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The Sixth Assessment Report of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted the urgency of accelerated climate actions harnessing synergies and minimizing trade-offs with various SDG. This calls for a clear understanding of linkages between climate goals and other SDGs at national level for formulating synergistic policies and strategies and developing different sectoral programs and coherent cross-sectoral policies. This is even more important for least developed countries such as Nepal where these linkages are less understood and development challenges are multifaceted. In this context, this paper aims to evaluate potential synergies and trade-offs among selected SDGs and their associated targets in Nepal in a linear pairwise comparison. Synergies and trade-offs related to climate action (SDG 13), access to energy (SDG 7), sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12), and life on land (SDG 15) have been evaluated using historical data for the period from 1990 to 2018 employing a mixed methods approach. Network analysis to map the conceptual linkages between the SDGs and their targets was combined with the advance sustainability analysis (ASA) to quantitatively evaluate the synergy and trade-offs between SDGs. The results illustrate the presences of a continual trade-off between emission reductions targets of SDG 13 with per capita energy consumption and share of renewable energy of SDG 7, land use for agricultural production target of SDG 12, and forest area target of SDG 15. This indicates that climate action is strongly interlinked with GHG emissions from economic activities and energy consumption. The results of the study represent a valuable input for the policy makers, supporting coherent and sustainable development planning as Nepal plans to graduate to a middle-income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyzes South Asia's energy trilemma balancing energy access, security and sustainability. • Focuses on four major regional countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. • Identifies major challenges as lack of energy access, unreliable gird, and unaffordable prices. • Explores the prospects of renewable energy as the key toward a sustainable energy transition. • Presents stakeholder perspectives on crucial dynamics of energy transition. To address the faced challenges – i.e. rapidly growing energy needs, depleting fossil fuel reserves, surging energy prices, risks to security of supplies, and climate change – the World is targeting a sustainable energy transition. This energy transition is primarily propelled by a global decarbonization drive. South Asia, a developing region housing over 23% of the global population, faces the additional challenge of serious energy deprivation. The subject of energy transition has not been explored in the South Asian context in terms of drivers, challenges, and prospects. This paper investigates the prospects of sustainable energy transition in South Asia in terms of resources, consumption trends, and challenges encountered by countries in the region, particularly India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It also examines the sustainable and renewable energy options for the region. An original stakeholder survey provides salient behavioral insights into awareness, attitudes and opinions shaping societal response to energy transition. The findings of the study highlight the serious energy security issues faced by the region in terms of lack of access, inconsistent supplies, unreliable grids, and high energy prices. Renewables like solar energy, wind power, and hydropower have the potential to propel regional countries to energy and environmental sustainability. "Lack of consistent policies and regulations", "lack of political will" and "lack of investment" are found to be the three most important challenges to the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analysed and summarised the significant research outputs published on the environmental impact assessment of mining and mineral processing industries through life cycle assessment. The paper presents valuable insights in identifying the gaps, where should the focus be in the mining and mineral processing industries for a sustainable future. Mining and mineral processing industries have been the key focus of research in many countries due to its increasing sustainability concerns that affect global warming and climate change. Use of heavy equipment that consumes electrical energy, mechanical energy, and an enormous amount of process heat is a key contributor to the overall impacts in the industry. Due to the use of heavy equipment and associated energy consumption, these industrial sectors contribute notably to global warming, human health, ecosystems, and resources. Among the various environmental impact assessment tools which are widely used to identify sustainability indicators, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-justified approach among the practitioners and researchers. Though state of the art technological tools and resources are being used now a days, there is still a research gap in identifying the key mining processes which need to be the focus of attention. Renewable energy integration in the mineral processing sector and process heating from green energy sources is becoming the emergent field of research. The review results reveal, the assessment indicators in human health and ecosystems are key factors that are mostly missing in the previous studies which are crucial for people or community living nearby mining area. This review paper identifies the research gaps to the existing literature that can form the base for future research direction in the field of LCA and sustainable energy integration in mining and mineral processing industries. • A review based on life cycle assessment studies in mining and mineral processing. • 16 metal mining industries