Comments: Main developments and trends of international energy plants

Energy plants play an important role in the development of bioenergy. In the world, there are many kinds of energy plants, but they are not utilized sufficiently. In the current paper, we discussed the situation of the research and development of traditional energy plants and some new energy plants in the world. At the same time, we focused on the distribution of some special energy plants and discussed their advantages in China. At last, we provided some suggestions for developing global energy plant field.     

促进能效和可再生能源国家政策的行动回顾与展望

一前言到2020年我国将实现全面建设小康社会的目标。随之而来的经济迅速发展和工业化进程加快,将导致能源需求量大幅度上升,使社会经济发展面临的能源和环境制约问题日益突出。因此,为保障全面     

Solar energy: Markets, economics and policies

Solar energy has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years due to both technological improvements resulting in cost reductions and government policies supportive of renewable energy development and utilization. This study analyzes the technical, economic and policy aspects of solar energy development and deployment. While the cost of solar energy has declined rapidly in the recent past, it still remains much higher than the cost of conventional energy technologies. Like other renewable energy technologies, solar energy benefits from fiscal and regulatory incentives, including tax credits and exemptions, feed-in-tariff, preferential interest rates, renewable portfolio standards and voluntary green power programs in many countries. The emerging carbon credit markets are expected to provide additional incentives to solar energy deployment; however, the scale of incentives provided by the existing carbon market instruments, such as, the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol is limited. Despite the huge technical potential, the development and large scale deployment of solar energy technologies world-wide still has to overcome a number of technical, financial, regulatory and institutional barriers. The continuation of policy supports might be necessary for several decades to maintain and enhance the growth of solar energy in both developed and developing countries.     

An overview of the IAEA HEEP software and international programmes on hydrogen production using nuclear energy

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in hydrogen production using nuclear energy. A number of countries are actively exploring the option of nuclear hydrogen production and have established concrete roadmaps for near and far term achievements. This paper presents a summary of information presented at some IAEA technical meetings on status of nuclear hydrogen production including ongoing related R&D activities in Member States. The paper highlights, in addition, the IAEA hydrogen economic evaluation programme (HEEP) which has recently been developed under agreement and in collaboration with the BHABHA Atomic Research Centre (BARC). HEEP software can be used to perform the economics of the most promising processes for hydrogen production. Current processes considered in HEEP are: high and low temperature electrolysis, thermo-chemical processes including S-I process, conventional electrolysis and steam reforming. HEEP software is also suitable for comparative between nuclear and fossil energy sources, and for solely hydrogen production or cogeneration with electricity. The HEEP modelling includes various aspects of hydrogen economy including storage, transport, and distribution with options to eliminate or include specific details as required by the users.     

Wind/diesel energy systems: Review of design options and recent developments

The combination of wind turbine generators with diesel engine-generator sets offers a potentially cost effective hybrid electric system that has many stand-alone and small girl-connected applications. This article reviews wind/diesel systems and the current status of worldwide research and development on such systems. Included is a detailed summary of the modes of operation and types of wind/diesel systems, as well as a review of recent improvements in system components and analysis. Included with a discussion of general applications is a case study summary of a village-scale wind/diesel systems' generating and economic performance. A design methodology for these types of systems is presented.     

Waste cooking oil as an energy resource: Review of Chinese policies

Converting waste cooking oil into biofuel represents a three-win solution, dealing simultaneously with food security, pollution, and energy security. In this paper, we encode the policy documents of waste cooking oil refining biofuel in China based on content analysis, and explore the related policies from the two dimensions as basic policy tools and enterprises supply chain. Research indicates the weak institution coordination of policy issuing entities. Also, the findings show that tools of regulatory control and goal planning are overused. Policies of government procurement, outsourcing and biofuel consumption are relatively scarce. Generally, government focuses more on formulating policies from the strategic, administrative and regulatory aspects, while less on market-oriented initiatives as funding input and financial support.     

