Renewable energy sources for desalination

Renewable energy sources (RES) coupled to desalination offers a promising prospect for covering the fundamental needs of power and water in remote regions, where connection to the public electrical grid is either not cost effective or not feasible, and where the water scarcity is severe. Stand-alone systems for electricity supply in isolated locations are now proven technologies. Correct matching of stand-alone power supply desalination systems has been recognized as being crucial if the system is to provide a satisfactory supply of power and water at a reasonable cost. The paper covers plants installed since 1990 on the coupling of the two technologies. The main driver promoting the take up of this technology is that water is a limiting factor for many countries in the Mediterranean region. This paper presents the two technologies, RES desalination, and describes the most promising couplings such as PV–reverse osmosis, wind-mechanical-vapor compression, geothermal-multieffect distillation, etc as well as technologies selection guidelines. Also, included applications and lessons learned from specific applications as well as data on the economics. RES for desalination is an important challenge and useful work has been done. However in order to provide practical viable plants, much remains to be done.     

可再生能源对海岛旅游业发展的影响和在海水淡化中的应用

介绍了可再生能源在海岛旅游、海水淡化中的应用，同时介绍了克里特岛上可再生能源、节能和岛屿的可持续性发展有机结合的成功案例。最后指出了可再生能源和能效措施将可确保全世界岛屿长期持续的发展。     

Renewable energy systems based on hydrogen for remote applications

An integrated renewable energy (RE) system for powering remote communication stations and based on hydrogen is described. The system is based on the production of hydrogen by electrolysis whereby the electricity is generated by a 10 kW wind turbine (WT) and 1 kW photovoltaic (PV) array. When available, the excess power from the RE sources is used to produce and store hydrogen. When not enough energy is produced from the RE sources, the electricity is then regenerated from the stored hydrogen via a 5 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell system. Overview results on the performances of the WT, PV, and fuel cells system are presented.     

Renewable energy update: Malaysia

Recent renewable energy development in Malaysia is described. Three major sources, namely hydro-electricity, biomass and solar energy are discussed, focussing more towards the needs of electrical energy for electrification, and the need to dispose biomass waste generated from forestry and agricultural industries.     

Advanced tubular solar energy collector— A state of the art

In this article, the state of the art of the evacuated tubular solar energy collector has been discussed. Evacuated collectors are one of the most promising alternatives for industrial process heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration, pumping of water, production of electric energy, etc., because of its high efficiency at sufficiently high temperatures and no tracking requirements. Here, the various designs, and special features which have distinguished it from conventional flat plate collectors have been high-lighted. An attempt has also been made to analyse the optical and thermal behaviour of this evacuated collector.     

可再生能源在各地

南京:开发商不得阻挠住户装太阳能2006年7月8日,南京市建委、经委、房产局等七部门发布《进一步规范居民住宅安装太阳能集热器的通知》,明确要求开发商不得阻挠住户装太阳能热水器,并要为利用太阳能热水器“提供必备条件”。     

Renewable energy in the outback of Australia

Many stations and small communities, particularly Aboriginal Communities, have switched from diesel generators to sensible Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems consisting of wind and/or solar input, battery bank, inverter and generator back-up.The introduction of Synergy Power Corporation's low-wind regime turbines that can hover/reef rather than furl has allowed wind powered RAPS to penetrate markets in the desert communities that were previously considered unsuitable for wind systems. The unique reefing system is described and some interesting case studies given.Solar water pumping and solar powered microwave telecommunications have been common for the past ten years and have proved extremely reliable and have been well accepted.     

