UK biomass energy since 1990: the mismatch between project types and policy objectives

Biomass energy is expected to play an important role in achieving the UK government's ambitious targets to boost renewables. Since 1990, the main UK support mechanism for renewables has been the non-fossil fuel obligation (NFFO). With only seven of 22 NFFO contracts for fibrous biomass energy projects now operational, the level of real progress has been disappointing. The government's renewables policy has changed over the years and is now based on five objectives. The paper aims to assess what types of biomass energy systems would be most suitable to achieve those objectives. The assessment shows that the nature of the supported developments was inconsistent with most individual objectives. To an important extent this was due to inherent operational contradictions between these objectives. It is argued that the rationale for supporting renewables should primarily lie in reducing greenhouse gas emissions or in energy diversity and security. Support for the rural economy, the development of export technologies and increased competitiveness of renewables, should be seen as desirable longer-term outcomes from the development of a biomass energy sector. By treating these as equals (and even as superiors) to the objectives of climate change and energy diversity, the UK government has actually crippled the development of the biomass energy sector.     

Current scenario of biodiesel development in India: prospects and challenges

For a developing nation like India, the current energy portfolio is dominated by fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and petroleum products. Due to the rapid depletion and limited available resources, the price of fossil fuel increases. Also, fossil fuel induces climate change, environmental pollution, and rising global temperature. There is urgent need to shift from conventional energy to renewable energy source for sustainable and economic growth and to enhance a country’s energy security. Biofuel offers an attractive source of energy for the substitution of fossil fuels, and looking at the huge demand for diesel in all sectors of the economy, the biodiesel is being viewed as the best substitute for diesel. The other advantage for biofuel promotion in India is climate change mitigation through reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. This article provides the current status of biodiesel development in India and discusses the role played by the centre and state government in promoting second-generation feedstock (nonedible seeds) and third-generation feedstock (algae) for biodiesel production.     

Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of maize-biogas and photovoltaics on a land use basis

This study aims to stimulate the discussion on how to optimize a sustainable energy mix from an environmental perspective and how to apply existing renewable energy sources in the most efficient way. Ground-mounted photovoltaics (PV) and the maize-biogas-electricity route are compared with regard to their potential to mitigate environmental pressure, assuming that a given agricultural area is available for energy production. Existing life cycle assessment (LCA) studies are taken as a basis to analyse environmental impacts of those technologies in relation to conventional technology for power and heat generation. The life-cycle-wide mitigation potential per area used is calculated for the impact categories non-renewable energy input, green house gas (GHG) emissions, acidification and eutrophication. The environmental performance of each system depends on the scenario that is assumed for end energy use (electricity and heat supply have been contemplated). In all scenarios under consideration, PV turns out to be superior to biogas in almost all studied impact categories. Even when maize is used for electricity production in connection with very efficient heat usage, and reduced PV performance is assumed to account for intermittence, PV can still mitigate about four times the amount of green house gas emissions and non-renewable energy input compared to maize-biogas. Soil erosion, which can be entirely avoided with PV, exceeds soil renewal rates roughly 20-fold on maize fields. Regarding the overall Eco-indicator 99 (H) score under most favourable assumptions for the maize-biogas route, PV has still a more than 100% higher potential to mitigate environmental burden. At present, the key advantages of biogas are its price and its availability without intermittence. In the long run, and with respect to more efficient land use, biogas might preferably be produced from organic waste or manure, whereas PV should be integrated into buildings and infrastructures.     

A design for hydrogen production and dispensing for northeastern United States,along with its infrastructural development timeline

Countries are trying to reduce their energy consumption, fossil fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. Recent guidelines generated by various government agencies indicate an increase in the fuel economy, with a reduction in green house gases. The use of both alternative fuel vehicles and renewable energy sources is thus necessary toward achieving this goal. This paper proposes a hydrogen fueling infrastructure design for the Northeastern United States. The design provides an implementation plan for a period of 13 years (from 2013 to 2025). This design gives priority to customer convenience with minimum additional investments for its implementation. Extensive research has been conducted on generating a hydrogen supply from factories and other potential sources that can satisfy demand in the region. Markers (e.g. population density, traffic density, legislation, and growth pattern) have driven the process of demand estimation.     

