Renewable Energy Technology Transfer Research Articles

Environmental Management and Decarbonization Nexus: A Pathway to the Energy Sector’s Sustainable Futures

This paper examines the complex interplay between environmental management (EM) and decarbonization, highlighting how these domains can be seamlessly integrated to create a comprehensive framework for sustainable futures in the energy sector. The framework emphasizes the adoption of green technologies, energy efficiency measures, and innovative carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies and infrastructures. Central to this approach are circular economy principles, low-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions production processes, and CCUS strategies. A conceptual model of the EM–decarbonization nexus, comprising six enablers, was developed and illustrated with practical examples from various countries and regions worldwide. The findings reveal significant progress in advancing EM and decarbonization efforts. However, additional support from governments and the private sector is imperative in areas such as research and development, equitable transfer of renewable energy technologies, infrastructure for energy transitions, energy storage systems, green financing mechanisms, public education and community outreach, public–private partnerships, international cooperation, active engagement in global organizations, and the deployment of digital solutions. By addressing these areas, a sustainable future for the energy sector can be realized.

RENEWABLE ENERGY AS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY FACTOR UNDER GLOBAL TRADE OPENNESS

The key to this study is to explore the relation between renewable energy and trade openness under climate change impacts on international trade. This study is based on the analyses of trade openness index and the Notre Dame-Global Adaptation Index in measures of research of the transfer of renewable energy technologies globally, promotion of the growth of renewable energy share, and the country's current vulnerability to climate disruptions. Research is focused on evaluation of low-carbon trade, analysis of renewable heat, and estimation of the impact of renewable energy on trade openness under climate disruptions. Research verified that development of renewable energy can reduce the human impact on climate change, but such technologies are not available to all countries; because of this, different countries may be affected by climate change to varying degrees. The implementation of renewable energy technologies should help countries become more resilient to climate change through the availability of appropriate means of producing renewable energy; however, this is possible subject to the country's openness to the arrival of goods and technologies from outside-increasing trade openness level. Countries with open and competitive markets are more inclusive to adopt and support the renewable energy technologies and their development. From another position, development of trade and deep integration of economy can create external dependence on imported energy sources and block the development of domestic renewable energy sectors. The economic challenges in the field of renewable energy need the focus of governments and policy makers on supporting the stability of renewable generation facilities, increasing the reliability of energy supply, protection from seasonal changes in demand for electricity, support of the energy cooperatives and private consumers of renewable energy, and transition the public transport sector for renewable energy sources. Further research in this direction has prospects, because globalization is a stable trend of recent decades, and allows for an even distribution of efforts to produce various products and provide them to the population, but decarbonization potential of renewable energy production is untapped as fossil fuels dominate in largest world markets.

The Development of China’s Renewable Energy Policy and Implications to Africa

In the context of global climate change, renewable energy has developed rapidly. Due to the lack of definite policy guidance and barriers to the renewable energy technology transfer (RETT) between China and Africa, Africa’s renewable energy developed slowly. In order to promote the RETT between China and Africa and the popularization and utilization of renewable energy, this paper sorts out the development process of renewable energy policy and provides the corresponding proposals for the formulation of renewable energy policy in Africa.

Africa and the export of China’s clean energy revolution

The spectacular scale and speed of China’s domestic renewable energy capacity development and technology catch-up has in recent years been followed by the ‘go out’ of Chinese clean energy technology firms seeking new markets and opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper explores the growing involvement of China in the development and transfer of renewable energy technologies in Africa and examines the key drivers and obstacles shaping Chinese renewable energy investments and exports. Far from there being some kind of grand or harmonious strategy directed by a single monolithic state, we argue that fragmented and decentralised state apparatuses and quasi-market actors in China are increasingly pursuing their own independent interests and agendas around renewable energy in Africa in ways often marked by conflict, inconsistency and incoherence. Moving beyond the state-centric analysis common in much of the research on contemporary China–Africa relations, we examine the motivations of a range of non-state and quasi-state actors, as well their different perceptions and constructions of risk, policy environments and political stability in recipient countries. The paper explores the case study example of South Africa, where Chinese firms have become increasingly significant in the diffusion of renewable energy technology.

