Non-renewable and renewable energy consumption and CO2 emissions in OECD countries: A comparative analysis

This paper attempts to explore the determinants of CO₂ emissions using the STIRPAT model and data from 1980 to 2011 for OECD countries. The empirical results show that non-renewable energy consumption increases CO₂ emissions, whereas renewable energy consumption decreases CO₂ emissions. Further, the results support the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve between urbanisation and CO₂ emissions, implying that at higher levels of urbanisation, the environmental impact decreases. Therefore, the overall evidence suggests that policy makers should focus on urban planning as well as clean energy development to make substantial contributions to both reducing non-renewable energy use and mitigating climate change.     

The present status and the future development of renewable energy in China

As one of the biggest energy consuming countries, China has to pay a great attention to the development and utilization of renewable energy to meet the increasing energy demand and to protect its environment. In this paper, the present status of the resources, development and application of different kind renewable energies including solar thermal, wind, biomass, geothermal and ocean energies, are comprehensively summarized. The perspective of solar energy in China is outlined.     

A review of renewable energy activities in Yemen

Republic of Yemen is a developing country depending on oil for the energy needs. A look at the availability of renewable energy resources shows that the country is endowed with considerable solar, wind, bio-gas energy resources. This paper presents a review of activities in the field of renewable energy applications in Yemen and future trends, some suggestions and recommendations for using this renewable energy resources are also drawn.     

The requirement and utilization of renewable energy technologies in Chinese rural areas

The tendency of using commercial fossil energy, especially high-quality energy, will increase rapidly along with the rural economic development in China. However, energy consumption for household use in most rural areas still relies on firewood or straw, except the urban suburb. The application and development of renewable energy has been and should play an important role in China. In order to integrate and adapt renewable energy technologies, we need to carefully study the specific economic and social conditions of the rural economic development.     

Management of natural gas resources and search for alternative renewable energy resources: A case study of Pakistan

Energy usage in Pakistan has increased rapidly in past few years due to increase in economic growth. Inadequate and inconsistent supply of energy has created pressure on the industrial and commercial sectors of Pakistan and has also affected environment. Demand has already exceeded supply and load shedding has become common phenomenon. Due to excessive consumption of energy resources it would become difficult to meet future energy demands. This necessitates proper management of existing and exploration of new energy resources. Energy resource management is highly dependent on the supply and demand pattern. This paper highlights the future demands, production and supply of energy produced from natural gas based on economic and environmental constraints in Pakistan with special emphasis on management of natural gas. An attempt has been made by proposing a suitable course of action to meet the rising gas demand. A mechanism has been proposed to evaluate Pakistan's future gas demand through quantitative analysis of base, worst and best/chosen option. CO₂ emission for all cases has also been evaluated. The potential, constraints and possible solutions to develop alternative renewable energy resources in the country have also been discussed. This work will be fruitful for the decision makers responsible for energy planning of the country. This work is not only helpful for Pakistan but is equally important to other developing countries to manage their energy resources.     

The energy situation in OIC countries The possible contribution of renewable energy resources

The paper reviews the socioeconomic situation and energy utilization in Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries which vary considerably. The review indicates that growing energy requirements are associated with economic development and population increase. Renewable energy utilization is indicated as an appropriate alternative for providing a considerable portion of future energy demand in certain energy-consuming sectors. When reviewing the present state of the art of major renewable energy technologies, particular attention is paid to both direct and indirect solar technologies. Possible adaption of renewables into the socioeconomic structures of OIC countries is discussed. The programme of action for renewables in the OIC is stressed, pointing to the priority attached to enhancing the renewable energy contribution.     

考虑多弹性资源调峰成本的可再生能源开发协同优化模型

中国制定了2030年和2060年的碳排放目标.可再生能源,主要是风能和光伏发电,被认为是未来的发电方式.新能源发展的主要制约因素是电力系统资源监管灵活性有限,导致消费能力不足.因此需要考虑调峰灵活的资源成本以及区域可再生能源的合理协调开发和运行优化.本研究考虑了电力系统综合成本,综合分析电力系统各种弹性调节资源潜力及其...     

