Uptake Of Renewable Energy Research Articles

Enhancing low-carbon economic growth by renewable energy uptake in countries with per capita gross domestic product between 10 and 20 kUSD

The study investigates how countries with per capita GDP between 10 and 20 kUSD (further referred to as middle-income countries) should shape domestic economies to enhance low-carbon economic growth and how low-carbon transition can be eventually turned to opportunity. The research starts from comparing and analysing middle-income economies, especially their CO2 emissions indicators. Also relationships between CO2 emissions and income for 138 countries obtained by applying regression analysis are constructed and evaluated. Outcomes from these analyses are configured in the form of climate policy. The proposed climate policy involves a set of key low-carbon technologies and affordable assets fitting the needs of middle-income countries. Besides, the climate policy aims to create the enabling business environment relying on economic, societal, regulatory and political enablers. The resulting economic system facilitates clean renewable energy uptake and triggers sustainable economic development finally potentially leading to low-carbon economic growth. The study emphasises that by making effective technologies and assets choices and reducing system costs, middle-income countries might be able to deliver affordable energy, thus driving industrialisation and finally enhancing economic growth. The proposed economic instruments can ease investments in capital intensive renewable energy infrastructures primarily by increasing capital availability, managing risks and reducing interest rates which are all typically unfavourable in middle-income countries.

Understanding Input and Output Legitimacy of Environmental Policymaking in The Gulf Cooperation Council States

AbstractThis article analyses environmental policymaking in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, with a focus on the output legitimacy of renewable energy uptake. Most environmental policy research so far has focused on either Western industrialized countries with established democracies or developing countries with either democratic or autocratic policymaking systems, and few studies have yet analyzed the overall effectiveness of these monarchies in environmental decisionmaking. The degree of this policy effectiveness is hence the focus of this paper. Specifically, the paper argues that, although there are a number of input legitimacy deficits in the six GCC countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman), there has been progress regarding renewable energy uptake. Thus, these monarchies may be relying more on output legitimacy than input legitimacy. Following up on the studies on input and output legitimacy, the main argument is that in certain cases useful policy results can be reached in the presence of not so strong input legitimacy, and other factors also have an impact on policymaking. The paper bases its analysis on an extensive study of primary and secondary sources, specifically institutional publications, international organization reports, newspaper articles and academic papers. With its analysis, the paper contributes to larger debates in environmental governance research on the relative effectiveness of renewable energy uptake in monarchical, resource‐rich, rentier states. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Networks of entrepreneurs driving the Triple Helix: two cases of the Dutch energy system

Entrepreneurs are often envisioned as small private start-up firms operating against all odds. Here, we investigate how in the context of the Triple Helix various entrepreneurs form communities and drive institutional and technological change. To theoretically shape a socialized view of entrepreneurship, we use the Triple Helix approach. Our empirical basis is a highly regulated sector driven by various agents, i.e. the Dutch energy system. As it depends very much on natural gas and relies less on renewables compared to similar countries, we analyse two cases where entrepreneurs drove the uptake of renewable energy sources.In our paper, we investigate how entrepreneurs from the private, public and academic sectors drive the evolution of the Triple Helix. From our results, two general features of entrepreneurship in the Triple Helix emerge. First of all, private stand-alone enterprises do not mirror entrepreneurs at large. Second, networks of various entrepreneurs are much more common and much more complex than usually anticipated. More specifically, we find that there are rather divergent developments in Dutch energy systems. Whereas in the case of Aardwarmte Den Haag, a number of key players collaborated in order to realize one specific technology, in the LochemEnergie case, we see a project-to-project approach supported by subsidies. In both cases, a variety of entrepreneurs from the private, public and academic sectors with different roles, goals, incentives, resources, knowledge and policy levers drive the development of their energy system. It depends on the actual situation on who has the incentives and resources to be in charge and act and to include others when it seems necessary.Entrepreneurs in such a set-up require particular skills including the ability to engage with their (knowledge) network, identify gaps, attract new participants and motivate the new and existing participants. Entrepreneurs managing these networks handle a whole range of semi-unpredictable actors and environmental factors that also influence each other; therefore, they can be defined as truly complex socio-technological systems. As the development of local energy initiatives unfold along the way, entrepreneurs have to be flexible and open to organizational change. While large organizations such as municipalities or large multinational companies are usually less flexible, they might create space for smaller entrepreneurial activities by supporting individuals, start-ups or academics in finding novel solutions. At the same time, a major role for public entrepreneurs lies in stimulating and subsidizing entrepreneurs and their networks.The analytical framework provided here can be used to study the principles of the Triple Helix concept in a dynamic environment in which technological innovation requires the expertise and capabilities of multiple types of actors. Its function is not only to identify roles and types of entrepreneurs and their incentives, but to also assess which resources (knowledge, skills, subsidies) they can contribute to the initiative.

