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Since coal will be widely used in the next decades, mainly in the developing countries such as China and India, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will have a key role in the containment of global warming. This paper presents a techno-economic comparison between the most promising power generation technologies for a CO 2 -free power generation in a short-term future. In particular, three different power generation technologies have been considered in their conventional (without CCS) and CO 2 -free configurations: (a) ultra supercritical (USC) pulverized coal combustion, (b) oxy-coal combustion (OCC) and (c) integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC). Process simulation, based on Aspen Plus and Gate Cycle commercial tools, allows to calculate plant performance, including the energy penalty due to the CCS system (10.9% points for USC and 8.7% points for IGCC). In parallel, a detailed economic assessment shows that, among the commercial-ready technologies, USC could be the most convenient solution for power generation without CCS (presenting a levelized cost of electricity – LCOE – of 38.6 €/MW h, significantly lower than 43.7 €/MW h of IGCC), whereas IGCC becomes competitive for CO 2 -free systems (with a LCOE of 59.6 €/MW h, to be compared with 63.4 €/MW h of USC). Moreover, oxy-coal combustion, which is currently not mature enough for commercial-scale applications, promises to become strongly competitive for CCS applications due to its relatively low levelized cost of electricity (62.8 €/MW h). This kind of analysis typically presents strong uncertainties, due to the variability of several key parameters (e.g. fuel and CCS prices, determined by the fluctuation of the international markets, or an improvement of the technologies). Therefore, a sensitivity analysis has been done to determine the effects of these potential fluctuation or the improvement on the economic performance of the plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy has a critical role in limiting the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper assesses the implication of aligning renewable energy deployment target with national emission reduction target for mitigation cost. The assessment methodology uses Asia-Pacific Integrated Assessment/computable general equilibrium (AIM/CGE) model to determine the mitigation cost in terms of GDP and welfare loss under alternative renewable targets in different climate-constrained scenarios. A range of country-specific emission constraints is taken to address the uncertainties related to global emission pathway and emission entitlement scheme. Comparative results show that China needs to increase its share of non-fossil fuel significantly in the primary energy mix to achieve the stringent emission reduction target compared to India. The mitigation cost in terms of economic and welfare loss can be reduced by increasing the penetration of the renewable energy to achieve the same emission reduction target. The modeling results show that coordinated national climate and renewable energy policies help to achieve the GHG emission reduction target in an efficient and cost-effective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The last decade has seen a surging demand for biofuels in the wake of increasing oil prices and rising environmental concerns. The most common biofuel is bio-ethanol accounting for more than 90% of total biofuel usage. It is increasingly produced from sugar cane making cane a strategic crop for biofuels. Given the growing demand for “green” fuels, bio-ethanol production has been supported by energy policies in the past decade, which have consequently been accused of contributing to the global trend of rising food prices and thus jeopardising food security. However, while biofuel policies are an important driver, prices as much as food security will ultimately be determined by supply constraints of strategic crops. This paper hence investigates drivers of and constraints to sugar cane production in China and India and shows that supply side constraints vary significantly in the two countries. China and India both face serious limitations with regard to suitable available land for the further expansion of sugar cane production. Equally they are both faced with challenges to increasing yield output per hectare, albeit different ones. With regard to productivity, China achieved 2.7% annual yield growth since 1997, while India has seen yield decreases of −0.1%p.a. over the same period. The authors conclude that cane used as a feedstock to meet the rising energy demand will come at the expense of converting fertile land for non-food purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Asia’s largest biofuels producers are currently Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and India. This paper first examines the current status of biofuels in these countries, including the national development targets, strategies, incentives and policies. It then identifies the fundamental driving forces behind the development and promotion of these industries and considers their economic, social and environmental impacts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]