A renewable perspective for sustainable energy development in Turkey: The case of small hydropower plants

Renewable energy resources provide a large share of the total energy consumption of many developing countries. Turkey's renewable sources are the second largest source for energy production after coal. About two-thirds of the renewable energy produced is obtained from biomass, while the rest is mainly from hydroelectric energy. Hydropower is today the most important kind of renewable and sustainable energy. In Turkey, most of the important water power plants have been developed; hence, only a modest increase in the hydroelectric generating capability can be anticipated in the next two decades. Turkey has a gross annual hydro potential of 433,000 GWh, which is almost 1% of world total potential. Its share is about 16% of the total hydropower capacity in Europe. The total gross electricity production of Turkey has reached about 140,283 GWh in 2003, 75% of this is produced from thermal sources and the reminder 25% from hydropower. The main objective in doing the present study is to investigate the sustainable development of Turkey's small hydropower (SHP) plants. Development of SHP began in 1902 in Turkey. Total installed projects capacity of SHP plant is 2.45% and the total energy potential is about 2.96%, which have installed capacity less than 10 MW.     

As a renewable energy hydropower for sustainable development in Turkey

The most important renewable sources are hydropower, biomass, geothermal, solar and wind. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. In recently, electricity has demand increased significantly; it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix. In the world, particularly in the developing countries 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 extensive use of most of the renewable energy sources. This paper deals with policies to meet increasing energy and electricity demand for sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/year, but only 125 GWh/year of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used.     

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.     

Hydropower in Turkey for a clean and sustainable energy future

Over the last two decades, global electricity production has more than doubled and electricity demand is rising rapidly around the world as economic development spreads to emerging economies. Not only has electricity demand increased significantly, it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries. This paper deals with policies to meet increasing energy and electricity demand for sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/year, but only 125 GWh/year of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. Turkey's total economically usable small hydropower potential is 3.75 GWh/year.     

Hydropower for sustainable water and energy development

Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/year, but only 125 GWh/year of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. Turkey presently has considerable renewable energy sources. The most important renewable sources are hydropower, biomass, geothermal, solar and wind. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Over the last two decades, global electricity production has more than doubled and electricity demand is rising rapidly around the world as economic development spreads to emerging economies. Not only has electricity demand increased significantly, it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries.     

Global warming and renewable energy sources for sustainable development in Turkey

Turkey, with its young population and growing energy demand per person, its fast growing urbanization, and its economic development, has been one of the fast growing power markets of the world for the last two decades. It is expected that the demand for electric energy in Turkey will be 300 billion kWh by the year 2010 and 580 billion kWh by the year 2020. Turkey is heavily dependent on expensive imported energy resources that place a big burden on the economy and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in the country. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. This article presents a review of the potential and utilization of the renewable energy sources in Turkey.     

The role of coal in energy production—Consumption and sustainable development of Turkey

Energy is one of the indispensable factors regarding the assurance of social prosperity and economic development of a country. The developing countries struggle to obtain energy sources reliable in the long term to complete their economic development, and the developed countries struggle to get them to keep their present prosperity levels. Coal seems to continue its indispensable position among the other energy sources for many years because of its production in more than 50 countries, the least effect it has from the price fluctuation and its usage lifespan of more than 200 years. The countries that are aware of it have investments in mining fields in the countries rich in coal reserves, and they continue investing considerable amount of money.     

Regional sustainable water and energy development projects: A case of Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) in Turkey

Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) region in Turkey is rich in water for irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Euphrates and Tigris Rivers represent over 28% of the nation's water supply by rivers, and the economically irrigable areas in the region make up 20% of those for the entry country. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/yr, but only 125 GWh/yr of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the construction of new hydropower plants, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. The GAP region has a 22% share of the country's total hydroelectric potential, with plans for 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants. Once completed, 27 billion kWh of electricity will be generated annually.     

The potential for small scale hydropower development in the US

In an earlier paper (Kosnik, 2008), the potential for small scale hydropower to contribute to US renewable energy supplies, as well as reduce current carbon emissions, was investigated. It was discovered that thousands of viable sites capable of producing significant amounts of hydroelectric power were available throughout the United States. The primary objective of this paper is to determine the cost-effectiveness of developing these small scale hydropower sites. Just because a site has the necessary topographical features to allow small scale hydropower development, does not mean that it should be pursued from a cost-benefit perspective, even if it is a renewable energy resource with minimal effects on the environment. This analysis finds that while the average cost of developing small scale hydropower is relatively high, there still remain hundreds of sites on the low end of the cost scale that are cost-effective to develop right now.     

