Energy Policy Development Research Articles

Emission reduction effect on PM2.5, SO2 and NOx by using red mud as additive in clean coal briquetting

Emissions of PM2.5 and trace gases from residential coal consumption for winter heating have caused severe air pollution in northern China. Clean coal briquettes can meet both demands of clean environment and residential heating. As a byproduct from the Bayer process, red mud has the potential to be used as briquettes additive, although its recycling procedure is challenging. In this study, red mud was used to replace the currently used calcium oxide as additive in coal briquetting. Twelve sets of combustion experiments were conducted for bituminous coal, anthracite coal and their briquettes, and each set of the experiment was repeated at least three times. Emission profiles of PM2.5, SO2 and NOx were recorded during experiments. The highest emission reduction rates for PM2.5, SO2 and NOx were achieved at red mud contents of 10%, 5% and 2.5%, respectively, for bituminous coal, and at 10%, 5% and 7.5%, respectively, for anthracite coal. The corresponding emission reduction rates were 37.5%, 25.8% and 61.9% for bituminous coal and 31.2%, 55.1% and 17.9% for anthracite coal. In addition, both SO2 and NOx emissions showed clear peaks during the initial-burning stage for the two kinds of coals, while SO2 emission for anthracite coal burning showed another peak during the char-burning stage. Benefit analysis was also conducted assuming all the currently used raw coals were replaced with clean coal briquettes in Shaanxi province. The overall reductions are 2270.46 (t) year−1 for PM2.5, 1538.00 (t) year−1 for SO2 and 2177.81 (t) year−1 for NOx in the province. Results presented in this study highlight that development of clean energy policies, such as replacing bituminous coal and anthracite coal with clean coal briquettes, will be effective to improve the regional air quality.

Recognitive Approach to the Energy Policies and Investments in Renewable Energy Resources via the Fuzzy Hybrid Models

This study aimed to evaluate the energy policies and investments in renewable energy resources. In this context, developing energy policy and investing in energy were defined as two different factors for renewable energy. Additionally, eight different criteria were also selected based on these two different factors. In the first stage of the analysis, these criteria were evaluated by using a correlation coefficient based on interval type-2 fuzzy sets. The findings show that five criteria have a relationship with policy factors, whereas seven criteria are related to the investment factor. After that, the fuzzy DEMATEL approach based on interval type-2 fuzzy sets were used to weight these criteria. It was identified that policy returns, policy facilities, and policy technology were the most important criteria. Additionally, a performance evaluation of renewable energy investment alternatives was made with a fuzzy TOPSIS approach based on interval type-2 fuzzy sets. It was concluded that wind and solar are the most significant renewable energy investment alternatives. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be government supports for wind and solar energy investments. Within this context, corporate tax discounts for these companies, customs duty decrease for the items used in the investments, and providing qualified personnel in this area can attract the attention of these investors.

Consumer Support and Willingness to Pay for Electricity from Solar, Wind, and Cow Manure in the United States: Evidence from a Survey in Vermont

Information on public support and willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy from alternative sources is critically important for the development and evaluation of renewable energy policies and programs. This study assesses consumer support and WTP for electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and on-farm anaerobic digester systems (ADS) in the United States, using data collected from a household survey in the state of Vermont. Empirical results suggest that solar power was the respondents’ top choice for public investment, and cow power (electricity generated from ADS) was the least-favored choice. Also, the variations in the likelihood of being willing to pay a premium for each renewable electricity across respondents were closely associated with factors such as education, political affiliation, homeownership, and local agricultural engagement. The relatively low level of public support and WTP for cow power is likely the result of unfamiliarity with this renewable source of electricity, and more educational efforts are highly needed to promote this renewable energy with many environmental benefits for a dairy state.

Implications of shocks in energy consumption for energy policy in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest energy consumption per capita in the world, and this has undermined socioeconomic development in the region. The stationarity of energy consumption in the region has important implications for energy policy, forecasting and macroeconomic developments. This paper investigates the stationarity properties of energy consumption in 48 sub-Saharan Africa countries using the Augment Dickey–Fuller, Zivot–Andrews, Clemente–Montanes–Reyes and Lee–Strazicich LM tests. Using the Lee-Strazicich LM test as a benchmark, the study shows that energy consumption is stationary in 41 countries. This implies that energy policy makers should not be concerned about shocks in energy consumption in these countries because the shocks will be temporary and not transmitted to the macroeconomy. Also, energy policies will not have long-term effects. Policies that exert one-time temporary shocks on energy consumption would be more effective in these countries.

