Renewable energy sources for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey

Energy is an essential factor to achieve sustainable development. So, countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view towards planning energy programmes and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional and global levels. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Turkey is an energy importing country with more than half of the energy requirement being supplied by imports, and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in the country. On the other hand, Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy sources. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. This paper provides an overview of global energy use and renewables for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey.     

Potential of renewable energy in electrical energy production and sustainable energy development of Turkey: Performance and policies

Generating electricity, from renewable energy sources has become a high priority in the energy policy strategies at a national level as well as on a global scale. Although Turkey has many energy resources only coal and hydropower are significant at present, and as demand had risen, it has been necessary to import fuels to meet the total energy demand. The fossil resources, both indigenous and imported, have become expensive and also have undesirably high emissions. Turkey has an extensive shoreline and mountains and is rich in renewable energy potential. The share of renewables on total electricity generation is 35% while that of thermal power is 65% for the year 2010. Turkey is one of those countries that are considered rich and abundant in renewable energy resources.Turkey is facing serious challenges in satisfying its growing energy demand. To fuel a rapidly growing economy, the country’s electricity consumption is increasing by an average of 8–9% every year, and significant investments are needed in generation, transmission and distribution facilities to balance the power system’s supply and demand. With very limited oil and gas reserves, Turkey is increasingly turning to renewable energy sources as a means to improve its energy security and curb dependence on imported gas from Russia and Iran. This paper investigates the potential of renewable energy resources in Turkey at present and the magnitude of their present and future contributions to the national energy consumption. Energy politics are also considered.     

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.     

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.     

Renewable energy and sustainable development in Turkey

Achieving solutions to environmental problems that we face today requires long-term potential actions for sustainable development. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be the one of the most efficient and effective solutions. So clean, domestic and renewable energy is commonly accepted as the key for future life for Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Because of this and the fact that it has limited fossil fuel resources, a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewables seems to be serious and the sole alternative for Turkey. This article presents a review of the present energy situation and sustainability, technical and economical potential of renewable energy sources and future policies for the energy sector in Turkey. Also, potential solutions to current environmental problems are identified along with renewable energy technologies. Throughout the paper several problems relating to renewable energy sources, environment and sustainable development are discussed from both current and future perspectives. The renewable energy potential of the country and their present use are evaluated here based on the available data. The present study shows that there is an important potential for renewables in Turkey.     

Energy issues and renewables for sustainable development in Turkey

Energy is an essential factor to achieve sustainable development. So, countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view towards planning energy programs and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional and global levels. Renewable energy technologies of wind, biofuels, solar thermal and photovoltaics are finally showing maturity and the ultimate promise of cost competitiveness. With respect to global environmental issues, Turkey's carbon dioxide emissions have grown along with its energy consumption. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. 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.     

Geothermal energy in Turkey: the sustainable future

Turkey is an energy importing nation with more than half of our energy requirements met by imported fuels. Air pollution is becoming a significant environmental concern in the country. In this regard, geothermal energy and other renewable energy sources are becoming attractive solution for clean and sustainable energy future for Turkey. Turkey is the seventh richest country in the world in geothermal energy potential. The main uses of geothermal energy are space heating and domestic hot water supply, greenhouse heating, industrial processes, heat pumps and electricity generation. The district heating system applications started with large-scale, city-based geothermal district heating systems in Turkey, whereas the geothermal district heating centre and distribution networks have been designed according to the geothermal district heating system (GDHS) parameters. This constitutes an important advantage of GDHS investments in the country in terms of the technical and economical aspects. In Turkey, approximately 61,000 residences are currently heated by geothermal fluids. A total of 665 MW_t is utilized for space heating of residential, public and private property, and 565,000 m² of greenhouses. The proven geothermal heat capacity, according to data from existing geothermal wells and natural discharges, is 3132 MWt. Present applications have shown that geothermal energy is clean and much cheaper compared to the other fossil and renewable energy sources for Turkey.     

