Clean Development Mechanism Research Articles

A split Bregman method solving optimal reactive power dispatch for a doubly-fed induction generator-based wind farm

This paper proposes an optimal reactive power control method to maximize wind farm revenue and minimize the total electrical losses of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farm. Specifically, the split Bregman method is used to solve the optimal control problem in a distributed manner. That is, the optimization problem is decomposed into sub-problems by the optimal distributed control strategy, and each sub-problem is solved independently in each local controller through the parallel method, which reduces the calculating burden and improves the information privacy. Thus, when a fault occurs, the proposed distributed control strategy can overcome the system fault and improve the reliability and security of the system. Furthermore, an economic financial model of annual revenue is contributed to examine the income impact with or without certified emission reduction (CER) by the clean development mechanism (CDM). Compared with the dual ascent (DA) method, sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method and the proportional dispatch method (PDM), the annual revenue (AR) of the wind farm using the proposed split Bregman method is the highest. Simulation results demonstrate that this method has promising performance in both optimization quality and computational efficiency.

Do clean development mechanisms promote sustainable development in Brazil? a cross-sectoral investigation

PurposeThis paper intends to verify the extent to which Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects intend to contribute to sustainable development (SD) in Brazil, one of the top three leading countries in terms of the number of CDM projects. The authors assess the impact of CDMs not only in environmental aspects, but also social and economic ones.Design/methodology/approachThe authors define a set of qualitative sustainability indicators and scrutinize documents regarding a sample of almost half of all the projects registered in Brazil between 2004 and 2020 (219 projects).FindingsThe findings of this study contradict many previous studies finding very limited evidence of SD in CDMs in many different countries: most projects in Brazil intend to contribute to some extent with SD, with 91% and 75% claiming to improve social and economic aspects, respectively.Practical implicationsThe authors derive lessons from Brazil that can be used in other researches.Social implicationsThe authors derive lessons from Brazil and propose paths for public policy toward encouraging sustainable development.Originality/valueThe empirical data set relies on data collected directly from each of the projects in Brazil (roughly half of all of them) between 2004 and 2020. This is not only up to date, but pushes further the analytical scope of previous works.

Techno-economic analysis and wind resource assessment for Odisha, India using reanalysis and 80 m mast measurements: a preliminary assessment for policy-makers

In this work, the relationship between various wind turbine parameters is investigated utilising wind resource data measured at an 80 m measurement mast. Turbine Performance Index (TPI), wind turbulence and direction are investigated to ensure favourable conditions for turbine installation. Economic analysis is performed with reference to the latest Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) registered projects. The life cycle cost and cost of generation for a prospective wind farm are 2691 million INR and 2.97 INR/kWh, respectively. Finally, using five years of NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis data for twelve locations, Weibull parameters and wind power density (WPD) at 50, 80, 120 and 150 m heights are obtained. The installed capacity is 264 MW for selected locations. Energy capture and emission reduction estimates are also computed for all the locations where the highest values of 122 million kWh and 100057 tonnes of CO2 are obtained for Paradeep.

Potensi Reduksi Emisi Gas Rumah Kaca dan Kelayakan Finansial dari Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Mikro Hidro Cisalimar, Jawa Barat

The energy sector related activities have increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global temperatures. The implementation of green energy as mitigation efforts to reduce GHG emissions are required to reduce the negative impacts of climate change, but they are costly. Micro Hydro Power Plant (MHP) is one of green energy that supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in rural areas. This study aims to estimate the potential GHG emissions prior the establishment of Cisalimar MHP project, the GHG emission reduction after the project, and to analyze the financial feasibility of the project. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) method is used to estimate the potential for GHG emission reductions, meanwhile the financial feasibility is employed to evaluate the financial feasibility of the project. The results show that GHG emissions without the MHP project were 25,50 t CO2 per year in 2005 and may increase to 34,39 t CO2 per year in 2030. Cisalimar MHP can reduce GHG emissions from 99,87% to 99,91% within the period of 2005-2030. However, such emission reduction requires a considerable cost i.e., USD 76.044,11. Financially, Cisalimar MHP is not feasible due to high investment costs but can reduce GHG emissions as well as contribute to the achievement of SDGs in remote villages.