Assessing the consistency of in-stream tidal energy development policy in Nova Scotia, Canada

The provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada, has provided numerous incentives for developing in-stream tidal energy projects since 2009. These incentives include co-operatively funding the development of the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy with the Canadian federal government and industry partners, extensive funding of environmental impacts monitoring research for tidal energy projects, and offering direct financial incentives for tidal power produced and sold to the grid via feed-in tariffs. However, the provincial government has not treated all scales and types of tidal energy projects equally. Until recently, ambitious targets for hundreds of MW of tidal development by 2020–2025 led to tidal support policies focusing on large, utility-scale projects, with little evidence the tidal energy sector was prepared to pursue such projects in Nova Scotia or elsewhere. Some support was offered to smaller-scale, community-oriented tidal energy projects, but the rules and regulations for such projects were repeatedly changed (and sometimes revoked) between 2012 and 2018. Since the provincial legislature passed the revised Marine Renewable-electricity Act of 2018, a potentially more coherent and consistent tidal energy policy consensus appears to be forming in the province. This paper provides a review of the policies introduced, projects approved and canceled, and sectoral outlook for tidal energy development in Nova Scotia for the period 2009–2018.

Transition pathways for North Africa to meet its (intended) nationally determined contributions ((I)NDCs) under the Paris Agreement: a model-based assessment

ABSTRACT This study applies a scenario-based analysis to assess the sustainability of energy transitions of the North African economies under the Paris Agreement, by evaluating the specific pace of the transition grounded in the reality of the actual regional constraints. The ‘Long-range Energy Alternative Planning’ modelling platform is used to simulate the impact of energy and climate policies set in the context of the global low-carbon transition on North Africa’s current energy system and economies. Two scenarios are developed: the reference and the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution scenarios. A cost–benefit analysis is performed to ensure this transition can be cost-effective and to suggest recommendations for an efficient and effective transition to a low carbon economy. Results show that decarbonization in North Africa can be achieved at the regional scale, at negative costs, but significant upfront capital investments and intensive energy policy reforms are needed. Key policy insights In order for North African countries to meet their Paris Agreement commitments, further steps need to be taken by the international community to accelerate low-carbon technology transfer and the provision of financial resources to them. Policies for energy efficiency and renewable energy development should include the establishment of a regional market to develop and harmonize policies and legal frameworks in North Africa. Regional energy market integration and network interconnections would allow economies of scale, cost savings and the development of regional expertise. Policies for energy efficiency should also include reforms to phase out or reduce fossil fuel subsidies, mandatory energy audits for the buildings sector, and minimum energy performance standards for appliances, such as air conditioners and refrigerators.

Wind Energy Development Policy as a Type of Alternative Renewable Energy Sources

The relevance of the article is justified by the growing interest in alternative energy sources due to the limited reserves of fossil fuels and environmental pollution. The advantages of wind energy are presented: no need for any fuel, economic benefits, energy independence, and environmental safety. The process of obtaining electricity from the wind is considered. Comparison of wind turbines with battery and wind turbines without battery and comparison of wind turbines and power lines is conducted. Based on the analysis of the calculation results, it was concluded that a wind turbine without a battery is more economical than a wind turbine with a battery. In particular, the prospects for the use of wind power in the Arctic zone and in remote areas of the Russian Federation are considered. It is concluded that for residents of remote areas it is more economically feasible to use wind power plants as compared to traditional types of energy. The legislative and economic barriers to the development of wind energy as a type of non-traditional renewable energy sources are identified, and mechanisms for overcoming them are proposed. The article brings significant contribution in the field of political sociology both in its practical and theoretical aspects, being addressed to the politicians, scientists and management staff involved in this area of knowledge.

Improving Electric Energy Consumption Prediction Using CNN and Bi-LSTM

The electric energy consumption prediction (EECP) is an essential and complex task in intelligent power management system. EECP plays a significant role in drawing up a national energy development policy. Therefore, this study proposes an Electric Energy Consumption Prediction model utilizing the combination of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) that is named EECP-CBL model to predict electric energy consumption. In this framework, two CNNs in the first module extract the important information from several variables in the individual household electric power consumption (IHEPC) dataset. Then, Bi-LSTM module with two Bi-LSTM layers uses the above information as well as the trends of time series in two directions including the forward and backward states to make predictions. The obtained values in the Bi-LSTM module will be passed to the last module that consists of two fully connected layers for finally predicting the electric energy consumption in the future. The experiments were conducted to compare the prediction performances of the proposed model and the state-of-the-art models for the IHEPC dataset with several variants. The experimental results indicate that EECP-CBL framework outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of several performance metrics for electric energy consumption prediction on several variations of IHEPC dataset in real-time, short-term, medium-term and long-term timespans.

