Renewable corn-ethanol and energy security

Though corn-ethanol is promoted as renewable, models of the production process assume fossil fuel inputs. Moreover, ethanol is promoted as a means of increasing energy security, but there is little discussion of the dependability of its supply. This study investigates the sensibility of promoting corn-ethanol as an automobile fuel, assuming a fully renewable production process. We then use historical data to estimate the supply risk of ethanol relative to imported petroleum. We find that devoting 100% of US corn to ethanol would displace 3.5% of gasoline consumption and the annual supply of the ethanol would be inherently more risky than that of imported oil. Finally, because large temperature increases can simultaneously increase fuel demand and the cost of growing corn, the supply responses of ethanol producers to temperature-induced demand shocks would likely be weaker than those of gasoline producers.     

Introduction of Renewable Energy Certificate in the Indian scenario

Generation deficit in India is in the range of 9% and the scenario is expected to get grimmer in the context of high growth rate of the country. With peak power shortage as high as 15.2% (Source: Annual report FY08, MoP) the nation needs to harness all forms of generation including renewables, which currently has a meager share of 8% of the total generation in the country at present. Shooting price of crude oil reaching up to $135 (May 2008) per barrel along with increasing awareness and concerns about environment, the stage seems to be set for an increased mix of Renewable Energy (RE) into the overall energy requirement in the country. Keeping the concern for environment and energy security for the country in mind, government of India has been putting emphasis on promotion of renewable energy sources. Central and state government policies have always been instrumental in the propagation of capacity additions in renewable energy power. One of the main aims of these policies has been on increasing the private sector participation in this sector. In the pre-reform period, the state governments took policy decisions regarding financial incentives, buy-back tariff and other measures targeting investment in renewable energy. However, the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) are now responsible for many of these tasks. SERCs have come up with a host of initiatives, inline with their functions laid down in the Electricity Act 2003, to increase the share of renewable energy inside their respective States. Despite the efforts of SERCs, large potential of renewable energy generation remains untapped. There is lack of clarity on how to promote renewable energy generation inside states which are not having significant renewable energy generation potential.This paper explores the way in which SERCs can introduce measures to further promote renewable energy generation inside the country. We discuss in detail the framework to promote renewable energy through a framework which puts into place Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mechanism. The framework includes setting of RPO targets, provisions for a surcharge levied upon non-compliance of RPO targets and also a mechanism to meet RPO through trading of certificates.     

Renewable energy for sustainable electrical energy system in India

Present trends of electrical energy supply and demand are not sustainable because of the huge gap between demand and supply in foreseeable future in India. The path towards sustainability is exploitation of energy conservation and aggressive use of renewable energy systems. Potential of renewable energy technologies that can be effectively harnessed would depend on future technology developments and breakthrough in cost reduction. This requires adequate policy guidelines and interventions in the Indian power sector. Detailed MARKAL simulations, for power sector in India, show that full exploitation of energy conservation potential and an aggressive implementation of renewable energy technologies lead to sustainable development. Coal and other fossil fuel (gas and oil) allocations stagnated after the year 2015 and remain constant up to 2040. After the year 2040, the requirement for coal and gas goes down and carbon emissions decrease steeply. By the year 2045, 25% electrical energy can be supplied by renewable energy and the CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 72% as compared to the base case scenario.     

Renewable energy programme and vision in India

In the present world, renewable sources of energy have begun to make a significant contribution to meeting heat and power needs. In India, the Government is implementing a wide ranging programmes on renewable energy technologies. Several policy and fiscal measures have contributed to the rapid expansion of the progress during the last few years. This paper presents a review of renewable energy programme and vision in India. The present situation is seen to be much more promising and favourable for renewables.     

Energy security,energy modelling and uncertainty

The paper develops a framework to analyze energy security in an expected utility framework, where there is a risk of disruption of imported energy. The analysis shows the importance of an energy tax as a tool in maximizing expected utility, and how the level of that tax varies according to the key parameters of the system: risk aversion, probability of disruption, demand elasticity and cost of disruption.     