are reviewed. • Summarised key factors of environmental effects using LCA. • Future research directions are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is crucial to economic and social development and improves quality of life. However, fossil fuel energy produces greenhouse gases (GHGs) and cannot be sustained for a long time. It is essential to tackle these problems by moving towards renewable and sustainable energy. Some countries, including those in the Arabian Gulf region, are still in the appraisal stage of adopting different forms of renewable energy. This paper reviews the business potential and likely GHG reductions associated with adopting renewable energy in Oman. It is revealed that 1·9 Mt of annual carbon dioxide emissions could be cut by producing 10% of the country's electricity from renewables. The paper further discusses the global sustainable energy commitment under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and reviews the 2030 targets of some countries that are high producers of GHGs. It is anticipated that if all these planned targets are achieved, the total sustainable energy contribution could grow by nearly 11 000 TWh by 2030. These plans provide guidance for those countries still preparing to submit their plans to the UN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of energy transition amidst the energy crisis and how policymakers can drive down emissions while focusing on energy security are critical. Given the geo-political situation, energy crisis volatility, energy shortage and climate change all affect the green transition and the short-term priorities for energy companies and policymakers. Energy security is not an isolated issue but has widespread implications as various sectors depend on energy supply to function properly. Governments around the world are faced with this trilemma, how to balance energy security with energy sustainability while also considering energy affordability. Sustainability has been in focus for about a decade. However, energy security is suddenly becoming one of the most important priorities that policymakers need to consider. Unfortunately, the renewable energy infrastructure is not yet ready to replace the growing volume of energy demand from hydrocarbon, which the world has been dependent on. This means, for now, a surge in energy generation through hydrocarbon to meet the existing energy demand deficit. However, it is important not to lose focus on the challenge of energy sustainability and climate change adaption and mitigation. Where trends like carbon capture and storage; solar, wind, hydro, green hydrogen, etc.; renewable energy infrastructure and integrations, with supply chain and engineering services consideration [in aspect for the growing market in this space] need better attention with regards to investment and full-scale implementation. This paper aims to analyze this 1st energy crisis of green transition with a priori on energy poverty with consideration of major influences and associated impacts. Furthermore, it proposes a specific framework for inclusive investigations, which considers the entire energy ecosystem with consideration of major influences, to enable the policymakers to better drive the green transition. This involves formulating energy policies that are not entirely conservative towards renewable energy sources but instead promote investments in both green and relatively more environmentally benign energy sources compared to high emission hydrocarbons. In this regard, this paper renders exhaustive prospects and recommendations. • The nexus between energy transition, energy poverty and their impacts are investigated. • Influence of climate change, COVID-19, geo-politics, and energy infrastructure on energy transition. • Exhaustive prospects and recommendations are rendered. • Requirement for inclusive investigations and recognition of energy poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban design and human activity are main causes of environmental pollution and climate change, such as reliance on energy production plants, factories and transportation that depend on fossil fuels, in addition to transformation of most green areas into residential areas. This paper aims to establish a sustainable city with an environment friendly urban design that contributes to exploitation of natural resources in the generation of electric power, use of green means of transport and thus the reduction of pollution. Anah site was chosen as the best site for designing a sustainable city, with its natural resources, air quality and moderate climate. The total area of the city is 9990187m2 divided into seven main parts, which include residential area, green areas, agricultural areas, public areas, wind farm, industrial area, and solar collecting area. SAM software has also been used in the city's renewable energy accounts. It was found that the annual output of the wind farm consisting of 15 turbines is 71080608 kWh and the power factor ratio is 36.1%. While the annual production of solar energy for each house was equal to 12527 kWh and the power factor was 23.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban design and human activity are main causes of environmental pollution and climate change, such as reliance on energy production plants, factories and transportation that depend on fossil fuels, in addition to transformation of most green areas into residential areas. This paper aims to establish a sustainable city with an environment friendly urban design that contributes to exploitation of natural resources in the generation of electric power, use of green means of transport and thus the reduction of pollution. Anah site was chosen as the best site for designing a sustainable city, with its natural resources, air quality and moderate climate. The total area of the city is 9990187m2 divided into seven main parts, which include residential area, green areas, agricultural areas, public areas, wind farm, industrial area, and solar collecting area. SAM software has also been used in the city's renewable energy accounts. It was found that the annual output of the wind farm consisting of 15 turbines is 71080608 kWh and the power factor ratio is 36.1%. While the annual production of solar energy for each house was equal to 12527 kWh and the power factor was 23.