Imported Fossil Fuels Research Articles

Optimization of Biomass and Compost Management to Sustain Soil Organic Matter in Energy Cane Cropping Systems in a Tropical Polluted Soil: a Modelling Study

In French West Indies, the high dependency of the electricity mix on imported fossil fuels has led local authorities to propose the conversion of some land to the production of energy cane. This conversion mainly concerns land polluted by the pesticide chlordecone, where most crops for human consumption have been banned. This molecule has a strong affinity for soil organic matter (SOM). The aims of this study were to assess the impact of crop residue management and compost application on the stocks of SOM and chlordecone in soils cultivated with energy cane and to determine the minimum SOM input required to maintain SOM stocks. A field experiment was conducted to determine the yield and biomass partitioning of energy cane, and laboratory incubations were performed to estimate humification from crop residues. Changes in SOM and chlordecone stocks over a 30-year period were investigated using models already calibrated for the land under study. Non-harvestable biomass left on the field (tops, litterfall and roots) covered >60 % of SOM mineralization. A full offset of mineralization required the return of 10 % of harvestable biomass or the application of compost at a rate of 40 Mg ha−1 every 5 years. With the total removal of harvestable biomass and without compost applications, SOM and chlordecone losses increased by 23 and 13 %, respectively, which was associated with high SOM mineralization and chlordecone leaching under tropical climate. The estimated break-even price for cane biomass indicated that compost application would be more profitable for farmers than the return of a part of the harvestable biomass.

Allocating the economic benefits of renewable energy between stakeholders on Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Arguments for a balanced approach

For many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) the cost of producing electricity from imported fossil fuels is so high and the cost of renewable energy technology has fallen so significantly that transitioning towards renewable energy is likely to produce cost savings. A recent workshop at NYU School of Law, which brought together SIDS utility representatives with a leading renewable energy developer and other stakeholders, provided strong support for this prediction. Utilities are likely to own the majority of renewable energy assets in SIDS and will therefore be the initial custodians of any cost savings renewable energy provides. This raises a key policy question: to what extent should SIDS utilities pass on these savings to consumers by lowering electricity rates? We analyze this overlooked element of energy policy and highlight undesirable consequences that complete disbursement of the savings to consumers could cause.

Turning the Tide: the need for sustainable sea transport in the Pacific

This paper reports on progress in developing a regional research and education strategy for Pacific Island countries and communities wishing to transition to a low carbon sea transport future. Sea transport is an absolute necessity for most such communities. All current services are fossil fuel based and are becoming increasingly unaffordable and unsustainable. The countries in the Pacific region are the most dependent on imported fossil fuels in the world, importing more than 95% of needs. Such dependency is having a crippling effect on national budgets and major impacts on key productive sectors. The region's transport issues are unique; small and vulnerable economies scattered at the ends of some of the longest transportation routes in the world and arguably the most challenging to maintain per capita and per sea mile. Alternatives to current fossil fuel powered sea transport have been almost totally ignored in recent regional and national debates and the issue has been largely invisible within the policy and donor strategy space at all levels despite concerted efforts over more than two decades to transition Pacific countries' electricity sector fossil fuel use. The University of the South Pacific has been collaborating with a network of stakeholders and knowledge partners since 2012 to advance this agenda, building off previous doctoral research and the resultant Sustainable Sea Transport Talanoa 2012. Prasad et al. (2013) set out the basis for a catalytic research program following from the consensually agreed outputs of SSTT 2012 and this paper records the progress made since.

Evaluación del Impacto Económico en Diferentes Escenarios de Implementación de Tecnologías Eficientes de Calentamiento de Agua en el Ecuador

En el presente artículo se presenta una metodología de análisis comparativo del comportamiento energético, económico y medioambiental de los diferentes tipos de tecnologías existentes de calentamiento de agua para usos domésticos. Asimismo, se evalúa el impacto económico de la integración de sistemas de calentamiento de agua en diferentes escenarios energéticos futuros en el Ecuador. El artículo se centra en las tecnologías utilizadas en los últimos años para el calentamiento de agua. Evalúa el impacto económico en el sistema energético debido a la sustitución y reducción del consumo de energía fósil importada, y de la reducción de emisiones contaminantes.
 Asimismo, se evalúa el impacto en el suministro eléctrico de las tecnologías de calentamiento de agua que sustituyen a sistemas menos eficientes y dependientes de recursos fósiles. Finalmente, se analiza el impacto económico y medioambiental de la integración masiva de instalaciones solares térmicas en el sistema energético y en el sistema eléctrico para diferentes escenarios de futuro.