Energy management in horticultural applications through the closed greenhouse concept,state of the art

The commercial greenhouse has the highest demand for energy as compared to all other agricultural industry sectors. Here, energy management is important from a broad sustainability perspective. This paper presents the state-of-the-art regarding one energy management concept; the closed greenhouse integrated with thermal energy storage (TES) technology. This concept is an innovation for sustainable energy management since it is designed to maximize the utilization of solar energy through seasonal storage. In a fully closed greenhouse, there is no ventilation which means that excess sensible and latent heat must be removed. Then, this heat can be stored using seasonal and/or daily TES technology, and used later in order to satisfy the heating demand of the greenhouse. This assessment shows that closed greenhouse can, in addition to satisfying its own heating demand, also supply the demand for neighboring buildings. Several energy potential studies show that summer excess heat of almost three times the annual heating demand of the greenhouse. However, many studies propose the use of some auxiliary system for peak load. Also, the assessment clearly point out that a combination of seasonal and short-term TES must be further explored to make use of the full potential. Although higher amount of solar energy can be harvested in a fully closed greenhouse, in reality a semi-closed greenhouse concept may be more applicable. There, a large part of the available excess heat will be stored, but the benefits of an integrated forced-ventilation system are introduced in order to use fresh air as a rapid response for primarily humidity control. The main conclusion from this review is that aspects like energy efficiency, environmental benefits and economics must be further examined since this is seldom presented in the literature. Also, a variety of energy management scenarios may be employed depending on the most prioritized aspect.     

Renewable energy resources in Syria

Renewable energy resources in the Syrian Arab Republic are surveyed. Potential of solar, wind and bio-mass resources and their promising applications are analyzed. The annual average long-term solar radiation on a horizontal plane is measured and found to be 5.2 kWh/m² per day. Wind speed measurements were conducted in more than twenty stations spread all over the country. The prospects of these measurements indicate that wind is another promising source of renewable energy in Syria. The registered annual mean daily wind speed in some regions of the country reaches more than 13 m/sec. Theoretical study estimates that the bio-gas production of the daily wastes of humans, animals and agriculture is higher than 300 million cubic meters per year.     

Renewable energy education in Turkey

Utilization of renewable energy sources and the application of environmentally sound energy technologies are essential to sustainable development and will help to secure the quality of living and the well-being of the future generations. Turkey presently has considerable renewable energy sources. The most important renewable sources are hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. The use of renewable energy as a topic to study energy and its forms permits a novel way to motivate students, particularly those who energy topics taking conscience with the environment. This paper presents the analysis and classification of renewable energy sources and how to find out their origin and a way to motivate students in energy topics related to renewable sources and also, the development of didactic competencies in special blended learning arrangements for educationalists, trainers and lecturers in adult education in the field of renewable energies in Turkey.     

Renewable energy utilization in Iran

At present, due to the adoption of stringent environmental laws and also because of the energy crisis, countries (especially industrial ones) are taking the development of renewable energies more seriously. Iran is one of the largest producers and exporters of petroleum and natural gas in the world. Because of this, development of renewable energies did not attract considerable attention during the past decades. The present research intends to study renewable energy utilization in Iran and provide readers with complete information on the development trend of renewable energies and the problems and limitations faced for their development. Other methods of electricity generation such as the use of nuclear energy also developed considerably in the past, but their features will not be discussed here because they are not considered renewable energies.     

Renewable energy sector in Belarus: A review

Belarus (BY) faces broad needs for energy security enhancement, energy diversification, and improvements in the state of the environment. Being the 13th largest importer of natural gas for energy BY has very limited energy resources of its own. Maximum reduction of energy imports is among the strategic tasks of raising the efficiency of Belarus' economy. The task fulfillment is possible through creation of a national infrastructure conductive to increasing the share of local and renewable sources of energy (RES) in heat and power energy production.BY's geographic location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy (RE) and bioenergy sources. However, information on existing RE sector for the second-largest landlocked country in Europe is still hardly awailable for a wider audience of researchers working in the field of economic, environmental, political, planning and social aspects of energy supply in global proportions.The review on the renewable energy sector in BY so far has tried to give the background for RES, to describe their occurrence and conditions for using them, leading up to a discussion of the role of renewable energy in current and future energy systems, depending on a path of economic transition, social values, availability, and economic rules used to judge the viability of competing solutions. To ensure a simple, comprehensible and transparent presentation of the different available options of using RE for the provision of heat and power, the individual chapters describing the various renewable energy potentials and contribution options have been similarly structured whenever possible and sensible.     