Green economy and green jobs: Myth or reality? The case of China’s power generation sector

This paper investigates the relationship between the green economy and green jobs in China through the following question: Can the current GHG mitigation policies in China’s power generation sector bring more jobs to China? Using both analytical and input–output models this paper analyzes the direct and indirect employment impacts of two main mitigation policies in the power generation sector. This paper proves that the above-mentioned question is not simple. Mitigation policies in China’s power generation sector from 2006 to 2009 caused a total of 44 thousand net jobs losses. However, as the share of renewable energy that has an indirect employment impacts increased in 2010, the policies from 2006 to 2010 actually resulted in 472 thousand net job gains. This paper asserts that to ensure the co-existence of green economy and green jobs in China’s power generation sector, policy makers should further promote solar PV, biomass and wind technologies. In 2010, for every one percent increase in the share of solar PV generation there could be a 0.68% increase in total employment in China, larger than any other power generation technology. Finally, this paper argues that a matching educational system and personnel structure is also needed.     

ECLIPSE: An integrated energy-economy model for climate policy and scenario analysis

This paper describes the development of the Energy and Climate Policy and Scenario Evaluation (ECLIPSE) model—a flexible integrated assessment tool for energy and climate change policy and scenario assessment. This tool builds on earlier efforts to link top-down and bottom-up models, and combines a macroeconomic energy demand model and a consumer-budget transport demand model with the technology-rich bottom-up energy and transport system model Energy Research and Investment Strategy (ERIS), and solves the models iteratively. Compared to previous efforts, ECLIPSE includes many new features, such as a more disaggregated production function, improved calibration and parameterization and separate modeling of passenger transport demand. The separate modeling of transportation makes ECLIPSE particularly well-suited to analyzing interactions between the transport sector and the broader energy market and economy. This paper presents results illustrating some features of the integrated model, compares technology deployment results with ECLIPSE and the bottom-up ERIS model, and briefly describes illustrative baseline and greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios to highlight some of the features of the framework outlined in this paper. A number of modeling and policy insights arising from this scenario analysis are discussed.     

Kyoto protocol and Nepal's energy sector

Nepal has recently ratified Kyoto Protocol, which considers justifiable use of resources to limit or reduce the emission of gases that contribute to green house gas inventory in the atmosphere. Nepal's per capita green gas (GHG) emission from energy use is insignificant. However, it is important for Nepal to adopt environmentally friendly energy options based on local resources like hydropower and biomass.     

Allocation of energy resources for power generation in India: Business as usual and energy efficiency

This paper deals with MARKAL allocations for various energy sources, in India, for Business As Usual (BAU) scenario and for the case of exploitation of energy saving potential in various sectors of economy. In the BAU scenario, the electrical energy requirement will raise up to 5000 bKwh units per year or 752 GW of installed capacity with major consumers being in the industry, domestic and service sectors. This demand can be met by a mix of coal, hydro, nuclear and wind technologies. Other reneawbles i.e. solar and biomass will start contributing from the year 2040 onwards. By full exploitation of energy saving potential, the annual electrical energy demand gets reduced to 3061 bKwh (or 458 GW), a reduction of 38.9%.The green house gas emissions reduce correspondingly. In this scenario, market allocations for coal, gas and large hydro become stagnant after the year 2015.     

Investigation of photovoltaic-hydrogen power system for a real house in Turkey: Hydrogen blending to natural gas effects on system design

In the study, the effects of hydrogen mixing studies at the rate of 20% to the natural gas system which is an ongoing study in Turkey, on the photovoltaic system (PV) is investigated using a real house consumption. Providing the annual electrical energy consumption (1936,83  kWh) and 20% of natural gas consumption (62,4 m³) of a real house with hydrogen is included in the study. A PV-hydrogen system is theoretically investigated to provide the energy required for hydrogen production from solar panels. Hydrogen blending effects on PV size, capacity usage, and carbon footprint are analyzed. Thus, the contribution was also made to the “green hydrogen” works and reduction of the carbon footprint of the house. It was found that the required hydrogen for electricity can be provided 52,5 m² solar panel area and 14,28% increase in this area and installed power can provide an amount of hydrogen that need for 20% hydrogen blending to the natural gas system. The overall system capacity usage decreased when the system is used for 20% hydrogen blending to the natural gas system. The carbon footprint of the house was decreased by 67,5%. If the hydrogen has not been blended with 20% natural gas, this ratio would have been 59,2%.     

