Role of energy policy in renewable energy accomplishment: The case of second-generation bioethanol

Renewable energy has been in the limelight ever since the price of crude petroleum oil increases to the unprecedented height of US$96 per barrel recently. This is due to the diminishing oil reserves in the world and political instabilities in some oil-exporting countries. The advantages of renewable energy compared to fossil fuels are enormous in terms of environment and availability. Biofuels like bioethanol and biodiesel are currently being produced from agricultural products such as sugarcane and rapeseed oil, respectively. Collectively, these biofuels from food sources are known as first-generation biofuels. Although first-generation biofuels have the potential to replace fossil fuels as the main source of energy supply, its production is surrounded by certain issues like tropical forests’ destruction. Instead, second-generation bioethanol, which utilizes non-edible sources such as lignocellulose biomass to produce ethanol, has been shown to be more suitable as the source of renewable energy. However, there are challenges and obstacles such as cost, technology and environmental issues that need to be overcome. Hence, the introduction of energy policy is crucial in promoting and implementing second-generation bioethanol effectively and subsequently become a major source of renewable energy.     

The contribution of renewable resources in meeting Turkey's energy-related challenges

The aim of this paper is to point out the importance of renewable energy as a key way for resolving the Turkey's energy-related challenges. As a consequence of economic and social development, Turkey's energy consumption has risen dramatically over the past three decades. At present, fossil fuels account for more than 90% of the total energy consumption in the country. Turkey has no large oil and natural gas reserves and it import nearly all of these fossil fuels. Turkey's current energy mix is not likely to support development of sustainable energy. The energy mix shows a relatively small contribution from renewable energy sources in the country. They have the potential to make a large contribution to Turkey's sustainable and independent energy future. In particular they can help to reach the environmental goals of Turkey and to increase the security of energy supply by reducing the dependence on imported-fuel supplies.     

An overview of algae bioethanol production

Because of rapid growth in population and industrialization, worldwide ethanol demand is increasing continuously. The first‐generation and second‐generation biofuels are unable to meet the global demand of bioethanol production because of their primary value of food and feed. Therefore, algae are among the most potentially significant sources of sustainable biofuels in the future of renewable energy because of the accumulating high starch/cellulose and because they are widely distributed in nature. The focus of this paper is to review the production and recent advances in research and development in the algae bioethanol, including pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation of algae biomass. Despite the many developments made in the recent years, commercialization of algal bioethanol remains challenging chiefly because of the techno‐economic constraints. Technological breakthroughs in all major aspects must be overcome before it can be a successfully large‐scale and commercialized product. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the wind energy in Turkey

Increase in negative effects of fossil fuels on the environment has forced many countries, including Turkey, to use renewable energy sources. Today, clean, domestic and renewable energy is commonly accepted as the key for future life, not only for Turkey but also for the world. As wind energy is an alternative clean energy source compared to the fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere, systems that convert wind energy to electricity have developed rapidly. Turkey is an energy importing country, more than half of the energy requirement has been supplied by imports. Turkey's domestic fossil fuel resources are extremely limited. In addition, Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of wind power. In this context, renewable energy resources appear to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for sustainable energy development and environmental pollution prevention in Turkey. Since wind energy will be used more and more in the future, its current potential, usage, and assessment in Turkey is the focus of the present study. The paper not only presents a review of the potential and utilization of the wind power in Turkey but also provides some guidelines for policy makers.     

Importance of biomass energy sources for Turkey

Various agricultural residues such as grain dust, crop residues and fruit tree residues are available in Turkey as the sources of biomass energy. Among the biomass energy sources, fuelwood seems to be one of the most interesting because its share of the total energy production of Turkey is high at 21% and the techniques for converting it to useful energy are not necessarily sophisticated. Selection of a particular biomass for energy requirements is influenced by its availability, source and transportation cost, competing uses and prevalent fossil fuel prices. Utilization of biomass is a very attractive energy resource, particularly for developing countries since biomass uses local feedstocks and labor. Like many developing countries, Turkey relies on biomass to provide much of its energy requirement. More efficient use of biomass in producing energy, both electrical and thermal, may allow Turkey to reduce petroleum imports, thus affecting its balance of payments dramatically. Turkey has always been one of the major agricultural countries in the world. The importance of agriculture is increasing due to biomass energy being one of the major resources in Turkey. Biomass waste materials can be used in Turkey to provide centralized, medium- and large-scale production of process heat for electricity production. Turkey's first biomass power project is under development in Adana province, at an installed capacity of 45 MW. Two others, at a total capacity of 30 MW, are at the feasibility study stage in Mersin and Tarsus provinces. Electricity production from biomass has been found to be a promising method in the nearest future in Turkey.     