Numerical analysis of oxidation performance of basalt fiber bundle thermal flow-reversal reactor

• Using low-dimensional devices and mixed runners to enhance heat transfer. • Reducing the self-sustained concentration to 0.1%. • Gas processing capacity per unit volume increased by 1.03–2.5 times. • The benefit of carbon emission reduction is increased by at least 1.95. • The efficiency of waste heat utilization is increased by 2.5 times. This paper uses Ansys Fluent software to conduct a two-dimensional numerical study on the oxidation performance of basalt fiber bundle thermal flow-reversal reactor (TFRR). The influence of inlet methane concentration, inlet flow rate and circulation period on the oxidation performance of TFRR is analyzed. The results show that the maximum temperature in the reactor increases significantly with the increase of inlet concentration and flow rate. At the same time, the lower limit of the concentration that can be handled by the reactor was studied, and it was found that the basalt fiber bundle TFRR can completely treat the gas with the concentration of 0.1%, under the operating parameters of t c = 80 s, v in = 0.65 m/s or t c = 60 s, v in = 1.0 m/s. In addition, the device was compared with the honeycomb ceramic TFRR in terms of economic efficiency. It was found that the clean development mechanism(CDM) emission reduction benefit of the former was 1.95 times than that of the latter, and the economic benefit of waste heat utilization was 2.5 times than that of the latter.

Financial and environmental efficiency of CDM projects: Analysis and classification for investment decisions

AbstractThe main purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects implemented worldwide and understand their main characteristics, seeking to support investment decisions and expand the scientific understanding of the financial and environmental impact of these projects. To achieve this goal, a sample of 2352 CDM projects was selected from a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) database and analyzed first with a two‐stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model that allowed the evaluation of the financial return and environmental efficiency of these projects. DEA results provide an efficiency ranking that was then analyzed with a classification tree (CHAID algorithm), revealing some main characteristics of the projects with higher efficiencies, like their sizes, locations, and type of CDM. CDMs are projects that demand a significant quantity of resources and effort to produce the expected outcomes, so it is crucial for public managers and investors to know the project profiles that generate the best financial and environmental results. In this sense, this study presents a completely original methodology for this kind of analysis and reveals important insights for these agents and researchers in this field.

Exploring the impact of environmental, social, and governance on clean development mechanism implementation through an institutional approach.

The study hypothesizes that the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) of the host country have a significant effect on clean development mechanism (CDM) implementation. As CDM incorporates sustainable development as one of the objectives for the green transition, many countries endeavor to adopt and implement CDM as their cleaner production method. Based on the institutional theory, the study aims to investigate the mechanism by which the institutional process of each ESG pillar makes an opportunity for a host country and to see how such country-specific factors influence the implementation of CDM projects. A county-year unbalanced sample drawn from World Bank and multinational CDM project data was analyzed using panel logistic and Poisson regression. Panel regression results show that high-energy intensity and low renewable electricity output as an environmental pillar positively affect CDM implementation. Unemployment and undernourishment as a social pillar positively affect CDM whereas low government effectiveness and the high rule of law positively affect CDM. In the results of zero-inflated Poisson regression, the direction of government effectiveness was upturned. The findings have broadened and deepened the ESG pillar based on the institutional theory and emphasized sustainable development rather than economic outputs.

Determinants of Investment Costs for CDM Projects in the Energy Industry

This study reviewed data from 1350 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project design documents for the energy industry; these projects were registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from the European Union Emissions Trading System’s second period (December 2012) to the present. This paper contributes to the literature on the energy industry in that it was the first attempt to directly estimate the issuance price based on CDM PDD data. This study extracted and databased effective samples for investment analysis. In addition, carbon emissions pricing analysis in the energy industry (which has the highest proportion in the CDM sector) was conducted to demonstrate which factors, including renewable energy technology, contribute to changing the investment cost per unit of carbon emissions. Cluster analysis shows that business methods and size are unimportant for classifying clusters; after multiple regression analysis, the technology variable was determined to affect investment cost. The issued price was low, in the order of biomass, wind power, hydropower, and waste heat management technology. The empirical results show that biomass technology has the highest investment efficiency, and the carbon emission issuance price of biomass technologies is lower than that of wind and solar technologies, which the Korean government is investing in actively. Therefore, if by-products and natural resources in rural areas are recycled or reused as biomass raw materials, costs can be reduced and linked to rural regeneration channels.

