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As countries implement renewable energy policies, it's important to understand the impacts of policies on sustainability. Population, economic and production changes affects in land use, water consumption and emissions along with trade-offs for limited resources to achieve food and energy security. Thailand faces increasing electricity imports and agricultural production, causing residue burning, a resource utilized for electricity generation. Thailand implemented a renewable energy policy and another to curb sugarcane residue burning addressing above challenges. The paper uses an extended input-output model in Thailand and the Northeast to understand impacts of these policies on output, labor income, employment, land and water use, etc. The study concludes these policies lead to supplementary increase in income, employment and value added contributing towards achieving SDGs through energy security, climate action, decent work and economic growth. At a national level, renewable energy policy is unable to capture a large potential of biomass electricity, while the no burn policy is better able to achieve sustainability through total output, income, employment, and water use. The renewable energy policy in Northeast Thailand is better able to capture the electricity potential. The Northeast also sees land use shifts from rice to cane, which could cause food security challenges. • Thailand faces growing challenges with energy security and crop residue burning. • To address the challenges, they implemented RE policies and crop burning policies. • The study uses extended input-output models in Thailand and Northeast Thailand. • We see positive effects of the policies on the economy, society and environment. • The policies fall short in capturing the full potential of biomass electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand had summited its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in 2015 and ratified the Paris Agreement in September 2016. Its INDCs stated that by 2030 GHG emissions will be reduced by 20–25% when compared to the business- as -usual (BAU) scenario by using mainly domestic renewable energy resources and energy efficiency improvement. Therefore, this paper assesses the potential of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction by the use of renewable energy in Thailand's INDCs and the economic impacts from GHG emission reduction. This paper employed the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model/Computable General Equilibrium (AIM/CGE). Besides the BAU scenario, four mitigation scenarios are assessed at given GHG emission levels and renewable power generation targets. Results show that Thailand's INDC can be achieved under the current renewable energy target in Thailand's Power Development Plan 2015. As a result, macroeconomic loss will be small under the light GHG reduction target; however, it will be large under the stringent GHG emission reduction target. The GDP loss ranges from 0.2% in the case of a 20% reduction target to 3.1% in the case of a 40% reduction target in 2030. Thus, the availability of land for deploying the renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and biomass needs to be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Techno-economic feasibility analysis of SLBs for a zero-emission microgrid. • Optimally sized hybrid system design using HOMER-Pro. • Four hybrid configurations assessed under six scenarios with fresh and SLBs. • Sensitivity analysis of optimal SLB and system sizes w.r.t multiple parameters. With the increasing adoption of variable renewable sources (VRE) and the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) in the market, the share of harmful carbon emissions is reducing continuously. Forming a microgrid (MG) is the best way to integrate renewable energy sources (RES) to make a low-carbon path for electrification. Second-life batteries (SLBs), derived from the first-life application of batteries used in EVs, are lower in price as compared to fresh EV batteries and have sufficient remaining capacity as energy storage for MG applications. Therefore, to show the techno-economic feasibility of SLBs, this paper shows a comparative study of MG consisting of photovoltaic (PV)/floating PV/wind/biogas with fresh Li-ion batteries (LIBs) and SLBs. This paper analyses 4 hybrid models with fresh LIBs in off-grid and grid-connected mode, and based on HOMER-Pro an optimal model is finalized for the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Pathumthani, Thailand. From, six different cases of fresh LIBs, the optimal case is also selected by considering the lowest net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE). With the significant amount of reduction in NPC and COE, the grid-connected hybrid models are found to be more economically viable than the off-grid models. The grid-connected optimal hybrid model is further analyzed with SLBs where a range of cost multipliers (CMs) and energy throughputs are considered as the sensitivity parameters for SLBs. The results obtained from HOMER-Pro show that the grid-connected optimal model with SLBs reduces the NPC and COE by 36% and 35%, respectively, compared to the fresh LIBs. Hence, the optimal system shows the lowest NPC and COE as, 4,136,254$ and 0.0411$/kWh, respectively, with the SLBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thailand is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels. The utilization of energy resources is the main source of CO2 emissions. Thus, restructuring current energy system is essential for the realization of low-carbon futures. Efficient and rational implementations of low emission reduction strategies and policies require application of energy system models that have the ability to estimate the baseline energy demand and CO2 emissions, and to explore technical and economic effects of different strategies over time. This paper reviews and discusses the perspective of low-carbon energy systems in the case of Thailand. It analyzes the projected development of energy system in Thailand. The literature on modeling of energy systems is analyzed and discussed. The paper presents a quantitative comparison of the selected energy model applications in terms of energy demand and energy-related CO2 emissions. The paper explores the potential pathways using findings from existing modeling studies to guide the development of a low-carbon energy system within a backcasting framework. It is found that there are wide ranges of projected emissions paths across the models. The findings suggest that there is sufficient technical potential to achieve a low-carbon target by 2030. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents an optimum location definition and technique for a better placement location of renewable power generations in a wide area power system using repeated power flow technique considering voltage stability limit. In this study, for a better understanding, the author have implemented the newly proposed idea on Thailand's power system especially focusing on renewable generation support plan from the government policy under the current Power Development Plan (PDP 2015). The study results have compared between: 1) installation the renewable generation at the newly recommendation area and 2) installation the renewable generation facilities throughout into distribution system in the Northeastern area of Thailand. The study results focus on impaction to voltage stability when system has load demand increasing and generation capacity decreasing. This study, a Modified-Thailand's power system during peak load in 2013 was used as a system base case with generation capacity around 27,400 MW and load demand around 26,810 MW while system losses 590 MW. The results found that the newly proposed technique can define optimum location for install renewables generation in wide area to enhance system security in term of voltage stability impaction. This technique may also carry to define the installation of other equipment as FACTS devices or define generation dispatch for Automatic Generation Control system (AGC) for power system stability enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thailand was one of the first Asian countries with a comprehensive feed-in tariff program, with streamlined interconnection regulations adopted by the Thai Cabinet in 2002 and technology-specific tariff ‘Adders’ in 2006. This paper presents an overview of the country's feed-in tariff, or Adder, program and its development. As of December 2011, Thailand has about 8000 MW of renewable energy projects in the pipeline seeking Adder and about 1000 MW already connected and selling power to the grid. Thailand's feed-in tariff program has undergone significant transitions especially since 2010 in tariff levels and screening criteria partly in response to applications for 471 solar electric power plants exceeding 2000 MW. A powerful new oversight committee comprising utility and Ministry of Energy representatives has raised concerns regarding transparency and consistency, and significantly reduced approval rates of new applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the possibility for Thailand to become a low-carbon society (LCS). The methodology involves development of current CO2emission inventory, and quantification of socio-economic activity level in 2030. In this study, the increase of CO2 emissions is estimated based on i) 2030 BAU (business-as-usual) without mitigation measures, and ii) 2030 CM (climate change mitigation measures) assumptions of employed demand-side technologies as well as the potential to reduce the CO2 emissions by low-carbon measures available during 2005–2030. In this study, only selected climate change mitigation options, which have been found to be cost effective, are included in the 2030 CM scenario. Several comprehensive demand-side measures such as diffusion of low-carbon technologies in the residential sector, energy efficient buildings, energy efficient industry and fuel switching, and fuel substitution in the transport sector are proposed. Results show that i) the annual CO2 emissions in the base year of 2005 are 185,983kilo-ton (kt) of CO2, ii) under the scenario without climate change mitigation measures (the BAU scenario), year 2030 CO2 emissions would increase to 563,730kt-CO2 or 3.03 times that of the base year 2005, and iii) by adopting the selected climate change mitigation measures, CO2 emissions can be decreased approximately 28.4% compared to the 2030 BAU scenario, i.e. to 403,642kt-CO2. The research findings hope to contribute to sustainable energy and environmental transition of Thailand, one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia, towards a Thai low carbon society. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cassava is one of the most important crops in Thailand as it is one of the most feasible feedstock for ethanol production to help meet the target set by the Renewable Energy Development Planning (REDP) of 9 million liters per day by the year 2022. That target is very ambitious and will need a considerable amount of feed stock to supply ethanol production. So this paper aims to study factors determining demand, supply, and price of cassava in Thailand for both food and fuel and to observe it''s effect on ethanol production targets. The analysis utilized time-series data for the period 1989-2009 in order to estimate the model parameters by means of the Two-Stage Least Squares method. The results of this analysis found that in recent years the share of ethanol production has increased continuously as has cassava production. Factors affecting supply of fresh cassava are the yield and the land area cultivated. The cultivated land utilized is also affected by the land area cultivated in the previous year and the price of cassava roots in the previous year. On the demand side, cassava products such as chips, pellets, and starch are affected by their wholesale price, competitor''s price, and policy implementation. Factors affecting cassava root price are the wholesale price which itself is affected by the supply whereas factors affecting cassava product