Potential contribution of bioethanol fuel to the transport sector of Vojvodina

The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an Autonomous Province in Serbia and it is an energy-deficient country. The indigenous reserves of oil and gas are limited and the country is heavily dependent on the import of oil. The oil import bill is a serious strain on the country's economy and has been deteriorating the balance of payments situation. The country has become increasingly more dependent on fossil fuels and its energy security hangs on the fragile supply of imported oil that is subject to disruptions and price volatility. The transport sector has a 26% share in the total commercial energy consumption in Vojvodina. About 0.62 million tons of gasoline were consumed by this sector in 2008. Gasoline consumption in the transport sector is also a major source of environmental degradation especially in urban areas. Consequently, Vojvodina needs to develop indigenous, environment-friendly energy resources, such as bioethanol, to meet its transport sector's energy needs. Vojvodina produces about 3 million tons of sugar beet every year. There is a vast potential for bioethanol production from molasses of sugar beet in the country. Bioethanol can be used in transport sector after blending with gasoline, in order to minimize gasoline consumption and associated economical and environmental impacts. This paper presents the assessment of the potential contribution of bioethanol in the transport sector of Vojvodina. It is concluded that 20% of annual gasoline consumption in transport sector could be met from ethanol by the year 2026.     

Renewable and sustainable energy use in Turkey: a review

Turkey is an energy importing nation with more than half of our energy requirements met by imported fuels. Air pollution is becoming a significant environmental concern in the country. In this regard, renewable energy resources are becoming attractive for sustainable energy development and environmental pollution mitigation in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Because of this and our limited fossil fuel resources, a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewables seems to be a serious alternative for Turkey's energy future. This article presents a review of the present energy situation and assesses sustainability, technical, and economical potential of renewable energy sources, and future policies for the energy sector in Turkey. Throughout the paper, problems relating to renewable energy sources, environment, and sustainable development are discussed for both current and future energy investments. The renewable energy potential of the country and its present status are evaluated.     

The Benefits of Renewables in Turkey

Renewable energy is proving to be commercially viable for a growing list of consumers and uses. Renewable energy technologies provide many benefits that go well beyond energy alone. More and more, renewable energies are contributing to the three pillars of sustainable development not only in IEA countries, but globally. Turkey is an energy-importing country; more than half of the energy requirement has been supplied by imports. Domestic oil and lignite reserves are limited and lignites are characterized by high ash, sulfur, and moisture content. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for the extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Because of this and the fact that it has limited fossil fuel resources, a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewables seems to be serious and the sole alternative for Turkey. This article presents the role of the renewables in future directions in IEA countries with Turkey. At present the share of hydropower and biomass is high as 30% in the primary energy production of Turkey. In the case of solar, geothermal, and wind energy, there is an important potential for domestic heating and electricity generation.     

Renewable energy resources and technologies applicable to Ireland

The energy consumed in Ireland is primarily achieved by the combustion of fossil fuels. Ireland's only indigenous fossil fuel is peat; all other fossil fuels are imported. As fossil fuels continually become more expensive, their use as an energy source also has a negative impact on the environment. Ireland's energy consumption can be separated into three divisions: transportation, electricity generation and heat energy. Ireland however has a vast range of high quality renewable energy resources. Ireland has set a target that 33% of its electricity will be generated from renewable sources by 2020 [I. Government. Delivering a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland; 2007.]. The use of biomass, wind and ocean energy technologies is expected to play a major part in meeting this target. The use of renewable energy technologies will assist sustainable development as well as being a solution to several energy related environmental problems. This paper presents the current state of renewable energy technologies and potential resources available in Ireland. Considering Ireland's present energy state, a future energy mix is proposed.     