Emission reduction targets and outcomes of the Clean Development Mechanism (2005–2020)

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows developing countries to earn carbon credit units by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here we assess the emission reduction outcomes of the CDM between 2005 and 2020. The analysis covers 3,311 CDM projects hosted by 79 countries and over 10,000 Monitoring Reports. We identify which host countries and project types departed from original forecasts more. Overall, the total amount of actual emission reductions was 16% below the targets envisaged by project proponents. Emission reduction projects consistently under-performed over the year, but performance varied between and within regions. Industrial HFCs and N2O projects exceeded their targets, whereas landfill gas and methane avoidance projects under-performed by larger margins. Economic gains were unevenly distributed. Estimated revenues relative to GDP were higher for larger emerging economies, and disproportionately smaller for the deprived members of the Global South. Four host countries (China, India, South Korea and Brazil) not only dominated the market, but also gained an advantage from the higher carbon prices before 2012. Least Developed Countries had their carbon credits issued in more recent years when prices were much lower. The results show an imbalance in economic outcomes and raise questions about the effectiveness and equity of this Kyoto mechanism. Weak targets under Paris Agreement could intensify these challenges.

Green Finance and Carbon Emission Reduction: A Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review

Green finance is an emerging topic which is broadly discussed in context of adapting and mitigating environmental deterioration due to climate change. As an effective incentive mechanism, it provides strong support for carbon emission reduction. However, a limited review articles investigate the specific combination of green finance and carbon emission reduction. Here, we apply a bibliometric analysis to review research on green finance and carbon emission reduction based on the literature from 2010 to 2021 in the Web of Science core database. The results indicate that countries with the most publications were those with high economic development, salient environmental problems, and a strong demand for ecological protection. Top publishing journals include Climate Policy, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Energy Policy. The author collaboration is fragmented, mostly less than three researchers. Based on analyses of keyword frequency and centrality, deforestation, carbon markets, and financial development were the most significant research topics. The research hotspots included clean development mechanism, adaptation, carbon market, and sequestration. Finally, the DPSIR framework is applied to explore driving forces, state, pressure, impact and response of current research. We hope our work provides a systematic review of green finance for carbon emission reduction to boost the research in this field.

Fuelwood use and carbon emission reduction of improved biomass cookstoves: evidence from kitchen performance tests in Tigray, Ethiopia

BackgroundIn Ethiopia, biomass contributes to about 92% of the household fuel consumption. As a result, deforestation rate has alarmingly increased associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and land degradation. The concerned government agencies have been widely making concerted efforts to reverse the situation by of promotion of improved cookstoves (ICS). However, the performance of these technologies in terms of saving fuelwood and their contribution to CO2 emission reduction in a real kitchen was not studied systematically. Thus, this research was initiated to address the knowledge gap.MethodsThe study was conducted in Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. The study households were selected following cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs. A kitchen performance test (KPT) was carried out based on 3 days of repeated fuelwood use measurements to compare the wood-saving performance of ICS in comparison with the traditional cookstove (TCS). The emission reduction potential of both ICS and TCS was calculated based on the Clean Development Mechanism and United Nation’s Framework of Convention on Climate Change and presented in CO2 equivalent (CO2e).ResultsThe result suggests significant differences in total and per capita wood consumption (p < 0.05) between improved and TCS. The use of Mirt and Tikikil compared to the traditional stove has reduced the household wood consumption by 35% and 18%, respectively. Furthermore, ICS stoves also reduced CO2e emission per stove per year by 0.65 and 0.27 tons, respectively.ConclusionThe study deals with the significant contribution that the shift from TCS to the ICS brought in terms of reducing the amount of fuelwood used at household level and the carbon emission per capita. It addresses the crucial roles of such technologies in reducing forest degradation and the associated ecosystem loss. Therefore, policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries at household level should at least start via promotions of ICS.

Integrating sustainability into climate finance by quantifying the co-benefits and market impact of carbon projects

High-quality development rooted in low-carbon growth, new jobs, energy security, and environmental quality will be a critical part of achieving multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs). Doing this will require the dramatic scaling up of new climate finance while maximizing co-benefits across multiple outcomes, including for local communities. We developed a comprehensive methodology to identify different levels of local co-benefits, followed by an econometric analysis to assess how the market values co-benefits through the clean development mechanism. We find that projects with a likelihood of delivering the highest co-benefits received a 30.4% higher price compared to projects with the lowest co-benefits. Project quality indicators such as the Gold Standard, in conveying higher likelihood of co-benefits, conferred a significant price premium between 6.6% and 29%. Our methodology of aligning co-benefits with SDGs and the results of co-benefits valued by the markets indicate approaches to bolstering social and political support for climate finance.

