Search

China produces nearly half of the world’s coal and more than half of the global coal-fired electricity. Its CO2emissions are higher than the combined volumes of the next three world regions—the US, Europe, and India. China has announced a net-zero commitment by 2060. This timeline creates enormous pressure to maintain energy security while phasing down coal use. Despite the localized nature of China’s coal production with nearly 80% of its thermal coal industry concentrated in four provinces, the dependencies are complex and extensive. Large-scale changes to energy systems will result in a range of social, cultural, and economic disruptions across China’s urban, rural, and remote regions. This paper examines experiences with coal transitions in other jurisdictions and considers implications for China. We examine the drivers, successes, and failures of coal phase-down in Germany, Poland, Australia, the UK, and the US. Despite significant differences in scale and complexity, these experiences offer important insights for China as it works to meet its climate commitments.

This work primarily focuses on electrical characteristics of a hybrid power system (HPS) incorporating renewable energy generation (REG) (HPSREG). The major components of HPSREG are the resources coordinated with multi-unit of photovoltaic cells, multi-unit of wind turbine generators, a diesel engine generator (DEG), energy storage system (ESS) with diverse nature and an electric vehicle (EV). The performance characteristics of HPSREG are determined by constant generation of power from the various sources as well as varying load perturbations. As the variation in load demand will introduce fluctuation in frequency and power with constant generation. In few of overcome the frequency and power deviation under both the above-mentioned generation and load demand conditions, proper control technique is required. In order to control the deviation in frequency and power, an integration in the environment of fractional order (FO) calculus for proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller and fuzzy controller, termed with FO-Fuzzy PID controller tuned with quasi-opposition based harmonic search (QOHS) algorithm has been proposed. The results acquired with the proposed FO-Fuzzy-PID controller are then analyzed along with FO-PID and PID controller route for quantify effectiveness for the same under the considered cases to determine the effectiveness of the algorithm undertaken. Sensitivity investigation is also conducted in order to show the strength of the technique under study of differences in HPSREG parameters of magnitude.

Over the years, the energy discourse has tenaciously focused on energy transitions to expedite climate mitigation efforts. This has inadvertently resulted in little attention to the other important link between energy and climate, namely energy access and climate adaptation. In particular, the potential role of reliable, affordable and sustainable modern energy services in strengthening societies’ adaptive capacities to address climate disaster events has been ignored across both policy and practice. This paper probes these links and argues for a critically co-dependent conceptual relationship between energy access, rural development, and climate adaptation and disaster management. It then explores how, if at all, these links may exist in Odisha, one of India’s most climate vulnerable states with low socio-economic development. The paper concludes that a deep-seated policy reform is necessary to bring about a shift in how we a) measure ‘successful’ disaster policy, b) understand the role of energy in a disaster context, and c) recognise, and seek greater synergies between energy access, rural development and climate adaptation objectives.

Energy justice is an emerging concept that informs policymakers on the just distribution of, and access to energy services. However, research on how policy grounded in energy justice may facilitate greater intergenerational equity is few and far between. Additionally, energy justice as a decision-making framework has mostly been based in western thought, through its application in developed country contexts. The value of non-Western philosophies in advancing the energy justice literature has received little attention. In this paper, we address these gaps by drawing upon Amartya Sen’s interpretation of the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, using this to conceptualise a temporal energy justice decision-making framework that builds on the Gita’stime-based notions of ‘duty-focused’ and ‘consequence-sensitive’ decision outcomes. We apply this framework to study India’s energy landscape and underlying tensions, largely emanating from a steadfast policy focus on alleviating energy poverty in the short-term whilst also committing to a low carbon energy transition for the future. We advocate for the need to move beyond this dichotomous focus on duty versus consequence, and pursue a policy position reflected in the understanding of realised justice – an inclusive and comprehensive account of just outcomes from both an intra- and inter-generational perspective.

An improved micropropagation protocol was developed for Zingiber moranand Z. zerumbet, two wild species of the genus Zingiber, found in Northeast India. The effects of growth regulators, sugar concentrations, and nutrients were tested on the rate of shoot initiation and multiplication. An increase in proliferation and multiplication occurred in modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with benzyladenine and kinetin. About 2 % sucrose and 0.7 % agar were found to be the optimum for shoot multiplication and regeneration. Naphthalene acetic acid at 0.5 mg/L produced the best rooting response for both the species. Regenerated plantlets were acclimatized successfully and cytogenetic stability was confirmed by RAPD profiling and ploidy checks.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the Pacific’s largest country with one of the world’s lowest rates of energy access (13%). To address this development challenge, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the USA joined hands with the PNG government in late 2018 and signed the PNG Electrification Partnership. The Partnership aims to electrify 70% of PNG’s population by 2030. It is an unprecedented multilateral initiative that represents a major shift in political synergies between and amongst members of the Global North and South. The US$1.7 billion Partnership based on commitments from these four OECD donor nations is significant for two reasons: first, it comes at a time when China’s influence in the Pacific is growing, resulting in strategic geopolitical tensions. Second, the Partnership signifies energy access as a tool for foreign diplomacy and the scale of resource commitment is likely to shape energy discourse across much of energy poor Asia and Africa. For these reasons, the Partnership is too important to fail. However, given PNG’s long history of electrification challenges and little information currently available about the Partnership’s own workings, the Partnership faces an uphill task. In this Perspective, we draw on PNG’s unique context and past experiences to flag potential bottlenecks and issues for consideration as stakeholders work to meet the Partnership’s aims over the coming decade.

To avoid the worst effects of climate change, the world needs to phase out fossil fuel use rapidly and at scale. While there is increasing attention to the temporal dynamics shaping country-specific transition challenges, sub-national level assessments of transition implications, especially in the Global South remain critically under-studied. This is an area of increasing significance due to the highly localised nature of the complex social institutional context shaping global energy futures. India presents a particularly challenging setting for a smooth energy transition. It has one of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy development plans. At the same time, its reliance on coal – for reliable and affordable energy, to support its economically upward movement – is expected to continue for several decades. This paper analyses potential bottlenecks to India’s decarbonisation plans drawing on a case study in the eastern state of Odisha. It considers coal's deep ties with local and regional economic, industrial, political, and social institutions, that have caused India's sub-national political economies to be deeply complex and multi-dimensional. The paper highlights significant bottlenecks that may threaten India’s efforts towards rapid decarbonisation, and presents potential pathways forward.