The different paths for renewable energies in Latin American Countries: the relevance of the enabling frameworks and the design of instruments

The promotion of renewable energy is a priority for the majority of the regions of the world. The key motivation for the promotion of these sources varies according to the countries; in some cases, the aim is to mitigate climate change, in some others is to address the growing energy demand, or to reduce the dependence on imported fossil fuels. To this purpose, governments implement different energy policies, based on a combination of primary and secondary instruments. Nevertheless, the performance of the policy will depend on the policy design and the enabling environment of the policy, e.g., macroeconomic conditions, political and regulatory risk, and financial sources. During the last decades, many Latin American and Caribbean countries have implemented energy policies to promote renewable electricity. Many of these countries have used a similar combination of support instruments (feed‐in laws, targets, auctions, investment subsidies, etc.). However, the results are very dissimilar. In some cases, similar policies, and even the same instruments led to significant increases in renewable energies, while in other cases the impact has been very small. The aim of this study is to review the recent application of energy policies to renewable energies in a group of South American countries and to analyze whether the performance of the policy is due to policy incentives or enabling environment. WIREs Energy Environ 2016, 5:305–326. doi: 10.1002/wene.190This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy Energy Policy and Planning > Economics and Policy Energy and Development > Climate and Environment

A modelling approach to the techno-economics of Biomass-to-SNG/Methanol systems: Standalone vs Integrated topologies

Chile accounts for one of the most important forest areas in Latin America; nevertheless, both Chilean energy and chemical infrastructures heavily relies on imported fossil fuels. This study focuses on the analysis of several scenarios contributing to change this status quo by producing biomass-based Methanol and Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG). A comprehensive flowsheeting model, including such technologies, is developed and validated. The plants are assembled in a general superstructure to perform their energy integration and economic evaluation. For the studied scenarios, the energy efficiency of gasifier was 74%; Methanol and SNG yields were 0.59kgMeOH/kgDry-biomass and 0.33kgSNG/kgDry-biomass, respectively. The biomass-derived SNG has an average of 88%mol of methane and a Lower Heating Value of 41MJ/kg. The unit energy cost ($/GJ) via SNG and Methanol were 18.41$/GJ and 29.54$/GJ for standalone operation, and both can be reduced by 12.7% and 9.5%, respectively, by using an integrated process scheme. Finally, near 25% of sensitivity on unit cost of products (energy based) was found when the feedstock price varied between 1 and 60US$/tonne.

Exploring Israeli Venture Capital Investing In Renewable Energy

Israel’s venture capital market is one of the largest in terms of capital investing in the world. However, in 2014, 5 of 83 independent venture capital firms located in Israel invested in renewable energy portfolio companies. The result of investing in few renewable energy firms in Israel is a continued reliance on imported fossil fuels from geographically distant nations. The importation of fossil fuels creates an added security risk in an already hostile political environment. The gap in research addressed in this paper explored factors for the small number of renewable energy firms receiving venture capital funding in Israel. The research question guiding this study was what are the factors for the small number of renewable energy firms receiving funding in Israel. The lack of renewable energy firm funding appears to be as a result of three factors. First is low return on investment. Second is regulatory uncertainty from the Israeli government. Third is the lack of knowledge of renewable energy by independent venture capitalists.

The Solodamu Surveys: determining fossil fuel use and sea transport need in a coastal village in Fiji

Domestic sea transport is critical to all aspects of life in the Pacific, providing access to markets and health and education services, as well as enabling cultural and social connectivity. Current sea transport services are entirely dependent upon use of increasingly expensive fossil fuels. Whilst there has been increasing research on international shipping, very little focus has been given to date to domestic shipping in the Pacific, and in particular at the local, village level. Recent studies have highlighted lack of data, particularly at a village level, as being a major impediment to progressing a shift to more sustainable transport. The importance of transport in achieving sustainable development and “green growth” is being increasingly highlighted by Pacific Leaders as a key priority, and particularly the need to find alternatives to reduce the region’s crippling dependency on imported fossil fuels. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in other regions also face similar challenges. This paper provides a summary of the findings of a village-based assessment of transport and fossil fuel use in Solodamu Village, Kadavu, Fiji carried out in 2009 and 2011. The objectives of the surveys were to gauge the overall sea, land and air transport use by the village and the fossil fuel footprint of the village by collecting data on a household by household basis. We then go on to outline how this assessment methodology has been expanded for an island group and highlight the potential of using this in other SIDS, so building the data sets available for more accurate analysis of both transport need and fossil fuel use to better address the issues of fossil fuel dependency and sustainable transport for the Pacific.

