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The power sector and environment cordially affect each other throughout the economic growth journey of a developing country. It is high time to take care of the power demand, considering the environmental effects and the physical health of Indians. Power generation using renewable energy sources (RESs) can be a great alternative on behalf of the power sector in contributing to a cleaner environment. In this paper, a model has been developed to opt out the best energy-producing source for most polluted Indian states to combat hazardous air pollution. Multiple criteria, i.e., technical, economic, environmental, and resource availability factors and their sub-criteria, are considered to determine the best-suited RES. The priority of the energy source is established by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to ascertain the relative value of different sub-attributes for the selected state. The findings indicate that, with priorities of 39.04% and 33.06%, respectively, photovoltaics (PV) predominates in Delhi and Haryana. The PV priority of 34.43% in Uttar Pradesh is in line with this trend. Punjab gives PV a 36.73% significance as well. Bihar prioritizes PV at 38.37%, mirroring Punjab's preferences. Tidal energy is given 51.80% priority in coastal Gujarat, whereas CSP is preferred by Rajasthan with 37.26% priority. For Maharashtra, tidal energy is the preference, with 33.70%. The primary goal behind this research is to plan and model a way out for the national electricity planners that aids in fulfilling the power demand in the most polluted Indian states without making a burden on the environment. • India is facing a significant problem with air pollution, especially in the months of October to December. • Power generation using renewable energy sources can be beneficial for improving AQI in Indian cities. • The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), is used to decide the most suitable energy source. • Technical, economical, environmental, and resource location is used as deciding criteria. • The work can be beneficial for policymakers and electricity planners to integrate more RE into India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles are an important instrument to decarbonize transportation, offering a range of co-benefits such as reductions in local pollution, noise emissions, and oil dependency. Unfortunately, price, range, infrastructure and technological uncertainty are only some of the barriers to a faster adoption of these vehicles. To overcome these barriers, there is a broad call for public support and a growing body of primarily survey and choice experiment studies to show which policy mechanisms are effective, with mixed outcomes. In response, this paper offers a qualitative comparative analysis that draws on 227 semi-structured interviews with 257 transportation and electricity experts from 201 institutions across 17 cities within the Nordic region to discuss the reasoning and arguments behind EV incentives and policy mechanisms. A frequency analysis of the most coded responses favoured cost reduction mechanisms, in particular taxation exemptions; infrastructure support for public and apartment charging; the importance of consumer awareness, especially information campaigns; certain other specific policy measures like procurement programs and environmental zones; and more general policy principles. More in-depth, our analysis shows the debates around these mechanisms and how the pros and cons of these mechanisms differ per country, per transport segment, per phase of transition or market share, even per city. In short, this paper calls for strong stable national targets and price incentives combined with local flexibility to implement secondary benefits and more attention to awareness campaigns to advance the implementation of electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution has become a severe problem in the world. The power sector accounts for a large percentage of air pollutants emissions and has large emission reduction potential due to its centralized emissions. In order to find a cost-effective development pathway for the power sector to realize emission reduction, a multi-regional power generation expansion planning model is proposed in this paper and China is used for a case study. The model integrates air pollutants emission constraints, multi-regional interconnected power system and hourly power scheduling. Detailed regional characteristics and Ultra-High-Voltage (UHV) power transmission lines among regions in China are included whilst the power scheduling process is incorporated on an hourly basis. The scenario analysis shows that existing actions including the planned long-distance UHV power transmission lines and the corresponding coal plants groups in resource-rich regions would significantly help to reduce emissions in load-centered regions and realize the national emission reduction target. However, building coal plants groups in resource-rich regions for power exports turns out to be pollution transfer and cause their emissions to exceed local environmental carrying capacity. Regional power generation expansion planning incorporating regional environmental carrying capacity constraints presents a solution to this problem of unbalanced regional emission reduction. The result shows that substituting 68.4 GW of planned coal plants with renewable energy power plants in resource-rich regions for power exports could control the emissions in all regions to lower than local environmental carrying capacity. • A multi-regional power generation expansion planning model with air pollutants emission constraints is proposed. • The model integrates emission constraints, multi-regional