意大利热电联产现状:能源政策、法规及市场自由化的影响

热电联产在意大利的应用比较普遍,但中小型热电机组的发展则比较缓慢。介绍了意大利的能源政策、法规及市场自由化对热电联产的影响,还介绍了意大利环境方面法规,意大利在热电(冷)联产方面的激励措施等。     

Energy production,consumption, policies and recent developments in Turkey

Many factors to be appropriately addressed in moving towards energy sustainability in Turkey are examined. These include harnessing sustainable energy sources, utilizing sustainable energy carriers, increasing efficiency, reducing environmental impact and improving socioeconomic acceptability. The latter factor includes community involvement and social acceptability, economic affordability and equity, lifestyles, land use and aesthetics. On the other hand, 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. 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 energy sources in Turkey.     

Review of policies and measures for energy efficiency in industry sector

Energy efficiency in industry plays key roles in improving energy security, environmental sustainability and economic performance. It is particularly important in strategies to mitigate climate change. The evidence of great potential for cost-effective efficiency-derived reductions in industrial energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have prompted governments to implement numerous policies and measures aimed at improving their manufacturing industries’ energy efficiency. What can be learned from these many and varied initiatives? This paper provides foundation for policy analysis for enhancing energy efficiency and conservation in industry, by surveying more than 300 policies, encompassing about 570 measures, implemented by governments in IEA countries, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. It outlines the measures’ main features, their incidence of use, and their connections with specific technical actions and key stakeholders (i.e., how and where measures affect the energy efficiency of industry). It also examines the key features underlying the measures’ success: (1) potential to reduce energy use and CO₂ emissions cost-efficiently; (2) ease of policy development, execution and assessment and (3) ancillary societal effects.     

Energy production,consumption, policies,and recent developments in Turkey

Turkey is geographically in the middle of the world, which means it is surrounded by the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. This area is not only geographically, but also economically, very important. Turkey has a very young and increasing population. In addition to the increase in population, a growing number of city dwellers and rapid economic development are causing more energy consumption. In the last 20 years, Turkey has become a considerably sized, growing energy market in the world. The domestic share of total energy consumption is 37%, and between the years 2000 and 2010, the cost for needed energy will be approximately 55 billion US$. The government has been planning for 81% of this amount as an investment. Considering the country's economic conditions, Turkey must come up the plan which reduces the share of fossil fuels, increases energy production (including use of more alternative energy sources), and changes the coarse of long-term energy plans into very effective and applicable solutions. In this study, energy reserves, energy demand, energy production, energy consumption, energy policies, and recent developments are investigated and evaluated.     

Solar energy in India: Strategies, policies, perspectives and future potential

Renewable energy sources and technologies have potential to provide solutions to the longstanding energy problems being faced by the developing countries like India. Solar energy can be an important part of India's plan not only to add new capacity but also to increase energy security, address environmental concerns, and lead the massive market for renewable energy. Solar thermal electricity (STE) also known as concentrating solar power (CSP) are emerging renewable energy technologies and can be developed as future potential option for electricity generation in India. In this paper, efforts have been made to summarize the availability, current status, strategies, perspectives, promotion policies, major achievements and future potential of solar energy options in India.     

New energy strategies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry—The role of national and EU climate and energy policies

The Swedish pulp and paper industry has gone through a strategic change in its approach to electricity production and consumption over the past decade. This paper documents this reorientation, which includes increased on-site electricity production, investments and investment plans for wind power, and new partnerships concerning investments in electricity production assets. We also assess the extent to which these changes can be attributed to key energy and climate policies. Our analysis shows that this strategic reorientation has been driven by changes in the underlying economic conditions for the pulp and paper industry, in particular increases in the price of electricity following the Swedish energy market reform in 1996, and the introduction of the EU ETS. The scheme for tradable renewable electricity certificates, on the other hand, has provided a new source of income. While these market-based signals and responses are the most dominant drivers of strategic change, cognitive changes in the pulp and paper industry have also played a role in the strategic reorientation. The cognitive changes concerning the functioning of the electricity market, i.e. the pricing of electricity and influence of the EU ETS, have been particularly important in this regard.     