Using performance indicators to reduce cost uncertainty of China's CO2 mitigation goals

Goals on absolute emissions and intensity play key roles in CO₂ mitigation. However, like cap-and-trade policies with price uncertainty, they suffer from significant uncertainty in abatement costs. This article examines whether an indicator could be established to complement CO₂ mitigation goals and help reduce cost uncertainty with a particular focus on China. Performance indicators on CO₂ emissions per unit of energy consumption could satisfy three criteria: compared with the mitigation goals, (i) they are more closely associated with active mitigation efforts and (ii) their baselines have more stable projections from historical trajectories. (iii) Their abatement costs are generally higher than other mitigation methods, particularly energy efficiency and conservation. Performance indicators could be used in the following way: if a CO₂ goal on absolute emissions or intensity is attained, the performance indicator should still reach a lower threshold as a cost floor. If the goal cannot be attained, an upper performance threshold should be achieved as a cost ceiling. The narrower cost uncertainty may encourage wider and greater mitigation efforts.     

System-level energy efficiency is the greatest barrier to development of the hydrogen economy

Current energy research investment policy in New Zealand is based on assumed benefits of transitioning to hydrogen as a transport fuel and as storage for electricity from renewable resources. The hydrogen economy concept, as set out in recent commissioned research investment policy advice documents, includes a range of hydrogen energy supply and consumption chains for transport and residential energy services. The benefits of research and development investments in these advice documents were not fully analyzed by cost or improvements in energy efficiency or green house gas emissions reduction. This paper sets out a straightforward method to quantify the system-level efficiency of these energy chains. The method was applied to transportation and stationary heat and power, with hydrogen generated from wind energy, natural gas and coal. The system-level efficiencies for the hydrogen chains were compared to direct use of conventionally generated electricity, and with internal combustion engines operating on gas- or coal-derived fuel. The hydrogen energy chains were shown to provide little or no system-level efficiency improvement over conventional technology. The current research investment policy is aimed at enabling a hydrogen economy without considering the dramatic loss of efficiency that would result from using this energy carrier.     

Study of a water electrolysis system using a compact solar cell module with a plant shoot configuration

The system proposed in this paper produces hydrogen by supplying photovoltaic power to a water electrolyzer and then supplying this gas to a fuel cell with a time shift. The objective of this system is to supply power to an individual house or apartment building with only green energy. However, the solar cell module installation area is large in the proposed system. Therefore, this paper considered installing a solar cell module with a plant shoot configuration. As a result of this modification, the power generation area of the proposed system is 33–52% smaller than that of a conventional flat solar cell module. From these results, it should be possible to introduce the proposed system into an individual house.     

Energy efficiency measures and conversion of fossil fuel boiler systems in a detached house

There is a large potential to reduce primary energy use and CO₂ emissions from the Swedish building stock. Here detached houses heated by oil, natural gas or electric boilers were assessed. CO₂ emissions, primary energy use and heating costs were evaluated before and after implementing house envelope measures, conversions to more efficient heating systems and changes to biomass fuel use. The study included full energy chains, from natural resources to usable heat in the houses. The aim was to evaluate the societal economic cost effectiveness of reducing CO₂ emission and primary energy use by different combinations of changes. The results demonstrated that for a house using an electric boiler, a conversion to a heat pump combined with house envelope measures could be cost efficient from a societal economic perspective. If the electricity was based on biomass, the primary energy use was at the same time reduced by 70% and the CO₂ emission by 97%. Large emission reductions were also seen for conversions from oil and gas boilers to a biomass-based system. However, for these conversions the heating cost increased, leading to a mitigation cost of around €50/tonne C avoided. The price of oil and natural gas greatly influenced the competitiveness of the alternatives. House envelope measures were more cost-effective for houses with electric boilers as the cost of energy for this system is high. The results are specific to a Swedish context, but also give an indication of the potential in other regions, such as northern European and large parts of North America, which have both a cold climate and a widespread use of domestic boilers.     