interconnected power system and hourly power scheduling. • Large power transmission would potentially increase air pollutants emissions in power-exporting regions. • Developing more renewable energy is a more sustainable way both nationally and regionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, “haze-fog” became an annual buzzword in China; this “haze-fog” is primarily attributed to coal combustion. If coal continues to be used as it has been previously, China will suffer as a result of air pollution. Different from coal, electricity is a highly efficient energy source with no pollution emissions. Electric power substitution (EPS) for coal can reduce air pollution and transmit electricity to a load intensive area by an ultra-high voltage transmission project that can promote renewable energy accommodations in remote areas. However, EPS was proposed in 2013 and is still in the initial stage. The present paper studies the relationship between coal and haze-fog, proposes an EPS action mechanism, and summarizes the EPS market and policies. A SWOT model has proved to be an efficient tool to analyze the internal and external competitiveness of a system. Therefore, to fully study the current development status of electric power substitution in China, this paper adopts a SWOT model to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of EPS. The conclusion is drawn that EPS is a good substitution for coal, but increased interest and use of EPS in China still needs support, including energy price marketization, electricity price subsidy, UHV optimization, clean coal technology innovation, and so on. This research can promote optimization in the energy structure and provides policy makers with good references and a clear direction in EPS development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable Energy Sources have been growing rapidly over the last few years. The spreading of renewables has become stronger due to the increased air pollution, which is largely believed to be irreversible for the environment. On the other hand, the penetration of renewable energy technologies causes major problems to the stability of the grid. Along with the fluctuations of the renewable energy technologies production, storage is important for power and voltage smoothing. Energy storage is also important for energy management, frequency regulation, peak shaving, load leveling, seasonal storage and standby generation during a fault. Thus, storage technologies have gained an increased attention and have become more than a necessity nowadays. This paper presents an up to date comprehensive overview of energy storage technologies. It incorporates characteristics and functionalities of each storage technology, as well as their advantages and disadvantages compared with other storage technologies. Comparison tables with several characteristics of each storage method are included, while different applications of energy storage technologies are described as well. Finally, several hybrid energy storage applications are analyzed and different combinations of energy storage technologies are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation and shipping activities are major contributor to air pollution at sea where most of it occurs as a result of exhaust emissions from ships. Stringent emission limitations enforced by the International Maritime Organization have hastened the need to find a new alternative fuel for marine diesel engines. Thus, biodiesel fuel was chosen as one of the environmentally friendly alternative energy that can reduce ship toxic gas emissions and at the same time reduces dependence on petroleum-based fuels. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of biodiesel as an alternative fuel for marine diesel engine applications. This review covers the biodiesel fuel background, engine performance, history, recent progress, engine warranty, issues, challenges, and possible solutions on using biodiesel for marine applications. A significant number of literatures from indexed journals were cited accordingly. The results of previous studies had shown that the use of biodiesel would mostly increase the amount of brake specific fuel consumption and nitrogen oxide gas while conversely reducing other toxic gas emissions. Although a number of issues and challenges arise, most marine engine manufacturers give conditional warranty against the use of biodiesel in the engines. The study concluded that biodiesel and its blends have a bright future in the marine sector, provided some of the highlighted issues can be solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household solid fuel use has attracted extensive public concerns since it yields a large number of air pollutants from incomplete burning process and consequently has significant environmental and health impacts. Adoption of cleaner fuels and cookstoves is expected to achieve great benefits in many aspects, which however needs more research evidences offering a reference for policy makers. Identification of key factors influencing adoption and sustainable behaviors is one of important prior concerns. While a previous global systematic literature review provided valuable information on influencing factors, unfortunately, peer-reviewed Chinese publications were not included in the review. Here, we conducted a literature review on peer-reviewed Chinese publications so as to identify main enablers and barriers influencing the deployment and sustainable use of cleaner fuels and cookstoves in China. A total of 47,132 papers were retrieved and after two round read and selection, 87 peer-reviewed papers were finally in-depth reviewed and analyzed after data extraction. Factors like fuel/stove technologies (i.e. thermal efficiency, the