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Utilizing renewable energy (RE) sources can provide a realistic answer to the problem of many nations' energy needs. This paper reviews the current status of using RE to produce electricity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The primary aim of the review is to identify and analyze the solar- and wind-energy utilization, problems, and future trends in KSA while taking into account all relevant aspects, associated development hurdles, and suggested solutions. All involved parties will receive useful results and conclusions from a thorough examination and analysis of the pertinent literature that can assist them in understanding the potential of solar and wind energy, considering all the linked issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study intends to shed light on the environmental impacts of energy decisions in South Korea by analyzing the correlation between energy consumption patterns and environmental indicators such as carbon dioxide emissions. In 2021, global CO2 emissions increased by 6%—to the highest ever level of 36.3 billion tons—according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). This increase in CO2 emissions is a big problem for all countries around the world. The aim of this article is an analyze the impact of fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear energy on South Korea's environment based on the STIRPAT (stochastic impact by regression on population, affluence, and technology) model. Exploring the intricate nexus between economic and energy indicators and environmental outcomes, this study employs the STIRPAT model to analyze the influence of GDP, population dynamics, fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear energy on South Korea's environment. The yearly data from 1972 to 2021 are analyzed in this paper using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The reliability of this study is also examined by employing FMOLS (fully modified ordinary least squares) and CCR (canonical cointegrating regression) estimators. This study confirms the findings of previous research by showing that the rising South Korea GDP and population can lead to higher CO2 emissions and that a strategy switching to renewable energy can cut down on CO2 emissions in Korea, as it exhibits a coefficient of −0.085 *. The robustness results of FMOLS and CCR's findings support baseline ARDL findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing environmental concerns due to emissions from the shipping industry have accelerated the interest in developing sustainable energy sources and alternatives to traditional hydrocarbon fuel sources to reduce carbon emissions. Predominantly, a hybrid power system is used via a combination of alternative energy sources with hydrocarbon fuel due to the relatively small energy efficiency of the former as compared to the latter. For such a hybrid system to operate efficiently, the power management on the multiple power sources has to be optimised and the power requirements for different vessel types with varying loading operation profiles have to be understood. This can be achieved by using energy management systems (EMS) or power management systems (PMS) and control methods for hybrid marine power systems. This review paper focuses on the different EMSs and control strategies adopted to optimise power management as well as reduce fuel consumption and thus the carbon emission for hybrid vessel systems. This paper first presents the different commonly used hybrid propulsion systems, i.e., diesel–mechanical, diesel–electric, fully electric and other hybrid systems. Then, a comprehensive review of the different EMSs and control method strategies is carried out, followed by a comparison of the alternative energy sources to diesel power. Finally, the gaps, challenges and future works for hybrid systems are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By considering a panel dataset between 1995 and 2019 including several countries in South America and methodologically using the fixed effect and GMM methods in first differences, the authors sought to empirically determine the relationship between traditional energy consumption, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth. The results show that the two main variables studied (fossil energy consumption and renewable energy consumption) are statistically significant and contribute to economic growth per capita in all nine South American countries studied. Furthermore, it should be noted that this significance persists in the four models discussed in this study, demonstrating a link between the positive economic impact of reducing traditional energy consumption and increasing renewable energy consumption in the South American countries studied. This article also contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the fundamental role of gross capital formation, labor force participation, and tertiary school enrollment in the economic growth of these countries. Two rather small effects on the aforementioned growth are the corruption perception index and domestic lending to the private sector by banks. This paper calls on policymakers to reconsider increasing energy production using renewable sources and to promote measures for its consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ten nations of Southeast Asia, collectively known as ASEAN, emitted 1.65 Gtpa CO2 in 2020, and are among the most vulnerable nations to climate change, which is partially caused by anthropogenic CO2 emission. This paper analyzes the history of ASEAN energy consumption and CO2 emission from both fossil and renewable energies in the last two decades. The results show that ASEAN's renewable energies resources range from low to moderate, are unevenly distributed geographically, and contributed to only 20% of total primary energy consumption (TPEC) in 2015. The dominant forms of renewable energies are hydropower, solar photovoltaic, and bioenergy. However, both hydropower and bioenergy have substantial sustainability issues. Fossil energies depend heavily on coal and oil and contribute to 80% of TPEC. More importantly, renewable energies' contribution to TPEC has been decreasing in the last two decades, despite the increasing installation capacity. This suggests that the current rate of the addition of renewable energy capacity is inadequate to allow ASEAN to reach net-zero by 2050. Therefore, fossil energies will continue to be an important part of ASEAN's energy mix. More tools, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen, will be needed for decarbonization. CCS will be needed to decarbonize ASEAN's fossil power and industrial plants, while blue hydrogen will be needed to decarbonize hard-to-decarbonize industrial