Renewable Energy Options Research Articles

Public preferences for renewable energy options: A choice experiment in Kenya

Kenya has made considerable policy efforts to expand its renewable energy portfolio to meet energy demand and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Development of proper policies requires a robust framework for analyzing the benefits of renewable energy investments. Towards this end, this study applied a choice experiment analysis to determine how attributes (type of energy, ownership, impact on environment, distance and visibility, community job creation, and yearly renewable energy tax) impact the public willingness to pay for renewable energy development in Kenya. A nationwide survey of 1020 households was conducted in nine counties using conditional logit (MNL) and random parameter logit (RPL) frameworks. The results reveal that the Kenyan public places a high value on environmental impact, followed by type of renewable energy and community job creation, respectively. On the other hand, respondents do not place much emphasis on ownership or distance and visibility. Policy simulation suggests that while renewable energy adoption is highly valued by households, the total willingness to pay is not enough to cover the higher capital cost for the development of various renewable energy technologies.

Rooftop Solar Installations for Demand Side Management - A Case Study

Renewable energy options, especially solar energy show a strong potential to replace conventional fossil fuel based electricity generation. Demand Side Management is a method of influencing the electricity consumers’ demand for electricity and thus reducing the load on distribution and generation companies. With the help of Demand Side Management tools, consumers are able to modify their demand in such a way that installation of new power plants could be avoided. This paper studies the load pattern in the industrial sector of Jalgaon, Maharashtra and their potential for rooftop solar installations. The impact of rooftop solar on the consumption schedule is studied considering the ‘Time of Day’ (TOD) tariff in place. Further, the importance of storage system is studied by comparing the daily savings for cases with and without storage availability. For the case when battery storage is available, a linear programming based optimization model is used to estimate the maximum possible savings from the installation. To run the optimization, simulation software used is MATLAB.

Investigating off-grid systems for a mobile automated milking facility

This study examined the potential of renewable energy sources to provide the necessary power for a mobile off-grid automated milking system (AMS) and associated facilities on pasture. This involved choosing the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and sustainable power supply for a mobile AMS in Sweden operating May–September and milking 20 cows per day. Weather data, input from the milking system manufacturer (DeLaval), and outputs from two mathematical models, Insight Maker and HOMER, were used to investigate the potential of different renewable energy sources (biodiesel-, ethanol-, or biogas-run generators, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels + batteries) to support the mobile system. Solar-based energy best fulfilled the key requirements of being environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable. It also gave the lowest net present cost (11,804 USD), levelized cost of energy (0.31 USD), and annual operating costs (178.26 USD) of all renewable energy options considered. Thus use of solar PV panels + batteries is recommended for the mobile AMS facility. Ways of addressing possible challenges that could arise during implementation, uncertainties in input parameters, and limitations in scaling-up and replicating the proposed set-up are discussed.

Hardware-based microgrid testbed to facilitate development of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) systems for sustainable growth

Distributed energy resource (DER) systems that can combine small-scale conventional energy sources with diverse renewable energy options and storage are ideal for addressing electrification needs of small communities, as well as proactively mitigating negative impacts of fossil energy sources on the environment. It is therefore imperative for academic institutions that wish to play a role in addressing energy challenges for sustainable rural development to be adequately equipped with a hardware testbed for the study and analysis of DER systems. This work features a 45kW hardware testbed installation at Penn State Harrisburg, highlighting its design, construction, and its uses in academic instruction and research. A case study on electric loading characteristics of the network is presented to illustrate its relevance and the potential for its use in preparing a skilled workforce for a new energy economy.

Renewable Energy Option for Socio-Economic Development in Pakistan

An uninterrupted supply and easy access to energy are necessary for the economic and social development of a country. It can only be possible by careful management of available energy and including the increased share of clean, renewable energy (RE) in the overall energy supply. A substantial reduction in the use of fossil fuel can also help to mitigate the global environmental effects. Pakistan has been suffering from a severe energy crisis for the last many years that has badly affected its industrial sector, and consequently, a substantial reduction of economic growth is witnessed in the country. This paper explores the alternative opportunities of energy supply in Pakistan by highlighting the available potential of nonfossil energy resources. It also highlights the present scenario and prospects of RE adoption in the country that will help for socioeconomic development in the country.