Hydrogen production through renewable and non-renewable energy processes and their impact on climate change

The urbanization and increase in the human population has significantly influenced the global energy demands. The utilization of non-renewable fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure involves air pollution, global warming due to CO₂ emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, acid rains, diminishing energy resources, and environmental degradation leading to climate change due to global warming. These factors demand the exploration of alternative energy sources based on renewable sources. Hydrogen, an efficient energy carrier, has emerged as an alternative fuel to meet energy demands and green hydrogen production with zero carbon emission has gained scientific attraction in recent years. This review is focused on the production of hydrogen from renewable sources such as biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, and algae and conventional non-renewable sources including natural gas, coal, nuclear and thermochemical processes. Moreover, the cost analysis for hydrogen production from each source of energy is discussed. Finally, the impact of these hydrogen production processes on the environment and their implications are summarized.     

The potential of renewable energy technologies for rural development in Lesotho

The potential and utilization of renewable energy technologies (RETs), and energy analysis in Lesotho with emphasis on the contribution of solar energy technologies (SETs) is presented. The heavy reliance of the country on imported fossil fuel coupled with the growing demand for electricity and declining wood fuel supplies call for alternative sources of energy. Taking the average global solar radiation that ranges from 15 to 20 MJ/m² and cognizant of the short falls of other renewable energy sources in Lesotho, this paper focuses on the application of solar energy and associated developmental issues. The paper provides a statistical analysis of the energy demand and identifies areas of further growth for SETs. Various application areas of solar energy and their contribution to development in Lesotho together with future prospects for use of solar energy are also discussed. An analysis of the relative merits of using photovoltaic (PV) devices over other renewable energy sources in Lesotho is presented. It is argued that with proper economic support and utilization of efficient RETs, developing countries like Lesotho can meet their basic energy demands and alleviate the problems of energy shortages.     

Key challenges to expanding renewable energy

The key advantage of renewables is that they are free of direct pollution and carbon emissions. Given concern over global warming caused by carbon emissions, there are substantial policy efforts to increase renewable penetrations. The purpose of this paper is to outline and evaluate the challenges presented by increasing penetrations of renewable electricity generation. These generation sources primarily include solar and wind which are growing rapidly and are new enough to the grid that the impact of high penetrations is not fully understood. The intrinsic nature of solar and wind power is very likely to present greater system challenges than “conventional” sources. Within limits, those challenges can be overcome, but at a cost. Later sections of the paper will draw on a variety of sources to identify a range of such costs, at least as they are foreseen by researchers helping prepare ambitious plans for grids to obtain high shares (30–50%) of their megawatt hours from primarily solar and wind generation. Energy poverty issues are outlined and related to renewable costs issues.     

Macro-level integrated renewable energy production schemes for sustainable development

The production of renewable clean energy is a prime necessity for the sustainable future existence of our planet. However, because of the resource-intensive nature, and other challenges associated with these new generation renewable energy sources, novel industrial frameworks need to be co-developed. Integrated renewable energy production schemes with foundations on resource sharing, carbon neutrality, energy-efficient design, source reduction, green processing plan, anthropogenic use of waste resources for the production green energy along with the production of raw material for allied food and chemical industries is imperative for the sustainable development of this sector especially in an emission-constrained future industrial scenario. To attain these objectives, the scope of hybrid renewable production systems and integrated renewable energy industrial ecology is briefly described. Further, the principles of Integrated Renewable Energy Park (IREP) approach, an example for macro-level energy production, and its benefits and global applications are also explored.     

Energy and renewable energy scenario of Pakistan

This paper presents a review about conventional and renewable energy scenario of the county in quantitative terms of supply, generation and exploitation of available resources. In this energy scenario, the renewable energy share is in the range of a fraction of a percentage compared to total conventional energy supplies, so depicting it as a sector of least significance for government. Main emphasis in this paper has been given on presentation of data about renewable energy (RE) installations in the country, on-going activities, development projects, RE planning and achievements of public sector RE institutions and organizations. At the end some suggestions are given for effective planning and exploitation of RE resources and use of technologies. These suggestions are not only useful for Pakistan but also are equally important for the third world countries to enhance appreciably RE contribution in their total energy supplies of their country.     