plants. Based on recent research into regional CO2 source-sink mapping, this paper proposes six large-scale CCS projects in four countries, which can mitigate up to 300 Mtpa CO2. Furthermore, this paper identifies common pathways for ASEAN decarbonization and their policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Africa, switching to renewable energy sources with low carbon emissions is becoming more popular. In the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), the low-carbon energy transition must overcome significant obstacles, including those posed by policies put in place and their implementation. In order to replace the current fossil fuel-driven economy with low-carbon development that also advances the regional aims and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this paper analyzes the current policy landscape in the region. A total of 75 policies from four categories (energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change) were chosen for the policy review. Multicriteria decision analysis and a thorough review of the literature have shed light on how well the policies of the ECOWAS countries could promote low-carbon development and what the main challenges to overcome are. The last step was the comparison of the progress of the two key policies in the region: the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) and National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP). The results illustrate the amount of work still needing to be done in the region, with only 26 of the 75 policies receiving a score above 50. However, the prospect of a better energy strategy that adequately considers the difficulties of the energy transition is possible, given the progress made by the region's nations since the creation of national action plans for energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE). Our analysis has also shown that countries like Senegal have obtained quite promising results, as evidenced by the best scores of 76.88 and 73.25, respectively, obtained by its NREAP and NEEAP policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing importance of renewable energy capacity in the power generation scenario, together with the fluctuating consumer energy demand, forces conventional fossil fuel power generation systems to promptly respond to relevant and rapid load variations and to operate under off-design conditions during a major fraction of their lives. In order to improve existing power plants' flexibility in facing energy surplus or deficit, retrofittable solutions for gas turbine compressors are proposed. In this paper, two different operation strategies, variable inlet guide vanes (IGVs) and blow-off extraction (BO), are considered for enabling partial load and minimum environmental load operation, and thus to identify implementation opportunities in existing thermal power plants. A typical 15-stage F-class gas turbine compressor is chosen as a test case and some energy demand scenarios are selected to validate the adopted solutions. The results of an extensive 3D, steady, CFD analysis are compared with the measurements coming from an experimental campaign carried out in the framework of the European Turbo-Reflex project. It will be shown how the combined strategies can reduce gas turbine mass flow rate and power plant output, without significantly penalizing efficiency, and how such off-design performance figures can be reliably predicted by employing state-of-the-art CFD models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, people all around the globe have seen its effects, including city closures, travel restrictions, and stringent security measures. However, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic extend beyond people's everyday lives. It impacts the air, water, soil, and carbon emissions as well. This article examines the effect of energy and the COVID-19 pandemic on China's carbon dioxide emissions in light of the aforementioned context, using the daily data from 20 January 2020 and ending on 20 April 2022. Using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model for empirical analysis, the findings indicate that COVID-19 pandemic confirmed cases and renewable energy advance environmental sustainability due to their negative effects on carbon dioxide emissions, whereas fossil fuel energy hinders environmental sustainability due to its positive effect on carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, these results are also supported by the results of the frequency domain causality test and the Markow switching regression. In light of these results, there are several policy implications, such as vaccination, renewable energy utilization, and non-renewable energy alternative policies, which have been proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For all of human history except the past two centuries or so, bioenergy provided nearly all the world's primary energy. Then, fossil fuels largely replaced bioenergy, but concern about climate change and fossil fuel depletion will force a move back to renewable energy, including bioenergy. The main method used here to study the future of global bioenergy was a literature surview of relevant published papers, with emphasis both on those published after 2020, and those having a global focus. The key finding is that bioenergy is unlikely to greatly increase its share of global energy consumption, for several reasons. Liquid biofuel production for transport is likely to almost disappear as countries progressively phase out internal combustion engine vehicles. Traditional firewood use is also projected to fall. There are also doubts about the technical potential of bioenergy, not only because it must compete with the other uses for biomass—food, fodder, fibre and timber—but also because in many cases its climate change mitigation impact is less than for other approaches, including alternative renewable energy sources. The overall conclusion is that bioenergy will have a minor but still useful role in the future global energy system, but global energy reductions are likely to be more important for climate stability than bioenergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy resource utilisation is becoming more prevalent in society and can be a sustainable method to meet rising energy demand and consumption. The International Renewable Energy Agency reports that presently, approximately 33% of total electricity output around the world is from renewable energy sources. However, in Nigeria, the World Bank reported this figure as 18.2% in 2015. It is important to understand how Nigeria can raise this average as the world moves towards less use of fossil fuels. Therefore, the aim of this work was to provide a review of the established literature, which can