Energy In Iran Research Articles

The driving forces of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in Iran's electricity sector: A decomposition analysis based on types of ownership

As the most active industry, the electricity generation sector contributes 22% of Iran's total energy consumption and 31% of Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. While power plants' high pollution and increasing power demand have prioritized determining energy consumption and emissions' underlying factors, there is no comprehensive study to analyze these factors in Iran's power sector yet. To identify driving factors of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions, we utilize the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) to investigate the effects of activity, generation structure, energy intensity, fuel-mix, and fuel emission coefficient on both variables between 1990 and 2017. While Decomposition studies are mostly analyses economic sectors based on the type of infrastructure, with a novel approach, we decomposed the driving factors based on the power plants' ownership to investigate how privatization affects them. This research confirmed that the activity factor was mainly responsible for both variables' growth, with a contribution ratio of more than 110% over their total amount. In contrast, the energy intensity factor reduced them by almost 12%, mainly due to the private sector's greater efficiency. It has also been stated that the private sector had a lower pollution rate, and the privatization policy has helped to reduce energy intensity and pollution. • Factors affecting energy consumption and CO 2 emission have been investigated by LMDI. • The decomposition is done with a new approach, based on the types of ownership. • Factors had similar effects on both variables, with the exception of one. • Privatization reduced variables by decreasing the intensity factor positive impact. • Privatization policies to control both variables have been discussed.

Energy subsidy reform evaluation research – reviews in Iran

AbstractThis paper provides an ex post evaluation of Iran's energy subsidy reform of main law, definitions, its aims and scope, its effectiveness, and problems. Based on an assessment of policy reports, actual data, peer‐reviewed studies, and regression models, this study suggests evidence that the removal of energy subsidies in Iran was effective in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions only in the first 2 years of policy implementation. But, over the next years, the demand for energy commodities increased because of the incomplete implementation of the policy. Besides some local and international economic, social, and political challenges, the policy was not completed in the subsequent years because the government did not prepare its preliminary theoretical framework and requirements in the three stages of legislation and transparency – implementation and management, control, and adjustment of the negative policy impacts. Moreover, the decline in environmental emissions occurred mainly due to fuel switching, as natural gas consumption in power plants, industries, and transport, and rather the use of renewable energies, increased substantially. Likewise, at the time of removal of energy subsidies, the government introduced a cash transfer scheme until the present. This compensation scheme has had significant burdens on the government budget and reaches the trillions of rials each year, while in the first year of the policy, it improved the socioeconomic welfare. The econometric results showed that removing energy subsidies is an effective policy in reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Iran. This study provides important policy recommendations for sustainable energy security and economic development in Iran. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Heterogeneous or homogeneous? A modified decision-making approach in renewable energy investment projects

<abstract> The continuous increase of energy consumption resulted in the unavoidable increase in demand for renewable energy (RE) investment projects in recent years. Although the necessity of developing alternative energy sources is clear, the government cannot afford the huge investment in RE investment projects without private sector participation. Therefore, analyzing the decision-making procedure from the investor's point of view is essential to improve this process. Numerous studies in the literature developed various multi-criteria decision-making approaches using expert's judgments to provide informed decisions on RE investment projects. While prior efforts are valuable, accounting heterogeneity impact with regard to experts' background and knowledge on results has not been examined. Therefore, this study aims to develop a modified decision-making approach in RE projects using an analytical hierarchy process to: (1) provide a comprehensive review of investors criteria in RE projects; (2) evaluate how the level of expertise of experts in RE subject has an impact on the achieved common solution; and (3) determine the best RE alternative in different scenarios. Then, Iran, as a case study is selected to illustrate the model practicability. The results indicate that those who have higher expertise in the subject are more concerned about the "consumption market", and "government supportive policies". Whereas economic factors remain the most challenging criteria in less expert participation views. Both groups chose 'wind energy' as the best alternative energy source for investment based on current Iran's energy market. It is anticipated that the developed methodology and its results can be used by (1) government and public agencies to understand the investors' concerns; (2) investors to make a more-informed risk-based decision in RE projects or other complex decision-making projects. </abstract>

More Secure Iranian Energy System: A Markal Based Energy Security Model for Iranian Energy Demand-side