Integration of renewables and reverse osmosis desalination – Case study for the Jordanian energy system with a high share of wind and photovoltaics

Jordan is a country faced with several environmental and energy related issues. It is the Worlds' fourth most water deprived country with a water consumption of only 145 m3 per capita annually, less than a third of the established severe water poverty line. Jordan is also a country rich in wind and solar potential but practically no utilization with 99% of the produced electricity coming from imported fossil fuels resulting in high CO2 emissions and a potential security of supply issue. The utilization of reverse osmosis desalination in a combination with brine operated pump storage units and wind and (PV) photovoltaic plants can tackle both issues. The desalination plants can produce the much needed water and act as a flexible demand to increase the penetration of intermittent renewables supported by the brine operated pump storage units. This paper presents six scenarios for the development of the Jordanian energy system until the year 2050. The results have shown that the demonstrated configuration can increase the share of intermittent renewables in the production of electricity up to 76% resulting in a high reduction of fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and costs. These analyses have been performed using the EnergyPLAN advanced energy system analyses tool.

Analysis of the Effectiveness of the FIT (Feed-In Tariff) Mechanism

In Japan, a policy mechanism called the "Feed-in Tariff (FIT)," which was designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies, was introduced in July 2012. However, thus far, only solar power has been introduced, whereas other renewable energy options such as wind, geothermal or biomass have only made small progress; although, wind power, especially, has been found to have a very large potential for providing electricity in Japan. In addition, the price of electricity will essentially increase as a result of the FIT scheme. This indicates that the FIT may not always be a good option for accelerating the use of renewable energies. This study intends to analyze the effectiveness of the FIT mechanism in Japan and to propose another way to introduce renewable energies through the use of the concept of "marginal cost of power facility." The basic idea of this concept is that the financial resource of a subsidy for renewable energy is neither a tax nor an increase in the price of electricity, but is actually money saved on imported fossil fuels through the utilization of renewable energy.

STUDY AND COMPARISON OF EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF N-BUTANOL / DIESEL BLEND IN CI ENGINE

A lot of emphasis is being laid on the use of biodegradable fuel directly or in blends with diesel to control harmful exhaust emissions and to help environment by reducing global warming in addition to reducing dependence on import of fossil fuels. An experimental study was conducted to study and compare the emission characteristics of n-butanol/diesel blend and diesel. The experiment was conducted on single cylinder, four stroke kirloskar diesel engine with different blends of n-butanol/diesel blends. The exhaust emissions of HC, CO, CO2 and O2 were measured with Neptune make analyzer.

Offshore wind power potential of the Gulf of Thailand

Being highly dependent of imported fossil fuels for its electricity generation, Thailand has an ambitious target for the integration of renewable energy in its electricity portfolio. This paper presents the offshore wind resource map of the Gulf of Thailand, with the objective of identifying the potential areas for grid connected offshore wind power development. A coupled numerical mesoscale atmospheric model and a microscale wind flow model, along with long-term global reanalysis climate data, are used to generate high resolution (200 m) wind resource maps at heights of 40 m, 80 m, 100 m, and 120 m above sea level. The offshore wind resource maps are validated using measured wind speeds obtained from 28 meteorological towers installed along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The site selection of potential areas for offshore wind power development is assessed with a multi-criteria decision making analysis. Specifically to the Bay of Bangkok, results show that a technical power potential in the order of 3000 MW could be developed to generate an annual energy production estimated in the order of 6 TWh/year. For the whole Gulf of Thailand, a technical power potential estimated at 7000 MW could generate in the order of 15 TWh/year.

The Spanish Transition to Industrial Metabolism: Long‐Term Material Flow Analysis (1860–2010)

SummaryThe aim of this work is to reconstruct the main economy‐wide/material flow accounting indicators for the Spanish economy between 1860 and 2010. The main results indicate that from 1960 onward, the country saw a very rapid industrial transition based on the domestic extraction of quarry products and the import of fossil fuels and manufactured goods. Direct material consumption rose from 58.7 million tonnes (Mt) in 1860 to 570.2 Mt in 2010. In per capita terms, it rose from 2.76 tonnes per capita per year (t/cap/yr) to 11.61 t/cap/year. Of the decennial years studied in this article, a peak of 15.23 t/cap/yr occurs in the year 2000; the subsequent fall is explained by the crisis of 2008. Until 1930, Spain was a net exporter of resources, but since that year, and especially since 1960, it began to depend heavily on overseas resources. The physical trade balance per inhabitant in Spain was –0.01 t/cap/year in 1860 and today it is 2.45 t/cap/year. This process also reveals the change in consumption patterns, which became increasingly dependent on abiotic resources. In 1860, 98.1% of resources consumed was biomass, whereas today the figure is 16.2%. In all events, this article shows how, although the great transformation did not occur until 1960, before that date the country saw significant qualitative transformation, which did not involve relevant changes in the mobilization of resources.

