Flexibility of thermal power generation for RES supply in Germany until 2020

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

Introduction: To date, a variety of studies have been published on the topic of long term energy system transition. Most studies on future energy systems, however, have a shorter time frame or adopt a supranational focus (e.g. the Energy Roadmap, 2011 or the World Energy Outlook, 2015). It then constitutes a sincere challenge to perform a national energy system transition study with as time horizon 2050 and covering a far-reaching transformation of the energy system. VITO, together with the FPB (Federal Planning Bureau) and ICEDD, performed a study to scrutinise the transition of the Belgian national energy system towards a future mix entirely based on renewable energy sources. The focus on renewable energy sources and on building a national energy system completely running on renewable energy can be traced back to three main concerns: – Climate change: Renewable energy sources (RES) are a major instrument in the fight against climate change as RES do not release (net) greenhouse gas emissions. – Security...

Imposing versus Enacting Commitments for the Long‐Term Energy Transition: Perspectives from the Firm

There have been many discussions in Lithuania about a strategy for reducing the impact of climate change. Members of the international community agree that reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere is necessary to avoid dangerous climate change. The main greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is mainly produced by combustion of fossil fuels, which are currently used: natural gas, coal, oil, peat, etc. Fossil fuels are still the main source of energy. The amount of energy produced and consumption from renewable energy sources (RES) is increasing both in Lithuania and in Europe. According to the Directive (2009/28/EU) Lithuania has a legally binding target in the year 2020. The share of renewable energy would account for at least 23% of the total final energy consumption of the country. The share of renewable energy would account for at least 10% of the final energy consumption in the transport sector. Lithuania achieved its target and this indicator was 23.9% in 2014. According to the Eurostat data, the share of RES produced from renewable energy sources in the total energy balance is increasing annually. In 2007 this indicator was only 4.7% and it has grown 4 times in 2016. The production of electricity from renewable energy sources satisfied the country’s energy demand by 18.9% in Lithuania. This is the best index so far. Wind energy is the most popular type of green energy, which has been growing at a rate of 5 times in this period. Promotion of the use of renewable resources is provided in the Republic of Lithuania Law on Renewable Energy and the long-term development of the use of renewable resources is provided for in the National Energy Strategy. At this moment Lithuania is a fuel importing country, but in the future Lithuania should produce about 70% of electricity itself. It is forecasted that in 2020 electricity generation in the country should make up 35% of the demand, in 2030 it should be 70%, and in 2050 it should reach 100%. From renewables we should receive a large, almost 80% share of energy. And gas will be a transitional fuel by 2050. The project of strategy states that energy from renewable sources will become a major component of all sectors: electricity, heat, cooling and transport. The objective is to achieve a 30% share of renewables in the final energy consumption balance in 2020, 45% in 2030, and 80% in 2050. The renewables should produce all heat energy and the share of green energy in transport should reach 50% at the end of 2050. The article focuses on the use of the potential of renewable energy sources from agricultural raw materials and their waste. The surplus of agricultural production makes it necessary to look for opportunities to reduce environmental pollution. The aim of the article is to assess the use of potential of renewable energy sources in Lithuania. The results of the analysis showed that increasing energy production is possible not only using wind, solar, water or geothermal energy, but by processing traditional agricultural and animal products and their waste: straw, grain crops, livestock or bird’s excrement, etc. It is recommended to look at the unconventional potential of raw materials, such as sewage sludge, spirits, molasses, etc. The use of biomass has potentially revealed alternatives to biofuels that underpin the use of different generations of biofuels. The use of biofuels in the long term should contribute to the slowdown in climate change.

GHG Mitigation in Power Sector: Analyzes of Renewable Energy Potential for Thailand’s NDC Roadmap in 2030

The greatest sustainability challenge facing humanity today is the greenhouse gas emissions and the global climate change with fossil fuels led by coal, natural gas and oil contributing 61.3% of global electricity generation in the year 2020. The cumulative effect of the Stockholm, Rio, and Johannesburg conferences identified sustainable energy development (SED) as a very important factor in the sustainable global development. This study reviews energy transition strategies and proposes a roadmap for sustainable energy transition for sustainable electricity generation and supply in line with commitments of the Paris Agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting the rise in global average temperature to 1.5°C above the preindustrial level. The sustainable transition strategies typically consist of three major technological changes namely, energy savings on the demand side, generation efficiency at production level and fossil fuel substitution by various renewable energy sources and low carbon nuclear. For the transition remain technically and economically feasible and beneficial, policy initiatives are necessary to steer the global electricity transition towards a sustainable energy and electricity system. Large-scale renewable energy adoption should include measures to improve efficiency of existing nonrenewable sources which still have an important cost reduction and stabilization role. A resilient grid with advanced energy storage for storage and absorption of variable renewables should also be part of the transition strategies. From this study, it was noted that whereas sustainable development has social, economic, and environmental pillars, energy sustainability is best analysed by five-dimensional approach consisting of environmental, economic, social, technical, and institutional/political sustainability to determine resource sustainability. The energy transition requires new technology for maximum use of the abundant but intermittent renewable sources a sustainable mix with limited nonrenewable sources optimized to minimize cost and environmental impact but maintained quality, stability, and flexibility of an electricity supply system. Technologies needed for the transition are those that use conventional mitigation, negative emissions technologies which capture and sequester carbon emissions and finally technologies which alter the global atmospheric radiative energy budget to stabilize and reduce global average temperature. A sustainable electricity system needs facilitating technology, policy, strategies and infrastructure like smart grids, and models with an appropriate mix of both renewable and low carbon energy sources.