As the world’s seventeenth-largest economy and a significant exporter of fossil fuels, the choice of future energy paths and policies that Iran will pursue over the next three decades will have a considerable impact on global energy security as a whole. Especially the eastern region. This article describes the current situation and recent trends in Iran’s energy sector, including demand and supply-side fuel sector. This paper discusses the state of current energy policy in Iran, focusing on changing the situation, developing and deploying renewable energy, liberalizing energy markets, and developing Iran’s energy sector. In the final part of the article, discussed Iran Long Range Alternative Energy Planning Software System dataset, several alternative energy paths for Iran’s energy demand side, emphasize alternative pathways to diversify energy and power. The expansion of GHG emissions and emissions reductions and the Iranian economy’s oil dependence is less - and address Iran’s current energy policy issues, as reflected in inputs and modeling results.

Provision of an Optimal Strategy to Forecast the Prices Set by the Electricity Market in the Competitive Iranian Energy Market in Fall

Given the complexities of the electricity market, various factors, such as uncertainties, the ways upon which the markets are set, how the debts are settled, the market structure and regulations, production prices, constraints governing the units and networks, etc. are influential in determining the optimal pricing strategies. Various methods and models have been presented to resolve the pricing issue in the competitive electricity industry. The most prominent of which include pricing methods are based on the prediction of competitors’ behavior; also pricing methods based on the forecasts of market price, methods based on the game theory and lastly, pricing methods based on the intelligent algorithms. Therefore, this study was conducted to provide an optimal strategy in order to forecast the electricity market price set in the competitive Iranian electricity market (based on the data collected). In this paper, the proposed method uses a compound network based on the neural networks. The analyzed data include the amount of the consumed energy as well as temperature (if applicable) and the price set for the past days and weeks. The self-organizing map (SOM) network was used for the input clustering based on the similar days. A number of multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks were used to combine the extracted data consisting of the energy levels, the price set, and temperature (if possible). The results showed improvements in the performance of the smart systems based on the neural networks in predicting the electricity prices.

Sanctions against Iran and the Law of the Sea

Since 2006, Iran has been subject to a range of international sanctions, both collectively through the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), and individually by States such as the United States. These sanctions, of an increasingly stringent nature, seek to ensure the peaceful development of Iran's nuclear energy program. To this end, the sanctions now cover a wide range of activities, including the export to Iran of materials and technologies that could advance Iran‟s nuclear weapons program, restrictions on arms trading, limits on foreign trade with certain named persons, restrictions on the provision of financial services, asset-freezing measures, controls on shipping and air transport, and, most recently, controls on certain dealings with Iran‟s oil and gas sectors. This short note reviews the key provisions of the sanctions as adopted at the UN and EU levels. It focuses on the specific measures taken as they relate to maritime matters. Two issues are especially important in this respect. First, since the international sanctions require States to control a range of private transactions, such as shipping services, the effective operation of UN sanctions depends upon States being able to transpose general sanctions into measures which can create sufficiently certain levels of legal conduct for individuals. It is not clear that this is easily done in practice. Second, it is clear that successful sanctions require considerable constraints on international shipping, because this is the principal means by which goods enter and leave Iran. This raises questions about the extent to which aspects of the sanctions can be reconciled with the law of the sea, particularly as regards inspections and limits on shipping transactions.

District cooling systems in Iranian energy matrix, a techno-economic analysis of a reliable solution for a serious challenge

Iran is a wide country with a variety of climates. In the summer, the temperature of the northern part of the country could reach up to about 50 °C at an extremely high humidity, which makes the use of evaporative cooling inappropriate. The existing solution is the use of standalone compression chillers at all the households. This puts much pressure on the electrical grid and massively costs the government to pay a considerable portion of the electricity bills of people as subsidy. This study proposes the implementation of district cooling systems in the northern part of Iran to address this challenge and presents a thorough techno-economic feasibility analysis of this proposal. For this, an arbitrary pattern for a small case study is manipulated, and all the thermodynamic simulations are carried out. The technical and economic results are then compared with those associated with the existing cold supply method. The results show that the development of district cooling systems with large-scale absorption chillers driven by fire-tube boilers can totally solve the electricity supply problem of this area. In addition, the economic analysis, based on the net present value method, reveals that the payback period can be as short as 6 years.