price are it''s export price, cassava root price, and policy implementation. However, no significant effect on ethanol production in Thailand can be observed as a result of cassava price variations. In order to meet targets set by REDP, the demand of ethanol production should be seriously considered. The demand and supply models of cassava are useful to predict cassava prices when cassava demand goes beyond ethanol production. This model should highlight the important implications for Government in decision-making on agricultural and energy policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: At present, fossil fuel energy is commonly used in developing countries, including Thailand. The tendency to use fossil fuel energy is continuously increasing, and the price of fossil fuels is rising. Thus, renewable energy is of interest. Hydropower is one of the oldest renewable energy forms known and one of the best solutions for providing electricity to rural communities. The present paper aims to determine the potential micro-hydropower sites that could provide more than 50 kW but not over 10 MW in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. Both reservoir and run-of-the-river schemes are considered for the assessment of potential micro-hydropower sites. For the reservoir scheme, the discharge in the reservoir is employed for generating micro-hydropower electricity. This installation can be carried out without major modifications to the dam. The run-of-the-river scheme diverts water flow from the river mainstream to the intake via a pressure pipe or an open canal, which is then conveyed to the turbine via a penstock to generate electricity. The results showed that there are 6 suitable projects for the reservoir scheme and 11 suitable projects for the run-of-the-river. The maximum power load was 6000 kW and 320 kW for the reservoir and the run-of-the-river schemes, respectively. Hydropower from the run-of-the-river scheme is more suitable than hydropower from the reservoir scheme because of the many mountains in this province. The designed head for the run-of-the-river scheme is thus generally higher than that for the reservoir scheme. Because stream flow during the dry season is very low, electricity can only be produced in the wet season. This research is a pilot study to determine the potential sites of micro-hydropower projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Thailand is facing an urgency to enhance its energy security and capacity to cope with global warming impacts, as demands on fossil fuel consumption keep rising. This paper reviewed the latest situation on renewable powers and developmental strategies toward low carbon electricity generation in Thailand. Government recently has spent tremendous financial and legislative supports to promote the uses of indigenous renewable energy resources and fuel diversification while contributing in reduction of global greenhouse gas. Major policy challenge is on which types of renewable energy should be more pronounced to ensure sustainable future of the country. Regions in Thailand present different potentials for renewable supply on biomass, municipal wastes, hydropower, and wind. To maximize renewable energy development in each area, location is matter. Currently, energy-derived biomass is widely utilized within the country, however if droughts happen more often and severe, it will not only affect food security but also energy security. Life cycle of biomass energy production may cause other social issues on land and chemical uses. Meanwhile, deployment of wind and solar energy has been slow and needs to speed up to the large extent in comparison with energy proportion from biomass. Nuclear power has already been included in the Thai power development plan 2010 (PDP-2010). However, public acceptance is a major issue. Setting up strategic renewable energy zone to support power producer according to pre-determined potential location may assist development direction. Furthermore, government has to strongly subsidize research and development to lower technology cost and promote private investment on renewable energy industry. In the future, revision of electricity price is needed to allow fair competition between non-renewable and renewable energy once subsidy programs are ended. Environmental tax according to fuel types could help government progressing toward low carbon electricity. Stimulating renewable energy development and utilization at local community is a key for Thai sufficiency economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to review the energy situation, renewable energy potential and absorption chiller system in Thailand. The renewable energy which will be used in low temperature applications, under the consideration of low operating cost, high availability and non-polluted emission such as solar energy was discussed. Solar energy can be used as power sources for cooling systems, especially for the absorption chiller. Thailand is located in the area where the solar intensity is very high and thus solar energy can be used as power sources. The absorption chiller using water/lithium bromide is the most appropriate for the solar applications. This system, however, is not widely used in Thailand due to its complexity, high toxicity caused by leakage and high initial cost. The utilization of absorption chiller may increase if more researches focus on the development of this cooling system, which is driven by solar energy. This may results in a substantial decrease in electricity consumption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