On the dynamics of energy consumption and output in the US

This note employs US annual data from 1949 to 2006 to compare the causal relationship between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and real GDP, respectively. Given the sample size of the study, the Toda-Yamamoto causality tests reveal the absence of Granger-causality between renewable or non-renewable energy consumption and real GDP which supports the neutrality hypothesis.     

Electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Poland

AbstractFor the European Union's Member States 2001/77/EC Directive on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market determined targets for 2010 of 21% share of electricity from renewable energy sources in total electricity consumption. Particular Member States adopted different measures for development of renewable and in consequence they achieved different results. Poland, being Member State of the EU since 2004 has accepted target of 7.5% for electricity generated from renewable energy sources until 2010. Currently, in this decade, new 2009/28/EC Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources plays significant role in development of renewable energy sources. Directive set new target for 2020. Nowadays is a time for summary and assessment of results fulfilling Directives and monitor progress of new targets. Article presents measures implemented for renewable source energy development, also current state and perspectives of using of renewable energy sources in Poland and in the EU.     

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.     

Subsistence electricity renewable energies and development

This article suggests that the use of some new and renewable sources of energy (NRSE) in rural electrification may lead to ‘subsistence electrification’. Grid rural electrification, it is argued, contributes to development not by substituting for existing fuels and energy sources at lower cost but by transforming the marginal costs of supply. Techniques commonly used to evaluate NRSE do not capture the developmental implications.     

Potential and use of renewable energy sources in Croatia

The current share of renewable energy sources in electricity production in Croatia is very high, around 50%. Nevertheless it is expected that the share of renewables will have to rise and efficient strategies must be examined and adopted. The Croatian government has recognised the important role renewable energy sources could play in Croatian energy and electricity supply. The most important barrier for a wider deployment of renewables in energy production is their cost which is still above those of conventional energy sources. As the energy market is currently undergoing the process of liberalisation, support mechanisms that are compatible with an open market philosophy must be adopted. The characteristics of the Croatian power system, the expected consumption, growth and possible future role of renewables in energy and electricity production is presented. The current legislative framework relevant for renewables is analysed and discussed.     

Sustainability estimation of energy system options that use gas and renewable resources for domestic hot water production

Two possible substitutions for fossil fuel used in heat production are biomass and solar energy. This paper presents an evaluation of various energy sources for hot water production in a heating plant. The heating plant was situated in one of the largest municipalities in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. It produces and delivers domestic hot water and energy for heating to approximately 17,000 households. It is possible to use of using renewable energy instead of fossil fuel for producing the thermal energy for the supply of domestic hot water. Hence, in this paper, an evaluation of the sustainability of different energy options for obtaining thermal energy was considered: 1) from gas combustion; 2) from gas combustion and solar collection 3) from biomass combustion 4) from gas and biomass combustion, and 5) from gas and biomass combustion and solar collection. To compare the different energy systems, the method of multi-criteria analysis was utilised. This method integrates various multi-dimensional criteria and provides an efficient method of estimating the sustainability of complex systems. The obtained results were compared by the General Index of Sustainability which is a measure of the complexity of a system. A basic set of energy indicators that relate to different aspects of sustainable development was defined. In this way, the results in the assessment of sustainability of energy options do not depend on the various analysts in decision making.     

Can renewable energy sources sustain affluent society?

Figures commonly quoted on costs of generating energy from renewable sources can give the impression that it will be possible to switch to renewables as the foundation for the continuation of industrial societies with high material living standards. Although renewable energy must be the sole source in a sustainable society, major difficulties become evident when conversions, storage and supply for high latitudes are considered. It is concluded that renewable energy sources will not be able to sustain present rich world levels of energy use and that a sustainable world order must be based on acceptance of much lower per capita levels of energy use, much lower living standards and a zero growth economy.     

The role of energy efficiency and renewable energies in the future world energy market

The world population is rising rapidly, notably in the developing countries. Historical trends suggest that increased annual energy use per capita is a good surrogate for the standard of living factors which promote a decrease in population growth rate. If these trends continue, the stabilization of the world's population will require the increased use of all sources of energy as cheap oil and gas are depleted. The improved efficiency of energy use and renewable energy sources will be essential to stabilizing population, while providing a decent standard all over the world.