Renewable energy consumption and agriculture: evidence for cointegration and Granger causality for Tunisian economy

ABSTRACTThis paper uses the vector error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality tests to investigate short and long-run relationships between per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, real gross domestic product (GDP), renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, trade openness ratio and agricultural value added (AVA) in Tunisia spanning the period 1980–2011. The Johansen-Juselius test shows that all our considered variables are cointegrated. Short-run Granger causality tests reveal the existence of bidirectional causalities between AVA and CO2 emissions, and between AVA and trade. There are short-run unidirectional causalities running from non-renewable energy and GDP to AVA and to renewable energy, and running from CO2 emissions to renewable energy. Interestingly, there are long-run bidirectional causalities between all considered variables. Our long-run parameters estimates show that non-renewable energy, trade and AVA increase CO2 emissions, whereas renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions. In addition, the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is not supported. Our policy recommendations are to increase international economic exchanges because this gives new opportunities to the agricultural sector to develop and to benefit from renewable energy technology transfer. Subsidizing renewable energy use in the agricultural sector enables it to become more competitive on the international markets while polluting less and contributing to combat global warming.

Transition into a Green Economy: Are There Limits to Government Intervention?

Sustainable energy has become a priority in many jurisdictions as the impact of climate change is felt across the globe. This has encouraged the deployment of renewable energy by many states in their efforts to transition into green economies. These efforts have been complemented by an increase in the manufacture of renewable energy technologies within the last decade, which has reduced their cost. Trade has played a significant role in facilitating the transfer of renewable energy technologies. Despite the increase in the manufacture of renewable energy technologies, they remain more costly and therefore less competitive with a heavily subsidised and establish fossil fuel industry. The high initial capital cost of renewable energy projects, is the reason why in most jurisdictions, government intervention is key in their deployment. To obtain domestic and political support for renewable energy projects, some governments promise domestic economic development through local content requirements in their national procurement tender programs projects. South Africa is one of these countries. The local content measures enable a government to balance its competing socio-economic priorities and capitalise on the strategic opportunity that a green economy offers in economic development. The challenge that arises is that this kind of government intervention could conflict with international trade law obligations which advocate for, liberalisation of trade by removal of barriers to trade such as tariffs, quotas and measures that amount to protectionism of domestic markets. This paper analyses the local content element in the South African renewable energy procurement tender program, its compatibility with international trade law and the policy space available for government intervention in renewable energy.

Output, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and international trade: Evidence from a panel of 69 countries

This paper uses panel cointegration techniques to examine the causal relationship between output, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, and international trade for a sample of 69 countries during the period 1980–2010. In the short-run, Granger causality tests show that there is a bidirectional causality between output and trade (exports or imports), a bidirectional causality between non-renewable energy and trade, and a one way causality running from renewable energy to trade. In the long-run, a bidirectional causality between renewable energy and trade, is noticed. Our long-run ordinary least squares (OLS), fully modified OLS (FMOLS) and dynamic OLS (DOLS) estimates suggest that renewable, non-renewable energy consumption and trade have a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth. Our energy policy recommendations are the following: i) any non-renewable energy policy should take into account the importance of international trade, ii) more renewable energy use should be encouraged by national and international competent authorities in order to increase international economic exchanges and promote economic growth without harming the environment, and iii) increasing trade is a good vehicle for renewable energy technology transfer and contributes to increase renewable energy consumption in the long-run, thus contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Systems analyses and the sustainable transfer of renewable energy technologies: A focus on remote areas of Africa

Sustainable energy provision is regarded as one of the most significant challenges facing the realm of development, especially in Africa where large proportions of the population still lack access to energy services. Although there have been much efforts to address these problems with renewable energy technologies, there have also been substantial failures and problems. The Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) has developed a manual that seeks to address these implementation issues. The Renewable Energy for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods workgroup has also developed such a framework, termed SURE, which is a multi-criteria decision analysis modelling tool. Both of these frameworks rely heavily on the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach and emphasise the need to rigorously analyse the sub-systems where technologies are to be introduced. These two frameworks have been integrated and assessed in terms of their applicability for the South African rural renewable energy landscape through a Delphi study conducted with several experts in the energy sector. The results indicate that the integrated framework is suitable for the South African context, with additions to the ITDG and SURE frameworks suggested. Finally the paper highlights a potential concern in the South African renewable energy industry in that technology assessment methods that are utilised in practise do not incorporate the concepts of sustainability science adequately; this must be addressed through further case study research efforts.