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the interrelationships between tourism and sustainability from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The current challenges and barriers in the tourism sustainability, such as high energy use, extensive water consumption and habitat destruction, are first reviewed. Then the key cross-disciplinary elements in sustainable tourism, including green energy, green transportation, green buildings, green infrastructure, green agriculture and smart technologies, are discussed. To overcome the challenges and barriers, a few implementation strategies on achieving sustainable tourism from the aspects of policy/regulation, institution, finance, technology and culture are proposed, along with the framework and details of a key performance indicator system. Finally, prospects of the potential for tourism to contribute to the transformative changes, e.g., a green economy system, are illustrated. This paper shine a light on issues of importance within sustainable tourism and encourage researchers from different disciplines in investigating the inter-relationships among community/culture, environment/ecology, and energy/water/food more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the editorial for the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews joint special issue devoted to the research work discussed and presented at the 11th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES), held from the 4th September to the 9th September 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal and the 2nd South East European (SEE) SDEWES Conference held from June 15th to June 18th, 2016 in Piran, Slovenia. This special issue is in line with the journal's aim of publishing research from across the ever-broadening field of renewable and sustainable energy with a strong review element. Previous SDEWES conference special issues have gathered a significant knowledge base in the field of sustainable development that reflects the continuous research efforts of the SDEWES research community. Therefore, this editorial provides not only an overview of the papers published in this particular special issue, but also a wider overview of the current trends in the domain of sustainable and renewable energy. This year's special issue focuses particularly on the benefits of the bio-based economy, energy security issues, fossil fuel thermal plant alternatives and environmental constraints, district heating and cooling together with cross sector energy efficiency and energy conservation issues. Sustainable transport systems, the issue of fuel poverty in urban neighbourhoods and renewable energy to support development of peripheral rural areas, optimising passive building design for hot climates and solar-powered heating and cooling are further topics featured in this special issue. In the process of selecting papers for this special issue, the guest editors invited in total 23 extended manuscripts for consideration for publication. After a rigorous review process by expert reviewers overseen by the guest editors a total of 16 articles were accepted for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GCC experience is the only successful Arab experience at the level of regional cooperation in the Arab region. This success can only be enshrined by the Council's ability to continue. Also, these countries succeeded in promoting a rapprochement between their States and the Arab region and its surroundings. The three wars in the area posed significant challenges to the Gulf Cooperation Council. Arabian Gulf authorities have sensed the need to develop a strategic partnership focus on the defense and the sustainability of the GCC countries, and their well-being. Climate change has sparked a war; all the wealth and luxury enjoyed by the people of the Gulf States will be affected by climate change. The impact of climate change appears in many forms, including an increase in the average ambient temperature in the region with severe decrease in precipitation. The area climate is rapidly changing because of human activities from year to year and decade to decade. The Arabian Gulf region is interested in climate change on several levels, and there is a growing awareness in the area. The potential for climate change is affecting many sectors and systems, like distilled water processing, food security, renewable energies and public health. This paper will discuss these issues in this paper. The information presented in this article aims to give a review and discussion of the effect of climate change in the GCC to the researchers; decision makers, politicians, and engineers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy management problems associated with rapid institutional, political, technical, ecological, social and economic development have been of critical concern to both national and local governments worldwide for many decades; thus, addressing such issues is a global priority. The main of objective of this study is to provide a review on the application and use of decision making approaches in regard to energy management problems. This paper selected and reviewed 196 published papers, from 1995 to 2015 in 72 important journals related to energy management, which chosen from the “Web of Science” database and in this regard, the systematic and meta-analysis method which called “PRISMA” has been proposed. All published papers were categorized into 13 different fields: environmental impact assessment, waste management, sustainability assessment, renewable energy, energy sustainability, land