Sustainable Energy Resources based Smart Microgrid towards Green Port Development - A Pathway for Ecofriendly Society

The ports as an industry accounts for 3% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable initiatives and zero net energy goals are driving the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar photovoltaic, wind, and other alternate source systems. Understanding the present scenario, the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India is keen to promote the use of renewable sources of energy at all the major ports across the country. However the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources makes it difficult to match the power generation with the varying demand pattern. The present work aims to overcome the above said challenge through hybrid power generation along with energy storage concept. The decentralisation of electricity generation provides a new economy by promoting and facilitating the uptake of Renewable Energy (RE) and Green fuel locally towards the development of eco-friendly green port.

Natural gas to improve energy security in Small Island Developing States: A techno-economic analysis

There is a paucity of studies on natural gas-based energy production in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) even though technological improvements today are likely to make the application of natural gas more and more feasible. The development of natural gas in some of the regions of the Pacific, Africa, Indian Ocean and Caribbean attracts nearby countries and the coming up of the compressed natural gas (CNG) technology which can serve regional markets are two motivations for SIDS to develop natural gas-based energy provision. A third factor concerns long-term energy security. Due to continued reliance on fossil fuels and slow uptake of renewable energy, there is a need to diversify SIDS’ energy mix for a sustainable electricity industry. Comparing the opportunities and constraints of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) in a SIDS-specific context, this paper discusses how to improve the integration of natural gas in prevailing energy regimes in SIDS as an alternative fuel to oil and complementary to renewable energy sources. To illustrate feasibility in practice, a techno-economic analysis is carried out using the island of Mauritius as an example.

Critical Minerals and Energy–Impacts and Limitations of Moving to Unconventional Resources

The nexus of minerals and energy becomes ever more important as the economic growth and development of countries in the global South accelerates and the needs of new energy technologies expand, while at the same time various important minerals are declining in grade and available reserves from conventional mining. Unconventional resources in the form of deep ocean deposits and urban ores are being widely examined, although exploitation is still limited. This paper examines some of the implications of the transition towards cleaner energy futures in parallel with the shifts through conventional ore decline and the uptake of unconventional mineral resources. Three energy scenarios, each with three levels of uptake of renewable energy, are assessed for the potential of critical minerals to restrict growth under 12 alternative mineral supply patterns. Under steady material intensities per unit of capacity, the study indicates that selenium, indium and tellurium could be barriers in the expansion of thin-film photovoltaics, while neodymium and dysprosium may delay the propagation of wind power. For fuel cells, no restrictions are observed.

Qualification of essential components of a FIT scheme

ABSTRACTA study was completed to examine the effectiveness of feed-in tariff (FIT) policy as a mechanism to encourage renewable energy (RE) development. Nine regions were selected with various time frames of RE policy development, demographics, and natural resources for comparison of RE success. Results are based on installed capacity and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. This aticle presents three main themes which successful FIT policy incorporates to encourage rapid RE uptake: 1. tariffs based on a reasonable rate of return, 2. government commitment to the policy, and 3. minimization of bureaucratic processes. This is demonstrated by comparing information from various regions around the world. Other observed benefits of RE installations include GHG mitigation compared to conventional electricity generation mechanisms such as coal.

태양광/풍력 연계 기반의 에너지저장장치 설비계획 모델링

Considering to Energy Storage System (ESS) is a global trend In order to reduce global warming and carbon emissions. South Korea has announced various policies to vitalize the development and uptake of renewable energy. South Korea is planning the cumulative capacity of ESS of two million kW in 2020. According to the government support and development of technology companies, the battery of ESS prices are expected to fall gradually. In this paper, we develop a planning model that take into account the supply expansion of technology of ESS and prices. Based on planning model, we analyze the cost of ESS linked with wind power and the revenue for trading electricity and renewable energy certifications.

Renewable Energy Cooperatives: A Review of Demonstrated Impacts and Limitations

Energy sectors of most industrialized countries are marked by a long history of state and corporate-owned and highly centralized energy generation (mostly from fossil-based sources) and distribution. Although technological developments and pressures from social/ecological movements resulted in an increased uptake of renewable energy (RE) technologies since the early 1990s, the application of these technologies have since predominantly taken place through largescale projects owned by corporate actors. In response, an increasing number of individuals and community groups have been forming renewable energy cooperatives (RE co-ops) in recent years to provide bottom-up and collective solutions to their local needs and global environmental issues. The goal of this literature review is to summarize the demonstrated impacts of RE co-ops in the economic, social and environmental realms. Thereby, their impact on community development and role in accelerating the transition towards a sustainable energy sector is assessed. Findings of this review show that successful RE co-ops generated positive outcomes for their members and the wider community while accelerating the social and perceptual dimensions of the global energy transition. However, it has also been revealed that RE co-ops’ success in generating positive impacts is often limited by various community-specific factors and by financial and perceptual barriers to their emergence and development.