Energy production,consumption, policies,and recent developments in Turkey

Turkey is geographically in the middle of the world, which means it is surrounded by the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. This area is not only geographically, but also economically, very important. Turkey has a very young and increasing population. In addition to the increase in population, a growing number of city dwellers and rapid economic development are causing more energy consumption. In the last 20 years, Turkey has become a considerably sized, growing energy market in the world. The domestic share of total energy consumption is 37%, and between the years 2000 and 2010, the cost for needed energy will be approximately 55 billion US$. The government has been planning for 81% of this amount as an investment. Considering the country's economic conditions, Turkey must come up the plan which reduces the share of fossil fuels, increases energy production (including use of more alternative energy sources), and changes the coarse of long-term energy plans into very effective and applicable solutions. In this study, energy reserves, energy demand, energy production, energy consumption, energy policies, and recent developments are investigated and evaluated.     

Techno‐economic analysis of an integrated biorefinery system for poly‐generation of power,heat, pellet and bioethanol

Bioethanol is an alternative to fossil fuels in the transportation sector. The use of pellet for heating is also an efficient way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This paper evaluates the techno‐economic performance of a biorefinery system in which an existing combined heat and power (CHP) plant is integrated with the production of bioethanol and pellet using straw as feedstock. A two‐stage acid hydrolysis process is used for bioethanol production, and two different drying technologies are applied to dry hydrolysis solid residues. A sensitivity analysis is performed on critical parameters such as the bioethanol selling price and feedstock price. The bioethanol production cost is also calculated for two cases with either 10 year or 15 year payback times. The results show that the second case is currently a more feasible economic configuration and reduces production costs by 36.4%–77.3% compared to other types of poly‐generation plants that are not integrated into existing CHP plants. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and perspective of promising energy plants for bioethanol production in Taiwan

The global energy crisis and continual soaring prices of fossil fuels force people to seek the new and recycled alternative energy sources hard. Biodiesel oil as well as bioethanol fuel, as two new and clean fuels for environmental protection, have already been approved as substitutes for fuel or fuel additive. Some common bottlenecks for production of biodiesel crops have been found. However, developing bioethanol crops in Taiwan has many benefits. Four most promising alcohol crops in Taiwan, i.e., sweet potato, maize, sugarcane, and sweet sorghum have been discussed. Sweet sorghum can be strongly recommended as a key alcohol crop in Taiwan, because of its short growing period, low water requirement, large amount of biomass and alcohol produced, and greater income obtained from sweet sorghum cultivation.     

Wind energy status in renewable electrical energy production in Turkey

Main electrical energy sources of Turkey are thermal and hydraulic. Most of the thermal sources are derived from natural gas. Turkey imports natural gas; therefore, decreasing usage of natural gas is very important for both economical and environmental aspects. Because of disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. The estimated wind power capacity of Turkey is about 83,000 MW while only 10,000 MW of it seems to be economically feasible to use. Start 2009, the total installed wind power capacity of Turkey was only 4.3% of its total economical wind power potential (433 MW). However, the strong development of wind energy in Turkey is expected to continue in the coming years. In this study, Turkey's installed electric power capacity, electric energy production is investigated and also Turkey current wind energy status is examined.     

Wind energy status in electrical energy production of Turkey

Main electrical energy sources of Turkey are thermal (lignite, natural gas, coal, fuel oil, etc.) and hydraulic. Most of the thermal sources are derived from natural gas. Turkey imports natural gas; therefore, decreasing usage of natural gas is very important for both economical and environmental aspects. Because of disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. However the installed wind power capacity is only 0.22% of total economical wind potential. In this study, Turkey's installed electric power capacity, electric energy production is investigated and also Turkey current wind energy status is examined.     

Renewable energies: Choosing the best options

Life cycle analyses of renewable energy sources focus on static accounting of energy and green house gases balances. In this work, we introduce a conceptual framework and a mathematical model to simulate the time evolution of the energy balance of energy conversion technologies. This approach complements static energy return analyses. It is based on a few technical parameters that describe a standard conversion module, a set of deployment objectives, and assumed growth rates for deployment. It is independent of working details of the conversion technology. A set of equations is formulated and solved to model the deployment of the new technology. It allows for evaluation of gross and net produced energy and for estimation of required investments. The model is applied to photovoltaic electricity in Brazil, wind electricity globally and in Brazil, and sugar cane bioethanol. The main conclusions are: (i) photovoltaic electricity, because it requires large energy investments, leads to negative net production of electricity for many years, i.e., for an extended period it is an energy sink and not source; (ii) wind electricity is an attractive option is terms of net electricity production; (iii) sugar cane bioethanol is an attractive option for liquid fuels production for the world.     