100% Renewable energy systems,climate mitigation and economic growth

Greenhouse gas mitigation strategies are generally considered costly with world leaders often engaging in debate concerning the costs of mitigation and the distribution of these costs between different countries. In this paper, the analyses and results of the design of a 100% renewable energy system by the year 2050 are presented for a complete energy system including transport. Two short-term transition target years in the process towards this goal are analysed for 2015 and 2030. The energy systems are analysed and designed with hour-by-hour energy system analyses. The analyses reveal that implementing energy savings, renewable energy and more efficient conversion technologies can have positive socio-economic effects, create employment and potentially lead to large earnings on exports. If externalities such as health effects are included, even more benefits can be expected. 100% Renewable energy systems will be technically possible in the future, and may even be economically beneficial compared to the business-as-usual energy system. Hence, the current debate between leaders should reflect a combination of these two main challenges.     

Life cycle assessment of a micromorph photovoltaic system

In this paper the results from a in-depth life cycle analysis of production and use of a novel grid-connected photovoltaic micromorph system are presented and compared to other thin film and traditional crystalline silicon photovoltaic technologies. Among the new thin film technologies, the micromorph tandem junction appears to be one of the most promising devices from the industrial point of view. The analysis was based on actual production data given to the authors directly from the PRAMAC Swiss Company and it is consistent with the recommendations provided by the ISO norms and updates. The gross energy requirement, green house gas emissions and energy pay-back time have been calculated for the electric energy output virtually generated by the studied system in a lifetime period of 20 years. A comparative framework is also provided, wherein results obtained for the case study are compared with data from literature previously obtained for the best commercially available competing photovoltaic technologies. Results clearly show a significant decrease in gross energy requirement, in green house gas emissions and also a shorter energy pay-back time for the micromorph technology.     

沼气发电机组的开发利用

沼气机组发电符合当今发展循环经济,节约能源的时代要求,也会对缓解国内区域性能源紧张发挥重要作用。本文介绍了当前我国沼气生产、利用的现状,阐明了沼气的组成及其燃烧特性,论述了沼气发电机组的结构原理及其创新技术。     

欧盟能源转型的路径及对我国的启示

欧盟在发展低碳经济的背景下通过制定具体且严格的温室气体减排和可再生能源发展目标,大力推广各种低碳能源技术的应用,积极倡导低碳化的能源转型。欧盟能源转型的理念和行动已成为各国制定能源政策的重要参考,并引领了当前全球能源转型的主流发展方向。本文在对欧盟各国能源转型战略进行梳理的基础上,归纳了各国能源转型的核心及关键措施,分析了欧盟低碳能源发展迅速的主要原因,并总结了欧盟能源转型对我国推进能源生产和消费革命的启示。     

日本燃气空调发展

燃气空调技术在日本得到了广泛的应用。使用燃气空调可提高能源利用率 ,减少温室气体的排放等 ,燃气空调被认为是绿色空调技术。日本燃气空调技术的发展很快 ,政府及相关企业积极为发展和推广燃气空调技术制定了一系列政策和措施。结合我国西气东输工程 ,对我国发展燃气空调技术提出了有关建议     

低碳经济是实现科学发展观的必由之路

发展低碳经济、应对全球气候变暖已经成为世界密切关注的主题。本文围绕当今世界发展低碳经济的大环境,发展低碳经济的必要性和重要性,发展低碳经济的瓶颈等问题,分析指出向低碳经济转型已经成为世界经济发展的大趋势;化石能源消费将持续增长,温室气体减排形势严峻;发展低碳经济刻不容缓,而技术进步是发展低碳经济的关键,但技术瓶颈问题还长期存在。     

Hydrogen in education—a biological approach

Hydrogen gas is regarded as a potential candidate for a future energy economy. The change towards new energy systems with hydrogen gas as an energy carrier will have an immense impact on society. Thus, an integrate part of current research and development must be the inclusion of the new technology into public education. By means of a model bioreactor for light-dependent (photobiological) production of hydrogen gas with green algae, we try to serve this goal in biological education.Various simple photo-bioreactor types (closed batch, open batch) were analyzed for their capability to produce hydrogen under different conditions. The focus laid on functionality and simplicity rather than on high efficiency. Easy-to-handle systems that can be used in the classroom are presented. In a more sophisticated version a proton exchange membrane (PEM-) fuel cell was connected to a continuous gas flow tube bioreactor. We developed a software interface, designed to read light intensity, temperature and power generation by the bioreactor and the connected fuel cell, respectively. Thus, this bioreactor is specially aimed at integrative teaching in natural science and computer technology at middle and high school level.