Renewable energy planning for India in 21st century

Energy is a vital input for economic and social development of any country. With increasing industrial and agricultural activities in the country, the demand for energy is also rising. Solar, wind and biomass are accepted as dependable and widely available renewable sources of energy. Development of an energy model will help in the proper allocation of these renewables in meeting the future demand of energy in India. The present work deals with the development of an Optimal Renewable Energy Model (OREM) for the effective utilisation of renewable energy sources in India for the year-2020-21. The objective of the Optimal Renewable Energy Model (OREM) was minimising cost/efficiency ratio based on social acceptance, reliability, demand and potential constraints. The OREM model allocated renewable energy sources for different end-uses such as lighting, cooking, pumping, heating, cooling and transportation for the year 2020-21.     

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.     

可再生能源产业的国际贸易争端

当前,世界各国在低碳发展的大背景下纷纷通过法律和政策促进本国的可再生能源产业的开发与利用,这些举措也造成了某些国际贸易纷争。美国针对中国的风电设备补贴案、日本和欧盟针对加拿大的可再生能源产业措施案已经进入世贸组织争端解决程序,我国商务部也针对美国可再生能源产业措施发起贸易壁垒调查。分析上述案件在世贸组织争端解决机制下的裁决进展,将对各国可再生能源产业措施所引发的争端提供可予依据的判例,也能为各国的相关政策措施的制定提供符合国际法和世贸组织规则的参考价值。     

Renewable energy perspectives and support mechanisms in Taiwan

The use and development of renewable energy has become a major policy incentive in Taiwan. Some measures, promoting renewable energy, were previously instituted, but many legal and institutional barriers, hampering the development of renewable energy, remain; thus, it is necessary to encourage discussion to eliminate barriers and implement support mechanisms. This article reviews current measures and addresses the perspectives and support mechanisms of renewable energy in Taiwan. Basically, Taiwan's short, medium and long-term development progress and strategies for renewable energy sources can be seen to correspond to current international initiatives; in practice, however, many issues (such as establishing domestic renewable energy technologies and inter-departmental coordination mechanisms) must still be addressed, in order to actively promote the utilization of renewable energy.     

Renewable energy in India: Historical developments and prospects

Promoting renewable energy in India has assumed great importance in recent years in view of high growth rate of energy consumption, high share of coal in domestic energy demand, heavy dependence on imports for meeting demands for petroleum fuels and volatility of world oil market. A number of renewable energy technologies (RETs) are now well established in the country. The technology that has achieved the most dramatic growth rate and success is wind energy; India ranks fourth in the world in terms of total installed capacity. India hosts the world's largest small gasifier programme and second largest biogas programme. After many years of slow growth, demand for solar water heaters appears to be gaining momentum. Small hydro has been growing in India at a slow but steady pace. Installation of some of the technologies appears to have slowed down in recent years; these include improved cooking stoves (ICSs) and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. In spite of many successes, the overall growth of renewable energy in India has remained rather slow. A number of factors are likely to boost the future prospects of renewable energy in the country; these include global pressure and voluntary targets for greenhouse gas emission reduction, a possible future oil crisis, intensification of rural electrification program, and import of hydropower from neighbouring countries.     

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.     

Energy demand and supply,energy policies,and energy security in the Republic of Korea

The Republic of Korea (ROK) has enjoyed rapid economic growth and development over the last 30 years. Rapid increases in energy use—especially petroleum, natural gas, and electricity, and especially in the industrial and transport sectors—have fueled the ROK's economic growth, but with limited fossil fuel resources of its own, the result has been that the ROK is almost entirely dependent on energy imports. The article that follows summarizes the recent trends in the ROK energy sector, including trends in energy demand and supply, and trends in economic, demographic, and other activities that underlie trends in energy use. The ROK has been experiencing drastic changes in its energy system, mainly induced by industrial, supply security, and environmental concerns, and energy policies in the ROK have evolved over the years to address such challenges through measures such as privatization of energy-sector activities, emphases on enhancing energy security through development of energy efficiency, nuclear power, and renewable energy, and a related focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The assembly of a model for evaluating energy futures in the ROK (ROK2010 LEAP) is described, and results of several policy-based scenarios focused on different levels of nuclear energy utilization are described, and their impacts on of energy supply and demand in the ROK through the year 2030 are explored, along with their implications for national energy security and long-term policy plans. Nuclear power continues to hold a crucial position in the ROK's energy policy, but aggressive expansion of nuclear power alone, even if possible given post-Fukushima global concerns, will not be sufficient to attain the ROK's “green economy” and greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.     

