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Energy transitions in Indigenous, Northern and remote communities in Canada promise benefits that go beyond reliable, clean and affordable energy services. The Federal and Provincial governments have committed funding to get remote communities off diesel, acknowledging energy transitions' global and local benefits. Besides climate change mitigation, other benefits, including job creation, income generation, community ownership and local economic growth, are fundamental components of the value proposition of renewable energy projects. However, despite the promises, little evidence of the impacts of renewable energy on communities' local conditions exists. This article looks at the relationship between renewable energy projects and community well-being in Canada. We construct a panel of Indigenous communities and well-being levels using Census data and information about renewable energy projects for the period 1981–2016. The findings suggest that renewable energy is associated with higher levels of well-being. Concretely, having access to renewable energy increases overall well-being by 1 to 5 points on the 0–100 well-being scale, depending on the component of the well-being index considered in the analysis. • Renewable energy and community wellbeing is an essential relationship for successful energy transitions. • The size of the renewable energy projects is strongly associated with higher community wellbeing. • Communities that hold majority ownership of renewable energy projects exhibit higher wellbeing levels. • Solar and wind energy projects are associated with higher wellbeing levels, whereas hydropower is associated with lower ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of green energy technologies to supply berthed ships in ports with the necessary power instead of using their diesel generators is considered an initiative towards sustainability and climate change mitigation. Therefore, the current paper investigates the implementation of solar panels, offshore wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel cell systems as green technologies to supply the berthed ships with power in three Egyptian ports. The power requirements are determined by analyzing the annual ship traffic data and estimating the energy demand for each ship type. As a relevant result, the annual energy demand for ships berthed in Alexandria, Damietta, and Safaga ports is about 44.2 × 103 MWh, 22 × 103 MWh, and 5.6 × 103 MWh, respectively. The analysis results reveal a potential annual carbon dioxide reduction of 31.7 k-tons, 15.7 k-tons, and 4.2 k-tons in Alexandria, Damietta, and Safaga ports, respectively. From an economic perspective, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of solar panels is estimated to be 80.7–90.1 $/MWh, while hydrogen fuel cells have a cost of 166.8–172 $/MWh. On the other hand, LCOE in the case of wind turbines is estimated to be 140.8 $/MWh for Alexandria ports, 178.3 $/MWh for Damietta port, and 103.9 $/MWh for Safaga port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power pooling has emerged as a regional strategy for accelerating generation capacity expansion in West Africa with the aim of leveraging vast domestic energy resources and promoting investment in regional power infrastructure. As part of their climate action pledges, most West African countries have committed to increasing the shares of variable renewable energy (VRE), particularly solar photovoltaic and wind power, in their generation mix. It, however, appears that approaches to utility-scale capacity expansion planning tend to overlook the inherent temporal intermittency and spatial variability of VRE-based generation. Moreover, despite influencing the techno-economic rationale for grid expansion and off-grid electrification, as well as the trade-offs between high renewable supply areas and grid expansion, the spatial distribution of demand has been overlooked in planning approaches, leading to conservative and weak prospects for the contribution of utility-scale VRE. Such inconsistencies with the region-wide potentials and policy ambitions highlight that it is paramount for West Africa to design its power pooling such that spatial and temporal fluctuations of VRE supply are duly considered in capacity expansion planning while taking advantage of complementarities between VRE supply and national electricity demand profiles. To address this, the present paper applies a long-term generation capacity expansion model, OptGen, soft-linked to a least-cost operation module, the SDDP tool, which is enhanced by geospatial electrification analysis using the OpeN Source Spatial Electrification Tool (OnSSET), to a subset of four member countries of the West African Power Pool – Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Mali – for the 2023–2040 time horizon. The results highlight that current frameworks lead to missed opportunities for bridging the supply-demand gap in all countries, not only in terms of VRE generation capacity, but also of cross-border power trade. • Long-term capacity expansion planning and dispatch models are soft-linked. • The spatial and hourly distributions of demand and renewables supply are considered. • The 10% limit on renewables share used in the regional master plan is not optimal. • The current system operation is not conducive to optimal cross-border trade. • The relaxed transmission scenario yields higher dispatch factors for renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • It analyzes the feasibility of achieving net zero emission in the Chinese power sector by 2050 and the required policy measures. • It is essential to foster the concurrent