Energy policies for sustainable livelihoods and sustainable development of poor areas in China

Focusing on the sustainable livelihoods of rural households and regional sustainable development, this research takes Yan’an at the upper reaches of Yellow River and Zhaotong at mid-upper reaches of the Yangtze River as the study areas, extracts the central affecting factors of energy consumption and characteristic indexes of energy zoning based on 1560 rural household questionnaires of 85 villages in 4 counties (districts) and database analysis of socio-economic development, conducts energy zoning for the poor areas in China, and puts forward specific supporting policies for each type of zone. The research finds that (1) the study areas are found to have the following energy consumption characteristics: low per capita energy consumption (merely 1/4 of the national average), with energy consumption for non-production purposes taking up the main part (more than 70%), high proportion of non-commercial energy, i.e. firewood, straw, etc. (more than 45%), low utilization rate of such new energy resources as biogas, solar energy, etc. (lower than 2% in high mountain regions), remarkable differentiation of vertical and horizontal zonality, etc. (2) Physical conditions like temperature and topography, socio-economic factors, i.e. income of rural households, energy endowment, transportation conditions, and institutional factors like policy support are the major affecting factors of energy consumption and characteristic indexes of energy policy zoning. (3) According to the characteristic index evaluation and matrix classification of both the suitability for energy development and types of regional energy endowment, the poor areas in China can be divided into three energy policy-oriented zones, i.e. network-based centralized energy supply zone, diversified energy utilization zone, and new energy utilization zone.     

Developing sustainable energy policies for electrical energy conservation in Saudi Arabia

Towards the end of 1998, the Saudi Arabian electricity sector embarked upon a major restructuring program. One of the aims of the program is to achieve sustainable performance. Although progress has been made, a number of challenges remain, including high demand growth, low generation capacity reserve margins, inefficient energy use, absence of time-of-use tariffs, and the need for large capital investments to meet current and future expansion.     

Renewable and sustainable energy use in Turkey: a review

Turkey is an energy importing nation with more than half of our energy requirements met by imported fuels. Air pollution is becoming a significant environmental concern in the country. In this regard, renewable energy resources are becoming attractive for sustainable energy development and environmental pollution mitigation in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. Because of this and our limited fossil fuel resources, a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewables seems to be a serious alternative for Turkey's energy future. This article presents a review of the present energy situation and assesses sustainability, technical, and economical potential of renewable energy sources, and future policies for the energy sector in Turkey. Throughout the paper, problems relating to renewable energy sources, environment, and sustainable development are discussed for both current and future energy investments. The renewable energy potential of the country and its present status are evaluated.     

Hydropower in Turkey for a clean and sustainable energy future

Over the last two decades, global electricity production has more than doubled and electricity demand is rising rapidly around the world as economic development spreads to emerging economies. Not only has electricity demand increased significantly, it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries. This paper deals with policies to meet increasing energy and electricity demand for sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/year, but only 125 GWh/year of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. Turkey's total economically usable small hydropower potential is 3.75 GWh/year.     

Energy sector and wind energy potential in Turkey

Turkey has very limited indigenous energy resources and has to import around 65% of primary energy to meet her needs. It is a large importer of primary energy despite having ample renewable energy sources.Turkey’s vibrant economy has led to increased energy demand in recent years. This situation is expected to continue in the near future because its economy is dependent mainly on imported oil, natural gas and electricity.This paper presents the prevailing and the expected energy situation and energy demand. Wind energy potential in Turkey is also discussed.     

Wind energy status in electrical energy production of Turkey

Main electrical energy sources of Turkey are thermal (lignite, natural gas, coal, fuel oil, etc.) and hydraulic. Most of the thermal sources are derived from natural gas. Turkey imports natural gas; therefore, decreasing usage of natural gas is very important for both economical and environmental aspects. Because of disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. However the installed wind power capacity is only 0.22% of total economical wind potential. In this study, Turkey's installed electric power capacity, electric energy production is investigated and also Turkey current wind energy status is examined.     