REALIZACJA BEZPIECZEŃSTWA ENERGETYCZNEGO POLSKI

The aim of this paper is to analyse the actions taken by the Polish government to achieve energy security. On the basis of specifi ed assumptions and its specifi c circumstances, the realization of Polish energy security is examined by looking at three levels: the state level, the EU level and the international level. At the state level, Poland seeks to diversify its energy mix [does author mean ‘and’ here instead of ‘or’] and develop infrastructure. Energy security at the European Union level is sought by the development of trans- European networks between all member states and the attempt to build an internal energy market. At the international level the achievement of energy security is sought by the diversifi cation of Polish contracts for import of fossil fuels and efforts to build international infrastructure projects. All three levels are interdependent and their nature is one of mutual interpenetration.

Renewable Energy in Islands. An Integrated Proposal for Electricity Generation and Transports

The purpose of this article is to analyse and evaluate the economical, energetic and environmental impacts of the increasing penetration of renewable energies an d electrical vehicles in isolated systems, such as Terceira Island in Azores and Madeira Island . Given the fact that the islands are extremely depen dent on the importation of fossil fuels - not only for the prod uction of energy, but also for the transportation's sector - it's int ended to analyse how it is possible to reduce that dependency and de termine the resultant reduction of pollutant gas emissions. Different settings have been analysed - with and wi thout the penetration of EVs. The Terceira Island is an interesting case study, where EVs charging during off-peak hours could allow an increase in geothermal power, limited by the valley of power demand. The percentage of renewable energy in the electric power mix could reach the 74% in 2030 while at the same time, it is possible to reduce the emissions of pollutant ga ses in 45% and the purchase of fossil fuels in 44%. In Madeira , apart from wind, solar and small hydro power, there are not so many endogenous resources and the Island's emission factor cannot be so reduced as in Terceira . Although, it is possible to reduce fossil fuels imports and emissions in 1.8% in 2030 when compared with a BAU scenario with a 14% of the LD fleet composed by EVs.

Improving slurryability, rheology, and stability of slurry fuel from blending petroleum coke with lignite

Petroleum coke and lignite are two important fossil fuels that have not been widely used in China. Petroleum coke–lignite slurry (PCLS), a mixture of petroleum coke, lignite, water, and additives, efficiently utilizes the two materials. In this study, we investigate the effects of the proportion (α) of petroleum coke on slurryability, rheological behavior, stability, and increasing temperature characteristics of PCLSs. The results show that the fixed-viscosity solid concentration (ω0) increases with increasing α. The ω0 of lignite-water slurry (LWS, α = 0) is 46.7 %, compared to 71.3 % for the petroleum coke–water slurry (PCWS, α = 100 %), while that of PCLS is in between the two values. The rheological behavior of PCLS perfectly fits the power-law model. The PCWS acts as a dilatant fluid. As α decreases, the slurry behaves first as an approximate Newtonian fluid, and then turns into a pseudo-plastic fluid that exhibits shear-thinning behavior. With increasing α, the rigid sedimentation and water separation ratio (WSR) increase, indicating a decrease in the stability of PCLS. When α is 60–70 %, the result is a high-quality slurry fuel for industrial applications, which has high slurryability (ω0 = 57–60 %), good stability (WSR < 2 %), and superior pseudo-plastic behavior (n ≈ 0.9).

Groundwater monitoring impacts of deep excavations: hydrogeology in the Venda Nova repowering schemes (NW Portugal)

The Venda Nova hydroelectric repowering schemes consist of two fully underground hydraulic circuits, more than 4 km long, situated on the left bank of the Rabagao River (NW Portugal). The first one, Venda Nova II (VNII) started operating in 2005 with two reversible units located in caverns at depths higher than 320 m. The rapid growth of wind power capacity in the last years has increased the importance of the reversibility role and of water storage in existing reservoirs and led to the interest of Venda Nova III (VNIII), which was designed for two reversible power units and an underground hydraulic circuit (5.6 km long) almost parallel to the existing repowering scheme of VNII. Besides the direct contribution of these repowerings to the electric system, the favourable impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and of imported fossil fuels use was also considered. One important feature of this region located in granitic and schistose environment is that infiltration and recharge are quite important, enabling extensive use in water supply to small rural communities and agriculture. The eventual disturbance on groundwater regime, with impacts at the surface, has been one of the key analyses that had to be taken within this large amount of underground excavations. The impacts were monitored by controlling the surrounding springs, wells and piezometers, before, during and after the construction works. Flow and water level measurements are done to detect eventual surface disturbances over an area of almost 500 ha, monitoring 270 water points. The groundwater behaviour during VNII excavations allowed the prediction of the impacts on water levels during VNIII excavations, now ongoing. The task described in this paper essentially addresses the issues regarding impacts on groundwater levels before and during design construction and at operation.

