Renewable energy in Oman: Status and future prospects

This paper attempts to review and discuss the status and future prospects of renewable energy in Oman. Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass have been revised. The electricity shortages and the challenges to overcome the increase in electrical demands for the near future have been discussed. The investigations found that solar, shore-wind and geothermal could play an important role in the future of renewable energy in country. Also, it is found that there is need to investigate the potential of offshore-wind, biomass, and hydro (tide, wave and ocean thermal energy). The appearance and weight of renewable energy in the higher education programs and the Oman commitment toward renewable energy have been discussed. The paper finishes with some conclusions and recommendations.     

A review on the energy production,consumption, and prospect of renewable energy in China

China is the second largest energy consumer in the world. This paper reviews the production and consumption of traditional and renewable energy in China over the past three decades. It also presents an overview on the research and development of renewable energy, such as solar, biomass, geothermal, ocean and wind energy in China. Study indicated that the usage of renewable energy in China shows a promising prospect in the near future, of which biomass is found to be one of the most promising renewable energy resources that have great potential for development in China.     

Review and use of the Algerian renewable energy for sustainable development

Given Algerian’s abundant solar, wind resources, biomass, geothermal, etc. represent a potential market for renewable energy technologies. This article presents a review and the use of renewable energy situation in Algeria. The analysis of the present renewable energy situation and future objective are also discussed.     

Renewable energy in India: Current status and future potentials

Renewable energy sources and technologies have potential to provide solutions to the long-standing energy problems being faced by the developing countries. The renewable energy sources like wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, biomass energy and fuel cell technology can be used to overcome energy shortage in India. To meet the energy requirement for such a fast growing economy, India will require an assured supply of 3–4 times more energy than the total energy consumed today. The renewable energy is one of the options to meet this requirement. Today, renewable account for about 33% of India's primary energy consumptions. India is increasingly adopting responsible renewable energy techniques and taking positive steps towards carbon emissions, cleaning the air and ensuring a more sustainable future. In India, from the last two and half decades there has been a vigorous pursuit of activities relating to research, development, demonstration, production and application of a variety of renewable energy technologies for use in different sectors. In this paper, efforts have been made to summarize the availability, current status, major achievements and future potentials of renewable energy options in India. This paper also assesses specific policy interventions for overcoming the barriers and enhancing deployment of renewables for the future.     

Australian renewable energy progress

With some of the world's best solar and wind resources, Australia is a prime market for solar and wind energy. The growing renewable energy industry can take advantage of Australia's stable economy, good access to grid infrastructure and well organised financial and legal services.Although development has been slower than what was anticipated, but with the promises made by the new government, the renewable community hopes for a brighter future for solar and wind energy in Australia.The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the current status of solar and wind energy in Australia, then to take a closer look at solar and wind potential, current activities, and finally to discusses about Australian Government support and to predict the future outlook of solar and wind energy.     

A methodology for analysis of impacts of grid integration of renewable energy

Present electricity grids are predominantly thermal (coal, gas) and hydro based. Conventional power planning involves hydro-thermal scheduling and merit order dispatch. In the future, modern renewables (hydro, solar and biomass) are likely to have a significant share in the power sector. This paper presents a method to analyse the impacts of renewables in the electricity grid. A load duration curve based approach has been developed. Renewable energy sources have been treated as negative loads to obtain a modified load duration curve from which capacity savings in terms of base and peak load generation can be computed. The methodology is illustrated for solar, wind and biomass power for Tamil Nadu (a state in India). The trade-offs and interaction between renewable sources are analysed. The impacts on capacity savings by varying the wind regime have also been shown. Scenarios for 2021–22 have been constructed to illustrate the methodology proposed. This technique can be useful for power planners for an analysis of renewables in future electricity grids.     

China’s wind,biomass and solar power generation: What the situation tells us?