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.     

Canada’s energy perspectives and policies for sustainable development

A regression analysis is performed to make projections for the Canadian energy production and consumption. These have been increasing and are projected to increase even further in the near future. The primary energy production and consumption are projected to increase by 52% and 34%, respectively, by 2025 over 2004 if business as usual. The amount of fossil energy resources is finite and the extraction, transportation and combustion of fossil fuels cause environmental pollution and climate change. On the other hand, energy plays an important role in the economic and social development of Canada. Canada can develop further from an energy balance point of view, but this alone cannot be sustainable, because of the negative consequences of the major energy use on the environment. Application of energy localization and diversification is a promising solution, but in order to reach that, better energy efficiency and more use of renewable energy are necessary. Instead of non-compulsory policies Canada’s policy approach should have more compulsory policies. Only then Canada can be made to develop further in a sustainable manner.     

As a renewable energy hydropower for sustainable development in Turkey

The most important renewable sources are hydropower, biomass, geothermal, solar and wind. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of these renewable energy sources. In recently, electricity has demand increased significantly; it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix. In the world, particularly in the developing countries renewable energy resources appear to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy sources. This paper deals with policies to meet increasing energy and electricity demand for sustainable energy development in Turkey. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/year, but only 125 GWh/year of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used.     

Wind energy status in renewable electrical energy production in Turkey

Main electrical energy sources of Turkey are thermal and hydraulic. Most of the thermal sources are derived from natural gas. Turkey imports natural gas; therefore, decreasing usage of natural gas is very important for both economical and environmental aspects. Because of disadvantages of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources are getting importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. The estimated wind power capacity of Turkey is about 83,000 MW while only 10,000 MW of it seems to be economically feasible to use. Start 2009, the total installed wind power capacity of Turkey was only 4.3% of its total economical wind power potential (433 MW). However, the strong development of wind energy in Turkey is expected to continue in the coming years. In this study, Turkey's installed electric power capacity, electric energy production is investigated and also Turkey current wind energy status is examined.     

Energy for sustainable development in Malaysia: Energy policy and alternative energy

Energy is often known as the catalyst for development. Globally, the per capita consumption of energy is often used as a barometer to measure the level of economic development in a particular country. Realizing the importance of energy as a vital component in economic and social development, the government of Malaysia has been continuously reviewing its energy policy to ensure long-term reliability and security of energy supply. Concentrated efforts are being undertaken to ensure the sustainability of energy resources, both depletable and renewable. The aim of this paper is to describe the various energy policies adopted in Malaysia to ensure long-term reliability and security of energy supply. The role of both, non-renewable and renewable sources of energy in the current Five-Fuel Diversification Strategy energy mix will also be discussed. Apart from that, this paper will also describe the various alternative energy and the implementation of energy efficiency program in Malaysia.     

Global warming and environmental benefits of hydroelectric for sustainable energy in Turkey

Over the last two decades; technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries. Turkey has a total gross hydropower potential of 433 GWh/yr, but only 125 GWh/yr of the total hydroelectric potential of Turkey can be economically used. By the commissioning of new hydropower plants, which are under construction, 36% of the economically usable potential of the country would be tapped. Turkey's total economically usable small hydropower potential is 3.75 GWh/yr. It is expected that the demand for electric energy in Turkey will be about 580 billion kWh by the year 2020. Turkey is heavily dependent on expensive imported energy sources 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. Environmentally friendly energy development has enormous implications for developing countries as major emitters due to their rapid economic and population growth. With some possible options, the paper concludes that the reduction of emissions can only be achieved when policies are supportive and well targeted, standards and incentives are realistic and flexible, and the public is actively responsive to environmental degradation. Turkey's high rate of energy-related carbon emissions growth is expected to accelerate, with emissions climbing from 57 million tons in 2000 to almost 210 million tons in 2020. Carbon intensity in Turkey is higher than the western developed nation average. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. This paper deals with Turkey's renewables energy sources for sustainable environment.