operation convenience and cost of fuel/stove); public knowledge and awareness of environmental protection and energy saving; location, household setting and structure, family size, age and gender, have clear impacts on fuel choice. Finanical support and market development is essential for the sustainable use of clean fuels and cookstoves. The influence of favorable policies including laws, regulations and standards is obvious and critical. The adoption willing and enthusiasm would be encouraged directly through publicity, neighborhood demonstration and good follow-up service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power generation system largely depends on fossil fuels to generate electricity. Due to various reasons, the reserves of fossil fuels are declining and will become too expensive in near future. At the same time, generation of power from fossil fuels causes hazardous gases and particulates to emit, which pollutes the air and causes significant and long term damages on the environment. For this reason, extensive research works have been conducted for last few decades from different perspectives to reduce both the fuel cost as well as the emission of hazardous gases in power generation system. This power generation problem is commonly referred to as the combined economic emission dispatch (CEED) problem. This paper provides a comprehensive review on the uses of different optimization techniques to solve CEED problem. Authors have found advanced nature-inspired methods as the most suitable and successful, and have concluded combinational hybrid methods as the most prospective methods to solve CEED problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the concerns on transported fuel consumption and global air pollution, industrial engineers and academic researchers have made many efforts to construct more efficient and environment-friendly vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are the representative ones because they can satisfy the power demand by coordinating energy supplements among different energy storage devices. To achieve this goal, energy management approaches are crucial technology, and driving cycles are the critical influence factor. Therefore, this paper aims to summarize driving cycle-driven energy management strategies (EMSs) for HEVs. First, the definition and significance of driving cycles in the energy management field are clarified, and the recent literature in this research domain is reviewed and revisited. In addition, according to the known information of driving cycles, the EMSs are divided into three categories, and the relevant study directions, such as standard driving cycles, long-term driving cycle generation, and short-term driving cycle prediction are illuminated and analyzed. Furthermore, the existing database of driving cycles in highway and urban aspects is displayed and discussed. Finally, this article also elaborates on the future prospects of energy management technologies related to driving cycles. This paper focusing on helping the relevant researchers realize the state-of-the-art of HEVs' energy management field and also recognize its future development direction. • Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) as potential on-road vehicles are essentially discussed. • A thorough review of the energy management policy for HEV is conducted. • The learning-based and data-driven methods are analyzed in detail. • Driving cycle databases for further research of HEVs are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Air pollution problems caused from the development of infrastructures are getting serious, in which air flow is reduced and heat is trapped among high-rise buildings. In order to mitigate these problems, various methods have been developed in previous studies. Extensive green roof has been identified as one of the most important means to mitigate these problems and implement sustainable development principles in the building features. Governments world-wide have been introducing various policies and regulations for promoting extensive green roof particularly for building projects. However, the existing buildings in many large cities such as Hong Kong display few extensive green roof features. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities with many high-rise buildings. This paper examines the major barriers encountered in promoting extensive green roof systems for the existing buildings in Hong Kong. Case study approach is adopted to investigate how and why the barriers can hinder the implementation of extensive green roof features. Research results show that lack of promotion and incentives from governments and the increase maintenance cost are identified as the top barriers to the implementation. The paper concludes by providing further suggestions and actions that can help mitigate these existing barriers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China, one of the global biggest emitter of CO2, needs promotion renewable energy to reduce air pollution from its surging fossil fuel use, and to increase its energy supply security. Renewable energy in its infancy needs policy support and market cultivation. Wind power installed capacity has boomed in recent year in China, as a series of effective support policies were adopted. In this paper, I review the main renewable energy policies regarding to China''s wind power, including the Wind Power Concession Program, Renewable Energy Law, and a couple of additional laws and regulations. Such policies have effectively reduced the cost of wind power installed capacity, stimulated the localization of wind power manufacture, and driven the company investment in wind power. China is success in wind power installed capacity, however, success