Renewable energy and the need for local energy markets

In Denmark, a technological change towards cleaner energy technologies has been developed and implemented since around 1975. This development has had two phases: The first from 1975 until around 1996, when wind power was a niche production that supplied only 3.5% of the electricity consumption and was brought close to cost competitiveness, and the present second phase, in which wind power supplies an increasing share (in 2004 18.6%) of electricity consumption along with combined heat and power plants, which supply around 50% of consumption. Denmark succeeded in overcoming the first phase, and a large green energy technology cluster was established. During the second phase, new difficulties and challenges have arisen, both with regard to local public acceptance and the need for integrating an increasing percentage of fluctuating energy sources into the energy system. In this Phase 2, a new offensive green energy policy should be introduced in order to secure both public and political acceptance. Local markets should be established in order to secure the technical integration of a large proportion of wind power and other fluctuating renewable energy sources into the energy system.     

中、印可再生能源合作潜力探析

本文在总结全球可再生能源产业发展现状和趋势、分析我国和印度可再生能源发展特点的基础上,提出当前中印可再生能源战略合作潜力的主要领域：一、通过向印转移太阳能光伏发电设备及生产技术,有效整合中印太阳能市场;二、可发挥我国水电技术优势,在印度北部援建或投建小水电项目;三、通过风电整机制造商合作交流,提升双方技术实力;四、探索向印投资建设风电场模式,促进新能源投资合作。     

Energy Evolution: Renewable energy in the Galápagos Islands

The inspiration of the theory of evolution, the Galápagos Islands, once again is exemplifying how species can evolve. The species presently evolving on the Galápagos Islands are not only the finches and giant tortoises, but the human species. The residents of this famous archipelago are in the process of converting the production of electrical energy and transportation from a 100% dependency on fossil fuels to a community based on 100% renewable and low/non-polluting resources. Seth Kassels, Renewable Energy Technician, Fundación Natura, Quito Ecuador reports.     

Strategic oil stockpiling for energy security: The case of China and India

Compared with the developed countries, the developing countries could be more vulnerable to oil supply disruptions due to their lack of strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs). Several developing countries, including China and India, are establishing their SPRs to ensure energy security. In the common world oil market, one country's SPR decisions can be affected by the decisions of other countries. This paper investigates the SPR policies of China and India, two of the largest developing countries, in a game-theoretic framework, where the interactions between the two countries are taken into account. The results show that players' equilibrium stockpiling strategies and total expected costs could vary significantly with the initial oil market state, stockpile acquisition capacity and the probabilities for disruptions to persist.     

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。     

加快开发我国核能产业实现能源结构多样化

伊拉克战争后的石油形势凸显我国能源安全方面潜伏的危机,主要表现为我国未来能源需求与能源资源储量不足之间的矛盾。同时,我国能源结构中以化石燃料为主所造成的环境问题也应引起高度重视。分析了核能的优势及其在我国能源发展中的地位,简要展望了我国核能发展的前景,探讨了影响我国核能发展的某些因素,在此基础上,从统一规划、实现我国核能产业的国产化和标准化角度对加快我国核能发展提出了一些建议。     

Renewable energy sources in the Colombian energy policy, analysis and perspectives

In this work; five basic elements for the formulation of a policy on renewable energy sources for Colombia, are discussed. A balance of the institutions of the energy sector related to the formulation, elaboration and execution of plans, programs and projects on renewable energy sources is carried out. The technology costs that take advantage of such sources are compared and the 967 Law issued in 2001 and its regulatory decree are analyzed. This law promotes the efficient and rational use of energy and also promotes the alternative energies.