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• Analyzes South Asia's energy trilemma balancing energy access, security and sustainability. • Focuses on four major regional countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. • Identifies major challenges as lack of energy access, unreliable gird, and unaffordable prices. • Explores the prospects of renewable energy as the key toward a sustainable energy transition. • Presents stakeholder perspectives on crucial dynamics of energy transition. To address the faced challenges – i.e. rapidly growing energy needs, depleting fossil fuel reserves, surging energy prices, risks to security of supplies, and climate change – the World is targeting a sustainable energy transition. This energy transition is primarily propelled by a global decarbonization drive. South Asia, a developing region housing over 23% of the global population, faces the additional challenge of serious energy deprivation. The subject of energy transition has not been explored in the South Asian context in terms of drivers, challenges, and prospects. This paper investigates the prospects of sustainable energy transition in South Asia in terms of resources, consumption trends, and challenges encountered by countries in the region, particularly India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It also examines the sustainable and renewable energy options for the region. An original stakeholder survey provides salient behavioral insights into awareness, attitudes and opinions shaping societal response to energy transition. The findings of the study highlight the serious energy security issues faced by the region in terms of lack of access, inconsistent supplies, unreliable grids, and high energy prices. Renewables like solar energy, wind power, and hydropower have the potential to propel regional countries to energy and environmental sustainability. "Lack of consistent policies and regulations", "lack of political will" and "lack of investment" are found to be the three most important challenges to the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urges that global CO 2 emissions from the power sector should be reduced by 90 percent or more below 2010 levels between 2040 and 2070. Such a reduction will most likely require greatly increasing the share of wind, solar, energy storage and nuclear energy in the energy mix in the next 40–50 years. This paper emphasizes the importance of developing large energy storage systems without which, wind and solar can only have a limited impact on CO 2 emissions as it will depend mainly on the energy mix used during wind and solar down time. The large areas that are required would be challenging, but not unrealistic, as long as a solution for energy storage exists. Carbon capture and storage has considerable potential to reduce CO 2 emissions from coal and gas power plants, but also from heavy industries such as cement and steel manufacturing. To give an idea of the scale of the required infrastructure, in the United States, coal and gas power plants emit approximately 2.4 billion tonnes of CO 2 per year; whereas the US annual petroleum consumption is about 0.9 billion tonnes (6.9 billion barrels). This paper also emphasizes that uranium and thorium used in breeder reactors represent an almost infinite source of low-carbon energy. The issues associated with the management of nuclear wastes are real, but they are not the uniquely difficult issues perceived by the media, much of the public and by many politicians. Finally, the investment necessary to implement a wind and solar powered economy would very likely be higher than that necessary to implement a nuclear powered economy because of the much larger number of GWe required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To stop the spread of COVID-19, governments have implemented confinement measures unprecedented in modern society. One of the main consequences has been the paralysis of commercial and industrial sectors worldwide, primary electricity consumers. This paper examines the impact of these measures on the electricity sector through a literature review accompanied by fieldwork on the impact of COVID-19 in Ibero-America and its energy regulatory response. First, we will review the causes of the reduction in electricity demand due to the confinement measures and their technical and financial consequences in the electricity sector. Second, we will examine the impact of COVID-19 on the wind and solar PV energy sectors, mainly affected by the paralysis of production and export of materials and components. Third, we will revise the regulatory measures implemented by the countries to avoid the interruption of electricity supply to households. This paper will end by reviewing economic recovery plans and their relationship to the energy transition. Although there are no fundamental differences between developed and developing countries in their regulatory reaction to this crisis in the energy sector, there are significant differences in economic recovery planning. While developed countries aim for a green economic recovery and the creation of green jobs, developing countries are allocating least resources to social protection and general economic stimulus programs, postponing climate objectives. In Latin America, this adds to the high levels of debt faced by utilities and the possible resurgence of social crises that were stopped by the COVID-19 outbreak, making a green recovery even more difficult. [Display omitted] • The reduction in electricity demand has caused technical challenges in the grid. • Electric utilities are facing growing and long-term financial