Analyzing public preferences and increasing acceptability for the Renewable Portfolio Standard in Korea

In order to respond to the challenge of climate change, similar to other countries, Korea has announced various policies to vitalize the development and uptake of renewable energy. The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is the most striking example of a policy in this area. This study employs a conjoint survey and Bayesian mixed logit model to analyze consumer preferences for specific attributes of the RPS policy. It analyzes households' marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for the RPS with specific attributes and simulates the degree of household acceptability of the policy through a scenario analysis. Comparison between costs and benefits of implementing the policy is also attempted by analyzing the households' MWTP with the actual transition expense of RPS implementation incurred by electricity supply companies. The simulation results provide implications for improving RPS policy implementation; households consider the creation of new jobs as the most important policy attribute, followed by increase in electricity prices, damage to forests, reduction in CO2 emissions, and length of power outages. Moreover, the Korean household is willing to accept an increase of up to 1.39% in its electricity prices (relative to 2012), and the median MWTP of each household for RPS implementation is KRW 734.99/month (USD 0.67/month).

Using power sector reform as an opportunity to increase the uptake of renewable energy in the power sector: Responding to peak oil and climate change in Caribbean and Pacific small island developing States, between 1970‐2010

AbstractSmall island developing States (SIDS) have narrow resource bases and are usually extremely reliant on fossil fuel based energy for transport and electricity generation. These island economies are thus particularly vulnerable to the impacts of peak oil and also to climate change, impacts which are likely to not only hamper economic development but also adversely affect the quality of life of local inhabitants. In order to reduce the vulnerability of SIDS to peak oil, an urgent transition to renewable sources of energy is necessary. This paper propounds that the reform of power sector that took place in Caribbean and Pacific SIDS (particularly between 1970 and 2000) should have been viewed as an opportunity to re‐orient power producers away from the proclivity to utilise conventional fossil fuel uses. Reasons why reform measures did not result in a substantive transition are put forward. Moreover, recommendations towards facilitating a transition to renewable energy in the power sector through future reforms are proposed.

The role of cooperatives in overcoming the barriers to adoption of renewable energy

Recently, cooperatives have been created to promote the use of renewable energy (RE) most notably in Canada, the US, UK, Denmark or Germany. In order to develop the adoption of RE, the cooperatives have to seek to influence the behaviour of their members so that they switch from the use of traditional fossil energy to RE.This paper examines the various barriers to adoption of RE and the way cooperatives are circumventing those obstacles in order to develop the use of RE. This study surveyed a sample of 9 cooperatives from countries where governments are subsidizing the use of RE. The paper identifies a set of specific barriers to the adoption of RE by consumers. It also reveals that cooperatives effectively contribute to the uptake of RE with community-based social marketing initiatives that are lowering those barriers successfully. Those initiatives are related to educational communication, low prices, local offers with complementary services, and cooperative distribution. The paper put forwards a framework for the assessment of how each of those initiatives contributes to the diminishing of each of the barriers to adoption of RE.

Challenges for local community development in private sector-led renewable energy projects in South Africa: an evolving approach

The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme in South Africa is intended to support the uptake of renewable energy, help address the current energy supply crisis and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, it also requires project developers to engage with socio-economic development at the local level. The distributed nature of renewable energy generation may induce a more geographically dispersed pattern of development, and renewable energy sites can be highly suited to rural locations with otherwise poor potential to attract local inward investment. Socio-economic development and enterprise development are two of seven economic development elements in the programme.In order to prepare a bid submission, project developers have to assess local socio-economic needs around their project site and develop strategies on how to address these. This paper investigates the challenges for local community development. The research is based on case studies and presents findings from the perspective of a research team working alongside project developers. Early findings indicate that there are potential community benefits from commercial wind projects, providing an appropriate community engagement process that is aligned with the project cycle determined by the tender process and engineering requirements. The Passive Community Needs Assessment approach is introduced as a possible solution.

Renewable energy adoption in an ageing population: Heterogeneity in preferences for micro-generation technology adoption

Many countries are endeavouring to supply more of their energy from renewable resources. Such countries are also experiencing an aging population with a greater proportion of people aged ≥65 years. This demographic shift may reduce the uptake of renewable energy, if older person households are less inclined to accept change and adopt new technologies. This paper assesses whether such households have different behavioural responses to energy efficiency compared to the rest of society and investigates whether micro-generation renewable energy technologies are less likely to be adopted by these households. It uses conditional logit and mixed logit models to investigate the impact of age of household on primary heating adoption, and also to assess the impact of older households on the installation of discretionary micro-generation technologies (solar thermal, solar voltaic, and wind power) to supplement existing heating and lighting systems. Results indicate that primary heating choice is not affected but that older person households are less inclined to adopt micro-generation technologies.

