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The article describes the world's experience in developing the solar industry. It discusses the mechanisms of state support for developing renewable energy sources in the cases of five countries that are the most successful in this area—China, the United States, Japan, India, and Germany. Furthermore, it contains a brief review of state policy in producing electricity by renewable energy facilities in Kazakhstan. This paper uses statistical information from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), British Petroleum (BP), and the Renewable Energy Network (REN21), and peer-reviewed sources. The research methodology includes analytical research and evaluation methods to examine the current state of solar energy policy, its motivators and incentives, as well as the prospects for its development in Kazakhstan and in the world. Research shows that solar energy has a huge development potential worldwide and is sure to take its place in gross electricity production. This paper focuses on the selected economic policies of the top five countries and Kazakhstan, in what may be considered a specific research limitation. Future research suggestions for the expansion of Renewable Energy (RE) in Kazakhstan could include analysing the impact of introducing dedicated policies and incentives for solar systems and exploring the benefits and challenges of implementing large RE zones with government–business collaboration.
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The objective of the study was to identify the impact of renewable energy on Saudi economy during 2000-2021. Analytical techniques were used to conduct this study. An analysis of the study used a set of variables, in which Renewable energy perceives as independent variable and the dependent variables are GDP per capita, net foreign direct investment, unemployment, fixed capital formation, and net foreign trade. The data of the study were analyzed using the E-views program. According to the study, renewable energy has an impact on certain economic variables and does not have an impact on others. A partial validity is found for the study's central hypothesis. According to our findings, renewable energy contributes significantly to net foreign direct investment, unemployment, and fixed capital formation, but not to GDP per capita, net foreign trade, or fixed capital formation.
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Energy poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon that affects many Europeans. Alleviating energy poverty is high in the EU, national, and local policy agendas. Despite the attention the phenomenon has been gaining from a policy perspective, especially after the current energy crisis, there are still some gaps due to the complexity of the issue and its vastly different manifestations across Europe. This manuscript presents the policy implications stemming from the implementation of the POWEPROOR approach in alleviating energy poverty in eight European countries, as co-created with relevant stakeholders in each country. The knowledge gained from empowering energy-poor citizens by promoting behavioural changes and small-scale energy efficiency interventions, as well as by encouraging the uptake of renewable energy sources in the form of collective energy initiatives while leveraging innovative financing schemes, resulted in policy recommendations for national and sub-national governments and lessons for civil society and the private sector.
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Developing a sustainable and reliable photovoltaic (PV) energy system requires a comprehensive analysis of solar profiles and an accurate prediction of solar energy performance at the study site. Installing the PV modules with optimal tilt and azimuth angles has a significant impact on the total irradiance delivered to the PV modules. This paper proposes a comprehensive optimization model to integrate total irradiance models with the PV temperature model to find the optimal year-round installation parameters of PV modules. A novel integration between installation parameters and the annual average solar energy is presented, to produce the maximum energy output. The results suggest an increase in energy yields of 4% compared to the conventional scheme, where tilt angle is equal to the latitude and the PV modules are facing south. This paper uses a real-time dataset for the NEOM region in Saudi Arabia to validate the superiority of the proposed model compared to the conventional scheme, but it can be implemented as a scheme wherever real-time data are available.
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The shift to renewable sources of energy has become a critical economic priority in African countries due to energy challenges. However, investors in the development of renewable energy face problems with decision making due to the existence of multiple criteria, such as oil prices and the associated macroeconomic performance. This study aims to analyze the differential effects of international oil prices and other macroeconomic factors on the development of renewable energy in both oil-importing and oil-exporting countries in Africa. The study uses a panel vector error correction model (P-VECM) to analyze data from five net oil exporters (Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya and Nigeria) and five net oil importers (Kenya, Ethiopia, Congo, Mozambique and South Africa). The study finds that higher oil prices positively affect the development of renewable energy in oil-importing countries by making renewable energy more economically competitive. Economic growth is also identified as a major driver of the development of renewable energy. While high-interest rates negatively affect the development of renewable energy in oil-importing countries, it has positive effects in oil-exporting countries. Exchange rates play a crucial role in the development of renewable energy in both types of countries with a negative effect in oil-exporting countries and a positive effect in oil-importing countries. The findings of this study suggest that policymakers should take a holistic approach to the development of renewable energy that considers the complex interplay of factors, such as oil prices, economic growth, interest rates, and exchange rates.