Renewable energy sources for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey

Energy is an essential factor to achieve sustainable development. So, countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view towards planning energy programmes and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional and global levels. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Turkey is an energy importing country with more than half of the energy requirement being supplied by imports, and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in the country. On the other hand, Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy sources. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. This paper provides an overview of global energy use and renewables for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey.     

The trend of small hydropower development in China

The paper makes an analysis of the status quo and existing issues of small hydropower (SHP) in China and based on the logistic growth curve model forecasts the installed capacity of SHP and cost of newly built SHP in the future. It also explores the opportunity of the clean development mechanism (CDM) in SHP projects and puts forward suggestions and recommendations on enhancing the SHP market competitiveness.     

A new energy paradigm for Turkey: A political risk-inclusive cost analysis for sustainable energy

Implementing sustainable development policies in order to achieve economic and social development while maintaining adequate environmental protection to minimize the damage inflicted by the constantly increasing world population must be a major priority in the 21st century. While the emerging global debate on potential cost-effective responses has produced potential solutions such as cap and trade systems and/or carbon taxes as part of evolving sustainable energy/environmental policies, this kind of intellectual inquiry does not seem to be an issue among Turkish policy-making elites. This is mainly due to their miscalculation that pursuing sustainable energy policies is much more expensive in comparison to the utilization of fossil fuels such as natural gas. Nevertheless, the pegged prices of an energy sector dominated by natural gas are illusive, as both the political risks and environmental damage have not been incorporated into the current cost calculations. This paper evaluates energy policies through a lens of risk management and takes an alternative approach to calculating energy costs by factoring in political risks. This formulation reveals that the cost of traditional fossil-based energy is in fact more expensive than renewable energy. In addition to being environmentally friendly, the paradigm shift towards renewable energy policies would provide Turkey with a significant opportunity to stimulate its economy by being one of the first countries to develop green technologies and as a result this burgeoning sector would prompt job creation as well; mainly due to the externalities.     

Energy issues and renewables for sustainable development in Turkey

Energy is an essential factor to achieve sustainable development. So, countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view towards planning energy programs and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional and global levels. Renewable energy technologies of wind, biofuels, solar thermal and photovoltaics are finally showing maturity and the ultimate promise of cost competitiveness. With respect to global environmental issues, Turkey's carbon dioxide emissions have grown along with its energy consumption. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources.     

On energy for sustainable development in Nigeria

The fuel driving the engine of growth and sustainable development of any nation is the nation's access to reliable and adequate energy. Access to energy is a crucial enabling condition for achieving sustainable development. Prudent energy policies and research can play an important role in steering both industrialized and developing countries onto more sustainable energy development paths. Specifically, they can strengthen the three pillars of sustainable development: the economy, by boosting productivity; social welfare, by improving living standards and enhancing safety and security; and the environment, by reducing indoor and outdoor pollution and remediating environmental degradation. Many factors that need to be considered and appropriately addressed in moving towards energy sustainability in Nigeria are examined in this article. These include full exploitation and promotion of renewable energy resources and application of energy conservation measures in various sectors such as manufacturing industrial set-up, office and residential buildings and transportation.     

Assessment of small hydropower (SHP) development in Turkey: Laws,regulations and EU policy perspective

This paper aims to evaluate the development of small hydropower (SHP) in Turkey and discusses the current situation of SHP plants in terms of government policy, economical aspects and environmental impacts taking EU policy into account. The laws published in recent years in Turkey succeeded in promoting the utilization of renewable energy for electricity generation, but it is considered that those laws are not fully compatible with EU policy. After the publication of Renewable Energy Law (Law No. 5346) there occurred a boost in SHP project along with hydropower development. Thus, the hydropower potential of Turkey increased 15% and the construction of hydropower plants also increased by a factor of four in 2007 as compared to 2006. Investment and operating costs are in favor of SHP development in Turkey as having the lowest costs among European countries (300–1000 €/kW as investment cost and 1 €cent/kWh as operating cost). Turkish governments have taken precautions for environmental issues resulted from renewable energy utilization but these are obviously not adequate. It is concluded that more attention must be paid on environmental issues and monitoring of the facilities must be enabled with further laws or regulations.     