Non-linear relationship between urbanization paths and CO2 emissions: A case of South, South-East and East Asian economies

This study investigates the non-linear relationship between urbanization paths and CO2 emissions in selected South, South-East, and East Asian countries over the period 1971–2014. Based on the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) framework, we applied the advanced and robust methods of dynamic seemingly unrelated regression (DSUR), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and fully modified OLS (FMOLS) to estimate the long-term effects. The empirical findings revealed the inverted U-shaped effects of urbanization and urban agglomeration and the U-shaped impact of the largest city ratio on CO2 emissions. Urbanization and urban agglomerations improve environmental quality in the long-run and support ecological modernization theory. However, excessive concentration in the largest cities have severely affected the environmental quality and violates the notion of compact-city efficiencies. Moreover, energy intensity and economic growth positively affect CO2 emissions, while trade openness negatively influences CO2 emissions. Our robustness analysis at the country-level applies the augmented mean group (AMG) panel ARDL technique, which further supports the non-linear effect of urbanization paths on CO2 emissions except for a few countries. The results of the panel Granger non-causality approach unveil bidirectional causality of energy efficiency, economic growth, urbanization, and largest city ratio with CO2 emissions. In contrast, unidirectional causality runs from urban agglomeration to CO2 emissions. Our findings have important policy implications as we suggest green urban infrastructures, eco-friendly dwellings, smart cities, country-specific trade policies, and renewable energy options to improve the environmental quality.

Dissemination of Sustainable Cooking: A Detailed Review on Solar Cooking System

Cooking sector is considered as one of the major energy consuming sector in developing and underdeveloped countries. From the primitive age, humankind largely rely on biomass for their cooking energy need, even though there has been a tremendous upgradation in cooking methods. Due to hazardous effects and energy inefficiencies of conventional biomass cooking system, unconventional cooking energy (method) is becoming popular day by day. Dependency on ever depleting fossil fuel has forced us to switchover to renewable energy options and amongst all; solar energy seems best option due to its inherent reasons. In this study, efforts have been made to review the entire solar cooking systems incorporating with and without thermal energy storage available hitherto. The study reveals the different thermal performance parameters of solar cooking system and attempts to highlight the adaption factors of solar cooking system in the designated market.

Concentrated Solar Power Solar Tower with Oversized Solar Field and Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Working at an Annual Average Capacity Factor of 95% in NEOM City

Herein, a design for a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant solar tower (ST) with thermal energy storage (TES) by molten salt (MS) in NEOM city, a 100% renewable energy planned development, is presented. The novelty of the design is the oversized solar field, as well as the TES, to produce nearly constant power output every day of the year, with minimal reductions only in the winter months. A 95% annual average capacity factor is estimated to be delivered by this ST plant at a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 7.84 c kWh−1. The CSP ST with 16 h of TES by MS is the best opportunity to deliver cost‐effective, fully dispatchable, reliable renewable energy, for both the economy and the environment. Other renewable energy options such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind may offer a lower LCOE even below 5 c kWh−1, but once battery storage is factored for dispatchability, the real cost increases by 14 c kWh−1. The proposed technology may deliver most of the electricity needed by NEOM city, with solar PV and wind plus batteries used for peak demand and to compensate for residual variability.

Theoretical calculation of biogas production and greenhouse gas emission reduction potential of livestock, poultry and slaughterhouse waste in Bangladesh

The utilisation of available renewable resources and mitigating their impact on the environment boosts sustainable development and helps to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Biogas is a renewable energy option produced through anaerobic digestion of wastes such as livestock excreta and slaughterhouse wastes. Biogas production is treated as one of the leading processes to combat climate change as well as a waste management strategy, especially for a developing country like Bangladesh. It is also vital in meeting future demand for energy utilising indigenous sources. Livestock farming is an important economic activity in rural areas of Bangladesh. Thus, the livestock waste production, estimated biogas generation capacity, electricity generation potential, greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential, and estimated biofertiliser generation capacity of Bangladesh were determined for the financial year 2018–2019 in this study. The results show that Bangladesh had 486.77 million tons per year of animal waste products to produce 27,923.72 million m3/year biogas in 2018–2019. This biogas potential corresponds to a theoretical potential to produce a 512 PJ/year heating value and electric power of 50 TW h/year. Besides, about 29.232 million tons per year of organic fertiliser can be produced with the residues of the biogas plants. The findings of this study will contribute to guiding policymakers and governments who will concentrate on the use of animal waste in biogas industries and livestock farming as a potential bioenergy source to meet national energy demand.