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Despite a significant increase in global clean energy investments, as part of the decarbonization process, it remains insufficient to meet the demand for energy services in a sustainable manner. This study investigates the performance of sustainable energy equity investments, with focus on environmental markets, using monthly equity index data from 31 August 2009 to 30 December 2022. The main contributions of our study are (i) assessment of the performance of trading strategies based on the trend, momentum, and volatility of Environmental Opportunities (EO) and Environmental Technologies (ET) equity indices;and (ii) comparison of the performance of sustainable equity index investments to fossil fuel-based and major global equity indices. Market performance evaluation based on technical analysis tools such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Averages, and Average True Range (ATR) is captured through the Sharpe and the Sharpe per trade. The analysis is divided according to regional, sector, and global EO indices, fossil fuel-based indices, and the key global stock market indices. Our findings reveal that a momentum-based strategy performed best for the MSCI Global Alternative Energy index with the highest excess return per unit of risk, followed by the fossil fuel-based indices. A trend-based strategy worked best for the MSCI Global Alternative Energy and EO 100 indices. The use of volatility-based information yielded the highest Sharpe ratio for EO Europe, followed by the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production industry, and MSCI Global Alternative Energy. We further find that a trader relying on a system which simultaneously provides momentum, trend, or volatility information would yield positive returns only for the MSCI Global Alternative Energy, the S&P Oil and Exploration and Production industry, NYSE Arca Oil, and FTSE 100 indices. Overall, despite the superior performance of the MSCI Global Alternative Energy index when using momentum and trend strategies, most region and sector EOs performed poorly compared to fossil fuel-based indices. The results suggest that the existing crude oil prices continue to allow fossil fuel-based equity investments to outperform most environmentally sustainable equity investments. These findings support that sustainable investments, on average, have yet to demonstrate consistent superior performance over non-renewable energy investments which demonstrates the need for continued, rigorous, and accommodating regulatory policy actions from government bodies in order to reorient significant capital flows towards sustainable equity investments.
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Climate change, the scarcity of fossil fuels, advances in clean energy, and volatility of crude oil prices have led to the recognition of clean energy as a viable alternative to dirty energy. This paper investigates the multifractal scaling behavior and efficiency of green finance markets, as well as traditional markets such as gold, crude oil, and natural gas between 1 January 2018, and 9 March 2023. To test the serial dependency (autocorrelation) and the efficient market hypothesis, in its weak form, we employed the Lo and Mackinlay test and the DFA method. The empirical findings showed that returns data series exhibit signs of (in)efficiency. Additionally, there is a negative autocorrelation among the crude oil market, the Clean Energy Fuels Index, the Global Clean Energy Index, the gold market, and the natural gas market. Arbitration strategies can be used to obtain abnormal returns, but caution should be exercised as prices may increase above their actual market value and reduce the profitability of trading. This work contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable finance by teaching investors how to use predictive strategies on the future values of their investments.
