Energy conservation on Nova Scotia farms: Baseline energy data

Direct energy use is a small but essential component of the farm greenhouse gas (GHG) budget. Improvements in energy efficiency and renewable energy can help reduce farm operating costs, improve air quality and reduce GHG emission levels. Energy conservation is especially important in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada, where fossil fuels, particularly coal, remain the primary source of electrical generation. Responses from mail surveys were used to establish baseline data on a cross-section of NS farms with respect to direct energy costs and usage to demonstrate differences in farm type and size. A 32% (N=224) response rate was achieved. Based on this survey, the average energy bill for a NS farm in 2004 was $11,228, with most (61.7%) of their energy cost attributable to the purchase of petroleum products. Almost all farmers (96.4%) indicated that their energy cost was a primary concern. Farmers identified the operation of vehicles and mobile equipment, as well as lighting and heating as having the greatest energy requirements in their operations. Energy usage varied with farm type and size. NS farms consumed 1.2 petajoules of energy equivalent to 127 kilotonnes of CO₂ with 52.7% of emissions from electricity use in 2004.     

Distributed small-scale wind in New Zealand: Advantages, barriers and policy support instruments

If future climate change goals being negotiated internationally are to have any chance of being achieved, developed countries need to undertake a major transition in their energy systems. This will require a rapid expansion of renewable energy generation, including wind electricity. Wind energy in New Zealand is commercially viable in many cases, yet opportunities for its exploitation are far from fully utilised. Many communities are showing resistance to wind farm developments, since large wind farms are often seen as intrusive. Building wind farms on a small scale may be a useful way of overcoming this problem.This study examines the pattern of recent wind industry development in New Zealand. It is argued that two key characteristics have emerged that are limiting the potential development of the industry: a trend towards large scale, leading to increased local opposition; and a small number of investors. Research methods include a review of international and local literature, and a rural mail survey questionnaire, with 338 respondents. We provide survey evidence that small wind farms, and community ownership of them, may be attractive to local communities, and that this point of advantage is helpful for the rapid expansion of wind generation in New Zealand.     

Factors which influence Nova Scotia farmers in implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy measures

Improvements in energy efficiency and renewable energy use can reduce farm operating costs and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Responses (n=224, representing a 32% response rate) from a mail survey were used to assess use and interest in energy efficient and renewable energy options on farms in Nova Scotia, Canada. Energy efficiency options used the most were behavior, insulation, and lighting. Few farms used renewable energy options. Approximately 78% of farmers indicated an interest in implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy options. Interest varied by farm type and size. Interest increased with farm size. The two main efficiency options of interest were lighting (60.8%) and insulation (43.7%), while wind power development (55.5%) and solar water heating (24.5%) were the main renewable options of interest. Farmers concerned about power and equipment reliability were less likely to be interested in implementing options. Farmers concerned about the environment were more likely to be interested in implementing options. Current use of certain energy efficiency technologies, such as efficient lighting, influenced implementation interest.     

Upgrading biogas produced at dairy farms into renewable natural gas by methanation

Renewable natural gas can be produced from raw biogas, a product of the anaerobic decomposition of organic material, by upgrading its CO₂ content (25‐50%) via thermocatalytic hydrogenation (CO₂ methanation). The H₂ needed for this reaction can be generated by water electrolysis powered by carbon emission‐free energy sources such as renewable or nuclear power, or using surplus electricity. Herein, after briefly outlining some aspects of biogas production at dairy farms and highlighting recent developments in the design of methanation systems, a case study on the renewable natural gas generation is presented. The performance of a system for renewable natural gas generation from a 2000‐head dairy farm livestock manure is evaluated and assessed for its economic potential. The project is predicted to generate revenue through the sale of energy and carbon credits with the payback period of 5 years, with a subsidized energy price.     