A snapshot of geothermal energy potential and utilization in Turkey

Turkey is one of the countries with significant potential in geothermal energy. It is estimated that if Turkey utilizes all of her geothermal potential, she can meet 14% of her total energy need (heat and electricity) from geothermal sources. Therefore, today geothermal energy is an attractive option in Turkey to replace fossil fuels. Besides, increase in negative effects of fossil fuels on the environment has forced many countries, including Turkey, to use renewable energy sources. Also, Turkey is an energy importing country; more than two-thirds of her energy requirement is supplied by imports. In this context, geothermal energy appears to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for sustainable energy development and environmental pollution prevention in Turkey. Since geothermal energy will be used more and more in the future, its current potential, usage, and assessment in Turkey is the focus of the present study. The paper not only presents a review of the potential and utilization of the geothermal energy in Turkey but also provides some guidelines for policy makers.     

The role of hydroelectric power and contribution of small hydropower plants for sustainable development in Turkey

Turkey is a rapidly growing country regarding its economy and population and therefore has a large and continuously increasing energy demand. Turkey mostly meets its energy demand from imported fossil sources. However apart from petroleum and natural gas, Turkey has almost all kinds of energy resources and hence it would not need to meet its energy demand through import. In addition, Turkey has very large potential of hydraulic energy but to date only one-third of this significant economical potential could be used. This ratio seems insufficient when compared with that of European countries.In this paper the role of hydroelectric power, its potential and its present status are investigated in detail for Turkey. Especially the small scale hydropower plant is emphasized as Turkey's renewable energy source. Furthermore the water resources of Turkey are examined.     

Economic growth, CO2 emissions, and fossil fuels consumption in Iran

Environmental issues have attracted renewed interest and more attention during recent years due to climatic problems associated with the increased levels of pollution and the deterioration of the environmental quality as a result of increased human activity. This paper investigates the causal relationships between economic growth, carbon emission, and fossil fuels consumption, using the relatively new time series technique known as the Toda-Yamamoto method for Iran during the period 1967–2007. Total fossil fuels, petroleum products, and natural gas consumption are used as three proxies for energy consumption. Empirical results suggest a unidirectional Granger causality running from GDP and two proxies of energy consumption (petroleum products and natural gas consumption) to carbon emissions, and no Granger causality running from total fossil fuels consumption to carbon emissions in the long run. The results also show that carbon emissions, petroleum products, and total fossil fuels consumption do not lead to economic growth, though gas consumption does.     

A discussion on recent developments in Turkey's emerging solar power market

Market reform, energy security and environmental protection are three primary energy policy goals of Turkish government. Although Turkey's abundant solar energy resources can directly address the government's energy policy goals, Turkey has not utilized solar power yet. Utilization of country's huge solar energy potential would decrease dependence on imported fossil fuels and contribute to fulfill environmental commitments. However, lack of regulatory and financial support for the development of solar power has considerably delayed the utilization of country's huge solar potential. The government has taken only modest steps to promote investment in solar power until the end of 2010 when a new feed-in tariff policy was adapted. Turkey's solar energy potential, PV technology status and prospect for concentrating solar power in Turkey have been explored in a number of studies; yet literature dealing with recent policy developments, associated investment environment and opportunities for solar power investors are limited. The aim of this paper is to set out the latest legal framework for investment in Turkey's emerging solar power market and to provide some guidelines to potential investors who appreciated country's huge solar energy potential.     

Turkey's Renewable Energy Facilities in the Near Future

In this work, renewable energy facilities of Turkey were investigated. Electricity is mainly produced by thermal power plants, consuming coal, lignite, natural gas, fuel oil and geothermal energy, and hydro power plants in Turkey. Turkey has no large oil and gas reserves. The main indigenous energy resources are lignite, hydro and biomass. Turkey has to adopt new, long-term energy strategies to reduce the share of fossil fuels in primary energy consumption. For these reasons, the development and use of renewable energy sources and technologies are increasingly becoming vital for sustainable economic development of Turkey. The most significant developments in renewable production are observed hydropower and geothermal energy production. Renewable electricity facilities mainly include electricity from biomass, hydropower, geothermal, and wind and solar energy sources. Biomass cogeneration is a promising method for production bioelectricity.