As the largest developing country, China has abundant wind, biomass and solar energy resources. Under the large demand for electricity and the shortage of fossil energy, it is essential to develop renewable energy generation in China. This paper analyzes the resources, scale, market operation, profitability and policies of China’s wind, biomass and solar power generation and gives a discussion of the investment risks in the current situation. It is expected that the analysis in this paper could be helpful for the potential investors to make decision.     

Renewables in Africa—meeting the energy needs of the poor

This paper presents estimates of renewables energy technologies disseminated in sub-Sahara Africa and evaluates the potential of renewables in meeting the energy needs of Africa's poor. Using data mainly from eastern and southern Africa, the paper examines five major renewable energy technologies, namely: (i) large-scale biomass energy; (ii) small-scale biomass energy (iii) solar photovoltaic; (iv) solar thermal; and (v) wind. It then evaluates how suitable each renewable energy technology is to meet the energy needs of the urban and rural poor. The paper ends with key measures that could encourage the large-scale dissemination of renewable energy technologies to the poor in Africa.     

Renewable energy in India: Status and potential

A majority of the Indian population does not have access to convenient energy services (LPG, electricity). Though India has made significant progress in renewable energy, the share of modern renewables in the energy mix is marginal. This paper reviews the status and potential of different renewables (except biomass) in India. This paper documents the trends in the growth of renewables in India and establishes diffusion model as a basis for setting targets. The diffusion model is fitted tot the past trends for wind, small hydro and solar water heating and is used to establish future targets. The economic viability and green house gas (GHG) saving potential is estimated for each option. Several renewables have high growth rates, for example wind, Photovoltaic (PV) module manufacture and solar water heaters. New technologies like Tidal, OTEC, Solar thermal power plants and geothermal power plants are at the demonstration stage and future dissemination will depend on the experience of these projects.     

我国可再生能源发展对策

可再生能源的开发利用是应对气候变化和满足能源需求持续增长的最现实的举措。2009年我国风电和太阳能光伏发电保持了快速发展势头,其中风电装机容量估计达到约2200×104kW,但非化石能源消费量在能源消费总量中所占的比重仍然很低。2009年,我国能源消费总量约为31×108t标煤,其中水电、核电、风电等商品化非化石能源消费量约为2.3×108t标煤,约占能源消费总量的7.4%。要完成到2020年我国非化石能源在能源消费总量中所占比例达到15%的目标,任务非常艰巨。加快开发利用可再生能源是能源发展的重要任务之一,到2020年,可再生能源开发利用总量将在2008年的基础上增加2倍以上。我国目前和今后10多年时间内,可再生能源发展的重点是水电、风电、太阳能和生物质能。加快发展我国可再生能源的举措有:①继续做好水电建设工作,促进水电持续健康发展;②有序推进风电的规模化发展,显著提高风电在电力结构中的比重;③加快推广太阳能利用技术,扩大太阳能开发利用规模;④因地制宜开发利用生物质能,提高生物质能利用的现代技术水平。     

可再生能源联合发电技术

近年来,随着国家倡导低碳经济,以风电、水电、太阳能、生物质能为代表的新能源得到了快速的发展。风能、水能、太阳能、生物质能等多种可再生能源联合发电是一种有效的可再生能源利用方式。简述了风能、水能,太阳能和生物质能的发电原理,并探讨了目前国内关于多种能源联合互补发电系统的设计研究成果。     

A current and future state of art development of hybrid energy system using wind and PV-solar: A review

The wind and solar energy are omnipresent, freely available, and environmental friendly. The wind energy systems may not be technically viable at all sites because of low wind speeds and being more unpredictable than solar energy. The combined utilization of these renewable energy sources are therefore becoming increasingly attractive and are being widely used as alternative of oil-produced energy. Economic aspects of these renewable energy technologies are sufficiently promising to include them for rising power generation capability in developing countries. A renewable hybrid energy system consists of two or more energy sources, a power conditioning equipment, a controller and an optional energy storage system. These hybrid energy systems are becoming popular in remote area power generation applications due to advancements in renewable energy technologies and substantial rise in prices of petroleum products. Research and development efforts in solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies are required to continue for, improving their performance, establishing techniques for accurately predicting their output and reliably integrating them with other conventional generating sources. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of the design, operation and control requirement of the stand-alone PV solar–wind hybrid energy systems with conventional backup source i.e. diesel or grid. This Paper also highlights the future developments, which have the potential to increase the economic attractiveness of such systems and their acceptance by the user.     