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The global greenhouse effect and air pollution problems have been deteriorating in recent years. The power generation in the future is expected to shift from fossil fuels to renewables, and many countries have also announced the ban on the sale of vehicles powered by fossil fuels in the next few decades, to effectively alleviate the global greenhouse effect and air pollution problems. In addition to electric vehicles (EVs) that will replace traditional fuel vehicles as the main ground transportation vehicles in the future, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have also gradually and more recently been widely used for military and civilian purposes. The recent literature estimated that UAVs will become the major means of transport for goods delivery services before 2040, and the development of passenger UAVs will also extend the traditional human ground transportation to low-altitude airspace transportation. In recent years, the literature has proposed the use of renewable power supply, battery swapping, and charging stations to refill the battery of UAVs. However, the uncertainty of renewable power generation cannot guarantee the stable power supply of UAVs. It may even be very possible that a large number of UAVs need to be charged during the same period, causing congestion in charging stations or battery swapping facilities and delaying the arranged schedules of UAVs. Although studies have proposed the method of that employing moving EVs along with wireless charging technology in order to provide electricity to UAVs with urgent needs, the charging schemes are still oversimplified and have many restrictions. In addition, different charging options should be provided to fit the individual need of each UAV. In view of this, this work attempts to meet the mission characteristics and needs of various UAVs by providing an adaptive flight path and charging plan attached to individual UAVs, as well as reducing the power load of the renewable power generation during the peak period. We ran a series of simulations for the proposed flight path and charging mechanism to evaluate its performance. The simulation results revealed that the solutions proposed in this work can be used by UAV operators to fit the needs of each individual UAV.
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Remote community initiatives for renewable energy are rapidly emerging across Canada but with varying numbers, success rates, and strategies. To meet low-carbon transition goals, the need to coordinate technology deployment and long-term policy to guide the adoption is critical. Renewable resources such as wind, solar, hydro, and biomass can provide energy at a subsidized cost, create sustainable infrastructure, and provide new economic viability in social value integration. The renewable energy transition is crucial to Canada in sustaining remote and indigenous communities by providing local, clean, and low-carbon-emission energy for heat, power, and possibly transportation. This paper identified 635 renewable resources projects deployed to improve and increase electricity supply. To an extent, balancing demand within the remote and indigenous communities of Canada and highlighting sustainable renewable energy development through ownership participation within the communities is achievable before 2050 and beyond through energy efficiency and the social value of energy. The article identifies clean energy targets as mandated by the different provinces in Canada to reach net-zero GHG emissions.
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[...]in an End-To-End approach (De Boeck et al., 2019;Lemmens et al., 2016), multiple aspects of the supply network need to be considered and coordinated, in a way that many upstream decisions and aspects in R&D have a considerable impact on the downstream supply network up to the very last mile and point of vaccination. The next paper "Enhancing the Environmental Sustainability of Emergency Humanitarian Medical Cold Chains with Renewable Energy Sources” by Saari extends toward sustainability by focusing on the cold chain aspects of vaccine supply chains. [...]the seventh and closing paper "Modeling a closed-loop vaccine supply chain with transshipments to minimize wastage and threats to the public: a system dynamics approach”, by Andiç-Mortan and Gonul Kochan, shows by means of a causal loop diagram causal relationships with respect to vaccine waste management and the consequential public health threats.
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The increasing number of electric vehicles is forcing new solutions in the field of charging infrastructure. One such solution is photovoltaic carports, which have a double task. Firstly, they enable the generation of electricity to charge vehicles, and secondly, they protect the vehicle against the excessive heating of its interior. This article presents the functioning of a small carport for charging an electric vehicle. Attention is drawn to the problems of selecting the peak power of the photovoltaic system for charging an electric vehicle. An economic and energy analysis is carried out for the effective use of photovoltaic carports. In this article, we present the use of the Metalog family of distributions to predict the production of electricity by a photovoltaic carport with the accuracy of probability distribution.
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The six Gulf monarchies—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)—are more politically stable than their peers in the Middle East and North Africa. Explanations for governance resilience range from repression to neopatrimonial and instrumental legitimacy, hydrocarbon-based rentierism, and permissive regional and international environments. This paper considers, in view of the proliferation and uptake of renewable energy in the Gulf, how governance resilience may be affected as a result of changes in state-society relations during the energy transition away from a fossil-fuel-based energy system. It offers a qualitative analysis of the impact of renewable energy deployment in the Gulf, supported by a rich array of secondary literature and data. It also offers a deep, if brief, dive to highlight intra-regional nuances. The authors conclude that in the short term, renewable energy deployment has a very modest impact given its limited share of power generation. In the longer term, even assuming that stated ambitions for renewable energy are fulfilled, no negative impact on monarchial resilience is expected thanks to gains in legitimacy and revenue streams, as well as purposeful alignment with an external environment supportive of renewable power in developing countries.