then be used to support the development of renewable energy systems in Nigeria. The methodology employed for the study of the literature involved a systematic review method, including identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion criterium steps. Understanding the national energy landscape is essential to support potential projects, and consequently, energy supply, demand and consumption in Nigeria are observed. The review examined renewable energy sources in Nigeria with a focus on solar and biomass/bioenergy. The levelised cost of electricity from renewable technologies was analysed, and the paper identified and evaluated past projects centered on solar and biomass, presenting three main case studies. The results indicate that solar and biomass have the most potential for energy generation in Nigeria, with 4–6.5 kWh/m2 of solar irradiation available per day and approximately 2.3 × 109 GJ bioenergy potential per year. However, solar PV is currently of most interest in Nigeria due to the lower cost of on-grid solar PV electricity, which can comfortably compete with fossil fuels. Nevertheless, costs still need to be lowered to compete fully. Finally, the findings also indicate that there is an omission in the literature surrounding the existing renewable projects and technologies in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any geothermal resource assessment requires consistent and widely accepted terminology, methods, and reporting schemes that facilitate the comparison of geothermal resource estimates. This paper reviews common resource assessment methods, as well as reporting codes and terminology. Based on a rigorous analysis of the portrayed concepts and methods, it discusses the appropriateness of the existing reporting codes for sustainable utilization of geothermal resources in Germany. Since the last quantitative geothermal resource assessment in Germany was done 15 years ago, a revised report is overdue. Unlike fossil energy commodities, geothermal energy replenishes naturally and heat recuperation increases in created heat sinks. This replenishment process offers the opportunity for sustainable reservoir management in the case of moderate production rates or cyclic operation. Existing reporting codes, however, regard geothermal resources in a similar way to fossil resources or focus too much on field development rather than on the whole assessment process. In order to emphasize the renewability of geothermal energy, we propose the reporting of geothermal capacities (per doublet or per km2) instead of recoverable heat energy which depends very much on project lifetime and other factors. As a first step, a new classification scheme for geothermal resources and reserves is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ecuador's expansion plans for the power sector promote the exploitation of hydro power potential, natural gas and a small share of alternative renewable energies. In 2019, electricity generation reached 76.3% from hydroelectric power, 21.9% from thermal plants and 1.8% from other renewable resources. Although the power energy mix is mainly based on renewable technologies, the total energy demand is still dependent on fossil fuels, which is the case of the transport sector that alone accounted for 50% of the total primary energy consumed in the country. This paper analyzes the pathway to develop a clean and diversified electricity mix, covering the demand of three specific development levels of electric transportation. The linear optimization model (urbs) and the Ecuador Land Use and Energy Netwrok Analysis (ELENA) are used to optimize the expansion of the power system in the period from 2020 to 2050. Results show that reaching an electricity mix 100% based on renewable energies is possible and still cover a highly electrified transport that includes 47.8% of land passenger, and 5.9% of land freight transport. Therefore, the electrification of this sector is a viable alternative for the country to rely on its own energy resources, while reinforcing its future climate change mitigation commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed generation (DG) using renewable energy sources is of widespread interest. For example, modern centralized conventional fossil fuel power generation commonly adds DG using renewable energy resources to the grid. Therefore, in these changes, it is necessary to optimize renewable energy systems to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions. In previous studies, meta-heuristic algorithms were used to optimize DG location and capacity, but different types of DG systems and integrated energy hub conditions were not considered. Determining the most effective DG type for an integrated energy hub is critical. Accordingly, this study presented a methodology for selecting the most cost-efficient DG for metropolitan residential customers of energy hubs. In this paper, we model energy hubs for residential customers and the most cost-efficient DG type using MATLAB and HOMER software, considering microturbine (MT), photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine, and fuel cell (FC) power sources. For this purpose, the energy hub was modeled as a combined cooling heat and power (CCHP) system and selected a specific metropolitan area as a testbed (Atlanta, USA). For practical simulation, the total active power of the Atlanta community was measured by multiplying the average load profile data of residential houses collected by open energy information (OpenEI). The first case study showed that optimal-blast MTs without absorption chillers (AbCs) were the most cost-efficient compared to other optimal-blast DG systems without AbCs. Additional second case studies for optimal and full-blast MTs with AbCs were performed to verify the results for energy consumption, costs, and emissions savings. As a result, full-blast MTs with AbCs comprise the most cost-efficient DG type in the CCHP system for metropolitan residential customers, reducing energy consumption, cost, and emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of energy is a precondition for global economic and civilisational development. However, the growing demand for energy is depleting traditional energy resources and, most importantly, causing environmental pollution, mainly through the emission of greenhouse gases. As energy is necessary for the functioning of all sectors of the economy, such as industry, services, transport as well as households, these sectors are the largest contributors to energy consumption. Renewable energy sources are an alternative to generating energy from conventional fossil fuels. The main objective of this paper was to determine and compare the level, trends and variation in energy consumption by different economic sectors in countries