The spatial spillover effect of fossil fuel energy trade on CO2 emissions

We diagnose CO2 emission changes and determine the driving mechanisms and spatial spillover effect worldwide using spatial econometric techniques embedded within energy trade in the period 2000–2014. We focus on fossil fuel import, taking it as the medium through which to examine the spatial spillover effect on CO2 emissions, and compare the spatial influence between developed and developing countries. We propose different hypotheses considering the magnitude of spatial influence through fossil fuel trade between developed countries, between developing countries, and between developed and developing countries. These hypotheses are manifested in the multiple spatial econometric model. Results revealed general heterogeneity of CO2 emissions among different countries alongside fluctuations and wavy increments in the analyzed groups of countries. However, the convergence of emissions was predictable because the growth rate of CO2 emissions was low in countries with high levels of CO2 emission and converged rapidly with that of developed countries. The spatial autocorrelation phenomenon and spatial spillover effects generated from energy trade have previously only been verified worldwide rather than solely in developed countries or developing countries. Urbanization, industrial development, deforestation and GDP growth all drive the increase in CO2 emissions whereas renewable energy options can help to mitigate emission increases.

Selecting renewable energy options: an application of multi-criteria decision making for Jordan

Renewable energy sources are environmentally friendly and sustainable resources. However, there is no unique renewable energy resource that suits all countries. As such, nations must select the right option ‒ or combination of options ‒ that aligns with their local economic, technical, and environmental circumstances. Such a selection process is usually performed using a decision-making tool based on multi-criteria analysis. This study aims to find the most effective renewable energy option for Jordan by soliciting experts’ opinions under several criteria and sub-criteria. The collected responses of experts from the energy field were analyzed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The AHP model used in the study consisted of four criteria, eleven sub-criteria, and four renewable energy alternatives. The results indicate that the technical criterion had the highest weight of 53.6% as compared to the environmental criterion which came second with a weight of 29.0% followed by geographical and socioeconomic criteria which have the lowest weights of 11.3% and 6.0%, respectively. The results reveal that under the technical criterion a high rank has given to maturity of the technology followed by availability of know-how with a weight of 0.875 and 0.125, respectively. The sequence of the preferable options based on the study results was: wind energy with 51.9%, followed by the solar energy option with 31.3%, and finally biomass and hydropower with 10.5% and 7.1%, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was performed and showed that the renewable energy options are not sensitive to the technical or environmental criteria, while they were slightly sensitive to the geographical and socioeconomic criteria.

Dynamic Multi-Sector Energy Economic Analysis to Identify Potential of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Options in Expanding Electricity Sector of Developing Countries: Bangladesh Case Study

Dynamic Multi-Sector Energy Economic Analysis to Identify Potential of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Options in Expanding Electricity Sector of Developing Countries: Bangladesh Case Study

A Comprehensive Review of Microgrid Control Mechanism and Impact Assessment for Hybrid Renewable Energy Integration

This paper describes a comprehensive review of microgrid control mechanism and impact assessment for hybrid grid. Building the model of sustained energy growth is one of the actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Objective (SDO) and change the global fossil fuel system. For co-operation in the development of one independent supplier of renewable energy, the microgrid is essential. Hybrid solar energy microgrid is also a solution for reducing fossil fuel consumption and providing an environmentally sustainable solution to rising rural electricity demand. The most common renewable energy options in the microgrid are solar photovoltaics, wind turbines and biomass. The environmentally sustainable and technologically innovative installation is convenient everywhere. Hybrid microgrid-based renewable energy, however, is confronted, given its intermittent and variable source efficiency, by challenges such as voltage instability, frequency instability, charge malfunction and power quality problems. The paper thus offers a critical overview of the micro grid growth, economic analysis and control strategy.

Comparative study of biogas production from cocoa pod, maize husk, orange peels, pineapple peels, and coconut fiber co-digested with yeast

