interconnected electricity system. A multi-criteria decision making matrix is presented to discern the benefits of TCTs compared to fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. The paper concludes by examining the potential future of TCTs in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unit Commitment (UC) is an optimization problem used to determine the operation schedule of the generating units at every hour interval with varying loads and generations under different generational, environmental and technical constraints. With the significant increase of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) integration into the power networks, effects posed by these system changes to the UC are actively being studied and investigated by global researchers and operation engineers. To this end, this paper firstly provides a literature survey of UC concept, objectives and constraints. Different UC models developed for addressing RES impacts are also reviewed. Moreover, many algorithms have been proposed in the past few decades to optimize the UC problem. This work explores the necessity for alternative optimization approaches for UC solution. In doing that, the work uncovers the advantages and disadvantages of the existing methodologies so that future algorithms could be designed in retaining the advantages of the existing methodologies while avoiding the presented weaknesses. In addition, installation of energy storage devices to balance the fluctuation in power generation and their associated impacts on UC models are reviewed. The contents of this paper provide ready-to-refer and ready-to-use information for the researchers working in the field of UC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Commission has set clear targets for 2020 regarding energy and environment policy; these targets include 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions against the 1990 levels. It is believed that adopted strategy has encouraged the renewable energy applications during the last two decades. Moreover, measurement deviations of carbon dioxide flux occurring in respiration chambers has been seen of a great importance to explain the biochemical parameters affecting the climate change issue. This is attributed on many occasions to chamber design constraints and the way they are coupled with the studied site location. This is illustrated by external disturbances whereby when they happen while gas measurements are taken measurement deviations become more evident. This paper surveys the different soil physical, biological and geotechnical parameters and links them to meteorological ones. Consequently it explores their direct and indirect effects to the produced soil efflux. Furthermore this paper proposes several soil temperature models according to the studied case constraints to see what affects soil efflux production. Moreover a clear understanding of what affects the measurement process was achieved through surveying all the internal and external pressure parameters and how they influence the chamber in relation to time. The conclusion is that respiration chamber designers need to preserve chamber internal temperature and pressure to be equal to the outer atmosphere for the case of stabile external conditions. For the case of unstable external conditions design counter measures are incorporated. Furthermore the appropriate gas sensor needs to be selected professionally with emphasis on the importance of installation location inside the chamber. Likewise soil bacterial type and soil temperature also has an influence on efflux production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey’s rapid economic growth followed by increasing gap between domestic energy production and consumption signifies the large-scale integration of low-carbon and renewable resources into energy system. Turkey’s energy demand is increasing and supplying fossil energies such as oil and gas is becoming more challenging due to the lack of domestic hydrocarbon resources. The country is facing two main issues; first, maintaining energy balance and second, handling environmental issues. Nevertheless, Turkey has substantial renewable and low-carbon energy resources with co-benefits for the country’s fast growing economy and environmental sustainability. This paper aims to present a comprehensive update on Turkey’s renewable and low-carbon energy sector. It reviews not only the current status of the technology, policy and economy, but also provides an insight into the social aspects as well. From a policy point of view, the paper critically discusses Turkey’s energy strategy and perspectives and from the social point of view, the paper argues that there is a research gap in recent literature regarding public awareness and social acceptance of low-carbon energy technologies. Also, the future challenges for promoting low-carbon society in Turkey are discussed in terms of sustainable development and socio-environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy storage system (ESS) in a conventional stand-alone renewable energy power system (REPS) usually has a short lifespan mainly due to irregular output of renewable energy sources. In certain systems, the ESS is oversized to reduce the stress level and to meet the intermittent peak power demand. A hybrid energy storage system (HESS) is a better solution in terms of durability, practicality and cost-effectiveness for the overall system implementation. The structure and the common issues of stand-alone REPS with ESS are discussed in this paper. This paper presents different structures of stand-alone REPS with HESS such as passive, semi-active, and active HESS. As there are a variety of