Designing optimal supply chains for anaerobic bio-digestion/energy generation complexes with distributed small farm feedstock sourcing

Anaerobic bio-digestion/energy generation (ABD/EG) complexes that use animal waste have become increasingly important as renewable energy sources and logistics considerations are essential as animal biomass is of costly transportation due to its high weight per unit of energy generated. To ensure overall economic viability it is necessary to take into account the supply chain network when designing such a complex for at least two main reasons. First, these complexes provide power from energy sources which otherwise would go to waste and a well-designed supply chain network will significantly lower long-term operating costs. Second, because they provide an outlet for farm manure (their feedstock), these complexes allow farmers to expand production capacity whenever environmentally sound animal waste disposal is an active constraint to operations. This paper presents a methodology to design a supply chain which maximizes contribution and minimizes gas loss in the commonly found configuration in which feedstock providers are numerous small farms without on-site bio-digestion units, i.e., a configuration in which in-natura biomass is transported from those small farms to supply a nearby ABD/EG complex serving the region. The paper details three layers of analysis for designing optimal animal waste supply for anaerobic bio-digestion, including model formulation and mathematical solution for each stage. The broadest layer in the methodology is the identification of the optimal ABD/EG complex positioning given farm locations and consequent biomass transportation costs. The middle layer is the specification of the optimal logistics and transportation system, including the prioritization of supplying farms. The operational layer includes scheduling optimal biomass collection from each farm to minimize biogas loss.     

An analysis of energy use efficiency of canola production in Turkey

In this study, a survey and economic analysis regarding the use of input have been performed with canola farmers in the Trakya region of Turkey; survey data were obtained from 100 farmers, face-to-face. The average energy use efficiency is 4.68 and this value increases as farm size increases; according to the results of this study, energy is used more efficiently in large farms. The difference between average input and output energy is 67259.36 (MJ ha⁻¹). The specific energies of small, medium, and large farms are 62584.37, 69836.21, and 74405.43 respectively. The ratio of direct and indirect energy sources are 24.69%, and 75.31% respectively, and the benefit–cost ratio of canola production is 2.09.     

Offshore wind energy policy for India—Key factors to be considered

Indian Economy is growing at a healthy pace during the last few years. To sustain this growth, power sector needs to build additional generation capacity. However, continued dependence on fossil fuels to power the growth of electricity generation capacity, is hardly sustainable. Renewable Energy source forms a miniscule portion (25 GW,∼12%) of India's overall power generation today (202 GW). The share of wind energy (17 GW) is 67% of the total renewable energy basket. But the contribution from offshore wind farms is non-existent, as all the wind energy generated in India is only through onshore wind farms. India needs a policy framework to encourage the development of offshore wind farms. Several European countries have effective offshore wind energy policies that have helped them to accelerate the growth of their offshore wind energy sector. This paper does an exhaustive literature survey, to identify 21 building blocks of a successful offshore wind energy policy initiative adopted by select European countries, which have been classified under 5 broad categories—Government support, Fiscal and quota based incentives, Availability of local expertise, Capital for investments and Building an enabling ecosystem, which can be leveraged by India to articulate its own offshore wind energy policy.     

Study on electrical energy and prospective electricity generation from renewable sources in Australia

Nowadays renewable sources are being used as clean sources to generate electricity and to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The uses of renewable sources are being increased in electricity generation and contributed to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. The function of any electrical power system is to connect everyone sufficiently, clean electric power anywhere and anytime of the country. This can be achieved through a modern power system by integrating electrical energy from clean renewable sources into the nation's electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency and security of the power system. The paper on the status of review the driving force of the generation of renewable energy and proposing electrical energy generation from renewable sources to be ensured at least 20% of total energy of Australia. This paper has been studied the existing electricity generation capacity of Australia from renewable and non-renewable sources. Optimal electricity generation from renewable sources has been examined. The environmental impact of electricity generation from renewable sources has been considered. Under this paper the yearly average wind data of past 20 years and above for some meteorological stations of Australia have been used. The prospective electricity generation from wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels has been proposed in the paper that will increase electrical energy of the power grid of Australia. It was estimated the capital cost of prospective electricity generation farms from wind and solar PV sources.     