The clean development mechanism in Eastern Europe: an in-depth exploration

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a partnership tool founded under the Kyoto Protocol, grants potential opportunities to help developing countries achieve sustainable development. The present research examines the CDM projects in Eastern Europe (Moldova, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania). Although there were far fewer projects in this region than, for instance, China or India, it has some specific features that make it worth studying. Major findings are that most CDM projects in Eastern Europe involved a changing combination of two or more sources of financing, and the distribution of projects in the region was uneven. Moreover, although there was a small number of projects overall, they were all cost-effective, long-term and large-scale. The findings of the research call for improvements to be made to the governance of the CDM, by strengthening the international and national regulation of projects and by aggregating the scales of decision-making and actions so that real multi-scalar transnational governance — from the global level down to the local level — is implemented in a coherent manner. It is also recommended to carry out ex-post project evaluations, following which readjustments could be made.

English

Green economy is a sustainable concept that has set the pace for industrial innovations across the globe. This is reflected in manufacturing, processing, and production industrial processes. There is a paradigm shift in the definition and understanding of green economy (GE) linkages to industrial symbiosis (IS), industrial ecology (IE) and clean development mechanism (CDM). We hypothesize in this study by responding to the question, &quot;How is green economy defined in the model of eco-friendly industrial processes and their links to circularity? &ldquo;We use systematic review design with the reporting system reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) and the Publish or Perish review tool for qualitative analytical synthesis. A total of (N = 1264) review articles were screened, and from the total, only (n = 56) articles were qualitatively synthesized. Based on previous research, we believe there are significant linkages and paradigms along the industrial symbiosis and circularity aspects. We conclude by recommending that research should explicitly inculcate incompatibilities of the green economy nexus on industrialization, the development of industrial policies that foster circularity and the combination of multiple solutions that inculcate sustainable innovations in industrial circularity. Key words: Industrial ecology, Industrial symbiosis, circularity, clean development mechanisms, green economy.

Take a ride on the (not so) green side: How do CDM projects affect Indian manufacturing firms’ environmental performance?

This study examines the causal impacts of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) on the environmental performance of Indian manufacturing firms, as measured by their energy use, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and intensities of CO2 emissions per sales and per energy use. The impacts of CDM projects are estimated using either two-way fixed-effect regressions or an estimator built for an event study with staggered treatment (Sun and Abraham, 2021) combined with a sample of ever-treated firms only or a sample comparing treated to never-treated control firms using semi-parametric matching. We found that CDM projects significantly increased firms’ CO2 emissions and energy use after treatment, but had no effect on CO2 emission intensity per sales and only a small negative effect on the CO2 content of energy use (only for the matched sample). These results reveal that CDM projects led to a positive scale effect (increased sales) after investments were made, and that these investments triggered a limited emission-reducing technique effect (decreased CO2 intensity).

Assessing the relative significance of benefits of clean development mechanism: an evidence from India

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify critical Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) benefits and assess their relative significance in the context of developing economies (e.g. India).Design/methodology/approachThis study has conducted face-to-face (offline/online) discussions with experts in order to identify appropriate criteria and related CDM benefits. Further, this study has used subsequently, using the analytic hierarchy process, a multi-criteria decision-making method and assess the relative significance of benefits of CDM projects.FindingsThe results reveal that knowledge and capacity building, technology transfer and social benefits are the most significant CDM benefits, respectively. It is because the knowledge and capacity building tends to disseminate the awareness on CDM benefits among policymakers and stakeholders, thereby, lead to efficient policy-making and encourage effective technology transfer in a way to achieve sustainable economic growth in the host country.Originality/valueThe literature is dominated by studies of CDM projects in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Africa and China. Within the thousands of CDM projects globally, India only has 1,376 registered CDM projects. To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies that highlight the relative significance of CDM benefits in the context of India. This study will enhance the implementation in the Indian scenario.

A Low-Carbon Dispatch Strategy for Power Systems Considering Flexible Demand Response and Energy Storage

The consumption of traditional fossil energy brings inevitable environmental protection problems, which also makes the low-carbon transition in industrial development imminent. In the process of low-carbon transition, the power industry plays a very important role. However, the large-scale integration of renewable energy resources such as wind power and photovoltaic brings new characteristics to power system dispatch. How to design a dispatch strategy that considers both low-carbon demand and economic cost has become a major concern in power systems. The flexible resources such as demand response (DR) and energy storage (ES) can cooperate with these renewable energy resources, promoting the renewable energy generation and low-carbon process. Thus, a low-carbon dispatch strategy for power systems considering flexible DR and ES is proposed in this article. First, models of DR and ES based on their behavior characteristics are established. Then, a carbon emission index is presented according to China’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Finally, the low-carbon dispatch strategy for power systems is proposed through the combination of the carbon emission index and flexible resource dispatch models. The simulation results show that the proposed dispatch strategy can significantly improve wind power consumption and reduce carbon emission.