problems. • Renewable energy projects have been delayed and financially harmed. • The measure to ban disconnection for non-payment has been implemented worldwide. • Latin American social crisis tempered by COVID-19 could hinder economic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To stop the spread of COVID-19, governments have implemented confinement measures unprecedented in modern society. One of the main consequences has been the paralysis of commercial and industrial sectors worldwide, primary electricity consumers. This paper examines the impact of these measures on the electricity sector through a literature review accompanied by fieldwork on the impact of COVID-19 in Ibero-America and its energy regulatory response. First, we will review the causes of the reduction in electricity demand due to the confinement measures and their technical and financial consequences in the electricity sector. Second, we will examine the impact of COVID-19 on the wind and solar PV energy sectors, mainly affected by the paralysis of production and export of materials and components. Third, we will revise the regulatory measures implemented by the countries to avoid the interruption of electricity supply to households. This paper will end by reviewing economic recovery plans and their relationship to the energy transition. Although there are no fundamental differences between developed and developing countries in their regulatory reaction to this crisis in the energy sector, there are significant differences in economic recovery planning. While developed countries aim for a green economic recovery and the creation of green jobs, developing countries are allocating least resources to social protection and general economic stimulus programs, postponing climate objectives. In Latin America, this adds to the high levels of debt faced by utilities and the possible resurgence of social crises that were stopped by the COVID-19 outbreak, making a green recovery even more difficult. [Display omitted] • The reduction in electricity demand has caused technical challenges in the grid. • Electric utilities are facing growing and long-term financial problems. • Renewable energy projects have been delayed and financially harmed. • The measure to ban disconnection for non-payment has been implemented worldwide. • Latin American social crisis tempered by COVID-19 could hinder economic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is vast, abundant and particularly plentiful in energy sources, due to which it has obtained remarkable achievements on economy. However, its energy structure is too simple to support the sustainable development of economy as coal still contributes to the majority of energy consumption in China. As a consequence, Renewable Energy Law was enacted in 2005, and Chinese government announced a series of policies to boom renewable energy industry. Subsidy policy is one of the major forms of these policies. This paper aims to present these subsidy policies and to analyze their effects according to relative data in energy industry 2005–2013, to find out the deficiencies and enlighten possible policy improvements. The original intentions and abstracts of 5 different levels of subsidy related policies are summarized, and the effects in reality are attentively analyzed. It can be concluded that subsidy policies have different short-term effect on different renewable energies, and they all show some negative effect to a certain extent. 6 core problems are summarized in this paper, and remedy strategies are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bulgarian target for Renewable Energy Sources (RES) by year 2020 is to achieve 16% share of energy from RES in gross final energy consumption. The so far recorded data show that the country will exceed it. The question that emerges is what new RES target the country can set up for the following decade up to 2030. This target needs to be in consistency with the obligations of Bulgaria as an EU member state for the 2030 framework for climate and energy policies, but also with its national priorities and needs. This paper aims to identify the most feasible level of ambition up to year 2030 for the Bulgarian renewable energy policy taking into consideration the national framework. Two research tools are used for this purpose, the modeling tool LEAP and the multi-criteria evaluation method AMS. LEAP simulates three developed scenarios aiming to different RES targets for 2030 supported by different policy mixtures. LEAP outcomes and official information are used as inputs to AMS. The AMS outputs allow the identification of the most appropriate scenario for the country. Conclusions concern under which conditions each policy mixture is feasible along with discussion on policy recommendations for its improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Feed-in tariffs are the world’s most prevalent renewable energy policy and have driven approximately 75% of the world’s installed PV capacity and 45% of the world’s wind energy capacity. Although approximately 28 developing countries have enacted national feed-in tariffs, market growth in developing countries has been slow because of a range of technical, regulatory, and financial barriers. This paper uses the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (GET FiT) concept to explore potential international support for renewable energy in developing countries. This paper reviews the GET FiT concept and discusses the key mitigation strategies that it proposes to employ. The paper also provides a short case study of how GET FiT might be targeted to support a feed-in tariff policy in a specific developing country, Tanzania. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a comparative analysis of energy governance regarding nonconventional renewable energy sources (NCRES) in Brazil and Germany. Brazil is a world leader in the use of conventional renewable energy sources, such as hydro power, while Germany has been achieving outstanding results in fostering NCRES. The focus is on two critical issues: the legal and regulatory framework and the institutions created to support the NCRES market development. The comparison shows that, despite the very different energy situations and policy drivers, valuables lessons can be extracted from the German experience. The main lesson for Brazil is to think NCRES as a strategic opportunity to rely less on fossil fuel and large hydroelectric power plants, to decentralize the electric power sector, to use the huge solar, biomass and wind power potential available in the country and to create a environment-friendly NCRES industry. To this end, three critical points were identified: (1) the legal and regulatory framework should be improved; (2) long-term energy planning taking into account social, economic and climate issues and; (3) the current institutions supporting NCRES in Brazil should be upgraded and/or new ones, such as more specific energy agencies, should be created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study examines a sample of three Asian Development Bank (ADB) energy projects to determine how they holistically address the energy sector challenges of the region. The paper firstly establishes four fundamental social and environmental sustainability principles that have influenced ADB''s new energy policy. These are (1) improving energy efficiency; (2) promoting renewable energy; (3) reducing energy poverty; and (4) enhancing climate change adaptation. These inform the policy''s new four-fold implementation strategy of scaling up renewable energy, advocating efficiency, enhancing energy access to benefit livelihoods and improving energy sector governance. The study then investigates the historical genesis, drivers, and advantages and challenges facing three recent ADB energy projects: a $76.75 million biomass power plant in Thailand, a $32.6 million energy efficiency initiative in the Philippines, and a $153.5 million program for off-grid renewables in Vietnam. The final part of the study evaluates each of these cases based on how they embody each of the four sustainability principles that uphold the new energy policy. The paper concludes by distilling lessons and presenting general recommendations for planners at the ADB and in Asia more generally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The European Union is one of the most important players in the field of world energy with an integrated and well-organized energy market. However, energy policies in the EU are not sustainable. The EU is the world’s largest importer of fossil fuels and is leading global action in accelerating the transition to renewable energy and low-carbon economy at present. Renewables make the second-largest contribution to domestic energy production after coal. This paper focuses on the institutional, public policy and business practice aspects in terms of hydrogen energy infrastructure development and the regulations in the context of planning and construction for hydrogen energy infrastructure. In the paper, the current status of these aspects are discussed as well as future directions with a focus on how these experiences can be applied in order to boost industrial innovation in hydrogen technologies and to facilitate its subsequent development. This paper also analyzes the current state of the regulation of the hydrogen energy sector in the EU and its candidate country, Turkey. Although hydrogen offers advantages to society, it has not been perceived by the individual consumer yet. It is clear that hydrogen energy presents neither financial nor technological problems. The barriers to the hydrogen energy are not technical but the mindset, regulatory and political interferences are the source of the problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The growth of Decentralized Energy Systems (DES) signals a new frontier in urban energy planning and design of local energy systems. As affordability of renewable energy technologies (RET) increases, cities and urban regions become the venues, not only for energy consumption but also for generation and distribution, which calls for systemic and paradigmatic change in local energy infrastructure. The decentralizing transitions of urban energy systems, particularly solar photovoltaic and thermal technologies, require a comprehensive assessment of their sociotechnical co-evolution – how technologies and social responses evolve together and how their co-evolution affects urban planning and energy policies. So far, urban planning literature has mainly focused on the impact of physical urban forms on efficiency of energy consumption, overlooking how the dynamics of new energy technologies and associated social responses affect local systems of energy infrastructure, the built environments and their residents. This paper provides an interdisciplinary review on the co-evolving technical and social dynamics of DES focusing on Distributed Generation (DG), MicroGrids (MG), and Smart MicroGrids (SMG), in order to draw insights for their integration in urban planning and policy, in particular reference to climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the state-of-the-day for non-renewable and renewable energy in Ukraine and state policy of its development in the long-term