Renewable Energy Development – Challenges for Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, annual per capita energy consumption is approximately 200 KgOE3, which is among the lowest in the world. Presently, 70% of the population does not have access to electricity in Bangladesh (GoB, 2004). The average system loss is 20.97% (GoB, 2006). The demand for power is estimated to increase 300 MW annually (GoB, 1996a). In contrast, concerns have been raised about the conventional energy production from fossil fuels that significantly contributes to environmental degradation at the local, regional and global levels. This situation calls for adoption of sustainable energy strategies that permeate every level of the economy and can provide rural dwellers with the services that they want and need. With this backdrop, Bangladesh has been experiencing a gradual shift towards exploring renewable energy resources as a means to fuel rural development in the off-grid areas. The country is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), with its mandate for sustainable rural development has embarked on a program for demonstration and transfer of renewable energy technologies in the off-grid rural areas. The project “Sustainable Rural Energy (SRE)‘ has been conceived within the overall framework of ‘Sustainable Environment Management Programme (SEMP)’ with financial support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This project has already completed a number of renewable energy installations demonstrating diversified community applications of these technologies for livelihood and socio-economic improvement of the people living in the remote off-grid villages. The lessons learned from these demonstration plants reveal that, with careful forward planning, renewable energy can provide far-reaching economic and social benefits to people living in remote rural areas in Bangladesh. The private sectors and NGOs (Non-government organizations) have started to take part in the process of renewable energy development with great promise and enthusiasm. However, the process encounters policy, institutional and technological barriers, which are critical for continued development in this sector.

Role of social capital in advancing regional sustainable development

This paper argues that well-functioning social networks within regions can play a useful role in achieving sustainable development because they facilitate the speedy dissemination of novel information, expertise and resources across the region. In well-functioning networks all relevant key roles are occupied and played by individuals and organisations in a way that is credible, consistent, legitimate and equitable. Using insights from three network theories an outline of a regional network infrastructure is drawn. Key roles are identified: the gatekeeper; prime mover; bridge builder/intermediary; representative spokesperson; and monitor. Three examples are given of diverse organisations that aim to fulfil these roles: Midlands Renewable Energy Technology Transfer, UK Round Table on Sustainable Development and Sustainability North West.

Renewable energy in Russia: markets, development and technology transfer

Five potential markets in Russia offer commercial opportunities for renewable energy that are nearly cost-competitive with conventional forms of energy—grid-connected electricity from wind power, electricity for villages and small settlements from hybrid wind-diesel and biomass, district heating for buildings from biomass, hot water for buildings from solar thermal, and electricity and heat from geothermal. Over the last several decades the Soviet Union conducted research and development on several forms of renewable energy. Technological infrastructure, scientific and technical knowledge, engineering and technical skills, and factories and equipment are all well developed assets. But the translation of these assets into commercial renewable energy technologies and markets is a problem because associated market-oriented skills and institutions are still lacking. Many barriers also exist, including lack of information and demonstration experience, lack of long-term commercial financing, a perceived climate of high investment risk, technology acceptance, some direct and indirect energy price subsidies (most energy prices have risen to “market” levels), utility monopolies and the absence of operational regulatory frameworks for independent power producers, and historical enterprise specialization. Market intermediation is very important for renewable-energy investments and technology transfer, providing the knowledge, information, skills, services, financing, and analysis that is necessary to overcome barriers. Joint ventures with foreign multinational corporations represent another important means for overcoming barriers, one that takes advantage of Russian technological capabilities. Four case studies illustrate the most prominent examples of renewable energy technology transfer with Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic States during the period 1992–1996.

Models of renewable energy technology transfer to developing countries

This paper will discuss the benefits and needs for renewable energy technology transfer to developing countries. It will also assess and discuss the different models or channels of renewable energy technology transfer for successful dissenination in developing countries.