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Transnational power cooperation contributes to promoting the large-scale use of renewable energies in Asia, but how to develop the structure of power transmission network deserves careful investigation. This paper thoroughly investigates the structure of power investment and transmission network in China and neighbouring countries, aiming to promote the large-scale use of renewable energies around Asia. Various power-generation and power-transmission technologies are considered in detail, and transnational power interconnection risk cost and carbon emission cost are embedded into a bottom-up optimization model. The future power-generation structures and networks installed under various policy scenarios are analysed in detail, and the corresponding economic, carbon emission reduction and renewable energy consumption benefits are evaluated. The results show that power transmission between China's internal regions and neighbouring countries can save $56.7 billion for the entire power system through the large-scale grid integration of renewable energy. The installed capacities of wind power, solar power, and hydropower renewable energy power generation could be increased by 141 GW, 163 GW, and 58 GW, respectively. The construction of transnational transmission lines from Central Asia to Northwest China, Mongolia to North China, the Russian Far East to Northeast China, and Northeast China to South Korea could effectively promote the utilization of renewable energy in the Russian Far East, Mongolia and Central Asia and further reduce carbon emissions in China, Japan and South Korea. • It examines how to construct a power investment and transmission network in Asia. • Various technologies, risks and costs are considered based on bottom-up model. • Huge benefits exist for power transmission between China and neighbouring countries. • Various power-generation structures and networks installed are analysed in detail. • Suggestions about power investment and transmission are given for Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapidly growing state of energy consumption and the urgency of mitigating the harmful effects of climate change have accelerated our transition to renewable energy. This paper proposes a multi-level framework for exploring the global competition to develop renewable energy technologies. Through a combination of text mining techniques and by analyzing a corpus of patents covering six renewable energy technologies from 1970 to 2019, we reveal the lifecycle of these technologies, the original sources of these technologies, their potential markets, and the different supply and demand patterns of the major countries/regions involved. The results show that solar and wind energy are currently the most widely used renewable energy sources, yet biomass is the only energy source still in its growing stage. China's patents have seen a rapid upward trend, spurred on by strong policy promotion, which runs counter to the decrease in patent applications seen in most other major countries in this area. However, China's technology imports still far outweigh its exports, indicating that there is still a sizeable gap between China and some of the more developed countries like the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in terms of high-quality, high-value patents. Accordingly, China, the United States, and Japan are currently the leading in the world's renewable energy markets. That said, the market potential of Europe, Canada, and Australia should not be underestimated. These and more themes are discussed from a political, economic, environmental, and global governance perspective. This paper provides useful insights into the global renewable energy technology landscape, particularly the competitive dynamics at play. The aim is to guide policy makers or managers on the next steps in our progress toward applying and using renewable energy at scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particular solar energy, can be connected to Europe to provide the Northern neighbouring countries with electricity. To achieve this long term objective, it is necessary to understand the local domestic consumption of electricity in the MENA region as the main consumer of energy. The understanding of current and future trends could help to provide a complete picture of the energy situation in MENA region and the feasibility of exporting energy to Europe. For this reason, this paper investigates the domestic energy use and occupants’ energy behaviour in Libya. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of domestic energy consumption and householders’ awareness, attitudes and behaviour on the overall energy consumption in Libya and how this could affect the peak demand, capacity, future trends and government energy budget. The paper also investigates the sustainability aspect of consumer products and the awareness and attitude of consumers towards consumption and demand. A comprehensive survey has been conducted to evaluate several aspects of domestic energy demand and characteristics in Libya. The findings have indicated that there is a significant increase in energy demands in the household sector in Libya and it is significant to have a clear strategy to reduce carbon emission and energy use by improving occupants’ behaviour as well as utilising other sustainable measures. Minor adjustment in householders’ energy consumption behaviour and the technology used to generate energy could provide significant financial savings and contribute significantly to the reduction in carbon emission and energy consumption. This will allow significant benefit to the local economy and the energy sector in Libya but at the same time could provide sustainable energy resources for Europe on the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First reviews on coupling utilisation of thermal sources in vapour compression heat pumps. • The existing thermal source coupling attempts in applied energy fields are summarised and compared. • Design features and performance enhancement principles are analysed in detail. • Recommendations for research and marketisation of energy source coupling methods are made. Vapour compression heat pump provides efficient cooling and heating through the use of various renewable energy sources and plays a significant role in the energy conservation of modern buildings. Its performance enhancement gains increasing attention under the background of conventional energy and environmental crisis. Since the efficiency of a heat pump cycle is closely related to its thermal source condition, a stable high-temperature heat source or low-temperature cold source could benefit its heating or cooling efficiency a lot. Following this improvement strategy, significant progress has been made over the past years on the use of different renewable energy sources as coupled thermal sources of heat pumps. However, a specialised review that summarises relevant studies remains to be published. This paper aims at presenting operating mechanisms, characteristics, benefits, and limitations of different energy source coupling methods for heat pump performance enhancement towards its building application. The most concerning research on solar-assisted air source heat pumps, solar-assisted ground source heat pumps, and air-ground dual source heat pumps is emphasised. The existing thermal source coupling attempts under other renewable energy fields, such as waste heat, biomass, and water sources, are also summarised. Recommendations for further research and marketisation of such technologies are made based on detailed performance characterisation and comparison. The review is expected to benefit researchers in heat pumps and relevant applied energy fields to understand the challenges and opportunities in thermal source coupling technology and to promote its research and application development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With around 40% of the population without access to electricity but also a high penetration of solar home systems in its off grid areas, the case of Bangladesh is a very strong reference for the applicability of the Sustainable Energy Access for All (SE4A) goals. Nonetheless, while the solar home system program with 3.6 million systems has gained worldwide recognition, there are considerable limitations in the usage of such systems, in particular in the ability to provide access to higher tier energy services for productive use. Minigrids, on the other hand, could provide this access but have yet to proof both scale and commercial viability. This paper provides critical insides into the case of Bangladesh for a cost-effective route to the SE4All goals by applying practical and resource-efficient minigrid design principles. Planning and operation techniques are elaborated on in detail and concluded with a financial analysis for a hybrid solar-PV-Diesel minigrid that provides enhanced energy access in particular for productive use. In addition, implications on the business model are highlighted for developing minigrids in off grid rural areas of Bangladesh for hybrid minigrids ranging from 100 to 250 kWp while exemplarily showing how the three goals of the United Nation Sustainable Energy for All Initiative can be pursued in a mutually beneficial way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]