energy storage technologies available in the market, decision matrixes are introduced in this paper to evaluate the technical and economic characteristics of the energy storage technologies based on the requirements of stand-alone REPS. A detailed review of the state-of-the-art control strategies such as classical control strategies and intelligent control strategies for REPS with HESS are highlighted. The future trends for REPS with HESS combination and control strategies are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable Energy (RE) has been identified as a key tool to counter climate change and enhance energy security. Countries across the globe have been promoting this sector by several policy measures. However, limited research has been undertaken on the economic and environmental efficacy of RE policy instruments, especially in context of emerging economies like India, which have witnessed substantial capacity addition and have set ambitious targets to de-carbonize their economy. This paper identifies 25 innovative practices followed in India which have enabled accelerated RE capacity addition with minimal financial obligations. These include energy entrepreneurship, energy democratization, private sector participation, hedging and apportioning RE procurement, use of auctions with stringent participatory norms, creditworthy counter-party, leverage of risk capital by developmental institutions, regular revision of tariffs, environmental cess on polluting industries, long-term RE purchase trajectory and incentivizing green power output. Results indicate high financial impact of instruments (support of US$ 3–5/MW h over applicable tariff) which gets neutralized when tax inflow is considered. Lower carbon abatement cost (US$ 3–6/tCO2eq) depicts high environmental efficacy. The paper shares best practices from India in terms of efficient use of RE policy enablers, which may be contextualized in other emerging economies as per the local requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The penetration of photovoltaics (PV’s) in electric power generation is continually increasing. Tracking maximum power point in PV systems is an important task and represents a challenging problem. In maximum power point tracking (MPPT), the duty cycle of DC-DC converter is adjusted in a way that maximum achievable power is extracted from PV system. In this paper, the existing MPPT strategies are classified into two main categories and the strategies of each category are reviewed. Based on the conducted review, some directions for future research are recommended. The author strongly believes that this paper will be helpful for researchers and engineers in the field of PV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative renewable energy sources are immensely important in view of the increase in worldwide energy needs and environmental effects. The thermoelectric (TE) technology is being seen as the perfect solution for both issues due to its ability to convert heat directly into electricity without CO 2 emission. However, the application of TE materials for commercial devices is still limited due to their low conversion efficiency of ~10–15%. Currently the improvement of TE efficiency is challenging due to the relationship among physical properties, i.e., electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficient which often counter each other and are restricted by the carrier concentrations. Fortunately, nanostructures have been shown to be able to disconnect the link among these physical properties to enhance the conversion efficiency of materials. Thus, the purpose of this review paper is to present the different nanostructured approaches for enhancing the TE properties of materials. The various techniques have been widely used to synthesize the bulk nanostructure and low dimensional systems were also described. A discussion on potential heat resources for the TE conversion, as well as the recent progress in TE is provided in terms of material, process and technology. Nanostructured skutterudites, half - Heusler, oxides and Si-Ge binary system were focused in this review paper due to the fact that the TE materials are among the best candidates for high-temperature applications. We also included our estimation in output electrical power of thermoelectric generation (TEG) for these type TE materials. Besides that, some innovations for the development of TE materials were mentioned. In addition, we also discussed the estimation of the TE cost to shed some light on commercializing considerations. We concluded that the high cost of the heat exchanger and ceramic substrate system components proved to be barriers in reducing the cost of TEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harmful effects of carbon emissions and carbon dioxide caused by over dependence on oil is a global issue, which is currently being addressed by encouraging renewable energy (RE) resources contribution to the energy mix. Encouraging RE is important in order to solve the unsustainable nature of electricity generation especially in the sub-Saharan African countries. One of the REs that have vast potential especially in sub-Saharan Africa is the solar energy. This paper provides an overview of the solar photovoltaic (PV) developments in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa – in terms of research, installed capacity, solar radiation level, RE policies and the percentage of solar PV in the future energy mix of these countries. Finally, this paper identified the barriers to RE deployment and proposed scaling-up solar PV as one of the solution in the development of energy mix in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]