A decision-making framework opted for smart building's equipment based on energy consumption and cost trade-off using BIM and MIS

Development of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is assisting engineers with automating design/construction processes in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Lack of such a comprehensive decision-making framework which utilizes BIM, Management Information Systems (MIS), simulation, and automation tools to choose between different construction alternatives have been addressed in the research background. As an example of decision-making objective, optimized smart building's equipment combination for a certain project should be selected in the feasibility study phase. In this research, a comprehensive decision-making framework was developed to choose smart building's equipment based on energy consumption and cost trade-off. Subsequently, smart building alternatives were considered as a decision-making example to choose the best alternative using BIM, MIS and simulation tools. The research contributes to the automating of some parts of the decision-making framework by developing an Application Programming Interface (API). This API helps with making the appropriate automating permutation out of possible options, totalizing the cost of each combination and sorting data in the research database developed for the recommended framework. This framework, database and API can be used similarly for any other decision making objective. Finally, a model representing the average conditions of residential buildings in Tehran was developed to choose the optimized smart building's equipment combination of 31 considered options. This optimized combination which included all possible smart building options except for smart lighting has an investment return of about 7.5 years which is more than that of similar projects in other countries due to Iran's low energy carrier tariff.

Techno-economic assessment of steel plant participation in DSM programs (case study: Iran’s industrial operational reserve program)

Industrial sector in each country consumes large amounts of total produced electrical energy. Hence, industrial customers with flexible loads are attractive targets for implementing demand-side management (DSM) programs. In recent years, Iranian energy ministry has applied an industrial operational reserve program (IORP) to reduce energy shortage during peak hours. This program has been developed to encourage industrial customers to participate in DSM programs, while steel plants show fewer tendencies to take part in these programs. In this paper, a techno-economic feasibility analysis of implementing IORP on steel plants, as the largest consumers of Iran’s industrial sector, is presented. For this purpose, first, the production process of a steel plant is modeled. Then, an optimization problem is developed to obtain the optimal scheduling of processes involved in producing steel through considering their technical and economic aspects. In order to solve the proposed problem which is mixed-integer nonlinear, Benders decomposition approach is used. Eventually, from the viewpoint of a steel plant owner, the profitability of taking part in IORP is investigated in three possible scenarios. The simulation results showed that steel plants can benefit from participating in IORP.

Best Option of Investment in Renewable Energy: A Multicriteria Decision-Making Analysis for Iranian Energy Industry

Electricity production and consumption can be considered as one of the most important factors and necessities in the growth and development of any country. To generate electricity, it is necessary to build power plants. Due to the high exchange rate and the high cost of construction and operation of any new power plant in the electricity industry, it is necessary to select these power plants based on a wide range of criteria. In this research, using economic, environmental, technical, and social criteria, different power plants in Iran are prioritised using Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) fuzzy hierarchical analysis methods for the 2018–2040 period. Indicators of environmental pollution, initial investment per unit of electricity generated, maintenance costs, accessibility, public acceptability, and the possibility of developing and increasing capacity were the main indicators affecting the prioritisation of power plants in Iran. In general, according to all the indicators studied in this study, the level of environmental pollution has the greatest impact on the prioritisation of power plants. Also, the indicators related to the amount of initial investment per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated, maintenance costs, the possibility of expanding and increasing the capacity, and the possibility of easy access to spare parts were the most important factors. The results of multicriteria decision prioritisation show that solar power plants are the first option for the strategic choice of power plants, and wind farms and small-scale biomass are in the next priorities. Therefore, it is suggested that the government and policy institutions, according to the prioritisation of power plants, create the necessary infrastructure to exploit these energies.

The Nature of the Principle of Deterrence in the Nuclear Actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran

US foreign policy during the Obama administration, especially in the second term, has focused to resolve its international crises in the Middle East and tried to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. In the current article, different approaches are brought forth in the field of discerning deterrence mechanisms that are feasible against asymmetric hazards. In the following, the attempts has been made to answer the question of how deterrence can be utilized as a mechanism to face asymmetric threats, and what role can Iran's nuclear program play in deterring countries in power in this process?. Hence, from the analysis of the mentioned model, we will present the main and major assumptions of the current article under four headings: deterrent measures, coercive measures, anti-deployment measures and counter-offensive measures. The tensions between Iran and the West are not the product of Iran's nuclear program, but are based on the religious ideology of the Iranian government and Israel's presence in the region, although the role of some Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, should not be disregarded. The hypothesis under consideration is that US foreign policy in the Iranian nuclear case has been directed towards the interaction of national interests by following the rational, organizational and bureaucratic model of decision-making models. The result of the research is that think tanks are very determining in leading the US government to the White House foreign policy decision-maker towards Iran, so that diplomacy actors cannot escape it. And public opinion seeks to make Iran's nuclear energy dangerous and to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as a serious threat to humanity. Though, the Islamic Republic of Iran, with its power to obtain nuclear weapons, does not intend to build a nuclear bomb, nor does it intend to make the world insecure. The power of reaching to a nuclear weapon can play a key and major role for Iran as a deterrent, and Iran intends to use nuclear energy not to build a bomb but to make it peaceful.