Integrating sustainability analysis with sectoral exergy analysis: A case study of rural residential sector of Bangladesh

To achieve sustainable development in all stages of society the participation of rural communities is essential. Rural communities are known to employ energy inefficient devices which lead to major energy depletion and this has a negative impact on sustainability. Exergy and sustainability analyses can be applied to highlight the relation between energy utilization and sustainability. Keeping this in mind, the current study focuses on the integration of conventional sectoral exergy analysis and sustainability analysis. Based on forecasted data between 2010 and 2050, a case study of Bangladesh's rural residential sector is investigated in terms of energy, exergy, and sustainability analyses. The energy efficiencies of this sector are found to vary between 18.96% and 31.53% while exergy efficiencies vary between 4.86% and 8.42%. Several exergetic sustainability indicators such as depletion number, sustainability index, environmental effect factor, waste exergy ratio, environmental destruction coefficient, environmental destruction index, and environmental benign index are used to highlight the sustainability of this sector. From the sustainability analysis, it is found that 95% of the fuel is depleted from this sector and it contributes to lower sustainability index of 1.05. Waste exergy ratio from biomass varies between 0.75 and 0.93. This sector has the highest environmental destruction index of 39.10 and lowest environmental benign index of 0.03. Efficient use of biomass resources, replacing old biomass stoves and developing energy policies using exergy can improve the sustainability of this sector.

Forecasting of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions using linear and nonlinear rolling metabolic grey model based on optimization

Abstract This study aims to contribute to the development of energy policies for Turkey's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the future. For this purpose, linear and nonlinear metabolic grey models are combined with the optimization technique to obtain more accurate forecasting results. Optimization technique provides estimation of the parameters in metabolic grey model (MGM(1,1)) and nonlinear metabolic grey model (NMGM(1,1)). In this study, MGM(1,1), NMGM(1,1), optimized metabolic grey model OMGM(1,1), and optimized nonlinear metabolic grey model (ONMGM(1,1)) are applied for prediction of Turkey's GHG emissions including the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), excluding LULUCF and from the energy sector. The ONMGM(1,1) gives more accurate results than the others from 1995 to 2016. The MAPE values of the ONMGM(1,1) are 4.80%, 4.14% and 5.19% for Turkey's GHG emissions with LULUCF, without LULUCF and from the energy sector, respectively. On the other hand, results of the ONMGM(1,1) show that the annual growth rates are forecasted as 0.56%, 0.66% and 0.49% for Turkey's GHG emissions with LULUCF, without LULUCF and from the energy sector, respectively, from 2017 to 2025. Furthermore, Turkey's highest GHG emissions with LULUCF, without LULUCF and from the energy sector are estimated by MGM(1,1) as 606.9 Mt of CO2 equivalent, 726.4 Mt of CO2 equivalent and 585.2 Mt of CO2 equivalent in 2025, respectively. According to Turkey's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), target of its GHG emissions including LULUCF is estimated as 934 Mt of CO2 equivalent in a Business-As-Usual scenario and 790 Mt of CO2 equivalent in a Mitigation scenario for the year 2025. Therefore, this study presents lower values of Turkey's GHG emissions with LULUCF than the values of Turkey's INDC for the year 2025. Additionally, results of this study present that energy sector has the largest share of Turkey's GHG emissions from 2017 to 2025. Therefore, Turkish Government should develop policies to use energy more efficiently and to increase the capacity of renewable energy sources in electricity generation. Especially, Turkey's ambition to increase the share of renewable energy in total is very assertive. This can be seen from the Turkey's 11th Development Plan. According to the Plan, the share of total renewable energy and natural gas in total electricity generation is going to be increased from 32.5% in 2018 to 38.8% in 2023 and to be decreased from 29.85% in 2018 to 20.7% in 2023, respectively.

Assessment of Energy–Population–Urbanization Nexus with Changing Energy Industry Scenario in India

The demand for energy has been growing worldwide, especially in India partly due to the rapid population growth and urbanization of the country. To meet the ever-increasing energy requirement while maintaining an ecological balance is a challenging task. However, the energy industry-induced effect on population and urbanization has not been addressed before. Therefore, this study investigates the linkages between energy, population, and urbanization. The study also aims to find the quantifiable indicators for the population growth and rate of urbanization due to the expanding energy industry. The integrated framework uses a multi-temporal Landsat data to analyze the urbanization pattern, a census data for changes in population growth, night time light (NTL) data as an indicator for economic development and energy production and consumption data for energy index. Multi-attribute model is used to calculate a unified metric, termed as the energy–population–urbanization (EPU) nexus index. The proposed approach is demonstrated in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Dadri power plant located in Uttar Pradesh, India. Landsat and NTL data clearly shows the urbanization pattern, economic development, and electrification in the study area. A comparative analysis based on various multi-attribute decision model assessment techniques suggests that the average value of EPU nexus index is 0.529, which significantly large compared to other studies and require special attention by policymakers because large EPU index indicates stronger correlation among energy, population, and urbanization. The authors believe that it would help the policymakers in planning and development of future energy projects, policies, and long-term strategies as India is expanding its energy industry.