The demand and cost of domestic energy in Nigeria are on the increase, primarily due to the increasing human population and demand. This is compounded by desertification, increasing the cost of electricity, industrialization, lack of alternative such as solar, wind and nuclear energy.This study was conducted in crop science laboratory Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City to compare the potential of biogas produced from anaerobic co-digestion of coconut fibre, cocoa pods, maize husk, orange peels, pineapple peels and yeast and to determine the effect of pH and retention time on biogas yield. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates using a set of five batch reactors. The digesters were labeled A, B, C, D and E respectively. Digester A consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of coconut fibre, digester B consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of cocoa pods, digester C consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of maize husk, digester D consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of orange peels and digester E consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of pineapple peels. The pH was determined before corking the reactors. The results showed significant differences among the different substrate for biogas yield and methane component. Biodegradability of the different substrate, quality and retention time significantly affected the biogas yield in the five digesters. Digester loaded with maize husk produced significantly higher volume of biogas and methane component compared with other substrate. Increase in biogas yield for maize husk of 4g was 23.33ml with methane component of 61.78% for the 10 days hydraulic retention time. The retention time of 4, 5, 6 and 8 days significantly produced the highest volume of biogas. Based on these findings, for obtaining optimum biogas yield, maize husk and yeast blend could be a rich source of renewable energy option and would help arrest ecological disaster in addition to control of deforestation.

Comparative Study of Biogas Production from Cocoa Pod, Maize Husk, Orange Peels, Pineapple Peels and Coconut Fiber Co-Digested with Yeast

Background: The demand and cost of domestic energy in Nigeria are on the increase, primarily due to the increasing human population and demand. This is compounded by desertification, increasing the cost of electricity, industrialization, lack of alternative such as solar, wind and nuclear energy.This study was conducted to compare the potential of biogas produced from anaerobic co-digestion of coconut fibre, cocoa pods, maize husk, orange peels, pineapple peels and yeast and to determine the effect of pH and retention time on biogas yield. Methods: During the experiment, five batch reactors/digesters were used. The digesters were labeled A,B,C,D, E and each replicated three times. Digester A consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of coconut fibre, digester B consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of cocoa pods, digester C consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of maize husk, digester D consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of orange peels and digester E consist of 2g of yeast, 4g of pineapple peels. The pH was determined before corking the reactors. Result: The results showed significant differences among the different substrate for biogas yield and methane component. Biodegradability of the different substrate, quality and retention time significantly affected the biogas yield in the five digesters. Digester loaded with maize husk produced significantly higher volume of biogas and methane component compared with other substrate. Increase in biogas yield for maize husk of 4g was 23.33ml with methane component of 61.78% for the 10 days hydraulic retention time. The retention time of 4, 5, 6 and 8 days significantly produced the highest volume of biogas in the other digesters. Based on the findings, maize husk and yeast blend could be a rich source of renewable energy option and would help arrest ecological disaster in addition to control of deforestation.

Decentralised Renewable Energy and Rural Development: Lessons from Odisha’s First Solar Village

Energy plays an indispensable role in providing basic services for our daily lives. The perils of climate change and its impact on our environment have made accessibility of energy difficult. The burden of energy poverty falls particularly on the poor households in rural areas. Decentralised renewable energy options can be used to meet the energy requirement especially for the rural and tribal communities, which are scatteredly located. The study aims to find out the effectiveness of a renewable energy project at village level by studying the experiences of the Ho tribal community residing in Barapita village of Odisha, India. Barapita village is the first 100 per cent solar powered village of Odisha. Participatory rural appraisal method comprising tools such as transect walking, interview schedule, focus group discussion and key informant interviews has been used to find out the energy use pattern and challenges faced by the community. Although the solar project was initially a success, later on technical issues and maintenance problems led to the decline of solar energy use. This article suggests how the Gandhian model coupled with Nai Talim approach can be deployed to train the villagers as solar engineers, which will enable them to resolve issues related to the use of renewable energy.

Análisis perceptual del mercado energético basado en biomasa lignocelulósica de origen arbóreo en Costa Rica

En la última década, la biomasa se ha convertido en una opción de energía renovable; sin embargo, la ausencia de estudios que permitan entender su mercado limita su implementación. El presente estudio analizó la percepción de los actores que componen el mercado de la biomasa vegetal con fines energéticos desde las perspectivas de productores, intermediarios y consumidores. Se encuestaron 52 productores, 33 intermediarios y 55 demandantes de biomasa arbórea de la zona norte de Costa Rica, estudiando el mercado desde la perspectiva técnica, ambiental, financiera y social e identificando las variables que limitan el mercado. Los resultados mostraron que para los aspectos ambientales y sociales hay una similitud de percepción entre los tres sectores; sin embargo, en los aspectos financieros y técnicos existen diferencias significativas en las percepciones, específicamente en el precio de la biomasa, en la homogeneidad de esta y en los costos asociados, además de la competencia con otras fuentes de biomasa agroindustrial. Los análisis mostraron que la variabilidad de la biomasa en cuanto a presentación afecta en 40,5% del mercado, la variación de especies en 24,8%, el contenido de humedad en 10,6%, la disponibilidad de biomasa en el tiempo en 8,4%, la organización y estructuración del mercado en 8,9% y otras variables suman el restante 6,8%. Esto hace necesaria una organización en cuanto a la venta de la biomasa y la correspondiente articulación entre ofertantes y demandantes con la participación de los intermediarios para la viabilidad del mercado de biomasa en Costa Rica.