of the European Union in 2010–2019. An analysis of the share of renewable energy consumption in different economic sectors was also carried out, as well as an assessment of the relationship of these indicators with the level of economic development of the countries and environmental impacts in the form of greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption. To explore the topics under discussion, a dozen of indicators have been considered in the article. The source of empirical data collected was the European Statistical Office. The researched period covered the years 2010–2019. The empirical data was statistically analysed. The article considers changes in the values of the studied indicators, differentiation between countries and the results of correlation and regression analysis. As shown by the data from 2010–2019, the countries of the European Union vary significantly in respect of primary and final energy consumption. The highest final energy consumption occurs in the transport sector, followed by slightly lower consumption in the industrial sector and households sector and the lowest but also significant consumption in the commercial and public services sector. Since 2010, total primary and final energy consumption has decreased in the EU (27) countries. Total energy consumption and consumption by individual sectors in modern economies of the EU (27) countries are reflected on the one hand in economic development and on the other—in exacerbation of adverse climate changes. Therefore, all EU Member States, aware of their energy consumption and their own contribution to environmental pollution, should take effective and sustainable corrective action in this area as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse: (a) how the attitude towards renewable energy-based heating systems, pro-environmental behaviour and the perceived attributes of technology influence intention to convert residential heating systems from fossil fuels to biofuels, and (b) the moderating role of culture based on Hofstede's individualism dimension. A total of 425 responses were collected from a panel of internet users from representative countries in three continents (the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa); the data analysis was carried out using structural equation models in a multigroup analysis. The results showed that attitude towards renewable energy-based heating systems is influenced by environmental variables in the United States and the United Kingdom, and by the perceived attributes of clean residential heating systems in the United States and South Africa. Attitude, in turn, impacts on the intention to convert from fossil fuels to biofuels. In addition, individualism has a moderating effect between these variables and there are intercultural differences in the degree of importance attributed to them. The study concludes the use of these energy systems as drivers of environmentally-sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated microgrids, such as islands, rely on fossil fuels for electricity generation and include vehicle fleets, which poses significant environmental challenges. To address this, distributed energy resources based on renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs) have been deployed in several places. However, they present operational and planning concerns. Hence, the aim of this paper is to propose a two-level microgrid problem. The first problem considers an EV charging strategy that minimizes charging costs and maximizes the renewable energy use. The second level evaluates the impact of this charging strategy on the power generation planning of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. This planning model is simulated in HOMER Energy. The results demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of investing in additional photovoltaic (PV) generation and in the EV charging strategy. Investing in PV and smart charging for EVs could reduce the N P C by 13.58%, but a reduction in the N P C of the EV charging strategy would result in up to 3.12%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is a key ingredient to facilitate economic development in the Middle East. Expectations for a rapidly growing economy in the next decade will likely cause an increase in the fraction of energy consumed domestically limiting what is available for export. These challenges are the biggest for resource-rich countries, since their economy is heavily dependent on fossil fuel exports alongside an energy-intensive economy. Thus, the paper addresses the question of how the development of energy systems among resource-rich countries has changed over the past three decades and what role can they play in the sustainable development of the region's energy system and emission reduction goals? To address this question, we present an overview on energy trends in four resource-rich countries in the Middle East, which nearly account for 76% of the region's energy-related emissions and about 77% of total energy consumption. These countries are namely, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE. Accordingly, we present a comparative energy analysis between the four countries through examining historical and current energy trends, the structure of energy supply, the status of renewable deployment and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Results from the analysis showed that inefficient energy production and consumption have played a role in the deterioration of the energy landscape of the four countries compared to the global energy system. Thus, this highlights the necessity for suitable energy strategies and effective policies that will be central to sustainable energy development. The analysis presented here could be used to better understanding of the impacts of current gaps and inefficiencies in large energy consumers in the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Striving towards a resource efficient society requires an adjustment of energy systems towards renewable options. It is also of high importance to make use of products and materials to a higher degree. Biogas production has the potential to recover nutrients and energy from organic by-products, as well as to substitute fossil fuels in the energy system. Resource efficiency relates to the economic, energy and environmental performance of the system studied. A comprehensive research design for assessment of the resource efficiency of biogas production systems is described in this paper. The research design includes the following parts: identification of cases, defining scenarios, system development, evaluation perspectives and systems analysis. The analysis is performed from three perspectives; economy, energy and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]