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Summary: Human activities are directly related to fossil fuel consumption and cause global warming and climate change effects by emitting greenhouse gas into the lower atmosphere. To reduce and adapt to such effects, renewable energy sources such as surface dams, including hydroelectric energy (HE) generation units, are gaining importance. In the current literature, HE potential calculations are based on formulations that are quite simple, clear and do not distinguish between different situations. In this paper, two classification methodologies are proposed for better assessment of HE production. The first one is based on the concept of the hypsographic curve to distinguish different drainage basin features into "Young," "Mature" and "Old." The second classification takes into account the newly defined energy index (EI) principle, which helps to classify the HE generation capability of drainage basins into "Very low," "Low," "Normal," "High" and "Very high." The application of the proposed methodology is presented for three drainage basins from the upstream sub‐basins of the Tigris River in Turkey. A comparison of the results shows that the proposed methodologies not only give numerical values but also sets linguistically rational and logical rules for the HE potential of a drainage basin. In the upstream basin of the Tigris River, the EI values vary between 0.705 and 0.122, corresponding to the "High" and "Low" categories, respectively. It is recommended that these two classification procedures be considered before the construction of any dam for HE production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In the modern world, only conventional energy resources cannot fulfil the growing energy demand. Electricity is a fundamental building block of a technological revolution. Today, most of the electricity demand is met by the burning of fossil fuels but at the cost of adverse environmental impact. In order to bridge the gap between electricity demand and supply, nonconventional and eco‐friendly means of energy generation are considered. Renewable energy systems (RESs) offer an adequate solution to mitigate the challenges originated due to greenhouse gasses (GHG). However, they have an unpredictable power generation with specific site requirements. Grid integration of RESs may lead to new challenges related to power quality, reliability, power system stability, harmonics, subsynchronous oscillations (SSOs), power quality, and reactive power compensation. The integration with energy storage systems (ESSs) can reduce these complexities that arise due to the intermittent nature of RESs. In this paper, a comprehensive review of renewable energy sources has been presented. Application of ESSs in RESs and their development phase has been discussed. Role of ESSs in increasing lifetime, efficiency, and energy density of power system having RESs has been reviewed. Moreover, different techniques to solve the critical issues like low efficiency, harmonics, and inertia reduction in photovoltaic (PV) systems have been presented. Unlike most of the available review papers, this article also investigates the impact of FACTS technology in RESs‐based power system using multitype flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) controllers. Three simulation models have been developed in MATLAB/Simulink. The results show that FACTS devices help to maintain the stability of RESs integrated power system. This review paper is believed to be of potential benefit for researchers from both the industry and academia to develop better understanding of challenges and solution techniques for REs‐based power systems and future research dimensions in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper is concerned with innovative approaches to renewable energy sources computation methodologies, which provide more refined results than the classical alternatives. Such refinements provide additional improvements especially for replacement of fossil energy usages that emit greenhouse gas (GHG) into the atmosphere leading to climate change impact. Current knowledge gap among each renewable energy source calculation is rather missing fundamentals of plausible, rational, and logical explanations for the interpretation of results. In the literature, there are rather complicated and mechanically applicable methodologies, which require input and output measurement data match with missing physical explanations. The view taken in this review paper is to concentrate on quite plausible, logical, rational, and effectively applicable innovative energy calculation methodologies with simplistic fundamentals. For this purpose, a set of renewable energy methodological approaches is revisited with their innovative structures concerning solar, wind, hydro, current, and geothermal energy resources. With the increase in the renewable energy utilizations to combat the undesirable impacts of global warming and climate change, there is a need for better models that will include physical environmental conditions and data properties in the probabilistic, statistical, stochastic, logical, and rational senses leading to refined and more reliable estimations with application examples in the text. Finally, new research directions are also recommended for more refined innovative energy system calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The produced energy from varied sources in modern power systems is to be optimally planned for planning and operating of power system under the determined limit conditions. Recently, the rising overall people population of the world, the increasing of