in wind-generated electricity has yet achieved, mainly due to the backward grid system and lack of quota system. The paper ends with the recommended best practice of the China''s wind power installed capacity might be transferable to China''s photovoltaic power generation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Solid fuels such as firewood and coal are widely used for cooking and heating in the developing countries, which result in serious indoor air pollutions and health effects. Governments and international organizations have been devoted to addressing this issue for a long time. Based on the micro survey data from 1989–2011, this paper quantitatively investigate the situations and evolutions of cooking fuel using and its health effects in rural China. We have four findings: (i) most rural households still rely on solid fuels for cooking in modern China. (ii) the cooking fuels are slowly diversifying in the last two decades, (iii) there are considerably geographical differences in cooking fuel using across China, and (iv) those resident usually using solid fuel have lower levels of self-assessed health and higher prevalence of respiratory diseases. We then draw some policy implications to reduce cooking fuel use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microgrid is becoming an attractive concept to meet the increasing demands for energy and deal with air pollutions. Distributed energy sources (DERs) in Microgrid are usually interfaced with the utility grid by inverters, so the characteristics of Microgrid stability are much different from that of a traditional grid. However, the classifications, guidelines, and analysis method of Microgrid stability are well behind of the Microgrid development. In this paper, a Microgrid stability classification methodology is proposed on the basis of the of Microgrid characteristics investigation, which considers the Microgrid operation mode, types of disturbance and time frame. Then a comprehensive review of the body of research on Microgrid stability is presented in order to identify and advance the field. Finally, some challenges and suggestions of Microgrid stability for further researches are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of air pollution is not only one of the most critical problems caused and dealt by industrial civilization, but also it is undoubtedly the most complex of their current problems. However, in many countries, some procedures have been restricted to reduce the air pollution in the environment. The vast expanse and complexity of the physical parameters of modern urban environments such as: urban geometry and materials, structures and buildings, transportation and human activities as well as the variety of urban pollutants; cause complicated difficulties that are too difficult to be solved through simple and superficial solutions. Although, the potential of solar energy has a relatively long history in providing and creating a suitable living environment. However, this statement has been based largely on a single building scale. This paper firstly tries to analyze solar radiation in terms of air quality to improve the living situation in the metropolitan cities, and it also investigates and proposes solutions to the problems of air pollution and inversion at the metropolitan. In this context, the disruptive and aggregate factors of air pollution in the cities are analyzed that the efficiency and potential of solar energy is researched to provide suggestions and solutions to reduce the impacts of our investigated issue. The study is based on extensive literature survey, analysis, and inference of data. The results of this study indicate that solar energy as a clean power source can reduce the impacts of urban pollutants. In addition, the obtained results also present that the utilization of solar energy could act as an engine to generate turbulence in static air masses and affect the air layers on the scale of city, which will eventually lead to cause significant reduction of pollutants. Finally, this process helps exhausting the air pollution out of the city environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exhaust emission from transportation sector affects the human health. It is the main contributor to degrade the air quality. Biofuel is promising alternative to maintain both human health and environment quality better by reducing harmful emission from biofuel runs diesel engines. This study explores the global and Australian greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenario along with the contribution of transportation sector to the GHG emission in Australia. Besides, the world biofuel standard with the target and mandate taken by the government of different countries to use biofuel are also discussed in the paper. This review indicated that engine emission is dependant on some factors such as engine operating condition, biofuel types, blending etc. Both biodiesel–diesel and ethanol–biodiesel–diesel blending plays a significant role in reducing the exhaust gas emission such as carbon monoxides (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), particulate matter (PM). But ethanol–biodiesel–diesel and biodiesel–diesel blends produce higher carbon dioxides emission, which is absorbed by the crops and considered as lower net CO 2 emission. Finally, about 5–10% of ethanol with 20–25% biodiesel can be added with petro-diesel effectively and efficiently to reduce global GHG emission, thus to maintain environment and human health better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between local air pollution and urban structure with an emphasis on urban fragmentation. Using a unique dataset of 249 Large Urban Zones (LUZ) across Europe, a Bayesian Model Averaging model