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Nigeria is endowed with various conventional and non-conventional energy resources essential for a robust and rapid economic growth and development. However, there is a high degree of infrastructural deficiency in the economy particularly in the electricity sector. This study is an effort to carry out a quantification assessment of the sawdust and rice husk generated in the sawmills and ricemills, respectively, and their corresponding electrical energy potential in each of the identified clusters. Based on these potentials, the capacity of the power plant was determined. In addition, a load survey in the beneficiary area and the agro-forestry clusters themselves were conducted, so as to identify potential site which is not far away from the fuel source for the location of the power plant. Finally, the study also carried out quantification of CO2 emission minimization capacity and economic gains from fuel displacement using sawdust and rice husk to generate electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Neglected and underutilized crop species (NUCS/NUS) are claimed to contribute to sustainable development. However, many scholars argue that enabling policies and appropriate governance are needed to operationalize such a potential contribution. Therefore, this systematic review analyzes the literature dealing with the relationships between policy and governance aspects and the promotion of NUS in West Africa. It draws upon 45 eligible articles identified through a search conducted on the Web of Science in December 2023. The existing literature focuses on Nigeria and a few NUS, especially cassava. The addressed policy domains include biodiversity conservation; subsidies; seed systems; food security, self-sufficiency and sovereignty; trade and import substitution; food safety and health; climate change and energy; land use; research, innovation and development; and support and assistance systems. Meanwhile, the main governance domains are (1) inclusiveness and participation and (2) institutional capacity. The analysis suggests that NUS development is also affected by sectoral policy coherence and consistency as well as the policy–governance interplay. Future studies should widen the scope in terms of geographical coverage in West Africa and NUS addressed to allow for more comparisons. Furthermore, there is a need for further research to understand the synergies and trade-offs between sectoral policies affecting NUS promotion and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines Botswana's significant reliance on coal and imported fossil fuels for electricity generation, contributing to high carbon emissions and energy insecurity influenced by volatile fuel prices and supply challenges. The study utilizes the Open-Source Energy Modelling System (OSeMOSYS) to explore cost-effective renewable energy strategies to meet Botswana's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and enhance energy security by 2050, analysing six scenarios: Least Cost (LC), Business-As-Usual (BAU), Net Zero by 2050 (NZ), Coal Phase Out by 2045 (CPO), Fossil Fuel Phase Out by 2045 (FFPO), and Import Phase Out by 2045 (IMPPO). Our key findings highlight the critical role of solar technologies—photovoltaic (PV), storage, and concentrated solar power (CSP)—in transitioning to a sustainable energy future, especially under the Net Zero and Import Phase Out scenarios. This research demonstrates the economic and environmental benefits of transitioning away from fossil fuels, with the Fossil Fuel Phase Out scenario yielding a USD 31 million saving over the Business-As-Usual approach and reducing investment costs by USD 2 billion, albeit with a slight increase in light fuel oil imports. The study underscores the need for substantial capital investments, particularly in the Net Zero and Import Phase Out scenarios, necessitating private sector financing. Policy recommendations include adopting detailed strategies for solar PV and storage expansion, updating renewable energy targets, phasing out coal and natural gas, and bolstering the regulatory framework. These strategies are crucial for Botswana to achieve decarbonization and energy independence, aligning with global climate goals and national energy security objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the accuracy of short-term prediction of building-integrated photovoltaics is essential to making an optimal decision on the management of the generated electricity, the weather forecasting service in many countries provides insufficient features for improving the prediction accuracy of the photovoltaics power output. This study suggests a machine learning model incorporated with feature engineering to improve the prediction performance of day-ahead hourly power outputs using a simple weather forecast service. A new synthetic feature, the modified sky condition, is derived to infer onsite sky condition and solar irradiation, which is not supported by the typical weather forecasting services. It evaluated the prediction performance with different training and hyper-parameter conditions for 60 days. By using the derived modified sky condition, the model outperformed other predictor configurations in most daily sky conditions; particularly, the accuracy improved by more than 50% on overcast days compared to when it used the original weather forecasting service data. The result demonstrates the feasibility and ability of the model to enable more efficient energy management of building-integrated photovoltaic power output in buildings without an onsite weather station, thus contributing toward the optimized dispatch of the integrated electricity energy storage system and other distributed energy resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to address Nigeria's challenges in meeting its climate objectives by investigating feasible pathways that can be implemented to accelerate progress and ensure credibility in meeting these targets. By