Energy security in East Asia under climate mitigation scenarios in the 21st century

Japan, China, and South Korea depend heavily on imports for most of their energy. This study aims to investigate how energy security in these three East Asian countries will change in the future under climate mitigation policy scenarios. The study will help researchers and policy makers to better understand the relationship between climate and energy issues that will arise in relevant policy discussions. The analysis was conducted using a computable general equilibrium model. A reference scenario and two policy scenarios based on the Representative Concentration Pathways adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are analyzed and compared between primary energy, fossil fuels imports, and diversification of energy sources.The findings suggest that to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the three East Asian countries need to shift their energy structures from currently dominant fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear power. The lower the target of allowable emissions, the larger the required shifts will have to be. Among fossil fuels, coal use in particular must significantly decrease. Such structural shifts improve energy self-sufficiency, thus enhancing energy security. However, the impact of diversification of energy sources (measured by the Herfindahl index) under climate mitigation scenarios differs by country and scenario. Until 2050, diversity improves in all three countries relative to the base year. After that, in some countries the diversity should decline because of high dependence on a specific energy source. Overall, it is revealed that energy security improves along with climate mitigation. This improvement will also contribute to the economy by reducing energy procurement risks.

Opportunities and Challenges of Allocation of Alternative Energy Resources in Japan

In the case of Japan, which lacks any significant fossil fuel reserves (Gasparatos &amp; Gadda, 2009, pp. 4038-4048) some alternative forms of energy production have been implemented. Japan has implemented alternative energy options such as nuclear power, photovoltaic power, hydroelectric power, and other various energy alternatives and renewable resources. These alternatives have the potential to lessen climate change. Japan is becoming an example of the economic and environmental outcomes associated with alternative energy sources. Following the Fukushima disaster, the Japanese government addressed the possibility of removing nuclear power from the energy mix entirely by 2040 (Hong et al., 2013, pp. 418-424). In May of 2012, a governmental advisory board announced its plans to replace nuclear power with a combination of renewable sources and imported fossil fuels by 2030 (Hong et al., pp. 2013, 418-424). Japan intends to supply ten percent of the country’s primary energy using renewable resources by 2020, under the Strategic Energy Plan of Japan (Japan Energy Report, 2013, pp. 1-31). As reported by the Japan Forum on International Relations in 2006, increased energy demands in Asia, accompanied with pressure to reduce carbon emissions, has created uncertainty surrounding Japan’s energy security since it has a large reliance on imported fossil fuels (Nasu &amp; Faunce, 2013, pp. 68-74). The major goals of energy policy in Japan are energy security, economic development and environmental sustainability. To reach these goals, feed-in tariffs were approved by the Japanese government in the summer of 2012, in order to incentivize the use of renewable resources, especially photovoltaic power, and accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies (Frishberg, 2013, pp. 5-6). Since implementing these tariffs, Japan’s supply of solar generated power has grown by forty percent (Frishberg, 2013, pp. 5-6). There are many criteria that need to be met for efficient and useable sustainable energy technologies, such as accessibility to remote locales, user friendliness, adaptability to local conditions, efficiency and reliability (Balachandra et al., 2010, pp. 1842-1851). This criterion can be difficult to attain for large, growing populations.

Responsible technology acceptance: Model development and application to consumer acceptance of Smart Grid technology

As a response to climate change and the desire to gain independence from imported fossil fuels, there is a pressure to increase the proportion of electricity from renewable sources which is one of the reasons why electricity grids are currently being turned into Smart Grids. In this paper, we focus on private consumers’ acceptance of having Smart Grid technology installed in their home. We analyse acceptance in a combined framework of the Technology Acceptance Model and the Norm Activation Model. We propose that individuals are only likely to accept Smart Grid technology if they assess usefulness in terms of a positive impact for society and the environment. Therefore, we expect that Smart Grid technology acceptance can be better explained when the well-known technology acceptance parameters included in the Technology Acceptance Model are supplemented by moral norms as suggested by the Norm Activation Model. We tested this proposition by means of an online survey of Danish (N=323), Norwegian (N=303) and Swiss (N=324) private consumers. The study confirms that adding personal norms to the independent variables of the Technology Acceptance Model leads to a significant increase in the explained variance in consumer acceptance of Smart Grid technology in all three countries.