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.     

Renewable energy policy development in the Caribbean

The Caribbean region is endowed with renewable energy resources which remain largely untapped. With an average insolation of 15-20 MJ m⁻² day⁻¹, investment in some renewable energy technologies is feasible. The major problem confronting the region is lack of financial resources. Petroleum imports continue to dominate the energy scenario except for Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. However, increased awareness of sustainable development issues throughout the region is a major factor in support of renewable energy implementation and is a driving force for energy policy decision-making. With the necessary joint-venture partnerships and government fiscal incentives, photovoltaic technologies, wind energy and solar energy industries are poised to expand thus reducing the dependency on fossil fuel imports while preserving the environment.     

Renewable energy activities in Senegal: a review

Like many countries in Africa, Senegal is facing economical decline, energy crisis and serious desertification problem in rural areas. These issues could be removed if renewable energy is used as a primary source of energy in rural areas. What is required is a strategy to implement renewable energy technologies at large scale. The government and many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have tried to comprehend and have strived to address the problem of energy. This paper presents a review of activities in the field of renewable energy applications in Senegal, which goes back to the mid 1970s and will discuss the socio-economic benefits that the country has derived from these environmentally sound and appropriate sources of energy. The development and trial of systems were mostly funded so far by donor agencies in collaboration with government and NGOs. Among the applications being supported are solar lighting, water pumping and small power plants. Recent efforts have been aimed at restructuring the programmes and giving them a market orientation. Future trends, some suggestions and recommendations for successful dissemination of renewable energy sources are also drawn. The present situation is seen to be much more promising and favourable for renewable energy.     

Renewable energy in the Lithuanian heating sector

The paper analyses the role of renewable energy sources (RES) in the Lithuanian heating sector and the existing support measures. RES consumption has been continuously growing in Lithuania. During the period of 2000–2009, RES used for heat production in the district heating sector increased more than 4 times. Wood and wood products have been the most widely used RES for heat production (RES-H). The lower prices were one of the main reasons which motivated district heating companies to switch fuel to biomass. At the same time subsidies, soft loans, EU Structural Funds for 2007–2013 and some fiscal measures, which are currently available for RES-H promotion, also have some impact on the increase of RES consumption. However, seeking to achieve a 23% national RES target, additional support measures are essential. A qualitative analysis based on the selected set of criteria and consultation with stakeholders showed that energy policy package for RES promotion in the Lithuanian heating sector could encompass the following measures: tax relieves (differentiated VAT and personal income tax breaks), subsidies, soft loans, standardization, support for research, development and demonstration. These measures are market-oriented and meet cost efficiency and low transaction costs criteria.     

Renewable energy in the Palestinian Territories: Opportunities and challenges

The Palestinian Territories relies on Israel for 100% of its fossil fuel imports and for 87% of its electricity imports. Total energy consumption in the Palestinian Territories is the lowest in the region and costs more than anywhere else in the Middle East. The purpose of this paper is to present the current energy situation in the Palestinian Territories, evaluate the potential of renewable energies in meeting part of the energy demand and discuss the challenges and benefits of using these types of energies. It is shown that the main renewable energy sources in the Palestinian Territories are solar, wind and biomass. Using the available renewable energy sources in the Palestinian Territories may significantly decrease the energy reliance on neighboring countries and improve the Palestinian population's access to energy. It is estimated that solar sources have the potential to account for 13% of electricity demand and wind energy for 6.6%. The conversion of animal waste into biogas has the potential to meet the needs of 20% of the rural population. The conversion of unused agricultural residue into biodiesel could replace 5% of the imported diesel.