selection method is employed to identify the determinants of within-LUZ concentration of three air pollutants: NO 2 , PM 10 and SO 2 . These are supplemented by several indices of land cover and a set of data on various economic, demographic and meteorological variables that might explain the variation of air pollution. The results of this econometric analysis support the hypothesis that urban structure has significant effects on pollution concentration. In particular, the results suggest that fragmented and highly constructed cities experience higher concentrations of NO 2 and PM 10 and that densely populated cities suffer from higher SO 2 concentration. The findings suggest that policies favoring continuous urban areas may result in environmental improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, China has witnessed substantial progress in urbanization and industrialization and has become the manufacturing center of the world, but has suffered from severe environmental deterioration, especially air pollution. National and provincial governments have adopted a series of policy tools aiming at energy conservation and emission reduction, varying from energy saving regulations to cleaner production policies. This paper investigates provincial energy saving and emission reduction policies by evaluating their effectiveness on local air pollution control. Relying on a panel data regression analysis on a sample of 26 provinces and four centrally-controlled municipalities over a ten-year period from 2002 to 2011, we find empirical support for the positive impacts of provincial energy saving regulations and two environmental standards on the improvement of local air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small hydropower is a green and renewable energy resource. China has very rich small hydropower resources with a total technically utilizable installed capacity of 128 gigawatts (GW). Developing small hydropower is of great importance to speed up the economic growth of rural areas and alleviate the environmental pollution in China in the 21st century. This paper provides a survey of small hydropower exploitation in China. Over the last six decades, China’s small hydropower has developed rapidly. The installed capacity of small hydropower exceeds 59.24 GW at the present time. Fifteen large-scale small hydropower bases have been completed, and more bases are still under construction. The small hydropower for fuel project has been in operation. It not only provides cooking fuel for peasants, but also protects the eco-logical environment. The rural electrification construction based on small hydropower has lasted for 25 years, and 412 counties had realized rural electrification by 2010. The reasonable exploitation of small hydropower will accelerate the harmonic development of resources and the environment in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heating accounts for a large proportion of energy consumption in residential buildings located in cold climate. Solar energy plays an important role in responding to the growing demand of energy as well as dealing with pressing climate change and air pollution issues. Solar energy is featured with low-density and intermittency, therefore an appropriate storage method is required. This paper reports a critical review of existing studies on thermal storage systems that employ various methods. Latent heat storage using phase change materials (PCMs) is one of the most effective methods to store thermal energy, and it can significantly reduce area for solar collector. During the application of PCM, the solid–liquid phase change can be used to store a large quantity of energy where the selection of the PCM is most critical. A numerical study is presented in this study to explore the effectiveness of NH 4 Al(SO 4 ) 2 ·12H 2 O as a new inorganic phase change material (PCM). Its characteristics and heat transfer patterns were studied by means of both experiment and simulation. The results show that heat absorption and storage are more efficient when temperature of heat source is 26.5 °C greater than the phase transition temperature. According to heat transfer characteristics at both radial and axial directions, it is suggested to set up some small exchangers so that solar energy can be stored unit by unit in practice. Such system is more effective in low density residential buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many environmental parameters affect the production of photovoltaic (PV) systems and dust could be one of the main reasons of degradation of PV panels. PV systems utilized in large and small scales accumulate different types of dust which reduce the efficiency. The dust contents, which represent a mixture of different pollutants, are specified by the geographical site. There are many studies focused on the effect of dust on PV performance but few studies have investigated the effect of dust pollutant type on the performance. Mainly, the effect of pollutant type has been investigated indoors and few outdoors. In the present paper the effects of pollutant types on the PV performance have been revised and experimented. A critical review and challenging questions have been developed for the researchers working in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World over large reserves of low grade coals are available. The use of low-grade coal in various industries like power plants, metallurgical plants, cement units, etc. creates environmental pollution because of generation of large amount of solid and gaseous pollutants. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to clean the coal before its utilization. A number of upgrading technologies are being followed to produce clean coal. The current paper reviews demineralization/desulfurization of coals containing high ash and/or sulfur by physical, microwave, bio- and chemical beneficiation methods. Physical beneficiation of coal is not very effective in separation of the finely dispersed minerals, whereas microwave processing requires lesser time but is not favoured energetically. Bio-processing is mainly used for the desulfurization of high sulfur coal, although it is usually slow and requires long incubation period. Chemical beneficiation uses expensive reagents and leads to the generation of large amount of wastewater which is to be purified before discharge. Thus, a combined approach consisting of physical beneficiation followed by chemical cleaning of coal appears to have a potential for significant reduction of ash with less investment while generating less amount of wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Renewable energy and energy efficiency (REEE) policies have far-reaching implications for energy security, climate change, economic competitiveness, pollution, and human livelihood. For these reasons, REEE has become a national priority for the Chinese government, particularly since 2005. This paper aims to critically review China's REEE policies in six sectors: electricity, industry, transportation, buildings, and local government. In addition to examining the progress China has made in the development and implementation of REEE policies, this review also identifies limitations and room for improvement. Finally, five policy recommendations are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Global warming, depletion of natural resources, acid rains, air and water pollutions, and ozone depletions are some of the environmental consequences that are deemed attributable to human activities on planet earth. Sustainable practices have been therefore evolved as main remedies to tackles these issues. Green roof strategy is one of these practices that not only provides heat island amelioration and thermal comfort for occupants but also reduces energy consumption of buildings as well as add aesthetic values to the environment. This paper targets to run a review on the application of green roof strategy. The review scans a time frame from 2002 through early 2012 with a focus on energy related topics on energy related topics of green roofs. The review discussed various types of green roofs, components of a green roof, economic revenues, and technical attributes. Many general advantages and few general disadvantages of green roofs in one hand and pros and cons of green roofs with respect to energy utilization on the other hand are also synthesized. Some recommendations for future study are also proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Biodiesel has proved to be an environment friendly alternative fuel for diesel engine because it can alleviate regulated and unregulated exhaust emissions. However, most researchers have observed a significant increase in NO x emissions with biodiesel when compared to petrodiesel. The exact cause of this increase is still unclear; however, researchers believe that the fuel properties have been shown to effect the emissions of NO x . The present work reviews the effect of fuel properties and composition on NO x emissions from biodiesel fuelled engines. The paper is organised in three sections. The first section deals with the NO x formation mechanisms. In the following section, the reasons for increased NO x emissions of biodiesel fuel are discussed. After this, the influence of composition and fuel properties on NO x emissions from biodiesel fuelled engines has been reviewed. Finally, some general conclusions concerning this problem are summarised and further researches are pointed out. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to assess the environmental performance of Turkish provinces by using a non-parametric method, Data Envelopment Analysis. The results of ranking are based on the provinces’ ability to produce the largest equi-proportional increase in the desirable output-gross domestic product and decrease in the undesirable output namely, air pollutants. The results indicate that 7.41% of the sample provinces are relatively efficient. The results also show that, regions with the highest level gross domestic product per capita have the highest efficiency scores. New industrial districts have lower efficiencies in spite of relatively higher income per capita. In the second stage of the study the possible relationship between environmental efficiency scores and input, output variables are investigated by a regression analysis. According to the results, there is a positive relationship between gross domestic product and efficiency scores. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy is an essential factor to achieve sustainable development. So, countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view towards planning energy programmes and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional and global levels. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Turkey is an energy importing country with more than half of the energy requirement being supplied by imports, and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in the country. On the other hand, Turkey''s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy sources. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. This paper provides an overview of global energy use and renewables for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Republic of Turkey, located in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe). Nowadays, Turkey with its young population and growing energy demand per person, its fast growing urbanization, and its economic development, has been one of the fast growing electrical energy markets of the world for the last two decades. Unfortunately, Turkey''s energy is largely dependent on foreign countries and the country''s energy is imported spending billions of dollars each year. On the other hand, the effects on global and environmental air quality of pollutants released into the atmosphere from fossil fuels in electric power plants provide strong arguments for the development of renewable energy resources. Solar energy is one of the best available among renewable energy sources. There are possess many advantages of solar energy such as relativity, viability, silent, non-polluting, little maintenance, suitable for remote site application, not require any fuel and independent from electricity network. Turkey has advanced a great deal in the generation of electricity from solar energy because of much higher solar energy potential than lots of developed countries on solar energy applications. This study is taken into account that overview of the photovoltaic technology status and perspective in Turkey and the contains of photovoltaic power systems utilization and potential status in the world, energy consumption and demand in Turkey, geographic description of the solar energy in Turkey, PV industry current and potential status in Turkey, solar energy legislation framework in Turkey, R&D status of photovoltaic industry in Turkey, future strategy of PV industry in Turkey, current and future status photovoltaic power systems economics in the world. Also, this paper on the basis of this subjects is analyzed the SWOT of Turkey''s photovoltaic industry, its advantages, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper's objective is to quantify factors influencing a rural homeowner's decision to invest in exterior insulation to improve energy efficiency, lower heating costs, decrease air pollution, and reduce ash disposal and time spent monitoring coal-burning stoves. The study estimates a probit decision equation using survey data collected from an area lagging in economic development and calculates decision probability change in response to a variety of homeowner characteristics, perceived importance of issues related to energy efficiency, and location. The resulting calculation of probability changes on choosing to invest in external insulation show that respondents with higher education had a 6.4% higher probability of making the decision to invest in insulation, but the probability decreased by 11.2% for every additional person added to the household. Residents with the lowest incomes had a relatively higher probability to insulate a house than those with more income, but being a farmer decreased the probability by 60.7%. Energy-saving attitudes reflected in recent purchase of energy-efficient household appliances had a 41.2% higher probability to choose exterior insulation. Favoring to pay more for locally-generated solar energy increased the probability of investing in exterior insulation by 16.2%, while those who wanted the hot water supply independent from electricity had a 24.2% higher probability. The quantified effects facilitate targeting rural households and increasing their participation in recently introduced programs aimed at energy-efficiency. • Rural families living in older homes gain from energy saving exterior wall insulation. • Investing in exterior insulation 11.2% less probable in large households. • Buying new home appliances increases probability of exterior wall insulation. • Residents supporting renewable energy more likely to insulate exterior walls. • Farming households less likely to insulate exterior walls than non-farm households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to mitigate global climate change and air pollution, the Chinese government has assigned high priority to expanding low-carbon power generation in China. Recent studies have shown that wind power is one of the most promising renewable energy option in China. Although many studies have estimated the generation potential of onshore wind power, their results vary widely from 1783 TWh to 39,000 TWh. Therefore, we examine the different assumptions in these papers and identify three main factors influencing the results. The three influencing factors are: weather data set, land utilisation factor, and wind turbine configuration. For our model-based analysis, we define a reference scenario which is used to compare the results. Our analysis shows using a different weather data set increases the generation potential to roughly 35,000 TWh. This is 54% higher than the generation potential of the reference scenario. The land utilisation factor also has a large influence, ranging between −10% and −51%. The studies' assumptions and data should be subjected to careful scrutiny, as the calculated wind power potentials are widely used to develop decarbonisation strategies for the energy system. • Study results on wind power potentials in China vary from 1783 TWh to 39,000 TWh • Influencing factors: weather data set, land utilisation, and wind turbine configuration. • Model-based sensitivity analysis with nine scenario settings. • Chosen weather data set has the highest impact on the calculated results with a variation of 54%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Apart from contributing to the mitigation of GHG emissions, the deployment of renewable electricity Clean Development Mechanism projects (RE-CDM) may provide substantial local economic, social and environmental sustainability benefits to host countries. However, in spite of these advantages, a wide array of barriers prevents the realisation of these projects. They compete with other CDM options which lead to cheaper GHG emissions reductions but which do not provide as much opportunities for