Societal acceptance of wind farms: Analysis of four common themes across Australian case studies

Australia's renewable energy target (RET) seeks to provide 20 per cent of Australia's electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2020. As wind power is relatively advanced, it was anticipated that wind power will contribute a major component of the early target. However, high levels of societal resistance to wind farms, combined with new regulatory policies, indicate the RET may not be dominated by wind power. This research involved an examination of seven case studies around wind farm deployment. Qualitative interviews were the primary data for the case studies and analysed using methods informed by grounded theory. Despite the diversity of stakeholder views, the qualitative analysis identified strong community support for wind farms but four common themes emerged that influence this societal acceptance of wind farms in Australia: trust, distributional justice, procedural justice and place attachment. Without addressing these factors through integration into policy development and engagement approaches, wind energy is unlikely to provide the early and majority of new renewable energy. Similar international experiences are incorporated in the discussion of the Australian wind industry's societal acceptance.     

Public perceptions of wind energy developments: Case studies from New Zealand

Although the public generally hold positive attitudes towards wind energy, proposals for the construction of new wind farms are often met with strong resistance. In New Zealand, where the government has recently introduced ambitious policy targets for renewable energy generation, negative perceptions of wind farms are increasingly evident and have the potential to prevent the achievement of these targets. This research sets out to examine what influences social resistance to wind farms in New Zealand. Drawing from public submissions on three wind farm proposals, a framework developed by Devine-Wright [Devine-Wright, P., 2005a. Beyond NIMBYism: towards an integrated Framework for Understanding Public Perceptions of Wind Energy. Wind Energy 8, 125–139.] was used as the basis for identification of factors affecting public perceptions of wind farms. The research found firstly that there was no apparent relationship between the proximity of submitters to a proposed wind farm and their likelihood of having a negative perception of the proposal. A wide range of factors written in submissions appeared to have affected the submitter's decision to support or oppose the wind farm proposal. Some of these were consistent with Devine-Wright's findings, but ten further factors were added to the framework to adequately cover the aspects raised in submissions. The findings have implications for the achievement of New Zealand's energy policy aspirations.     

Impact of single versus multiple policy options on the economic feasibility of biogas energy production: Swine and dairy operations in Nova Scotia

The economic feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production was investigated for swine and dairy operations under Nova Scotia, Canada farming conditions, using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PP) economic decision criteria. In addition, the effects of selected environmental and “green” energy policy schemes on co-generation of on-farm biogas energy production and other co-benefits from anaerobic digestion of livestock manure were investigated. Cost-efficiencies arising from economies of scale for on-farm anaerobic biogas production were found for swine farms, and less so for dairy production systems. Without incentive schemes, on-farm biogas energy production was not economically feasible across the farm size ranges studied, except for 600- and 800-sow operations. Among single policy schemes investigated, green energy credit policy schemes generated the highest financial returns, compared to cost-share and low-interest loan schemes. Combinations of multiple policies that included cost-share and green energy credit incentive schemes generated the most improvement in financial feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production, for both swine and dairy operations.     

It's not right,but we do it. Exploring why and how Czech farmers become renewable energy producers

The paper provides empirical evidence on emerging on-farm renewable energy enterprises in a post-communist space, namely in the Czech Republic. In addition to exploring farmers' individual motivations to adopt activities related to renewable energy production (biofuel crops growing, biomass production, operation of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants, and implementation of solar and wind energy projects), the study focuses on analysing regional and inter-firm variances in the level and types of adopted activities. A considerable discrepancy between stated personal attitudes of farmers (supporting the traditional view that farmers should only produce food) and actual practice of farms (dealing with renewable energy production for economic reasons) was detected. The extent and types of energy activities proved to be influenced both by geographical conditions and types of farm. While there are significant differences between the studied districts with different climatic and geographic conditions in the type and extent of energy crops and biomass cultivation, the expansion of AD plants and solar power systems was observed the same in both areas. The adoption of energy activities is positively correlated with company size and area of cultivated land, and negatively correlated with the degree of focus on livestock production. While growing biofuel crops is typical for large and medium-sized enterprises, individual farmers and small enterprises with less land area are more likely to produce biomass for combustion and use own grounds and roofs for implementing solar systems. Finally, the most common four types of currently adopted multipath renewable energy enterprises were identified.     