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Human activities have been limited by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the normal conditions of our lifestyles have changed, particularly in terms of electricity usage. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the power sector in the Lao PDR in 2020, as well as the challenge of using solar energy to supply power to the network using an optimal approach. The returns on investment of network extension and the purchase of solar energy were also evaluated. Furthermore, load conditions caused by the country's lockdown policy were analyzed. We analyzed the optimal sizing and location of solar energy using a particle swarm optimization method based on the main objective functions, with the system's power loss decreasing and its reliability improved. The results demonstrated that the suddenly reduced load from industry and commercial business did not have a large impact on its operations;however, revenue was reduced. The optimal method for connecting solar energy to a network can reduce power loss and improve system reliability. In addition, we discovered that the location and capacity of solar generation can reduce the investment costs of extensions for new lines, with the surplus power being exported.
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Maintaining our standard of living and keeping the economy running smoothly is heavily reliant on a consistent supply of energy. Renewable energy systems create abundant energy by utilizing resources such as the sun, wind, earth, and plants. The demand for renewable energy is increasing, despite power scarcity, pollution, and climate change posing challenges to long-term development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has seen significant social and economic growth in recent years. To achieve its 23% renewable energy (RE) target, ASEAN can develop solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity. Members of the ASEAN have established regulations and incentives to encourage individuals and businesses to use renewable energy in the future. This paper explores Southeast Asian countries' comprehensive fossil-free energy options, the region's renewable energy potential, current capacity, goals, and energy needs. Through the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016–2025 and the ASEAN Declaration on Renewable Energy, ASEAN is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable development aligning with the Paris Agreement's aim to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Results show that decarbonizing the region's energy system is possible, but current policies and actions must be altered to reach that target level. Further research is necessary to optimize the ASEAN region's renewable resource technical potential and commercial viability with available technology.
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Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the contentious U.S. 2020 presidential election featured candidates with quite different stances on regulating the oil and gas industry, leaving many to question the longevity of fossil fuel use. However, little research explores the relationship between presidential policies and the oil market. In this paper, extensive research into presidential energy policies and their effects on domestic oil prices and production dating back to 1977 helps us identify whether we can predict the industry's future under Joe Biden's administration. The paper's results suggest the domestic oil industry is more dependent on external foreign events - with presidential policies offering almost negligible effects on prices and production.
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The current study aims to investigate and compare the effects of waste plastic oil blended with n-butanol on the characteristics of diesel engines and exhaust gas emissions. Waste plastic oil produced by the pyrolysis process was blended with n-butanol at 5%, 10%, and 15% by volume. Experiments were conducted on a four-stroke, four-cylinder, water-cooled, direct injection diesel engine with a variation of five engine loads, while the engine's speed was fixed at 2500 rpm. The experimental results showed that the main hydrocarbons present in WPO were within the range of diesel fuel (C13–C18, approximately 74.39%), while its specific gravity and flash point were out of the limit prescribed by the diesel fuel specification. The addition of n-butanol to WPO was found to reduce the engine's thermal efficiency and increase HC and CO emissions, especially when the engine operated at low-load conditions. In order to find the suitable ratio of n-butanol blends when the engine operated at the tested engine load, the optimization process was carried out by considering the engine's load and ratio of the n-butanol blend as input factors and the engine's performance and emissions as output factors. It was found that the multi-objective function produced by the general regression neural network (GRNN) can be modeled as the multi-objective function with high predictive performances. The coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean square error (RSME) of the optimization model proposed in the study were 0.999, 2.606%, and 0.663, respectively, when brake thermal efficiency was considered, while nitrogen oxide values were 0.998, 6.915%, and 0.600, respectively. As for the results of the optimization using NSGA-II, a single optimum value may not be attained as with the other methods, but the optimization's boundary was obtained, which was established by making a trade-off between brake thermal efficiency and nitrogen oxide emissions. According to the Pareto frontier, the engine load and ratio of the n-butanol blend that caused the trade-off between maximum brake thermal efficiency and minimum nitrogen oxides are within the approximate range of 37 N.m to 104 N.m and 9% to 14%, respectively.