Study on electrical energy and prospective electricity generation from renewable sources in Australia

Nowadays renewable sources are being used as clean sources to generate electricity and to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The uses of renewable sources are being increased in electricity generation and contributed to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. The function of any electrical power system is to connect everyone sufficiently, clean electric power anywhere and anytime of the country. This can be achieved through a modern power system by integrating electrical energy from clean renewable sources into the nation's electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency and security of the power system. The paper on the status of review the driving force of the generation of renewable energy and proposing electrical energy generation from renewable sources to be ensured at least 20% of total energy of Australia. This paper has been studied the existing electricity generation capacity of Australia from renewable and non-renewable sources. Optimal electricity generation from renewable sources has been examined. The environmental impact of electricity generation from renewable sources has been considered. Under this paper the yearly average wind data of past 20 years and above for some meteorological stations of Australia have been used. The prospective electricity generation from wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels has been proposed in the paper that will increase electrical energy of the power grid of Australia. It was estimated the capital cost of prospective electricity generation farms from wind and solar PV sources.     

Drivers,barriers, and strategies for implementation of renewable energy technologies in rural areas in Bangladesh—An innovation system analysis

Bangladesh has good potential for harnessing renewable energy sources such as solar, biomass, wind, and mini-hydropower. The country has been experiencing a gradual shift towards exploring renewable energy resources as a driving force for rural development. A few public sector and non-government organizations have started to develop renewable energy technology (RET) projects in rural areas. The lessons learnt from different demonstrations of RET projects reveal that with careful forward planning renewable energy can provide far-reaching economic, environmental, and social benefits to people living in remote rural areas in Bangladesh. This paper identifies some of the barriers that need to be overcome for the successful development of renewable energy technology sector and betterment of rural livelihoods. It does so through a critical review of policy and institutional settings, as well as present status and lessons learnt from pilot demonstration of a number of RET projects undertaken by different organizations. The study highlights policy implications of the review with the aim of supporting decision makers in formulating renewable energy policies and future plans for Bangladesh.     

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.     

Renewable electricity in Sweden: an analysis of policy and regulations

This study aims to analyse the developments in renewable energy policy making in Sweden. It assesses the energy policy context, changes in the choice of policy instruments, and provides explanations behind policy successes and failures. Swedish renewable energy policy has been developing in a context of uncertainty around nuclear issues. While there has been made a political decision to replace nuclear power with renewables, there is a lack of consensus about the pace of phasing out nuclear power due to perceived negative impacts on industrial competitiveness. Such uncertainty had an effect in the formulation of renewable energy policy. Biomass and wind power are the main options for renewable electricity production. Throughout 1990s, the combined effect of different policy instruments has stimulated the growth of these two renewable sources. Yet, both biomass and wind power are still a minor contributor in the total electricity generation. Lack of strong government commitment due to uncertainty around nuclear issues is a crucial factor. Short-term subsidies have been preferred rather than open-ended subsidy mechanisms, causing intervals without subsidies and interruption to development. Other factors are such as lack of incentives from the major electricity companies and administrative obstacles. The taxation system has been successful in fostering an expansion of biomass for heating but hindered a similar development in the electricity sector. The quota system adopted in 2003 is expected to create high demand on biomass but does not favour wind power. The renewable energy aims are unlikely to be changed. Yet, the future development of renewable energy policies especially for high-cost technologies will again depend strongly on nuclear policies, which are still unstable and might affect the pace of renewable energy development.     