Competitiveness assessment of the biomass power generation industry in China: A five forces model study

China is facing a number of energy related challenges including a shortage of electricity supply, depletion of fossil fuels and environmental pollution. These challenges make it important to develop renewable energy resources. As per other renewable energy industries, the biomass power industry is facing a series of opportunities and challenges. Utilizing Michael Porter's Five Forces Model theory for analyzing the competitive environment and the competitive situation of an industry, this paper establishes a Five Forces Model for assessing the competitiveness of China's biomass power industry. Inputs for this model include semi-structured interviews with biomass power generation enterprises and a critical analysis of the national policy framework along with relevant literature and official statistics. Five major stakeholders of China's biomass power industry, namely competitors, suppliers, buyers, potential competitors, and substitutes are assessed to determine their influence on the biomass power generation industry. This assessment highlighted the current status, existing issues and future prospects of the biomass power industry. Similarly, it provides assistance to develop procurement strategies for the sustainable development of the industry.     

The unrecognized contribution of renewable energy to Europe's energy savings target

We show that renewable energy contributes to Europe's 2020 primary energy savings target. This contribution, which is to a large extent still unknown and not recognized by policy makers, results from the way renewable energy is dealt with in Europe's energy statistics. We discuss the policy consequences and argue that the ‘energy savings’ occurring from the accounting of renewable energy should not distract attention from demand-side energy savings in sectors such as transport, industry and the built environment. The consequence of such a distraction could be that many of the benefits from demand-side energy savings, for example lower energy bills, increase of the renewable energy share in energy consumption without investing in new renewable capacity, and long-term climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80%, will be missed. Such distraction is not hypothetical since Europe's 2020 renewable energy target is binding whereas the 2020 primary energy savings target is only indicative.     

Status and prospects of Chinese wind energy

The Chinese government is paying considerable attention to the utilization of renewable energy, especially wind energy, because of problems such as low per capita energy consumption, heavy environment pollution, low energy efficiency, and small proportion of renewable energy. The utilization of wind energy, whose resources are very abundant in China, is undergoing rapid development; however, there are still a lot of barriers to overcome. Recently, the Chinese government made a series of policies to promote the wind power industry and the construction of wind farms, which accelerated the technology development simultaneously. The study presents a brief introduction to the resource, status and prospect of wind energy in China, which shows that with the support of the government, China will accelerate the cultivation of professionals, increase the investment of scientific research, establish a national public technical service platform to enhance self-innovation capability and to integrate domestic and oversea resources, and finally establish a complete industrial system that involves manufacture, consultation and service.     

Japanese wind energy development policy: Grand plan or group think?

This paper analyzes Japan's national power generation strategy with a view to explaining Japan's phlegmatic approach to wind energy development. The analysis concludes that Japan's current power generation strategy is not optimized to achieve the government's three strategic energy objectives of simultaneously enhancing economic security, national energy security and environmental security (3Es). To achieve long-run energy sustainability, Japan needs to strive to phase out nuclear power, which is the centerpiece of its current power generation strategy. The analysis concludes by offering four suggestions for a sustainable 3E power generation strategy: (1) internalize all external costs associated with power generation technologies in order to level the economic playing field, (2) increase feed-in mandates for renewable energy to 20%, (3) fully liberalize the power generation industry and (4) intensify R&D in energy storage technologies to support intermittent renewable technologies.     