Renewable energy for sustainable development in Africa: a review

Renewable energy usage in Africa has been reviewed using South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Mali as case studies. The various national energy policies of these countries were analysed and areas that require attention to achieve sustainability were highlighted. On the overall, the success of sustainable development in Africa lies in addressing the imminent energy crisis in the continent. Excessive usage of fuel wood is already creating considerable environmental problems especially in the Sahel. Africa has all the potentials to solve its energy problems if appropriate infrastructural support can be provided for harnessing the abundant renewable resources in the continent, and if skills are pooled together and experiences shared in addressing the key issues.     

SWOT analyses of the national energy sector for sustainable energy development

A holistic perspective of various energy stakeholders regarding the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs) of the energy sector in Macedonia is utilized as baseline to diagnose the current state and to sketch future action lines towards sustainable energy development. The resulting SWOT analyses pointed to the progressive adoption of European Union (EU) standards in energy policy and regulation as the most important achievement in the energy sector. The most important problems the national energy sector faces are scarce domestic resources and unfavorable energy mix, low electricity prices, a high degree of inefficiency in energy production and use, as well as insufficient institutional and human capacities. The formulated portfolio of actions towards enabling sustainable energy development urges the adoption of a comprehensive energy strategy built upon sustainability principles, intensified utilization of the natural gas, economic prices of electricity, structural changes in industry, promotion of energy efficiency and renewables, including Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, enforcement of EU environmental standards and meeting the environmental requirements, as well as institutional and human capacity building.     

Global warming and environmental benefits of hydroelectric for sustainable energy in Turkey

Over the last two decades; technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/yr, but only 125 GWh/yr of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. Turkey's total economically usable small hydropower potential is 3.75 GWh/yr. It is expected that the demand for electric energy in Turkey will be about 580 billion kWh by the year 2020. Turkey is heavily dependent on expensive imported energy sources that place a big burden on the economy and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in the country. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. Environmentally friendly energy development has enormous implications for developing countries as major emitters due to their rapid economic and population growth. With some possible options, the paper concludes that the reduction of emissions can only be achieved when policies are supportive and well targeted, standards and incentives are realistic and flexible, and the public is actively responsive to environmental degradation. Turkey's high rate of energy-related carbon emissions growth is expected to accelerate, with emissions climbing from 57 million tons in 2000 to almost 210 million tons in 2020. Carbon intensity in Turkey is higher than the western developed nation average. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. This paper deals with Turkey's renewables energy sources for sustainable environment.     

Integrated energy strategy for the sustainable development of China

We propose in this paper an integrated energy strategy based on a systems approach to address the energy challenges and energy dilemma in China. First, we give a review of existing approaches to energy planning and strategic management, followed by a discussion on the major relationships among energy, economical, environmental and societal systems. Next, we present a conceptual system model with alternative solutions and clarify corresponding concepts. Based on the results, we propose, summarize, and present strategic ideas as policy implications for China’s decision makers. In conclusion, we determine that China should enhance strategic planning and regulation from a life cycle viewpoint of the whole society, prioritize energy saving, continuously improve incumbent energy, and rationally develop alternative energy.     

Natural gas: The option for a sustainable development and energy in the state of Amazonas

The historical scenery of the fossil fuels used for power generation in the state of Amazonas (AM), indicates a great economic loss and imposes severe restrictions on the regional development of the region. This urged the necessity of seeking alternative energy sources that are cleaner, safer and less expensive. In this way, the province of Urucu’s natural gas, in Coari—city of the state of Amazonas (AM), presents itself as the best short term option to substitute the petroleum derived liquid fuels by the natural gas for operating thermoelectric power plants not only in the city of Manaus—capital of the state of Amazonas, but also in the other seven cities in the state along the main trajectory of the Coari–Manaus pipeline. Additionally, natural gas can be considered as a viable option for the implantation of the natural gas based chemical pole in the state. In a manner the natural gas will be used for the implantation of many gas based projects highly sustainable and will certainly result in numerous improvements in the state of Amazonas from the social, economic and ambient points of view.