examining the current policies and practices in place as well as successful strategies employed by other countries, this paper aims to provide strategies and policy implications recommendations for Nigeria to enhance its climate action efforts. The potential scenarios developed in this study ranged from increasing renewable energy capacity to implementing stricter regulations and standards for industries to reduce their carbon footprint, promote sustainable production processes, and strengthen climate governance and policy frameworks. The authors further investigated these measures and discovered that implementing stricter regulations and standards for industries would reduce their carbon footprint, promote sustainable production processes, and strengthen climate governance and policy frameworks. As such, Nigeria will be able to meet its climate goals more quickly as a result of the following factors: preventing environmental degradation, funding environmentally friendly infrastructure, and improving public transportation systems that can reduce vehicle-related greenhouse gas emissions. The authors developed policy measures based on the proposed twelve credible pathways to catching up with climate goals in Nigeria, thereby promoting faster progress by the Nigerian government in achieving climate goals. By adopting these measures, Nigeria's progress toward the proposed zero net by 2060 will be significantly accelerated. It will position Nigeria as a continental leader in sustainable development and contribute to the overall global efforts to mitigate climate change. This will not only benefit the environment but also lead to financial development and an improved standard of living for its citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effect of carbon trading on low-carbon transformation of high energy consumption enterprises in China. Based on the mechanism of interaction and restriction among high energy consumption enterprises, carbon verification agencies and the government, a tripartite evolutionary game model is constructed. The three-dimensional dynamic system is built to analyze the behavior patterns of the three parties. The evolution path of the tripartite game is visualized, and the low-carbon transformation states of high energy consumption enterprises in different situations are described. The results show that the high energy consumption enterprises, verification organization and the government cannot reach the optimal game equilibrium (low-carbon transformation, verification and supervision) temporarily when seeking their own interests. The corresponding measures should be taken with different situations of the tripartite game. No matter what strategy the government chooses, the low-carbon transformation could be promoted by carbon trading through carbon verification mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continual generation and discharge of waste are currently considered two of the main environmental problems worldwide. There are several waste management options that can be applied, though anaerobic digestion (AD) process technology seems to be one of the best, most reliable, and feasible technological options that have attracted remarkable attention due to its benefits, including the generation of renewable energy in the form of biogas and biomethane. There is a large amount of literature available on AD; however, with the continuous, progressive, and innovative technological development and implementation, as well as the inclusion of increasingly complex systems, it is necessary to update current knowledge on AD process technologies, process variables and their role on AD performance, and the kinetic models that are most commonly used to describe the process-reaction kinetics. This paper, therefore, reviewed the AD process technologies for treating or processing organic biomass waste with regard to its classification, the mechanisms involved in the process, process variables that affect the performance, and the process kinetics. Gazing into the future, research studies on reduced MS-AD operational cost, integrated or hybrid AD-biorefinery technology, integrated or hybrid AD-thermochemical process, novel thermochemical reactor development, nutrient recovery from integrated AD-thermochemical process, and solid and liquid residual disposal techniques are more likely to receive increased attention for AD process technology of biomass wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, energy is becoming an essential factor with an impact on social, economic, and environmental aspects. More than 2.5 billion people are connected to agriculture worldwide, so the importance of agricultural energy production has become increasingly important. This study provides a comprehensive review of renewable energy, environment, and farm publication trends. Two hundred articles from 1988 to 2022 were analyzed, with special attention devoted to the last three extreme years, using the Scopus database and the Bibliometrix tool for analysis and visualization. Research on this topic experienced significant developments after 2008, with many fluctuations being revealed. Historically, China and the USA were the most productive countries in agricultural energy production advancements. However, in the last three years, the research center's respective contributions have undergone major changes. China maintained its dominance, but the importance of the USA fell sharply, and new centers (India, Poland) appeared. Biogas is the most popular method which is used and searched in this area between 1988–2022 since it includes both sustainability and locality. However, between 2020–2022, the importance of the circular economy has been highlighted in the literature. Complex energy systems, dual use of land, and energy storage might be the most important challenges for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study quantifies the effluents generated during processing in three industry types, estimates the energy potential