Wind farms, farmland occupation and compensation: Evidences from landowners’ preferences through a stated choice survey in Italy

The willingness to accept the construction of wind farms on private properties is investigated using a latent class model approach. This type of research is required in view of the frequent conflicts between landowners and system operators, who often pay little in easement compensation.This study highlights the fact that the acceptance of wind farms is a multifaceted issue comprising aspects relating to socioeconomics, farm type, territory, and past experience. In particular, the compensation claimed by landowners depends on the property's size, the number of turbines, the crop, the presence of surrounding wind farms, natural impacts, the landscape configuration, land fragmentation, land agreements, the presence of other wind towers on the property, and past experience with system operators concerning transparency and participation in the siting and planning phases.Stakeholders should take these factors into account to develop energy policies based on clear, and well-structured processes concerning the siting, planning, construction, and management of wind farms, in order to prevent conflict and to benefit the community and environment.

Analysis and recommendations for European carbon dioxide utilization policies

Due to lower-cost energy supplies elsewhere, Europe needs resource efficient technologies to safeguard the competitiveness of its energy-intensive industries. The technical feasibility of the CCU value chain components (carbon capture, transportation and utilization) has been widely studied in literature. However infrastructural, regulatory and business strategic issues have received less attention. A review of the relevant policies (e.g. European Emissions Trading Scheme, Renewable Fuels and Waste Directives) has been performed. Stakeholder engagement and the stakeholder influence mapping was used to examine potential climate change, circular economy, renewable energy and regional industrial development policies that can support CO2 utilization value chains. The main contribution of the paper is to outline potential benefits of policies to foster the production and uptake of CO2-derived products such as methanol, polyurethane and mineral construction aggregates. Another outcome is to illustrate the role of key policy-making stakeholders in assessing the suitability of current statutes and the impact of potential changes. An important finding was that the development of connectivity infrastructure is a key missing enabler and more attention to policy on infrastructure is required. Finally, the work examines the justification for a CO2 Utilization Directive, comparable to the Carbon Capture and Storage Directive, but considering the current complexity of the European Union (EU) policy landscape.

Policy change, power and the development of Great Britain's Renewable Heat Incentive

The role of socio-political power is central to the development of policy, but systematic analyses of power associated with the development of energy policy are rare. Power is also an important yet somewhat under-researched aspect of socio-technical transitions research. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) policy aims to increase deployment of low-carbon heat in Great Britain and begin a transformation to a low carbon GB heat system. This article analyses the socio-political power associated with the development of the RHI policy based on Lukes' ‘dimensions of power’ approach using a methodology based on triangulation. We identify a number of policy change episodes during the development of the RHI and describe the influence of key actors on the policy. Despite the common assumption of the power of incumbents, we show that those actors with niche technological expertise, close relationships with Government actors and actors within the administration have been the most powerful drivers of policy development and change. Niche actors sped up the introduction of the RHI scheme and have also had some success in increasing relative support for biomethane injection. The power of a civil servant to slow the introduction of the domestic element of the RHI has also been identified.

Investigating Ties between Energy Policy and Social Equity Research: A Citation Network Analysis

Just over twenty years ago, the Kyoto Protocol brought nations together to address the emergent issue of climate change. To support the development of energy policy, a number of academic fields were strengthened, particularly surrounding sustainable development and the economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. This research focuses on the social aspects of energy policy, beginning with climate justice, through to the emergence of energy justice and the notion of a just transition. Through a bibliometric analysis of 5529 academic studies incorporating energy policy and social equity across relevant academic fields, strong ties among five distinct schools of thought were identified. Interestingly, energy transitions scholarship appears distinct from most social equity and energy justice related scholarship. There is a need to better integrate disparate schools of thought in order to achieve a just transitions framework able to address inequities in energy policy outcomes in the Paris Agreement era and beyond.

