Technologies In Energy Sector Research Articles

Economic Effects of Renewable Energy Expansion: A Model-Based Analysis for Germany

Increasing utilization of renewable energy sources (RES) is a priority worldwide. Germany has been a forerunner in the deployment of RES and has ambitious goals for the future. The support and use of renewables affects the economy: It creates business opportunities in sectors producing renewable energy facilities, but also comes along with costs for supporting the deployment of renewables. This paper analyses and quantifies the net balance of economic effects associated with renewable energy deployment in Germany until 2030. To this end, we use a novel model, the 'Sectoral Energy-Economic Econometric Model' (SEEEM). SEEEM is an econometric multi-country model which, for Germany, contains a detailed representation of industries, including 14 renewable energy technology sectors. Our results show that renewable energy expansion can be achieved without compromising growth or employment. The analysis reveals a positive net effect on economic growth in Germany. Net employment effects are positive. Their size depends strongly on labour market conditions and policies. Results at the industry level indicate the size and direction of the need for restructuring across the sectors of the Germany economy.

Drivers, barriers, and strategies for implementation of renewable energy technologies in rural areas in Bangladesh—An innovation system analysis

Bangladesh has good potential for harnessing renewable energy sources such as solar, biomass, wind, and mini-hydropower. The country has been experiencing a gradual shift towards exploring renewable energy resources as a driving force for rural development. A few public sector and non-government organizations have started to develop renewable energy technology (RET) projects in rural areas. The lessons learnt from different demonstrations of RET projects reveal that with careful forward planning renewable energy can provide far-reaching economic, environmental, and social benefits to people living in remote rural areas in Bangladesh. This paper identifies some of the barriers that need to be overcome for the successful development of renewable energy technology sector and betterment of rural livelihoods. It does so through a critical review of policy and institutional settings, as well as present status and lessons learnt from pilot demonstration of a number of RET projects undertaken by different organizations. The study highlights policy implications of the review with the aim of supporting decision makers in formulating renewable energy policies and future plans for Bangladesh.

Data validation platform for the sophisticated monitoring and communication of the energy technology sector

It has very often been stated that the difficulty and complexity of achieving green energy targets in the European Union (EU) will require strengthened measures to promote implementation of New Energy Technologies, Energy End-use Efficiency, as well as measures to support the related energy Research and Technology Development (RTD). Often forgotten is the fact, that most of all, a European-wide co-ordinated forum is needed to continuously develop and sophisticate the monitoring and methodology results, bringing together specialised statisticians, energy researchers and experts on energy socio-economics. The aim of this paper is to present the Scientific Reference System (SRS) Scorecard; a data validation platform for the sophisticated monitoring and communication of the energy technology sector. In this respect, the concept of the SRS scorecard system will be laid out, the parameters and the scoring criteria will be explained as well as the assessment system so as to provide the interested reader with the basis needed to understand the technology evaluation examples provided, as well as its critical analysis.

Energy Venture Capital Sector Sees Renewed Interest

As venture capitalists show renewed interest in start-ups, the energy sector is attracting particular notice. Concerns about U.S. reliance on oil imports and problems such as the recent blackout appear to have sparked new interest in energy ideas. In the fourth quarter of 2003, a half-dozen emerging technology companies in the energy sector received over $37 million in funding for projects in areas including hardware and software tools for managing and optimizing power consumption, solar power technologies, oil and natural gas exploration technologies, and wind power technologies. One cloud that currently hangs over the energy venture capital sector is the recent failure by Congress to pass sweeping energy legislation, which would have included tax credits to encourage the use of wind and solar power, government funded deployment and testing of photovoltaics, a requirement for states to establish “net metering” rules, and encouragement of universally available “time-of-use” metering for all customer classes. Despite the uncertainty of a comprehensive energy bill and a recent tendency of utilities to limit or close their own venture capital units, venture and growth capital investing in the energy technology sector continues to be one of the more attractive segments of private equity investing.

Mitigation technologies and measures in the energy sector of Kazakstan

An important commitment in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is to conduct mitigation analysis and to communicate climate change measures and polices. In major part reducing CO 2 as well as the other greenhouse gas emissions in Kazakstan can be a side-product of measures addressed to increasing energy efficiency. Since such measures are very important for the national economy, mitigation strategies in the energy sector of Kazakstan are directly connected with the general national strategy of the energy sector development. This paper outlines the main measures and technologies in energy sector of Kazakstan which can lead to GHG emissions reduction and presents the results of current mitigation assessment. The mitigation analysis addressed to energy production sector. A baseline and six mitigation scenarios were developed to evaluate the most attractive mitigation options, focusing on specific technologies which have been already included in sustainable energy programs. According to the baseline projection, Kazakstan's CO 2 emissions will not exceed their 1990 level until 2005. The potential for CO 2 emission reduction is estimated to be about 11% of the baseline emission level by the end of considered period (in 2020). The main mitigation options in the energy production sector in terms of mitigation potential and technical and economical feasibility include rehabilitation of thermal power plants aimed to increasing efficiency, use of nuclear energy, and further expansion in the use of hydro energy based on small hydroelectric power plants.