The achievement,significance and future prospect of China's renewable energy initiative

China's high-speed economic growth and ambitious urbanization depend heavily on the massive consumption of fossil fuel. However, the over-dependence on the depleting fossil fuels causes severe environmental problems, making China the largest energy consumer and the biggest CO₂ emitter in the world. Faced with significant challenges in terms of managing its environment and moving forward with the concept of sustainable economic development, the Chinese government plans to move away from fossil fuels and rely on renewables such as hydropower, wind power, solar power, biomass power and nuclear power. In this paper, the current status of China's renewable energy deployment and the ongoing development projects are summarized and discussed. Most recent developments of major renewable energy sources are clearly reviewed. Additionally, the renewable energy development policies including laws and regulations, economic encouragement, technical research and development are also summarized. This study showcases China's achievements in exploiting its abundant domestic renewable energy sources to meet the future energy demand and reducing carbon emissions. To move toward a low carbon society, technological progress and policy improvements are needed for improving grid access (wind), securing nuclear fuel supplies and managing safety protocols (nuclear), integrating supply chains to achieve indigenous manufacture of technologies across supply chains (solar). Beyond that, a preliminary prediction of the development of China's future renewable energy developments, and proposes targeted countermeasures and suggestions are proposed. The proposal involves developing smart-grid system, investing on renewable energy research, improving the feed-in tariff system and clarifying the subsidy system.     

Renewable power for China: Past,present, and future

This paper briefly examines the history, status, policy situation, development issues, and prospects for key renewable power technologies in China. The country has become a global leader in wind turbine and solar photovoltaic (PV) production, and leads the world in total power capacity from renewable energy. Policy frameworks have matured and evolved since the landmark 2005 Renewable Energy Law, updated in 2009. China’s 2020 renewable energy target is similar to that of the EU. However, China continues to face many challenges in technology development, grid-integration, and policy frameworks. These include training, research and development, wind turbine operating experience and performance, transmission constraints, grid interconnection time lags, resource assessments, power grid integration on large scales, and continued policy development and adjustment. Wind and solar PV targets for 2020 will likely be satisfied early, although domestic demand for solar PV remains weak and the pathways toward incorporating distributed and building-integrated solar PV are uncertain. Prospects for biomass power are limited by resource constraints. Other technologies such as concentrating solar thermal power, ocean energy, and electricity storage require greater attention.     

Intermittent renewable energy: The only future source of hydrogen?

In this paper we assess the feasibility of various future energy production pathways for hydrogen. We argue that neither nuclear energy, nor coal gasification with carbon collection and storage can provide sufficient climate-neutral energy to be probable routes to a hydrogen future. Their contributions are likely to be too little and too late to be of much help. Hydroelectricity, geothermal and biomass energy can all provide base-load power, but even combined have limited potential, and are not always climate-neutral in operation. On the other hand, the high-potential renewable energy (RE) sources, particularly wind and direct solar energy, are intermittent. Further, wind resources are poorly matched to the existing distribution of world population. Wind power's high potential compared with present electricity demand, high return on energy invested, intermittency, and mismatch with load centres all favour hydrogen conversion and transmission to load centres.     

Renewable power for China: Past, present, and future

This paper briefly examines the history, status, policy situation, development issues, and prospects for key renewable power technologies in China. The country has become a global leader in wind turbine and solar photovoltaic (PV) production, and leads the world in total power capacity from renewable energy. Policy frameworks have matured and evolved since the landmark 2005 Renewable Energy Law, updated in 2009. China’s 2020 renewable energy target is similar to that of the EU. However, China continues to face many challenges in technology development, grid-integration, and policy frameworks. These include training, research and development, wind turbine operating experience and performance, transmission constraints, grid interconnection time lags, resource assessments, power grid integration on large scales, and continued policy development and adjustment. Wind and solar PV targets for 2020 will likely be satisfied early, although domestic demand for solar PV remains weak and the pathways toward incorporating distributed and building-integrated solar PV are uncertain. Prospects for biomass power are limited by resource constraints. Other technologies such as concentrating solar thermal power, ocean energy, and electricity storage require greater attention.