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The paper investigates the role of renewable energy and alternative and nuclear energy in mitigating CO 2 emissions. Trade openness is added to consider its effect on the environment, as it appears to be a crucial factor in interregional cooperation and development. We adopt a sample of nine signatories to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) from 1971 to 2014. Various time-series econometric methods are utilized including two long-run estimators - fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) - and a Granger-causality test. Several noteworthy findings are achieved from this paper. First , the inverse U-shaped relationship is found in six countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam. The U-shaped relationship is found in Japan and Malaysia whereas no evidence is observed in Mexico. Second , the adoption of either renewable energy or alternative and nuclear energy would mitigate CO 2 emissions and trade openness plays an important role in facilitating this effect. Third , the directions of Granger causality among the variables of interests including consumption of renewable energy; consumption of alternative and nuclear energy, trade openness and CO 2 emissions, do vary across countries and between the short term and the long term. • Inverse U-shaped relationship in Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Vietnam. • U-shaped relationship in Japan and Malaysia and no evidence in Mexico. • Consumption of renewable energy, alternative & nuclear energy reducing CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although renewable energy has been emphasized to mitigate carbon emissions, energy policies may require rearrangement. This paper aims to suggest the possibility of needs in energy policy rearrangement by revealing if the mitigation impact of the renewable energy supply has been diminished with a case study on Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Adopting the idea of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, the study investigates the nonlinear relationship between the renewable energy supply and carbon emissions. We collected the longest panel data possible for 34 OECD countries from 1971 to 2019. While the cointegrating equation results suggest that renewable energy has contributed to carbon mitigation, nonlinear estimation and quantile regression propose that the marginal mitigation impact from renewable energy might be weakening. 1% increase in renewable energy supply and the share of renewable in energy mix has mitigated carbon emissions by 0.134% and 1.260%, respectively. The empirical results insist that policymakers discover alternatives to decarbonize the energy sector, other than renewable energy expansion. Options to achieve carbon neutrality include heat expansion via unused heat, that is, national energy system innovation towards wasted energy utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of biomass as an alternative fossil fuel can be realized mainly through biomass consumption. This paper examines the growth rate and spatial patterns of biomass consumption in the United States (hereafter US) during the period 2000–2012, using the SLOPE index, Moran's I and local Moran's I. Results indicate that US States show either slow growth or slow decline in biomass consumption during the period 2000–2012. The number of States that have slow growth in biomass consumption is slightly larger than the number of States showing slow decline. The pattern of growth rate of biomass consumption revealed by the SLOPE index and the observed pattern of the temporal variation of biomass consumption ensures that the SLOPE index can catch the growth rate of biomass consumption. This pattern does not align with the increased annual investment in biomass, indicating that the investment in biomass does not flow down to the biomass industry effectively. The pattern of growth rate of biomass consumption will provide additional evidence for the debates about the effectiveness of State renewable energy policy, and demonstrates an urgent need for appropriate State renewable energy policies. There is a High-High spatial cluster around the Southeast of the US and a Low-Low spatial cluster in the Middle of the US in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. The regional spatial cluster in biomass consumption has somewhat relationship with the growth rate of biomass consumption, which can help the understanding of the growth rate of biomass consumption. • The SLOPE index is used to investigate the growth rate of biomass consumption. • The pattern of growth rate does not align with the increased annual investment. • There is an urgent need for appropriate State renewable energy policies. • There are regional clusters in biomass consumption in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. • The regional spatial cluster has somewhat relationship with the growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy has become a kind of attractive alternative energy in power generation field due to its nonpolluting and renewable properties. Wind speed forecasting acts an important role in programming and operation of power systems. However, achieving high precision wind speed forecasts is still consider as an arduous and challenging issue with the randomization and transient exist in wind speed time series. For this reason, this paper proposed two novel de-noising-reconstruction-based hybrid models which consist of novel signal decomposed methods, feature selection approaches and predictors based on quantile regression and optimization algorithm to achieve more accurate short term wind speed forecasting. The developed hybrid models firstly eliminate inherent noise from the wind speed sequences via decomposed method and subsequently construct the appropriate datasets for the forecasting engines by adopting the feature selection method; finally, establish the predictors for the forecasting task. To verify the effectiveness of proposed forecasting models, 1-h and 2-h wind speed data collected from Yumen, Gansu province of China mainland is used as case studies. The computational results demonstrated that the developed hybrid models yield better performance contrast with those of other models involved in this research in terms of both wind speed deterministic and probabilistic forecasting. • Two hybrid strategies with four modules are developed for wind speed forecasting. • A modified signal decomposition method is proposed for wind speed noise reduction. • A novel correlation-analysis-based approach is proposed to feature selection. • The proposed QRNN-based model can obtain forecasting results in different quantile. • The hybrid models perform well in both deterministic and probabilistic forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates the potential of renewable energies utilization in detail through three in-house developed strategies to increase the renewable power generation share until the year 2050 assuming either an optimistic 100% or a practical 50% based on the national policies. Solar, wind, and waste energy are the most feasible alternative energy resources in Iran. In the first strategy, power plants are phased out according to their lifetime and replaced by renewable resources in 5-year time steps. The second strategy employs a 3% replacement rate to reach a 100% renewable power generation in 2050. In the third strategy, the national plan of the power ministry is utilized to adopt a more practical pathway for increasing the renewable power generation share up to 50%. Pollution and water shortage crises are also considered within the framework of this study. The following work can lay the foundation for future studies of its kind in Iran as well as other countries all over the world. Developing the presented results can lead to the practical implementation of the study, which will vastly benefit the residents. Moreover, it will provide a great investment opportunity for foreign and domestic companies working on the field. Highlights • Approach applied to renewable penetration in the power system of Iran. • Three strategies are proposed for transition to 100% renewable. • The storage cost for three scenarios for the year 2050 are calculated. • The storage problem was addressed for various regions of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the pico-hydro development status in Lao PDR and introduces the Pump as Turbine (PAT) concept as an alternative for isolated communities (40–500 people). The intention is to provide a long-term reproducible system for communities where pico-hydro propeller turbines are insufficient and proper turbines are expensive. This approach presents a high quality and cost-effective solution for rural electrification which can be installed, commissioned, and maintained by local staff and villagers. Furthermore, a 2kWel PAT-scheme is proposed for a community in the Xiagnabouli province and considers power generation alternatives, sizing, asynchronous motor simulation, civil works, cost estimation, and social aspects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy policies may lead to important industrial outcomes. This paper investigates the impacts of energy policies on industry growth in renewable energy. Research tools employed include the commercialization process, value chain analysis, and empirical case studies. Different renewable energy technologies and geographical regions are considered covering over 50% of the world markets of the technology fields considered. Market deployment measures that enhance home markets of domestic industries will in most cases lead to growing industrial activities. Irrespective of the domestic market situation, pure investment or R&D support alone to already strong industries in related fields may be powerful to help with diversification into sustainable energy business. Several exogenous factors such as timing, size factors, geography, etc. will influence both the industrial and policy positioning in practice. The results indicate that there are increased industrial opportunities in renewable energy to be captured not only by large countries or through large public resources, but also smaller countries can gain success through clever policies and optimal managing of the commercialization process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]