Social science perspectives on energy transitions

While energy has not traditionally been a subject of major theoretical concerns in the social sciences, developments in recent years, driven by policy ambitions to decarbonise energy generation, have opened up the energy system to social science enquiry. In the process, theoretical developments are converging towards a broadly speaking ‘socio-technical’ framing of energy issues, which challenges scientific–rational accounts of technological change and diffusion that still dominate in policy circles. Approaches based on a socio-technical reading of technological change offer valuable insights into how to conceptualise the transition towards more sustainable energy futures and the embedding of new technologies into the existing energy system. This paper offers a review of both well-established and more recent social science approaches to understanding energy issues, with a particular focus on the uptake of renewable energy in the electricity sector. It is suggested that the move from a techno-economic towards a socio-technical paradigm is related to the acknowledgement of the heterogeneity and complexity of energy issues, where the more interdisciplinary socio-technical approaches are able to provide more analytical scope for understanding contemporary developments in the energy system.

Chinese RE law: China approves renewable energy law in record time

China has recently ramped up its efforts to move towards a wider uptake of renewable energy in the country with the recent approval of its renewable energy law. Containing a mix of incentives to encourage the growth of renewable energy in China, the law passed through the entire legislative process at least a year and a half ahead of schedule. Though hailed as a giant step in the right direction to address energy demand in a sustainable way in the country, to what extent it will truly propel renewable energies on the ground is yet to be seen. Buddy Buruku, IT Power, Beijing reports.

04/01958 Renewable energy: a response to climate change: Sims, R. E. H. Solar Energy, 2004, 76, (1–3), 9–17

The environmental impacts from fossil fuel use particularly climate change, security of future energy supplies and energy poverty, are the key drivers for further development and deployment of renewable energy technologies and distributed energy systems. High capital investment is required to achieve this, though this would be partly offset by savings in the cost of constructing new large power stations and the infrastructure necessary to transmit gas and electricity over large distances. Many proposed renewable energy projects have relatively low investment costs in terms of $/tonne of carbon avoided but the development of further policies and mechanisms by governments is required to enable renewables to compete more fairly with traditional fossil fuels and nuclear power, often carrying high subsidies in various forms. Valuing the cost of emitting carbon into the atmosphere is one such approach. Recent developments resulting in improvements in performance and the lowering of costs of renewable energy technologies and systems has led to their rapid growth, particularly of wind and solar. However many scenarios of future global energy use still show them providing less than 4% of the world's primary energy supply by 2030. If mitigation of climate change is to prove successful and occur in time to minimize the costs of adaptation, then a more rapid uptake of renewable energy will be required. Greater investment now to drive the cost of renewables further down their experience curves will lead to less risk from climate change and lower investment costs in the longer term.

The Renewable Portfolio Standard in Western Australia — Performance in the Face of Institutional Constraints

The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a popular method of increasing the portion of renewable energy generation in electricity supplies. The Australian Federal Government introduced a RPS that, in addition to accelerating the uptake of renewable energy, is designed to provide an ongoing base for the development of commercially competitive renewable energy and contribute to the development of an internationally competitive renewable energy industry. The design parameters of the RPS and the existing electricity market framework within which it operates are important considerations in determining the success of this policy initiative in meeting all its objectives. On the basis of the Western Australian experience, this paper argues that while conceptually the RPS may be a useful tool for increasing the portion of electricity generated by renewable resources, and supporting the development of a competitive renewable energy industry, its effectiveness depends upon the policy framework within which it operates.

Carbon emission and mitigation cost comparisons between fossil fuel, nuclear and renewable energy resources for electricity generation

A study was conducted to compare the electricity generation costs of a number of current commercial technologies with technologies expected to become commercially available within the coming decade or so. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions resulting per kWh of electricity generated were evaluated. A range of fossil fuel alternatives (with and without physical carbon sequestration), were compared with the baseline case of a pulverised coal, steam cycle power plant. Nuclear, hydro, wind, bioenergy and solar generating plants were also evaluated. The objectives were to assess the comparative costs of mitigation per tonne of carbon emissions avoided, and to estimate the total amount of carbon mitigation that could result from the global electricity sector by 2010 and 2020 as a result of fuel switching, carbon dioxide sequestration and the greater uptake of renewable energy. Most technologies showed potential to reduce both generating costs and carbon emission avoidance by 2020 with the exception of solar power and carbon dioxide sequestration. The global electricity industry has potential to reduce its carbon emissions by over 15% by 2020 together with cost saving benefits compared with existing generation.