Review of recent progress of emission trading policy in China

Global warming caused by the excessive combustion of fossil fuels has become the focus of the international community. China's carbon emission reduction policy plays a vital role in international climate change, carbon emission neutrality and domestic environmental pollution control. This paper summarises the progress of China's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) pilots from 2011 to 2021, including trading volume, carbon emissions price, and the effect of carbon emission abatement. By calculating the carbon emissions intensity decrease rate of China's ETS pilot and non-pilot regions, the ETS and carbon emissions tax are compared in terms of emission reduction effectiveness, emission reduction cost and implementation resistance to provide theoretical support for the Chinese government to select and develop carbon emission reduction tools. The development of the Clean Development Mechanism in China is also compared with China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER), and the offsetting rules of CCER are summarised. After the whole analysis and assessment, the results show that from 2013 to 2018, the average carbon emissions intensity decline rate in the ETS pilots was 7.3% and that in non-pilots was 4.29%. Some problems of China's carbon emissions trading market are also concluded. The trading volume is small (only 43.4 × 106 t in 2020) and is discrepant greatly in the different ETS pilots. The carbon emissions price is low (only 33.45 Yuan/t in 2020), with high volatility and large price differences among the ETS pilots. Based on the existing problems, this paper proposes some suggestions for improving China's emission trading market and provides theoretical and decision-making support for promoting carbon emission reduction and neutralisation for China.

A real options study on cook stove CDM project under emission allowance price uncertainty

South Korea is one of the countries that have been actively involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and global climate action as a party to the Paris Agreement. As the national emissions reduction target has been getting reinforced, an increasing number of South Korean firms have been participating into the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects to secure CER credits, one of which is the ‘improved energy-efficient cook-stove distribution project’ in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to develop a real options model to analyze investment decisions on cook-stove distribution CDM project in Myanmar, where we estimate the optimal threshold CER price that makes the investment economically feasible. We also analyze the sensitivity of the threshold price across the investment parameters. The results show that our project was economically feasible at the time the project was launched, as the KOC prices were generally higher than the investment threshold price. The sharp decline of the KOC prices in 2020, however, deteriorated the economic feasibility of the project. The results suggest that various risk factors should be incorporated before making investment decisions.

Investigation on Water Hyacinth in Anaerobic Co-Digestion for Biogas Production: A measure to Reduce Kosavampatti and Phoosur Lake Municipal Solid Waste Loading

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the lab scale, microbe-enhanced biogas production from water hyacinth blended with poultry waste and cow dung. A mesophilic anaerobic two-stage continuous reactor was set up to study the co-digestion for enhanced biogas production. The optimized mixing ratio of cow dung, water hyacinth, and poultry litter (2:1:1; 4:3:1 and 5:2:1) was used along with the effective microbial solution in a two-stage continuous reactor. The biogas yield was maximum in the 2:1:1 blend than the blends with a mixing ratio of 4:3:1 and 5:2:1. The reactor-loading rate was 4 and 5 g.L-1.day-1 with a retention time of 30 and 60 days respectively. The two-stage anaerobic digestion helps in controlling toxicity by acidogenesis and enhances energy production, thereby proving to be a technology that prevents environmental deterioration and enhances energy recovery, both of which are twin issues that need scientific attention. Maximum specific biogas of 0.128 Nm.L.g-1 of Volatile solid reduction (VSR) in hydrolyzer and 0.205 Nm.L.g-1 of VSR in methanizer was obtained at an optimized Carbon/Nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 20.8. The co-digestion of protein-rich waste with a carbon-rich source offers a reduced acclimatization period in the hydrolyzer with an increased C/N ratio, thereby increasing the biogas yield as observed in the methanizer. Several other parameters including Ammonia level, Volatile Fatty Acids influenced by the reactor alkalinity also determine the biogas yield. With increased alkalinity, free ammonia increases and may be inhibitory for anaerobic fermentation and may be toxic for methanogenic bacteria, thereby contributing to the reduction in biogas yield. The present investigation has led to a novel biogas and power-producing clean development mechanism (CDM) for the first time from a heterogeneous mixture of animal excreta and plant waste (livestock droppings, cow dung, and water hyacinths). The waste samples have been collected from sewage and sullage polluted Kosavampatti Lake and Phoosur lake in Namakkal district of Tamilnadu, India therein ending up in a high quantity of CO2 mitigation.