Combining wave energy with wind and solar: Short-term forecasting

While wind and solar have been the leading sources of renewable energy up to now, waves are increasingly being recognized as a viable source of power for coastal regions. This study analyzes integrating wave energy into the grid, in conjunction with wind and solar. The Pacific Northwest in the United States has a favorable mix of all three sources. Load and wind power series are obtained from government databases. Solar power is calculated from 12 sites over five states. Wave energy is calculated using buoy data, simulations of the ECMWF model, and power matrices for three types of wave energy converters. At the short horizons required for planning, the properties of the load and renewable energy are dissimilar. The load exhibits cycles at 24 h and seven days, seasonality and long-term trending. Solar power is dominated by the diurnal cycle and by seasonality, but also exhibits nonlinear variability due to cloud cover, atmospheric turbidity and precipitation. Wind power is dominated by large ramp events–irregular transitions between states of high and low power. Wave energy exhibits seasonal cycles and is generally smoother, although there are still some large transitions, particularly during winter months. Forecasting experiments are run over horizons of 1–4 h for the load and all three types of renewable energy. Waves are found to be more predictable than wind and solar. The forecast error at 1 h for the simulated wave farms is in the range of 5–7 percent, while the forecast errors for solar and wind are 17 and 22 percent. Geographic dispersal increases forecast accuracy. At the 1 h horizon, the forecast error for large-scale wave farms is 39–49 percent lower than at individual buoys. Grid integration costs are quantified by calculating balancing reserves. Waves show the lowest reserve costs, less than half wind and solar.     

Environmental issues associated with wind energy – A review

Recognized as one of the most mature renewable energy technologies, wind energy has been developing rapidly in recent years. Many countries have shown interest in utilizing wind power, but they are concerned about the environmental impacts of the wind farms. The continuous growth of the wind energy industry in many parts of the world, especially in some developing countries and ecologically vulnerable regions, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of wind farm induced environmental impacts. The environmental issues caused by wind farms were reviewed in this paper by summarizing existing studies. Available mitigation measures to minimize these adverse environmental impacts were discussed in this document. The intention of this paper is to provide state-of-the-art knowledge about environmental issues associated with wind energy development as well as strategies to mitigate environmental impacts to wind energy planners and developers.     

California offshore wind energy potential

This study combines multi-year mesoscale modeling results, validated using offshore buoys with high-resolution bathymetry to create a wind energy resource assessment for offshore California (CA). The siting of an offshore wind farm is limited by water depth, with shallow water being generally preferable economically. Acceptable depths for offshore wind farms are divided into three categories: ≤20 m depth for monopile turbine foundations, ≤50 m depth for multi-leg turbine foundations, and ≤200 m depth for deep water floating turbines. The CA coast was further divided into three logical areas for analysis: Northern, Central, and Southern CA. A mesoscale meteorological model was then used at high horizontal resolution (5 and 1.67 km) to calculate annual 80 m wind speeds (turbine hub height) for each area, based on the average of the seasonal months January, April, July, and October of 2005/2006 and the entirety of 2007 (12 months). A 5 MW offshore wind turbine was used to create a preliminary resource assessment for offshore CA. Each geographical region was then characterized by its coastal transmission access, water depth, wind turbine development potential, and average 80 m wind speed. Initial estimates show that 1.4–2.3 GW, 4.4–8.3 GW, and 52.8–64.9 GW of deliverable power could be harnessed from offshore CA using monopile, multi-leg, and floating turbine foundations, respectively. A single proposed wind farm near Cape Mendocino could deliver an average 800 MW of gross renewable power and reduce CA's current carbon emitting electricity generation 4% on an energy basis. Unlike most of California's land based wind farms which peak at night, the offshore winds near Cape Mendocino are consistently fast throughout the day and night during all four seasons.     

Thermo-economic analysis and sizing of a PV plant equipped with a compressed air energy storage system

Photovoltaic (PV) farms are widely used around the world to provide required electricity. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) system has been already proposed for energy storage applications in large scales. In this work, employing a CAES unit equipped with an ancillary solar heating system for a large scale PV farm in Brazil is proposed. A PV farm with 100 MWp (megawatt peak) capacity is proposed to be built in the most suitable point within Brazil. The sizing of the CAES unit and the solar heating system, which has not been investigated, along with selecting the best power sales strategy for the power plant, which has been always a challenge for renewable energy source power plants, are carried out emphasizing energy-economic considerations. In order to prove the proficiency of the proposal, the performance of the power plant and energy storage unit is assessed over a sample year. In order to have a comprehensive economic analysis, Net Present Value (NPV) method is employed and all the possible uncertainties in the system have been taken into account.