Valorization of municipal solid wastes through biogas production in Iran

Iran is a developing country with a population of over 80 million. The total daily MSWs production in Iran is about 50 million kg. Most of the MSWs in this country is being disposed of in the landfills. Some of the landfills are located in the urban area or near to sea, river, and forest. In this regard, the management of MSWS becomes a concern in Iran. One solution to manage MSWs and mitigate their environmental impacts is to capture the biogas production. Thus, this research presents the potential biogas generation from MSWs in Iran. The findings of this study illustrated that Iran's daily energy generation potential from MSW is equal to 31,676 barrels of crude oil. The yearly biogas potential generation from MSWs resources is equal to 13.4 million barrels of crude oil equivalent. Overall, the results of this research show that there is a tremendous potential to generate energy and reduce the environmental impact of MSWs in Iran through converting them to the biogas.

Iran's energy policy after the nuclear deal for cooperation with foreign oil and gas companies

The exceptional opportunities provided in the Iranian Petroleum industry have attracted the attention of international oil/gas companies. Ever since the sanctions on economic and financial cooperation with Iran have been lifted, major oil companies have expressed their interest in cooperating with Iran in its oil/gas fields. This study sought to propose a model for evaluating and ranking foreign oil/gas companies willing to participate in the Iran's energy sector. To accomplish this, an integrated model composed of best-worst method and VIKOR was used. More specifically, to weight the criteria best-worst method, and to evaluate and finally rank the alternatives, VIKOR was used. The data were collected through questionnaires which gathered the opinions of eight experts in the field of Iranian oil/gas industry. Data analysis revealed that a number of American companies, along with some leading European companies, had higher ranks, compared to the others and those which cooperated with Iran during the sanctions.

Iran's energy policy after the nuclear deal for cooperation with foreign oil and gas companies

Iran's energy policy after the nuclear deal for cooperation with foreign oil and gas companies

Energy intensity determinants in an energy-exporting developing economy: Case of Iran

While the empirical literature on energy intensity is focused mainly on reduced energy intensity, this study examines a case where energy intensity is increasing. The paper aims at identifying price and non-price determinants of Iran's energy intensity and analyzing their importance in dynamics of it. In order to answer the research question, LMDI decomposition technique as well as time series econometrics have been used to data analysis. Based on the results, both structural changes in economic activities and inefficiency of energy consumption have led to the increase in Iran's energy intensity, although the latter dominated the former. The elasticity of energy intensity with respect to total factor productivity, real energy prices, and industrial development is negative in the short-run and long-run. Additionally, per capita income has a positive linear relationship with energy intensity that implies a high income elasticity of energy demand. Furthermore, changes in TFP and energy prices contribute more than two-thirds of forecast error variance decomposition of energy intensity, which shows the importance of these factors in energy intensity dynamics. Hence, in order to change the increasing trend of energy intensity, it is important to consider the necessities of improving technology and productivity while realizing energy prices.

Investigating carbon emission abatement long-term plan with the aim of energy system modeling; case study of Iran

Increasing vehicles usage, as a promising solution for environmental issues, might have unexpected implications, since it entails some changes in different sectors and scales in energy system. In this respect, this research aims at investigating the long-term impacts of vehicles deployment on Iran's energy system. Accordingly, Iran's energy system was analyzed by LEAP model in demand, supply, and transmission sides for all fuels and two different scenarios. Existing policies with limited optimistic assumptions was investigated as reference scenario. Alternatively, the other scenario, electric scenario, is gradually for substitution of vehicles for 15% gasoline cars until 2030 and renewable energy sources have more contribution in electricity production. Finally, carbon dioxide emission was predicted and compared in both scenarios for 25 years later. Results indicate that with electric scenario at 2030, Iran would have by 9.2 % and 1.9% less Carbon Dioxide emissions in comparison to the reference scenario in the transportation sector and total system, respectively.