management, green management topics, water resources management, climate change, strategic environmental assessment, construction and environmental management and other energy management areas. Furthermore, papers were categorized based on the authors, publication year, nationality of authors, region, technique and application, number of criteria, research purpose, gap and contribution, solution and modeling, results and findings. Hybrid MCDM and fuzzy MCDM in the integrated methods were ranked as the first methods in use. The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review was the important journal in this paper, with 32 published papers. Finally, environmental impact assessment was ranked as the first area that applied decision making approaches. Results of this study acknowledge that decision making approaches can help decision makers and stakeholders in solving some problems under uncertainties situations in environmental decision making and these approaches have seen increasing interest among previous researchers to use these approaches in various steps of environmental decision making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Heavy fossil fuels consumption has raised concerns over the energy security and climate change while hydrogen is regarded as the fuel of future to decarbonize global energy use. Hydrogen is commonly used as feedstocks in chemical industries and has a wide range of energy applications such as vehicle fuel, boiler fuel, and energy storage. However, the development of hydrogen energy in Malaysia is sluggish despite the predefined targets in hydrogen roadmap. This paper aims to study the future directions of hydrogen economy in Malaysia considering a variety of hydrogen applications. The potential approaches for hydrogen production, storage, distribution and application in Malaysia have been reviewed and the challenges of hydrogen economy are discussed. A conceptual framework for the accomplishment of hydrogen economy has been proposed where renewable hydrogen could penetrate Malaysia market in three phases. In the first phase, the market should aim to utilize the hydrogen as feedstock for chemical industries. Once the hydrogen production side is matured in the second phase, hydrogen should be used as fuel in internal combustion engines or burners. In the final phase hydrogen should be used as fuel for automobiles (using fuel cell), fuel-cell combined heat and power (CHP) and as energy storage. Highlights • Biomass and solar pathways for hydrogen production could be feasible in Malaysia. • Hydrogen can be used as transportation fuel, heating fuel and energy storage. • Hydrogen economy in Malaysia faces technical, economic and social challenges. • Renewable hydrogen could be commercialized in 3 phases via the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy storage (ES) is an important device to ensure operation stability and efficiency of a renewable energy based distributed energy generation (DEG) system. As such, many researchers have modelled the operation (scheduling) of energy storage in a DEG system, where it is mostly portrayed to operate on a daily cycle. In this paper, an analysis of the operation mode of energy storage is presented. Two modes of operation are defined, daily mode (DM) (ES operates in daily cycles) and weekly mode (WM) (ES operates in weekly cycles) which are modelled accordingly. This paper then attempts to analyse and compare between both modes in term of operation and cost. The analysis is performed through a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model programmed via the General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS). In general, with high capital cost of ES, it is advisable to program the ES to operate in a DM. The reason to this conclusion is mainly due to three factors, intermittency of renewable resources, varying weather conditions, and discharge rate of ES(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy refers to the process of creating electricity using the wind, or air flows that occur naturally in the earth's atmosphere. Considered as a free and low-carbon energy, wind energy source has handy the attention of decision makers around the world. Wind energy has the possibilities of reducing the worlds dependence on fossil fuels and has a very huge potential to impart sustainable development of both climate and energy. This paper is focusing on the wind energy potentials of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Region of the United States, as a strategic location to develop wind farms that would help mitigate climate change. We used a GIS based approach in identifying suitable locations for wind farms and assessing wind energy potentials as a mitigation to climate change by using a weighted overlay of geospatial layers corresponding to these criteria. Results showed that a wind turbine runs practically emissions-free for 20 years, a viable alternative to burning polluting fossil fuels that offset all emissions within the first 6 months of operation. The Atlantic OCS Region present us with enormous wind energy potentials. Findings in this paper projects that from 2020, wind power alone would save 9.25 billion tons of CO2 every year. On average, each kWh of wind power generated would avoid 600 grams of CO2 (Global Wind Energy Council). Renewable energy would help mitigate climate change in an excellent way. However, we need sustainability in order to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examines a sample of three Asian Development Bank (ADB) energy projects to determine how they holistically address the energy sector challenges of the region. The paper firstly establishes four fundamental social and environmental sustainability principles that have influenced ADB''s new energy policy. These are (1) improving energy efficiency; (2) promoting renewable energy; (3) reducing energy poverty; and (4) enhancing climate change adaptation. These inform the