perspective. Despite total dependence on imported energy resources and complex natural conditions to develop new own deposits of fossil fuels; the state does not pay enough attention to RE development. The article investigates the advantages and usefulness of the development of renewable energy sources, which are considered along with analysis of the most economically profitable directions of their use. The key obstacles, which reduce the effectiveness of RE deployment and barriers to the realization of RE projects by investors are analyzed. Considering Russia׳s military intervention, we paid attention to the peculiarities of the functioning of green power plants in the occupied Crimea and the loss of Ukrainian renewable energy sector from the annexation of the peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initiatives as the Covenant of Mayors and the European Union (EU) binding targets of 20-20-20 are bringing Regional Planning of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) at the center of attention nowadays. This situation creates the need for simplified and straight forward decision support systems for local governance officers. This paper presents the design and implementation of a fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) decision support toolkit (DST) for local RES planning. DST provides the decision maker with an overall qualitative evaluation of the examined investment promptly with minimum effort. All the related parameters (legal/regulative/administrative, financial, technical, social and environmental) that affect the evaluation of RES investment in a local community are investigated. A tool based on fuzzy cognitive maps is designed and implemented on a web platform. The DST has been tested and validated successfully through application in real investments οn Crete Island and comparison to the evaluation results reached by a panel of experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy storage systems (ESS) have the potential to make a significant contribution to planning and operation practises in power systems. While ESS can be used to provide multiple benefits in the power sector, widespread use has been restricted by high technology costs, lack of deployment experience, and the barriers and uncertainties caused by the present electricity market and regulatory structures that were designed for conventional electricity systems. This paper reviews countries with high renewable targets and with significant current or planned ESS deployments to ascertain the common problems affecting the use of ESS on the grid, and to establish where changes have been made or proposed to the electricity market and regulatory frameworks. Three major problems were identified as the undetermined asset class for ESS and unbundled electricity system limiting stakeholders from determining and realising multiple ESS benefits; low electricity market liquidity and changing market conditions; and a lack of common standards and procedures for evaluating, connecting, operating and maintaining ESS. Based on the established barriers, recommendations to update or create policies, regulation and market arrangements to increase the viability and wider use of grid level ESS are discussed. The three key regulatory and policy recommendations were identified as an alignment of renewable policies to that of ESS; creating a separate asset class for ESS and associated rules for regulated and competitive operations; and standardising assessment frameworks, connection and operational procedures for the use of ESS. Finally, three main electricity market recommendations include updating rules to support simultaneous ESS operation across wholesale, ancillary services and capacity markets; updating market rules to allow compensation for flexible and highly accurate responsive demand and generation technologies, such as ESS; and updating market ancillary services energy requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Energy is essential for our preservation and the improvement of our life-style. Today all major production of energy is generated from fossil fuels, which are non-renewable and significantly pollute the environment. Access to clean and reliable energy is crucial for assuring the development of countries such as Mexico. Mexico's economy is based on producing energy from fossil fuels 1 [1] 91% of Mexico's energy is produced from non-renewable energy sources. Moreover, 36% of primarily renewable energy corresponds to the use of firewood for cooking used in a non-healthy and non-sustainable way [42]. GTZ is the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German Technical Cooperation, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). and the change to sustainable ways of life is still uncertain. It becomes essential to look at developed countries where the transition to sustainability has been rapidly increasing. This paper gives an overview of energy policies and the potential of solar photovoltaic energy in two countries: Germany, a world leader in the generation and development of photovoltaic technology; and Mexico, a country with great solar photovoltaic potential. It also describes the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of photovoltaic technology, including BIPV systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy poverty is widespread in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Pacific. It is estimated that 70 percent of Pacific Islander households do not have access to electricity, which is equivalent to access rates in sub-Saharan Africa and slightly below the average for low income countries. Pacific SIDS face unique