Iran’s Gas Market after the Nuclear Deal (Characteristics and Opportunities)

Iran owns the first largest proven gas reserves in the world. Iran's energy wealth and geo-strategic location a bridge between East and West – allow it to export energy resources to European and Asian energy markets. However, due to various internal and international political, economic, and security constellations, Iran could not successfully exercise its energy potential internationally. The international agreement of July 2015, preconditioning lifting of sanctions and preparation of a new more competitive oil and gas contract framework in Iran signal a significant change in the international and domestic environment, allowing Iran to re-emerge in the global energy stage in a new atmosphere. Reopening Iran's energy sector will offer many new opportunities for the international oil companies. The big question is what are the Prospects and challenges for Iran’s Gas Sector? The aim of this paper is to analyze the country’s gas outlook in the aftermath of a potential nuclear deal, looking at the potential production trends, at the potential export options, but also at the political and commercial barriers that such a development will likely have to face. In fact, a full resolution of the nuclear issue will unlikely automatically change the Iranian gas market in the short term, as a number of commercial issues will continue to remain on the table. Keywords: challenges, International gas market, Iran gas market, nuclear deal, positional, South ParsJEL: G38, Q40

After the sanctions: Policy challenges in transition to a new political economy of the Iranian oil and gas sectors

This article discusses the prospects of Iranian domestic energy sector by focusing on the latest political and economic developments taking place in connection with the hydrocarbon industry. Although after partial lifting of the sanctions, substantial changes in the Iranian energy sector may present a new, favorable environment for international investments, the political economy of hydrocarbon management in Iran plays a significant role in the definition of current and prospective stakeholders, their aims and interests. This paper analyses existing policies and policy challenges of hydrocarbon management by contextualizing them with historical and political factors.Considering the recent prospects in the Iranian hydrocarbon sector, it is worth keeping only the lower expectations concerning the production boom of the Iranian hydrocarbon industry: due to external market trends (low oil price, oversupply in the market) and a long redistribution process, the most probable scenario proposes a slow and continuous transformation in the oil and gas sectors of the Islamic Republic. In practice, it means that both the extension of export capacity and the involvement of international companies will take place in a gradual, regulated way, in which all the interests of major Iranian political and economic stakeholders have to be considered.

Identifying and prioritizing foreign companies interested in participating in post-sanctions Iranian energy sector

Ever since the sanctions on economic and financial cooperation with Iran have been lifted, leading contractors in the field of energy have expressed their interest in participating in Iran's energy sector. This study sought to propose a model for assessing and ranking foreign companies willing to take an active part in the Iranian petrochemical industry. To accomplish this, an integrated model composed of Best-Worst Method, ELECTRE III and PROMETHEE II was proposed. More specifically, to weight the criteria, Best-Worst Method was used, and to evaluate and rank them, ELECTRE and PROMETHEE methods were utilized. The data were gathered through questionnaires which collected the opinions of 8 experts in the field of the Iranian petrochemical industry. Results of data analysis revealed that in final evaluation, some well-known European companies in this area had higher positions compared to the others and those which cooperated with Iran during the sanctions.

Okra: A potential future bioenergy crop in Iran

The Iranian energy sector has recently discovered a great interest in the concept of renewable and clean energy. The interest is motivated primarily by concerns about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global climate change, as well as the desire to find alternative and sustainable energy sources and create potential job opportunities related to these new technologies for future generations of Iranians. This study supports the search for alternative, sustainable energy sources by assessing okra's usability as a biofuel.Okra is an annual, warm season crop that provides a rich source of industrial oil and protein. According to our investigation, the seeds of Iranian okra ecotypes that have an oil content of 20% could produce up to 325 kg/ha oil yield. Our study on Iranian okra seed oil showed that, the most dominant fatty acids of are linoleic acid (C18:2) (38–40%), Palmitic acid (C16:0) (29–30%), and Oleic acid (C18:1) (19–22%). The biodiesel derived from okra via a transesterification reaction using an ultrasonic system could meet ASTM D6751 standards with satisfactory results in methyl ester content (more than 96%), viscosity (2.3–2.4 mm−2/S, and flash point (155–158 °C)). Because of its high oil yield, quality, and large ecological adaptation window, okra is a strong contender to provide a new source of non-edible oil for biodiesel production in bioenergy farms.