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Global human pollutant activities have raised greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which have directly affected the climate. Fossil fuel-based energy has brought a negative impact on the environment and is considered one of the largest sources of GHG emissions. It is envisaged that GHG emissions will increase in the future due to rapid population growth and industrialization. Thus, it is imperative to mitigate climate variability and reduce GHGs by adopting renewable energy (RE) sources for electricity generation. In this regard, the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) process would serve the purpose of framing out energy policy to analyze these environmentally friendly energy sources. This study uses an integrated decision methodology—a combination of Delphi, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP), and the fuzzy weighted aggregated sum product assessment (FWASPAS)—for the adoption of RE sources for electricity generation in Turkey. Initially, the study identified five main criteria and seventeen sub-criteria using the Delphi method. Then, the FAHP method was used to evaluate and rank the main criteria and sub-criteria. Finally, the FWASPAS method was used to assess and prioritize five major RE sources for electricity generation. The FAHP analysis indicated that political criteria are the most influential, followed by economic and technical criteria. Further, the FWASPAS method revealed that wind energy is the most significant option for electricity generation. This decision-making process can help the energy planners to utilize RE sources for sustainable development.

The use of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) in the transport sector has many advantages compared to the internal combustion engine (ICE). A transition from a fossil fuel based mobility to one based on electricity from renewable sources can allow for significant greenhouse gas reductions (GHG) as well as of air pollutants and noise in urban areas. In addition, greater independence from imported oil in the transport sector can be achieved. The aim of this work is to study the feasibility and system impact of electric mobility in the German power system with a high share of fluctuating renewable energy. One major advantage of electric vehicles (EV) is the high flexibility in charging times, which can be used to integrate renewable power generation and to make the operation of the system more efficient. This work will focus on the period comprised between 2030 and 2050, since at that time it can be assumed that electric vehicles under favourable conditions can reach a significant magnitude for the power system. The REMix model developed at the DLR couples the in the energy economics well established approach of linear optimisation with a geographic information system (GIS) that provides spatial and temporal information of the renewable energy potentials. The GIS-based dataset is a key element of the model and is calculated based on satellite measurements, weather service and land cover data for the whole of Europe with a high spatial (10 x 10 km) and temporal (hourly) resolution. In contrast to other planning models, in which only typical load situations are represented, REMix considers real weather conditions and thus allows representing the particularities of fluctuating renewable energy sources in an optimization model. The results prove the feasibility of a power system with a RES share of over 85% assuming an ambitious network expansion based on underground HVDC lines. The analysis points out that controlling the charging times of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) and with a flexible hydrogen production for fuel cell vehicles (FCV) not only the additional demand of EVs but also the renewable power generation required to power these vehicles can be integrated in the system. These actions allow completely avoiding increases of the residual peak demand, of surpluses from RES, as well as of the required transmission network expansion.

A review on the renewable energy development in Algeria: Current perspective, energy scenario and sustainability issues

In industrialized countries such as Germany, electricity production contributes 30–40% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the country. Confronted with GHG emission reductions targets of 80–95% by 2050 and with some GHG emitting sectors confronted with great difficulties to reach such targets, such as agriculture, the power sector will need to reduce its GHG emissions virtually to zero. As nuclear energy involves very substantial accident risks and the unsolved problem of safe long‐term deposit of nuclear waste and as carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) has rather limited safe storage potentials at least in Europe, the question arises, whether it will be possible to supply 100% of all necessary electricity from renewable energy sources? We show that a fast expanding volume of analyses underlines the feasibility and reliability of 100% renewable electricity supply systems. This fast mounting evidence appears to mark the beginning of a paradigm shift in energy politics, as highly regarded national and international advisory bodies such as the IPCC or the German Council of Environmental Advisors start to adopt this perspective. The example of the highly publicized study of the German Council of Environmental Advisors shows how a 100% renewable electricity system for Germany, Europe, and North Africa could look in 2050 and how the transition toward such a system could be achieved. This study, conducted with major input from the authors, is used to show the major aspects of a 100% renewable electricity supply system, such as the security of supply in every hour of the year, the compensation of intermittent sources such as wind and solar PV energy by other renewables and expanded storage, and the necessary extension of national and international grid infrastructures. WIREs Energy Environ 2015, 4:74–97. doi: 10.1002/wene.128This article is categorized under: Energy and Development > Economics and Policy