abstract: Rice is a widely grown crop in the South and South-East Asia that leaves substantial quantity of straw in the field. The aim of this paper is to assess the quantity of rice straw produced, estimate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions based on its current uses, and assess its possible energy potential and related GHG emissions mitigation potential. Updated statistics on rough rice production are used in this study in combination with the literature values on Straw-to-Grain Ratio (SGR) to quantify the amount of rice straw produced in the three countries of focus. It is estimated that 97.19, 21.86, and 10.68 Mt of rice straw residue are produced in India, Thailand, and the Philippines, respectively. In India, 23% of rice straw residue produced is surplus and is either left in the field as uncollected or to a large extent open-field burnt. About 48% of this residue produced is subjected to open-field burning in Thailand, and in the Philippines it is 95%. The GHG emissions contribution through open-field burning of rice straw in India, Thailand, and the Philippines are 0.05%, 0.18%, and 0.56%, and the mitigated GHG emissions when generated electricity is used would be 0.75%, 1.81%, and 4.31%, respectively, when compared to the total country GHG emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) hybrid systems can make a positive contribution to the sustainability of rural communities in developing countries that do not have access to electricity grid. Integration of solar photovoltaic system with diesel generator for remote and rural areas would assist in expanding the electricity access in the tropical region. A survey of PV hybrid system in Thailand during the last decade regarding to status of technology, performance in terms of technical and economic aspects, and their prospects has been presented in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper summarises the first eight months of monitoring of the PHA BONG photovoltaic generation project, a 500kWp photovoltaic pilot plant, in Mae Hong Son province, Thailand. The local grid in this remote area in the North West of Thailand is very limited in its capacity and cannot be enlarged. It has been in operation since 20 March 2004 by feeding into 400VAC, 22kV medium voltage grid. The system consist of a photovoltaic array 1680 modules (140 strings, 12 modules/string; 300W/module), power conditioning units and battery converter system. During the first eight months of this system''s operation, the PV system generated about 383,274kWh. The average of generating electricity production per day was 1695.9kWh. It ranged from 1452.3 to 2042.3kWh. The efficiency of the PV array system ranged from 9 to 12%. The efficiency of the power conditioning units (PCU) is in the range from 92 to 98%. The final yield (Y F) ranged from 2.91 to 3.98h/d and the performance ratio (PR) range from 0.7 to 0.9. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this paper is to evaluate appropriate sites for Small Power Producers (SPP) hybrid, firm renewable energy-based power plants and their scenario suitability, focusing in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. The siting suitability of renewable SPP hybrid, firm power plants was assessed by employing the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Para rubberwood distribution map, 1-km resolution Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) map, and high resolution (50 m) wind potential map are overlaid in possible regions for site selection. The inclusion of energy storage is also assessed in order to achieve the firm output of the optimized power plant, as per the requirement of the SPP policy. In total, 14 possible combinations of renewable SPP scenarios, ranging from 10 to 50 MW, were analyzed in order to identify an optimum scenario in terms of technical power potential, environmental suitability and socio-economic viability. The cost of each renewable SPP hybrid scenario was analyzed, as well as the annual energy production (AEP) for each scenario. The cost-benefit and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were analyzed using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in the ranking of all scenarios. Results show that the optimum scenario is a 40 MW solar PV power plant, complemented with a 10 MW biomass power plant and with a substantial energy storage system (ESS). This configuration has the highest generation capacity, at over 1,200 PWh/yr, the lowest LCOE, at 11.2 US cents/kWh, and avoiding CO 2eq emissions of nearly 38 ktonnes per year. The methodology developed, based on a cost-benefit analysis, levelized cost of energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions, can also be applied in other jurisdictions characterized by the availability of biomass, solar and wind resources for electricity generation. • Sites for Small Power Producers hybrid, firm power plants are assessed. • The power plants are based on renewable energy resources, in southern Thailand. • Wind, solar and biomass resources, including energy storage systems, are assessed. • The levelized cost of energy is analyzed in the ranking of 14 power plant scenarios. • The optimum scenario is a hybrid 40 MW solar PV and 10 MW biomass power plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One important rationale for bio-energy systems is their potential to save fossil energy. Converting a conventional sugar mill into a bio-energy process plant would contribute to fossil energy savings via the extraction of renewable electricity and ethanol substituting for fossil electricity and gasoline, respectively. This paper takes a closer look at the Thai sugar industry and examines two practical approaches that will enhance fossil energy savings. The first one addresses an efficient extraction of energy in the form of electricity from the excess bagasse and cane trash. The second while proposing to convert molasses or sugar cane to ethanol stresses the use of bagasse as well as distillery spent wash to replace coal in meeting ethanol plants’ energy needs. The savings potential achieved with extracting ethanol from surplus sugar versus current practice in sugar industry in Thailand amounts to 15 million barrels of oil a year. Whether the saving benefits could be fully realized, however, depends on how well the potential land use change resulting from an expansion of ethanol production is managed. The results presented serve as a useful guidance to formulate strategies that enable optimum utilization of biomass as an energy source. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]