from the quantified effluents in the form of biogas generation, and determines the economic viability of the biogas recovered. Data were procured from the relevant scientific publications to quantify the effluents generated from the production processes in the industry types examined, using industrial process calculations. The effluent data generated are used in the 2-module biogas energy recovery model to estimate the bioenergy recovery potential within it. Economic and financial analysis is based on a cash-flow comparison of all costs and benefits resulting from its activities. The effluents generated an average daily biogas of 2559 Nm3/gVS, having a daily potential combined heat and power of 0.52 GWh and 0.11 GWh, respectively. The life cycle analysis and cost-benefit analysis show the quantity of emissions avoided when using the effluents to generate heat and power for processes, along with the profitability of the approach. Conclusively, the study shows that the use of biomass effluents to generate biogas for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is a viable one, based on the technologies of a reciprocating engine, gas turbine, microturbine, and fuel cell. However, it is recommended that the theoretical estimation be validated using a field-scale project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsustainable rice straw management causes environmental impacts; hence, utilisation of rice straw for bioenergy is a promising strategy for sustainable rice straw management. Although rice straw has a high potential for bioenergy generation, the whole production cycle and application may cause environmental damage that is not fully understood. Hence, environmental performance studies are required to determine the most effective rice straw utilisation options. A comprehensive approach, such as life-cycle assessment (LCA), can give comprehensive information on the possible environmental effects of rice straw utilisation for bioenergy. Therefore, this study briefly overviews the LCA of rice straw utilisation for bioenergy production. It is found that utilisation of rice straw for bioenergy could reduce global warming potential compared to energy production from fossil fuels. However, it is suggested that other impact categories in LCA be evaluated in the bioenergy production from rice straw research to determine the overall sustainability of the production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate photovoltaic (PV) power forecasting is indispensable to enhancing the stability of the power grid and expanding the absorptive photoelectric capacity of the power grid. As an excellent nonlinear regression model, the relevance vector machine (RVM) can be employed to forecast PV power. However, the optimization of the free parameters is still a key problem for improving the performance of the RVM. Taking advantage of the strong global search capability, good stability, and fast convergence rate of the sparrow search algorithm (SSA), this paper optimizes the parameters of the RVM by using the SSA to develop an excellent RVM (called SSA-RVM). Consequently, a novel hybrid PV power forecasting model via the SSA-RVM is proposed to perform ultra-short-term (4 h ahead) prediction. In addition, the effects of seasonal distribution and weather type on PV power are fully considered, and different seasonal prediction models are established separately to improve the prediction capability. The benchmark is used to verify the accuracy of the SSA-RVM-based forecasting model under various conditions, and the experiment results demonstrate that the proposed SSA-RMV method outperforms the traditional RVM and support vector machine models, and it even shows a better prediction effect than the RVM models with other optimization approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the gained momentum of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) under the umbrella of the United Nations organization, in the light of the SDG‐7, which stipulates the access to affordable, sustainable, and modern energy, this paper explores the dynamic relationship between renewable energy and the pillars of sustainable development. Its insights are driven using a simultaneous equation model based on a panel of 25 African economies covering the period 1990–2014. The results show that renewable energy is important for sustainable development and that higher levels of renewable energy can increase sustainability. The findings also confirm the positive influence of renewable energy on the economic, environmental, social, and institutional dimensions. These positive effects stem from investment in clean energy in the whole of Africa, combined with structural changes promoting the use of clean energy and the achievement of the millennium development goals. The findings should be useful for policymakers in Africa. Aggressive renewable energy policies will be crucial for achieving energy‐policy goals and the "multiple benefits" of renewable energy, such as reducing climate change and air pollution, improving energy security, and increasing access to energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ghana has recently reviewed its renewable energy Act 835 with an objective of providing 10% of its energy from renewables by 2020 (Ackah and Asomani, 2015). Meanwhile, solar Photovoltaic (PV) accounts for less than 2% of the energy mix (Energy Commission, 2018). In combating environmental issues such as climate change and meeting these policy targets, there is the urgent need to increase investment into the renewable sector. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to critically examine the impeding constraints to photovoltaic investment in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: The Literature evaluation was carried out of critical constraints surrounding PV investments. Questionnaire was developed and administered online using Google form. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the features of each constraint. In addition, inferential analysis using relative importance index was used to rank these indicators. Again, one sample t-test was used to test the significance of the indicator. Multiple indicators were used to measure the latent constructs. Finally, independent test of mean equity was used to test relationship between the working experiences of despondence who have worked with solar PV below five years and those who worked from five years to ten years. Findings: The research has highlights high installation and maintenance costs, lack of access to long-term capital finance, access to affordable consumer finance and lack of support to research and development as the major investment obstacles to solar PV investment in Ghana. Research limitations/implications: It is recommended that the Government of Ghana should provide incentives such as tax waivers, which will encourage entrepreneurs, invest into PV. In addition, it is recommended that solar PV companies must collaborate with financial institutions to provide low interest and flexible consumer financing schemed that can enable home users to purchase the technology. Future research should complement this work by focusing on the impact of domestic currency volatility on PV investment. The scope of this study is constrained to the PV industry in Ghana. Practical implications: This study will serve as a guide to the private sector business owners to help make critical PV investment decisions. It has also brought to the forefront the reason why solar PV account for a small fraction of Ghana's energy mix. Originality/value: This paper seeks to espouse the prevailing constraints to PV investment in Ghana and seeks to contribute to already existing literature that will make profound changes in state policy around PV investment. By understanding these difficulties, driving pointers can be recognized to encourage effective future venture inside the sustainable power source area. In this way, the research leads to a better understanding of the impeding factors that hinders PV investment in Ghana. Again, the paper has achieved new discovery with regards to variations between years of experience with PV use. The variation being less than five years with over five years of PV use. By understanding these difficulties, driving pointers can be recognized to invigorate effective future ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study assessed the amount of carbon being sequestrated in the Ondo State Afforestation Project in Oluwa Forest, south -west of Nigeria, with the view to determine the above ground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB), estimate the total carbon content and evaluate the CO2 sequestered. Geospatial techniques and the non-destructive field observation method were used. The results showed that a total of 359 megatons of CO2 was estimated to have been sequestered using the non-destructive field measurements. In addition, the rate of change in land use land cover between 1984 and 2015 was determined. A geospatial database derived from field measurements was developed to monitor carbon content of the forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic activities are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, causing extreme events like soil erosion, droughts, floods, forest fires and tornadoes. Fossil fuel consumption produces CO2, and trapping heat is the major reason for a rapid increase in global temperature, and electricity generation is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and their adverse impact have become the focus of efforts to mitigate climate change vulnerability. This study explores empirical determinants of vulnerability to climate change such as ecosystem, food, health and infrastructure. The sustainable use of energy is necessary for development, and a source of response to climate change. The present study focuses on renewable energy consumption to determine climate vulnerability in G7 countries between 1995 and 2019. The panel ARDL approach showed that the renewable to non-renewable energy mix showed a quadratic effect on vulnerability, whereby a minimum threshold of renewable energy is required to witness a reduction in food, health and infrastructure vulnerability. Other results indicate that trade openness and development expenditures reduce health vulnerability. Development expenditures also decrease ecosystem vulnerability, while trade openness increases it. However, both of these variables increase infrastructure vulnerability. Avoiding severe food and water crises requires investment to tackle climate change, conserve energy and water resources, reform global trade and food markets, and adapting and adopting climate-resilient responses to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to examine common environmental practices and strategies for implementing sustainable FM among Nigerian FM practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature on sustainability and environmental management was undertaken. Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires directed to a sample of 150 facilities managers who are members of the International Facility Management Association (Nigeria Group), Lagos, Nigeria. Structured interviews with five top facilities management professionals were also conducted. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, means, z-test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and relative importance index. The survey achieved a response rate of 30 percent. Findings – The survey revealed that many of the practitioners put a premium on achieving energy efficiency as a very vital environmental practice within their organizations. A strategic management procedure is more important for the implementation of environmental management in the Nigerian FM industry. Originality/value – There is a paucity of literature in sustainability within facilities management in Nigeria. An integration of sustainability considerations into FM practice is required to promote the development of suitable environmental initiatives and practices within Nigerian cities, as many facilities managers are employed by companies whose activities harm the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the paper is to present a proposal to measure the relationships between Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and one of the areas considered in the green growth concept: environmental production efficiency. Both of these areas illustrate the relationship between the natural environment and the economy, emphasizing transformations in the field of energy use. Selected taxonomic methods, TOPSIS, and multicriteria taxonomy, were applied to study the relationships between the two areas. The results of the EU countries classification showed a variety of countries' development pathways within a single economic community. Despite continued attempts to equalize the development levels between European Union countries in many strategic areas, they remain highly diversified. That is also true for the areas analyzed in the paper, which is a disturbing situation, indicating that both strategies might not correlate in all respects. Further research into the relationships linking the remaining dimensions of both strategies is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed people's water literacy awareness, attitudes, and behaviors to iden-tify strategies for coping with drought and water scarcity. The data from 653 questionnaires were analyzed by statistical validation and using IBM SPSS 22 and IBM AMOS 26.0. The views of students, housewives, swimming pool owners, schoolteachers, and experts were collected and finally examined by multivariate validation analysis. People have a high level of water literacy and developed sufficient water-saving habits (4.60). Although most people believe that tap water is of good quality, it is difficult to deliver and expensive, and cannot be consumed directly. Even though people are aware of the water shortage crisis, willing to carry water bottles instead of using plastic bottled water, choosing to buy environmentally friendly cleaning products (4.08), performing water conservation behaviors on the go, taking showers within 6–15 min, and taking the initiative to notify the relevant authorities to repair water facilities, the frequency of using bottled water is still high due to work and living habits, consumption ability, and mobility constraints (34.6), and they are less willing to buy products with the "water proficiency label" (4.08) and participate in stream-cleaning activities (3.57). The willingness to participate in water purification activities is low. The public also feels that the government is responsible for solving the current water shortage crisis (3.71). There are significant differences in the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of water literacy among people of different genders, ages, and regions, depending on their work and consumption abilities, quality of life, and convenience (p < 0.05). Increasing water responsibility can enhance environmental management actions, consumer economic actions, and civic actions, while enhancing water perceptions and crisis awareness can further strengthen civic behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy transformation towards renewable energy sources in the conditions of climate change and the accompanying climate risk is a priority for all countries in the world. However, the degree of advancement of activities in this area varies significantly between countries, which is the result of different activities for renewable energy sources in individual countries. The aim of this article is to determine the trends of changes in the area of the use of renewable energy sources in EU countries. The study uses TMD (taxonomic measure of development) methods and dynamic classification, which allowed to distinguish typological groups of objects with similar dynamics of the studied phenomenon. The EU 28 countries were analyzed. Statistics (Eurostat database) are provided for the period 2004–2019. As a result of the research, it was found that the Scandinavian countries and the countries of Western Europe were characterized by the highest stability in terms of the use of renewable energy sources over time. These countries also recorded the smallest increases in TMD. On the other hand, the unfavorable situation in terms of stability was observed mainly in the countries of Southern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, various national strategies and programs are described by planning instruments. The TIEB (Thailand Integrated Energy Blueprint), which includes six programs (AEDP, PDP, EEDP, ODP, GDP, REDP), aims to regulate renewable energy and improve the use of biofuel. In addition, the potential of second-generation biofuels is estimated with different residue extractions of second-generation biomasses: 20% (scenario 1), 44% (scenario 2), and 66% (scenario 3). Based on the production potentials that were estimated, CO2 will decrease 1.3–3.5 megatons in the gasoline sector, and 1.4–3.8 megatons in the diesel sector under scenario 1. In scenario 2, we estimated decreases of 2.8–7.7 mega tons and 3.2–8.4 mega tons of CO2 for the gasoline and diesel sectors, respectively. Finally, scenario 3 is expected to reduce the CO2 concentration by 4.2–11.6 megatons in the gasoline sector, and by 4.7–12.6 megatons in the diesel sector. We also estimate the economic potential of a second-generation biofuel with the view of emissions trading. For bioethanol and biodiesel, respectively, 27–74 million USD and 30–81 million USD could be realized in scenario 1, 60–163 million USD and 67–178 million USD in scenario 2, and 90–244 million USD and 100–267 million USD in scenario 3. We conclude that the future potential of second-generation biofuels in Thailand is optimistic, and that they can provide both environmental and economic benefits to the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]