Energy consumption and the concomitant Green House Gases (GHG) emissions of network infrastructures are becoming major issues in the Information and Communication Society (ICS). Current optical network infrastructures (routers, switches, line cards, signal regenerators, optical amplifiers, etc.) have reached huge bandwidth capacity but the development has not been compensated adequately as for their energy consumption. Renewable energy sources (e.g. solar, wind, tide, etc.) are emerging as a promising solution both to achieve drastically reduction in GHG emissions and to cope with the growing power requirements of network infrastructures. The main contribution of this paper is the formulation and the comparison of several energy-aware static routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) strategies for wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks where optical devices can be powered either by renewable or legacy energy sources. The objectives of such formulations are the minimization of either the GHG emissions or the overall network power consumption. The solutions of all these formulations, based on integer linear programming (ILP), have been observed to obtain a complete perspective and estimate a lower bound for the energy consumption and the GHG emissions attainable through any feasible dynamic energy-aware RWA strategy and hence can be considered as a reference for evaluating optimal energy consumption and GHG emissions within the RWA context. Optimal results of the ILP formulations show remarkable savings both on the overall power consumption and on the GHG emissions with just 25% of green energy sources. © 2011 IEEE.

Over the last few years, the electric energy demand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has increased many folds due to several factors including increased population, industrialization, economic activities, and urbanization. The main source of electric power generation in KSA is the burning of petroleum products. Almost one third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are contributed from the electric power generation sector, mainly, by burning diesel and natural gas. As a result, it makes it necessary to consider alternate forms of electricity generation in order to cut down emissions and to keep sustainable growth alive. The government has planned to diversify energy sources and suppliers. In recent years, energy generation from renewable sources including solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, concentrated solar power (CSP), biomass, geothermal, and tidal, has been given more importance. The ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 targets of 58.7 GW of power generation from renewable energy sources will cause a significant reduction in GHG emissions from the energy sector. This article systematically reviews the impact of renewable energy generation on GHG emissions. The detailed breakdown of GHG emission is discussed. Then, the status of renewable energy generation is investigated, focusing on the technical and economic potentials. The correlation of renewable energy generation and GHG emissions is then explained. The most distinguishing feature of this review is that it provides a comprehensive list of recommendations to reduce GHG emissions. The discussions and recommendations of this article will support decision makers, system planners, industry personnel, researchers, and academics to develop sustainable energy pathways for the Kingdom.

Renewable energy sources (RES) play a key role in achieving the European Union’s energy and climate objectives. As a member of the European Union, Croatia has committed to adopting European Directive 2009/28/EC, a directive on promoting the use of RES. Croatia shows good potential for the use of different types of RES. In the period 2009–2019, the share of renewable energy in energy consumption increased from 23.6 to 28.5 percent. The Croatian energy strategy aims to increase the national share of renewable energy to at least 32 percent by 2030. Acceptance and public support are essential for renewable energy to be introduced into energy policy and particularly to encourage renewable energy implementation in the residential sector. The purpose of the paper is to explore the public perception of renewable energy and citizens’ willingness to pay for the use of RES. Data were collected through a 2021 survey of citizens 18 years and older. The survey results show a low level of implementation of RES technology in the residential sector; more than 80 percent of respondents did not use any sources of renewable energy in their households. Results related to respondents’ knowledge of different sources of renewable energy suggest they have the most knowledge of solar, wind, and hydropower energy. Respondents believe that combating climate change, reducing dependency on energy imports, reducing environmental impacts, and improving health are the most important benefits of RES implementation. The survey reveals general support for RES among respondents; almost 89 percent of them would purchase renewable energy from local suppliers. In addition, 79 percent of survey participants were willing to pay for the introduction of RES technology into their households. The research shows that environmental concerns are the primary reason for citizens’ higher willingness to pay for RES.

Integrating more renewable energy sources (RES) is one of the most crucial goals of the power systems. In recent decades, the electric vehicle (EV) industry is booming, which highly influences the performance of renewable energy integration. Therefore, it is desired to induce EVs to consume more renewable energy in an orderly manner. To this end, this paper proposes an assessment method for the renewable energy share of an EV’s consumption, which could be used as an important metric for demand-side management and integrating RES. First, we present several indicators for the EV charging and system-wide RES integration. Then, the marginal contribution metric is leveraged to assess the renewable energy share of the EV’s consumption considering both charging and discharging modes. Finally, the case study is conducted based on load data from OpenEI and RES outputs from PJM. The results corroborated the effectiveness of the proposed method and demonstrate that EVs can obtain higher renewable energy share when their charging rhythm coincide with the profiles of RES. Hence, EVs can increase their renewable energy share through proper load shifting and facilitate integrating RES.