Phasing-Out Coal in Germany – not only, but also a Legal Challenge

This article critically analyses recent developments in Australia's renewable energy law and policy. It identifies seven retrograde steps taken in energy and climate law in Australia in the last five years. Barriers to clean energy law - in the form of recurring narratives employed against the rise of renewable energy across Australia - are examined. Increased levels of renewable energy are portrayed by opponents as a threat to the security and reliability of electricity supply. Yet, the nation is currently experiencing a major renewable energy investment boom, supported by regional policy initiatives that are driving innovation, most recently in energy storage.

An Empirical Analysis of Denmark's Energy Economy and Environment and Its Sustainable Development Policy

As a model for energy transition to low-carbon economy, Denmark is of great importance for studying internal relationships between economic growth, both energy consumption and production, and Carbon emissions. Based on Denmark’s data for the total consumption of petroleum oil and gas resources, total production of oil and gas resources, gross domestic product(constant 2010 US$) and CO2 emissions over the time span 1984-2016, Johansen test shows that there is no cointegration relationship between CO2 emissions and oil and gas consumption, and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) boundary cointegration test shows that there is no cointegration relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth. Nevertheless, ARDL boundary cointegration test is used to confirm the existence of cointegration between economic growth and both the energy production and consumption. We then establish an error correction model to analyze the short-term relationship between these two cointegrated metrics. The Granger causality test indicates that there is one-way causality between economic growth and energy consumption and energy production; in particular, economic changes help explain changes of energy consumption and production in the future. Finally, the empirical analysis results are further discussed with consideration of Denmark’s energy policies and the current state of its energy economy. The results of the present study can help the other countries in the design of energy development, the clean and low carbon energy transition policies for sustainable and long-term economic development.

Industry, flexibility, and demand response: Applying German energy transition lessons in Chile

Demand side management (DSM) contributes, among its other purposes, to provide stability and flexibility to energy systems that include a high proportion of variable renewable energy in pioneer countries and those which recently began their energy transition. Among DSM policies, implementation of measures and mechanisms for a demand response (DR) is not a trivial matter. This study presents a review and comparative analysis of the major energy policy developments in Germany and Chile. Based on i) the relevance of the industry sector in both countries, ii) the difficulty in implementing the regulatory framework and iii) the importance given to the industrial customers in the German legislation and DR literature, the following analysis will focus on both medium and large industrial customers. The goals are to review the challenges in untying the full DR potential of the productive industry and to provide recommendations for the promotion of DR in Chile. Emphasis is placed on the lessons learned in fitting the wide potential of DR in the German electricity markets. A review of the successes and failures of the German experience reveals the potential risk that poor policy implementation can have in both the short and long term.

Justice, social exclusion and indigenous opposition: A case study of wind energy development on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico

The southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec is one of the windiest places on Earth and the scene of a large-scale wind energy development plan conceived by the Mexican government in conjunction with multinational companies. We analyze the national wind energy development policy, and the negotiation processes, alliances and popular local indigenous resistance created by what is known as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Wind Energy Megaproject. We observe how the Mexican government, in its eagerness to grant control of regional wind energy resources to private sector companies, generated social schisms and conflicts in regional indigenous communities. These arose largely due to the absence of land use planning rules and conflict resolution mechanisms of the property rights issued for communal and social control, heritage of the Mexican revolution in the 1910’s. We describe recent government initiatives implemented in response to this dynamic and aimed at reviving construction of a wind farm previously blocked by popular indigenous protests. This unsuccessful attempt exposed a lack of institutional interest in guaranteeing local involvement in project planning and in correcting existing top-down political and operation practices. Wind energy development in Mexico resembles an extractive model, with no consideration of local cultures or organizations, or the potential for joint ventures with local stakeholders that would treat rural indigenous populations as assets in the national energy transition, begun in 2007 for wind private projects in the region.

Current energy mix and techno-economic analysis of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies in Malaysia

This study performs a techno-economic analysis of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies for Malaysia. The solar resource assessment was done by analyzing various rural and regional locations using NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy database. Three different technologies, parabolic trough collector (PTC), solar power tower (SPT) and solar parabolic dish (SPD) were assessed under different economic criterions. Results based on the analysis show that PTC and SPT type plants are particularly suitable for locations at East and Peninsular Malaysia. However, considering simple payback, the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), it is found that PTC type CSP plant will be the most eligible for CSP plant development. Sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effect of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) on the various project discount rate. Regional renewable energy policy development and regulatory reform in feed-in-tariff (FiT), hybrid technology (PTC with biogas, solar PV and biomass) implementation, project financing under clean development mechanism (CDM) and lesson learned from international experience in local PTC equipment manufacturing are some of the crucial future policy outlooks that need to be applied for CSP technology implementation, as well as long-term sustainable renewable energy system development in the country.