policy''s new four-fold implementation strategy of scaling up renewable energy, advocating efficiency, enhancing energy access to benefit livelihoods and improving energy sector governance. The study then investigates the historical genesis, drivers, and advantages and challenges facing three recent ADB energy projects: a $76.75 million biomass power plant in Thailand, a $32.6 million energy efficiency initiative in the Philippines, and a $153.5 million program for off-grid renewables in Vietnam. The final part of the study evaluates each of these cases based on how they embody each of the four sustainability principles that uphold the new energy policy. The paper concludes by distilling lessons and presenting general recommendations for planners at the ADB and in Asia more generally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Initially pushed by the European Union (EU) through the Europe 2020 strategy, the development of renewable energies is a strategic action aiming to limit climate changes and cut greenhouse gas emissions. National subsidies favored the diffusion of this new kind of energy sources, even if there are interesting economic opportunities also in non-subsidized markets. Renewable energy (RE) is a sustainable choice, but its management requires a proper analysis, both from political and operational levels. The aim of this paper is the assessment of European renewable energy source (RES) trajectory towards 2020, starting from historical values and through common scientific methods. In addition, a new reference framework is proposed, in order to evaluate RESs performances in Europe. The framework is based on three indicators: (i) share of energy from RESs in gross final energy consumption, (ii) REs primary production per capita and (iii) gross final consumption of REs per capita. Results could have practical implications for the decision makers involved in the management of energy sources throughout Europe and could be used for the comparison on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this study is to show that by understanding the food-energy-water nexus, potential unforeseen negative outcomes can be avoided in the pursuit of sustainable development. To do this, this paper uses a novel approach to compare a combined farm and short rotation coppice willow system, in which the willow was planted as a riparian buffer, with a food-only and an energy only system. The impact of each system was investigated through the lens of the food-energy-water nexus using life cycle assessment techniques. Data from previous research was adapted in order to quantify the impacts for a typical Irish dairy farm, which is indicative of intensive agriculture across Europe. On a typical Irish dairy farm, the implementation of a short rotation coppice willow riparian buffer strip could reduce total nitrogen and phosphorus leachate by 14% and 9% respectively. Total CO 2 eq emissions could be reduced by 16.5% if energy from the willow displaces fossil fuels, while the impact on milk production and profit is minimal. Thus, the use of short rotation coppice willow as a riparian buffer strip has the potential to reduce strain on the entire food-energy-water nexus. By considering the food-energy-water nexus, the negative impacts of the food-only and energy-only systems were also highlighted. The paper also shows how a better understanding of the food-energy-water nexus supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and could help ameliorate the impact of climate change on the food-energy-water ecosystem. Image 1 • Understanding the FEW nexus supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals. • Negative outcomes can be avoided by assessing systems using the lens of the FEW nexus. • SRC willow riparian buffer strips can complement agricultural intensification. • Nitrogen (−14%) and phosphorus (−9%) exports to water can be permanently reduced. • Agricultural GHG emissions can be reduced by 16.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Modern agriculture is heavily based on the energy supply obtained mainly from fossil fuels. In this sense, it can be defined as a technology that transforms fossil fuels into food. However, the available amount of fossil hydrocarbons is not infinite and climate change is creating a critical necessity of reducing their use. Therefore, it is not too early to start considering how agriculture could be adapted to sustainable sources of energy which do not cause climate change. In the present paper, we discuss how agriculture could be restructured in order to utilize the electric power provided by renewable energy technologies such as wind and photovoltaics. In this sense, the problem can be stated as the need of developing technologies able to turn electricity into food. In our analysis, we find that renewable electric power could provide some of the services for the farm produced today by fossil fuels at costs which are not outside reasonable ranges. However, not all the problems of modern agriculture can be solved simply shifting from one power source to another and the limited availability of mineral fertilizers, such as phosphates, remains a fundamental limitation. We conclude that renewable electric power in the farm should be seen as part of a more general transition that will require considerable transformations and adaptation of the current agricultural process in order to develop a truly sustainable agriculture. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With nearly 70% of the world population expected to live in cities by 2050, assessing the sustainability of urban systems, both existing and future ones, is becoming increasingly relevant. Making cities more sustainable is a global priority, which is highlighted by 'Sustainable Cities and Communities' being listed as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by United Nations Member States in 2015. This Virtual Special Issue (VSI) explores the implementation and assessment of policies and technologies that contribute to the transition to a sustainable, energy efficient and regenerative society. We organized the issue according to four main research themes: 1) Renewable Energy Systems (i.e., different types of systems, qualitative assessments and public acceptance); 2) Sustainable Built Environment (which includes construction, operation and refurbishment); 3) Multi-Scale Models (considering urban sustainability transition from building to districts, or cities and regions to multi-country comparisons and their scaling across different countries); and 4) Governance and Policy (climate change mitigation and adaptation plans/policies that are reported across countries, urban services and infrastructures). This paper serves two purposes. The first is to provide an analysis about patterns, correlations and synergies found across the different topics that have been addressed over the last 20 years in the literature about cities' sustainability paths. A bibliometric analysis and a contingency matrix show the degree of correlation between scientific journals and main topics addressed by published articles. Secondly, the paper acts as an Editorial to the VSI, introducing the wealth of research articles and topics included in it. Both the bibliometric analysis and the papers published in this VSI demonstrate the interconnectedness of energy consumption, pollutant emissions and the competition for finite resources. The aim is to present advances and challenges of this exciting and ever-evolving research field to inform and guide future studies of urban sustainability. • We carried out a bibliometric analysis of the literature using the Cortext Manager platform· Using network analysis of a corpus of paper spanning 20 years we identified 8 major clusters. • The paper serves also as editorial for a virtual special issue dealing with urban sustainability pathways. • The virtual special issue is organised in four main themes, which touch upon different Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER) is a virtual special issue (VSI) dedicated to the three conferences on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) held in 2018. These included the 13th SDEWES Conference (30 September to the 4 October in Palermo, Italy), the 3rd South East European SDEWES Conference (30 June to 4 July in Novi Sad, Serbia and the 1st Latin American SDEWES Conference (28–31 January in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). In line with the RSER's policy, this VSI published two types of articles, either high quality review papers or original research papers with a strong review component. The guest editors invited 55 extended articles presented at the 2018 SDEWES conferences. These articles went through rigorous peer review process, and a total of 17 articles were finally accepted and published in this VSI. This editorial overviews these articles and examines their contribution to the field. In addition this editorial also provides an overview of the SDEWES 2018 conference series in order to reflect the continuous research efforts of the SDEWES research community and knowledge body on topics such as sustainable mobility, energy storage systems, various sustainability assessments, renewable energy source (RES) potential and biorefineries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reflective account exploring the value of using action research in a relatively new context in the United Kingdom; the development of community renewable-energy projects. There is a strong rationale for using action research in this setting due to the synergies between the principles and practice of action research and localised renewable energy provision, which simultaneously aims to empower communities and address the complex social problem of climate change. A doctoral study of the development and impacts of community renewable energy projects using an action research approach provided an opportunity to assess the benefits and challenges of following this approach in this setting. Personal reflection on the research process is used to evaluate the outcomes for researcher and co-participants, and to identify opportunities for future application of action research techniques to improve understanding of how to develop community-based approaches to renewable energy provision and other sustainability issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Urbanization, sustainability, energy efficiency, information and communication technology (ICT) and nanotechnology are emerging at the beginning of the 21st century. They are seeking to improve environmental effectiveness in the context of connected communities, global competitiveness, economic development, climate change, and demographic shifts. Virtually all proposed solutions to energy consumption and climate change acknowledge the role ICT plays as a key enabler of environmental effectiveness. One of the major challenges that the ICT sector faces today is that hardware is being pushed to its physical limits. The traditional means to reduce product size, increase functionality and enhance computing capabilities are becoming difficult and expensive every passing day. On the other hand, the industry is benefiting from nanotechnology advances with numerous applications including those in smarter sensors, logic elements, computer chips, memory storage devices, optoelectronics, quantum computing, etc. This paper presents an overview of the ICT benefiting from development in nanotechnology with respect to sustainability and energy efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: World energy demand is projected to rise to 1000EJ (EJ=1018 J) or more by 2050 if economic growth continues its course of recent decades. Both reserve depletion and greenhouse gas emissions will necessitate a major shift from fossil fuels as the dominant energy source. Since nuclear power is now unlikely to increase its present modest share, renewable