sustainable development in developing countries. Taking into account that, in contrast to GHG benefits, sustainability benefits are not valued in the market place and that article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol envisages two objectives for the CDM (cost-effective emissions reductions and contribution to sustainability), this market mechanism might be leading to a “market failure” in RE-CDM projects. This paper explores the different barriers affecting the implementation of RE-CDM projects and proposes and analyses several policies and measures that could be implemented to encourage their deployment by tackling those obstacles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Turkey is an energy importing nation with more than half of our energy requirements met by imported fuels. Air pollution is becoming a significant environmental concern in the country. In this regard, renewable energy resources are becoming attractive for sustainable energy development and environmental pollution mitigation in Turkey. Turkey''s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Because of this and our limited fossil fuel resources, a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewables seems to be a serious alternative for Turkey''s energy future. This article presents a review of the present energy situation and assesses sustainability, technical, and economical potential of renewable energy sources, and future policies for the energy sector in Turkey. Throughout the paper, problems relating to renewable energy sources, environment, and sustainable development are discussed for both current and future energy investments. The renewable energy potential of the country and its present status are evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In buildings, energy is primarily consumed by mechanical air conditioning systems. Low energy alternatives, such as natural ventilation, are needed. However, they need to be able to cope with increasing heatwaves and pollution, particularly in warm climates. This review paper looked at the ability of natural ventilation to provide adequate thermal comfort, resilience against heatwaves, and good Indoor Air Quality in warm climates. Single-sided ventilation demonstrates the poorest ability to provide thermal comfort, while cross ventilation highlights better performance in terms of reducing indoor air temperatures compared to outdoor. However, windcatchers and solar chimneys displayed even better performance by producing relatively high ventilation rates. During heatwaves and future climatic scenarios, natural ventilation, by cross-ventilation, was not able to meet internal thermal comfort standards. A potential low energy solution could be combining solar chimneys or windcatchers with water evaporation cooling. A critical synthesis of the literature suggests that these systems can generate high ventilation rates and keep indoor temperatures around 8 °C cooler than outdoor temperatures in warm weather (>35 °C). However, no studies were found testing these systems against future climate scenarios, and further studies are recommended. The literature supported natural ventilation being effective in removing pollution generated indoors due to adequate ventilation rates. However, using unfiltered natural ventilation for areas with high outdoor pollution can increase the indoor deposition of harmful particulate matter. With increasing air pollution, further studies are urgently required to investigate filter enabled natural ventilation, particularly with solar chimney/windcatcher incorporated. • Single-sided or cross ventilation won't meet thermal comfort in future warm climate. • Windcatcher and solar chimney show promise for good Indoor Air Quality in hot climate. • Natural ventilation with evaporative cooling can be resilient to heatwaves. • Further studies required on heatwave resilient natural ventilation in warm climates. • Research on filter enabled natural ventilation for pollution control is lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 aim on one hand at inclusive growth and eradicating poverty, and on the other at preserving environments. The relation between development and the environment has been studied extensively since the 1990s, documenting inverted U -shaped relations between per capita income and indicators of environmental degradation. This paper revisits the issue with machine learning techniques and novel disaggregate data to model these relationships heterogeneously across economic indicators. Results suggest that development gradually improves the efficiency of consuming the earth's nonrenewable resources, but increased efficiency alone is not sufficient to offset growth in scale. Development shifts reliance on one nonrenewable source to another, and on average we find successive inverted U -shapes in deforestation, air pollution and carbon intensities, followed by a J -shape in per capita carbon output. Local economic circumstances further determine the shape, amplitude, and location of tipping points in environmental output. The general implications of the estimated dynamics are explored by extrapolating environmental output to 2030 under simplistic scenario's. The results are a reminder that immediate, and sustained global efforts are required to preserve our environment. • Development gradually improves efficiency of consuming natural resources. • Increased efficiency alone is not sufficient to offset growth in scale. • Results show inverted U -shapes for deforestation, air pollution and carbon intensity. • But a J -shape is found in per capita carbon output. • Local economic circumstances further determine shape, amplitude, and location of tipping points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]