challenges in expanding access to electricity, given that their populations are spread across tens of thousands of islands. Governments and development partners in Pacific SIDS continue to prioritise development of electricity grids, as is evident in ongoing subsidisation of grid-based power consumption and the establishment of ambitious (grid-based) renewable energy targets. This paper argues that traditional approaches to rural electrification which prioritise grid extension are not suited to the Pacific islands region. Increased funding should be directed by both governments and development partners towards rural electrification, especially in off-grid areas where isolated systems are more appropriate. Institutional reform is also important. Regulatory reform is needed for power utilities to extend electricity grids into rural areas. Institutional arrangements that facilitate the sustainable operation and maintenance of off-grid systems also need to be established. Past donor and government-funded off-grid rural electrification projects have rarely been sustainable. Alternative approaches involving payment of output-based subsidies to energy service companies are worth exploring, although will only succeed where sound regulatory arrangements are in place. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Two processes are widely viewed as fundamental to the transition from conventional fossil-fuelled energy systems to renewable powered systems that is under way. There is firstly the progressive reduction in costs as investment, or production/energy generating capacity, grows. To see the uptake itself we need a second process, captured as a logistic curve (or S-shaped curve) that depicts the uptake of the new technology as an industrial substitution process unfolding over time. In this paper we put these two processes together, deriving a single expression that depicts uptake as a function of both cumulative investment and time, where the key parameter can be related to the learning coefficient. We display this expression in the form of a 3-dimensional surface that we dub the Logistic Industrial Surface. It is applied to a real case involving cost reduction and logistic uptake of solar PV (photovoltaic) cells. In this specific case, we estimate the learning curve involved and on this basis calculate that (for an initial time period) early in the trajectory a cost reduction of 8.7% would be associated with an increase in investment of 10%, leading to an increase in uptake by 4.35%; whereas a cost reduction of 44% (corresponding to a doubling of investment) would lead to a more rapid uptake of 41.95%. We claim that this is the first demonstration in the literature of a direct connection between investment levels, cost reductions and consequent levels of uptake according to logistic industrial dynamics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: During the last two decades, Rwanda has experienced an energy crisis mostly due to lack of investment in the energy sector. With the growing of the population and increasing industrialization in urban areas, energy provided by existing hydro and thermal power plants has been increasingly scarce with high energy costs, and energy instability. Furthermore, as wood fuel is the most important source of energy in Rwanda, the enduring dependence on it and fossil fuel consumption as well, will continue to impact on the process of environmental degradation. Rwanda is rich with abundant renewable energy resources such as methane gas in Lake Kivu, solar, biomass, geothermal; and wind energy resource is currently being explored. Recently, the Government has given priority to the extension of its national electrical grid through development of hydro power generation projects, and to rural energy through development of alternative energy projects for rural areas where access to national grid is still difficult. This paper presents a review of existing energy resources and energy applications in Rwanda. Recent developments on renewable energy are also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Trends in China''s energy future will have considerable consequences for both China and the global environment. Though China''s carbon emissions are low on a per capita basis, China is already ranked the world''s second largest producer of carbon, behind only America. China''s buildings sector currently accounts for 23% of China''s total energy use and is projected to increase to one-third by 2010. Energy policy plays an important role in China''s sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to provide a broad overview of energy efficiency issues in the built environment in China. This paper, firstly briefly, reviews the key national policies related to the built environment and demonstrates the government''s environmental concern. Secondly, the authors introduce recent energy policies in the built environment. Energy efficiency and renewable energy in the built environment, which are the key issues of the national energy policy, have been reviewed. Discussion of the implementation of energy policy has been carried out. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The entry of Poland into the European Union will require significant adjustment processes in the energy sector. This paper gives an overview of the current electricity-industry restructuring approaches employed in the European Union and Poland, with a focus on the promotion of the use of renewable-energy sources for electricity generation, and it assesses the policy implications of the accession of Poland into the European Union. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]