Nationwide sustainable renewable energy and Power-to-X deployment planning in South Korea assisted with forecasting model

The urge to increase renewable energy penetration into the power supply mix has been frequently highlighted in response to climate change. South Korea was analyzed as a case study for which the government has shown motivation to increase renewable energy penetration. Herein, a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) including solar and wind energies were selected due to their relatively stable and mature technology. In addition, Power-to-X has been incorporated to cover other renewable energy options such as hydrogen and synthetic natural gas (SNG). Therefore, an approach of forecasting the weather characteristics and demand loading over a relatively long timeframe was implemented via deep learning techniques (LSTM and GRU) and statistical approaches (Fbprophet and SARIMA), respectively. A deployment strategy incorporating HRES and Power-to-X is then proposed in correspondence to the forecasted results of the 15 regions considered in this study. An extension of this, the reliability of the designed system is further assessed based on the probability of the demand losses with the aid of Monte-Carlo simulation. With the proposed deployment strategy, a total annual cost of 9.88 × 1011 $/year and a greenhouse gas reduction of 1.24 × 106 tons/year are expected for a 35% renewable energy penetration. However, only SNG shows relatively competitive cost (at 23.20 $/m3 SNG), whereas the average costs of electricity (0.133 $/kWh) and hydrogen (7.784 $/kg H2) across the regions are yet to be competitive compared to the current market prices. Nonetheless, the priority of deployment across regions has been identified via TOPSIS.

Exploring the potentials, barriers and option for support in the Nigeria renewable energy industry

Climate change remains a pivotal area and a persistent challenging issue for deliberation among the nations of the world. Most especially in a country like Nigeria, where fossil fuel remains a pivotal source of socio-economic development and well-being of the society. Transforming the Nigeria electricity sector into a source for reducing the country’s carbon emission remains a significant challenge to policymakers, i.e. the Government. This is attributed to the fact that the nation’s primary energy sources come from traditional biomass and fossil fuel such as coal, and natural oil and gas, which has contributed significantly to the level of carbon emissions. In this paper, we explored and identified the potentials, barriers and option for renewable energy in Nigeria. The findings of the review revealed that the Nigerian electricity sector is crucial to reducing the carbon emission generated in the country. Likewise, it is of no doubt that Nigeria is endowed with a different mix of renewable energy sources. Hence, exploring and developing these renewable energy sources will aid the effort of the government in reducing the country’s input to the global carbon emission, instrumental to the socio-economic development of the country and improved well-being of the society at large. Also, policy recommendations to foster renewable energy development were identified.

Sprout-shaped Mo-doped CoP with maximized hydrophilicity and gas bubble release for high-performance water splitting catalyst

The electrochemical water splitting reaction offers an attractive approach to generate hydrogen fuels as green and renewable energy, in helping ease the global warming and energy crisis, working as a clean energy carrier. In this study, we present the sprout-shaped Mo-doped CoP (denoted CP) as a catalyst for efficient water splitting electrode under alkaline environment. The electrode possesses a unique nanoarray type ‘pillar’ and microscale ‘tip’ structure, which promotes high hydrophilicity and effective gas bubble release, hence achieving a future goal of highly efficient water splitting device for practical use. For both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER and OER), the electrode shows remarkable catalytic activity together with reliable stability in alkaline solution, which makes CP a promising electrocatalyst to date. By investigating the gas releasing efficiency regarding various nano/microstructured electrodes, as-prepared CP surpasses the compared samples, indicating maximized nano/microstructures specialized for gas evolution electrode. When the CP performedas an overall water splitting electrode, only 1.49 V of overpotential is needed to achieve the current density of 10 mA·cm−2 and maintained 10 and 200 mA·cm−2 for over 35 h with little degradation of catalytic activity. This work would give inspiration to many investigators who work on optimizing structures of transition metal-based nanomaterials, promoting their applications in other renewable energy options.