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Climate change, pollution, drought, and rising seas impede the achievement of the seventh sustainable development goal SDG#7 (i.e. affordable and clean energies).To counter these threats, the use of Renewable Energy (RE) as an alternative to conventional energy has an important role to play in sustainable development. In this context, the purpose of our paper is to investigate the effect of RE deployment on environmental protection in China, The United States of America (USA), and Germany: the top three ranked countries in terms of RE production, according to RENEWABLE 2021 GLOBAL STATUSREPORT. To achieve this objective, the paper adopts a Panel fully modified OLS (FMOLS) method. Results declare that renewable energy significantly reduce pollution indicators;furthermore, we find that Research and development fully moderate this relationship. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of increasing spending on Research and development activities in the RE sector. In addition, the countries studied and countries around the world should pay greater attention to investment in research and development to support the long-term plan for advancing sustainable energy sources for feasible energy and economic development.
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This paper is devoted to analyzing the processes that took place in the energy sector of Iran for the period from 2004 to 2021. It is emphasized that for the sustainable development of the country's economy, a reliable, long-term, and economically acceptable supply of various types of energy in their optimal combination is necessary. Despite the territory of Iran having an extremely high potential for the development of non-traditional energy, the analysis shows that the development of the Iranian economy is mainly based on oil revenues. In the context of the growing crisis in the global economy, an increase in demand for oil and oil products, oil accents in energy diplomacy began to intensify, which allows us to speak about the actualization of the problems of developing the oil and gas sector of Iran and shifting the focus towards traditional energy sources. Nevertheless, to achieve sustainable development, along with the possession of a resource base, the availability of modern equipment and technologies, and dominance in the market for products that foreign partners are interested in acquiring are necessary. It is concluded that Iran is vulnerable to geo-economic risks in the current conditions of the development of the world economy.
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This study aims to examine the dynamic connection among economic growth, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and foreign direct investments (FDIs). The panel section considers the period of 2000–2020 for 25 EU Member States excluding Malta and Croatia. The annual data are retrieved from the World Bank and Eurostat databases. The empirical analysis used estimation procedures such as first- and second-generation panel unit root tests (CIPS) and panel ARDL based on the three estimators PMG, MG, and DFE. The Hausman test indicated that the PMG estimator is the most efficient. The PMG and DFE estimators suggested that there exist only short-run causalities from CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and FDIs to GDP growth rate, while the MG estimator proved the existence of both short-run and long-run causalities. Three hypotheses on the positive correlation between the three regressors and GDP growth rate were in general confirmed. The identified causalities may represent recommendations for policymakers to stimulate the renewable energy sector to improve sustainable development.
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In Greece biomass is often being disposed of uncontrollably, resulting in significant environmental impacts. The aim of this study is the single-stage anaerobic co-digestion assessment, valorizing Northern and Southern Greece mixtures, resulting from previous literature reviews, experimental designs, and biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays. Regarding the methane yield maximization, in Northern Greece, the most suitable mixture was 10% corn silage, 80% cattle manure, and 10% malt;while in Southern Greece it was 10% corn silage, 57% cattle manure, 23% orange peels, and 10% olive pomace for fall/winter season. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) was set at 20 d and an initial organic loading rate (OLR) of 2 g COD/(L·d) was applied, with a view to gradually increase it. However, volatile fatty acids accumulation was observed, which led to OLR reduction to 1.5 g COD/(L·d) for both experiments. The Northern Greece reactor operated successfully for OLR 1.5–5 g COD/(L·d), while further increase led to system failure. On the other hand, the reactor of the Southern Greece mixture operated successfully at OLR 1.5–2 g COD/(L·d), but further operation indicated inadequacy, probably due to inhibitor (such as limonene) accumulation. Mixtures consisting of corn silage, cattle manure, and malt can be successfully valorized at high OLR. However, further investigation for mixtures with orange peels is suggested due to the presence of inhibitors.