energy (RE) will have to provide for most energy in the future. This paper addresses the questions of what energy levels RE can eventually provide, and in what time frame. We find that when the energy costs of energy are considered, it is unlikely that RE can provide anywhere near a 1000EJ by 2050. We further show that the overall technical potential for RE will fall if climate change continues. We conclude that the global shift to RE will have to be accompanied by large reductions in overall energy use for environmental sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The combined effects of climate change, the continued volatility of fuel prices, the recent food crisis and global economic turbulence have triggered a sense of urgency among policymakers, industries and development practitioners to find sustainable and viable solutions in the area of biofuels. This sense of urgency is reflected in the rapid expansion of global biofuels production and markets over the past few years. Biofuels development offers developing countries some prospect of self-reliant energy supplies at national and local levels, with potential economic, ecological, social, and security benefits. Forty-two African countries are net oil importers. This makes them particularly vulnerable to volatility in global fuel prices and dependent on foreign exchange to cover their domestic energy needs. The goal therefore is to reduce the high dependence on imported petroleum by developing domestic, renewable energy. But can this objective be achieved while leaving a minimal social and environmental footprint? A fundamental question is if biofuels can be produced with consideration of social, economic and environmental factors without setting unrealistic expectation for an evolving renewable energy industry that holds such great promise. The overall performance of different biofuels in reducing non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions varies when considering the entire lifecycle from production through to use. The net performance depends on the type of feedstock, the production process and the amount of non-renewable energy needed. This paper presents an overview of the development of biofuels in Africa, and highlights country-specific economic, environmental and social issues. It proposes a combination framework of policy incentives as a function of technology maturity, discusses practices, processes and technologies that can improve efficiency, lower energy and water demand, and further reduce the social and environmental footprint of biofuels production thereby contributing to sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate change mitigation is considered as a high priority internationally and is placed in the top of the agenda for most politicians and decision makers. The key challenge is that low-carbon sustainable technologies need to be adopted both by developed as well as developing countries, in an effort to avoid past unsustainable practices and being locked into old, less sustainable technologies. Technology transfer (TT), as an important feature of both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol can play a key role. TT can allow countries to move quickly to environmentally sound and sustainable practices, institutions and technologies. Indeed, the transfer or innovation process must be fast enough, to reduce global vulnerability to climate change. The aim of this paper is to analyse the TT challenges and emerging opportunities under the new climate regime, in terms of the process of innovation into an existing energy system, the related barriers and the supporting diffusion mechanisms. Good practices for renewable energy are also presented and discussed by both the developed and the developing countries in this respect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines a pathway for small islands to replace fossil fuels by renewable sources, such as wind and solar, up to 100% to economically achieve energy security and satisfy The Paris Agreement to limit temperature rise as close as possible to 1.5 °C, in an economically beneficial manner. Using Jamaica, as an example, it is shown that the introduction of intermittent renewable energy to an island grid, which is electrically isolated, relying totally on itself for backup, causes serious frequency fluctuations and load shedding. Simulations show that a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) using Li-ion batteries can be employed to economically overcome these problems. It is also noted that the cost of batteries with longer discharge capacity is on the decline and their use is expected to be become economical in about 10 years. Looking at the reported pathway to satisfy The Paris Agreement, a 2-phase pathway is suggested. In the Phase 1 (2020–2030) 30% integration of intermittent renewables with BESS backup can be implemented in a manner that is not economically burdensome whilst the remaining fossil fuel system can provide the firm energy needed. In Phase 2 (2030–2055), more renewables can be implemented, provided sufficient long term storage, including batteries, can be added to provide firm energy. By 2030 the cost of such storage is expected to fall resulting in increased deployment without a financial burden to the islands. Ideally, during the period 2020 to 2055, there should be no new additions of fossil fuel plants and retiring plants should be replaced by renewable energy plants; although an account is necessary for plants already in the planning and development stages. The leeway period of 2020–2030 should be used for the preparation and planning of adding up to 100% renewables in all sectors. • Sensitivity of isolated island grid systems to intermittent renewables. • Demonstration of frequency regulation control using simulations of Li-ion battery storage. • Mitigation pathway utilizing 100% renewable to limit temperature rise to 1.5″.C [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]