Vietnam's energy sector: A review of current energy policies and strategies

Since the introduction of market-oriented economy in 1986, Vietnam has made noticeable socio-economic progress. In this progress, the energy sector has played a vital role. This role is likely to deepen in the years to come as Vietnam strives to achieve even higher levels in economic progress. Such deepening in the role of energy, this paper argues, will heighten concerns about the security of energy supply, and economic, environmental, social and political consequences. In order to address these issues, Vietnam has over the last decade, developed a suite of energy policies. A deeper review of these policies suggests that they are typified by economic-growth orientation, exclusive focus on a single-sector or single issue, and largely neglect the significance of cross-sectoral and cross-thematic issues arising from the interdependencies between energy, economy, and the polity at large. The existing energy policy settings are, therefore, unlikely to be able to provide a satisfactory redress to the challenges noted above. This paper provides an overview of the current energy policies with a view to identify areas where further policy effort is needed in order to facilitate a sustainable development of the Vietnamese energy sector.     

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 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.     

ACROPOLIS: An example of international collaboration in the field of energy modelling to support greenhouse gases mitigation policies

Energy models are considered as valuable tools to assess the impact of various energy and environment policies. The ACROPOLIS initiative, supported by the European Commission and the International Energy Agency, used up to 15 energy models to simulate and evaluate selected policy measures and instruments and then compare their impacts on energy systems essentially in terms of costs of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction and energy technology choice. Four case studies are formulated considering policies and measures on renewable portfolio schemes and internationally tradable green certificates, emissions trading and global GHG abatement target, energy efficiency standards and internalisation of external costs. The main focus of the project is on the electricity sector. From a large set of quantified results, ACROPOLIS provides an international scientific consensus, on some key issues, which could be useful in assessing and designing energy and environment policies at the world, European and national/regional levels. It concludes that the Kyoto targets (and their continuation beyond 2010 in specific scenarios) could be achieved at a cost around 1% of GDP through global emissions trading, indicating also that this flexibility mechanism is a more cost-effective instrument for GHG mitigation than meeting the goal domestically without trade. It demonstrates that internalising external costs through a price increase reduces local pollutants (SO_x, NO_x, and others) and it produces other benefits such as triggering the penetration of clean technologies in addition to the curbing of CO₂ emissions.     

US energy conservation and efficiency policies: Challenges and opportunities

Expanding energy conservation and efficiency in every sector nationwide is one of the most cost-effective instruments for reducing US energy imports, the trade deficit and energy’s environmental impacts. For these reasons, energy conservation and efficiency have been essential elements of US energy policy since the oil embargos and price spikes of the 1970s. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) is the latest federal legislation to expand and strengthen US energy conservation and efficiency policies, programs, and practices. Specifically, EISA and its recent predecessor, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05), contain almost 200 titles with new provisions for energy conservation and efficiency aimed at improvements in vehicle fuel economy. These provisions include efficiency of appliances and lighting; energy savings in residential, commercial, and government buildings; the efficiency of industrial manufacturing plants; and the efficiency of electric power delivery and end-use. These actions have begun to contribute to new federal, state, and local policies, programs, and practices across the US, and expectations are high for increases in the level of energy savings. This paper summarizes the history of US energy conservation and efficiency policies, outlines EISA’s and EPAct05’s key provisions, and considers prospects for the future.     

中欧发展可再生能源政策研讨会侧记

由欧盟委员会SYNERGY组织和中国科技部联合资助主办、中国科学院广州能源研究所和欧盟合作伙伴共同承办的“中欧进一步发展可再生能源政策研讨会”于2004年2月10日在广州白云宾馆隆重召开。来自德国能源署、荷兰能源与环境署、希腊能源工程与发展规划咨询中心、意大利能源机构，     

Energy policies and the greenhouse effect: A study of national differences

Country studies emphasize large national differences in underlying attitudes towards energy and the greenhouse effect. Technical opportunities for limiting CO₂ emissions exist in all countries, but the type of abatement policies that are feasible, the extent to which they can be effectively implemented and their likely impacts vary widely. The potential for curtailing emissions is determined by factors including: the stage of a country's development; the character of its economic system and philosophy; its political culture; and the nature of its energy infrastructure, institutions and attitudes, all of which are determined by the past and current availability of cheap domestic technology and costs, but about culture, about technology and costs, but about culture, institutions and politics in the broadest sense.