people requirements, improvements of technology, and ecosystem and global climate changes have caused with the increasing of electric energy demand. One of the most important solution methods to meet this energy demand is considered as utilization of renewable energy sources (RESs) in power systems. The structure of power systems has become with the usage of RESs more complex. The optimal power flow (OPF) from planning and operation problems has converted to difficult problem with RESs integrated into modern power systems. This paper presents the OPF problem of power systems with a high penetration of controllable renewable sources. These kinds of sources are able to inject a determined power since they have a back‐up unit (storage). Uncertain solar irradiance and wind speed are simulated via log‐normal and Rayleigh probability distributions, respectively. The proposed OPF problem with controllable renewable sources is solved by the differential evolutionary particle swarm optimization (DEEPSO) algorithm. Simulations conducted on various test systems illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of DEEPSO as compared with other algorithms including moth swarm algorithm, backtracking search algorithm, and differential search algorithm. In addition, the Wilcoxon signed‐rank test is applied to show the supremacy, effectiveness, and robustness of DEEPSO algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not the first time in human history, nor will it be the last for that matter, that a collective problem calls for a collective response. Climate change fueled by greenhouse emissions affects humankind alike. Despite the disagreement among policymakers and scientists on the severity of the issue, the truth is that the problem remains. A broad look at different technologies being used today in different fields has led to the idea of bringing them together in an attempt to offer a viable solution to reducing anthropogenic CO2. The following paper describes how the nanotechnologies, available or soon to be available, would make CO2 capture, cache, and conversion (coined the three Cs) a valid way for achieving a more sustainable energy society. Authors also set out to highlight with this work how knowledge transfer is instrumental in the development of technology and how methodical assessment of crossovers can expedite research when time plays against us. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY For several years recently, the price of oil has fluctuated due to the weak US dollar and financial risks. In particular, the WTI crude oil price reached $147 per barrel in July of 2008, which is the highest price thus far. An awareness of an impending crisis and concern over climate change are driving an increase in R&D for alternative energy sources instead of fossil-based energy. However, the researches based on traditional method show negative options about the economic value of new and renewable energy. This paper evaluates the value of new and renewable energy through a real option method which considers the uncertainty associated with fossil energy and the uncertainty of the success of R&D. The evaluating model assumes that the fossil energy price follows a geometric mean reverting process and that the probability of success with R&D on renewal forms of energy follows a binomial probability model. The model considers four options: the option to continue R&D, the option to delay R&D, the option to deploy R&D, and the option to abandon R&D. Finally, the value of Korean R&D on renewal forms of energy is analyzed by the model. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and the wish to reduce the dependence on oil are the incentives for the development of alternative energy sources. The use of lignocellulosic biomass together with cellulosic processing technology provides opportunities to produce fuel ethanol with less competition with food and nature. Many studies on energy analysis and life cycle assessment of second-generation bioethanol have been conducted. However, due to the different methodology used and different system boundary definition, it is difficult to compare their results. To permit a direct comparison of fuel ethanol from different lignocelluloses in terms of energy use and environmental impact, seven studies conducted in our group were summarized in this paper, where the same technologies were used to convert biomass to ethanol, the same system boundaries were defined, and the same allocation procedures were followed. A complete set of environmental impacts ranging from global warming potential to toxicity aspects is used. The results provide an overview on the energy efficiency and environmental performance of using fuel ethanol derived from different feedstocks in comparison with gasoline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the CO2 reductions deemed necessary to limit the impact of adverse climate change will require real changes in the way we both use and supply energy. Although explicit international and national frameworks are necessary to facilitate reduction strategies, regional implementation and local initiatives are increasingly seen as having an important role to play, both in meeting national CO2 reduction targets and improving the local environment. This paper deals with the supply side of the energy equation for Greater Manchester in the U.K., examining the potential for ‘regional’ energy supply options to contribute to a reduction in carbon intensity. By assessing actual and latent regional opportunities, the potential for achieving a more sustainable energy supply system is evaluated. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]