development of renewable energy, energy storage, and demand response technologies. • The carbon pricing mechanism with exponential growth is more suitable. • Referring to the European offshore wind power investment model is beneficial for the development of offshore wind power in China. The low-carbon transition in China's power sector plays a crucial role in the mitigation of climate change worldwide, and increasing renewable energy penetration rate is widely recognized as the key approach to decarbonize this sector. This paper proposes a renewable energy penetration model to examine the feasibility for net zero emission by 2050 in China's power sector taking into account of economic and social development. It also evaluates the impacts of carbon pricing and financial incentives on renewable energy penetration and carbon emissions. The results indicate that along with economic development, China's electricity demand will continue to grow, but at a gradually slowing rate. It is possible for the power sector to achieve net zero emission by 2050 while meeting this growing electricity demand, with a renewable energy penetration rate of 75%. To ensure the achievement of the goal, we recommend setting the carbon price with the current market price as the baseline and increasing it annually by a relative increment index of 10%. Furthermore, given the high initial cost and late start of offshore wind power, we suggest incorporating associated grid connection cost into the transmission and distribution price to ensure the comprehensive and healthy development of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • First-time framing of renewable energy priority zones. • Definition of optimal combinations of advanced meteorological-technical criteria. • Application of wavelet analysis and coherence in a multi-criteria site assessment. • Wind energy priority zones found in 2–12% of Germany based on restriction scenario. • Solar energy priority zones found in 5–22% of Germany based on restriction scenario. The intensification of climate change impacts requires a fast and efficient transition of energy systems and deployment of renewable energies worldwide. An adequate site assessment strategy forms the basis for expanding installed capacities and energy yield. This study applies a set of meaningful criteria to determine site suitability for Germany's onshore wind and utility-scale solar photovoltaics facilities. An aggregated priority index involving meteorological-technical, economic, and environmental criteria is developed and used in a new concept for identifying renewable energy priority zones, where installations of wind and solar energy facilities should be prioritized. As a novelty, this resource-centered approach does not only analyze the mean energy potential as a meteorological criterion but also accounts for other characteristics such as variability, complementarity, and predictability. The results indicate that reducing legal restrictions substantially facilitates wind and solar energy capacity expansion in prioritized zones. With weak restrictions, up to 22% and 12% of Germany represent priority zones for an efficient and sustainable use of solar and wind energy. However, due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar resources, mismatches between generation potential and electricity demand would persist even with substantial capacity expansion. Future energy systems must advance the expansion of renewable energy capacities just as the flexibilization of demand or an increase of storage capacities to guarantee future energy security and mitigate climate change. The newly developed renewable energy priority zones are a starting point and can be transferred to other study areas by specifically adapting criteria and their weighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dramatic expansion of the worldwide wind power capacity is underway which is critical to an effective mitigation of climate change. However, wind tower infrastructure is susceptible to extreme weather conditions such as tropical cyclones and thunderstorms. Under the context of global climate changes and intense weather events, it is imperative to assess the impacts of extreme conditions on the susceptibility of the global wind power with important implications on energy security and power system resilience. In this paper, we discuss the necessity and rationality of wind power deployment considering extreme weather perspectives on enhancing the global sustainability, security, economics, and resilience. We assess the vulnerability of wind power to extreme weather events under climate change and present the correlation of wind power proliferation, extreme weather events, and climate change issues. Our results indicate that, if extreme wind speed increases by 20% considering a 50-year return wind speed and load safety factor is changed from 1.35 to 1.7, the initial capital cost of wind unit installation by the end of this century could increase by about 12% because of the higher strength in tropical cyclones. In this period, upward lightning strike will be intensified due to the use of taller wind turbines and higher angular speed of blades. Also, additional storm surges and sea ices will potentially cause higher risks to inland and offshore wind tower structures and foundations because of the continuously rising sea levels. It is confirmed in our discussion that the proliferation of wind power generation would be beneficial despite its vulnerabilities by curbing the use of fossil-based power generation units, mitigating severe carbon emission, and reducing climatic changes and extreme weather events, which could also cause significant structural damages to wind turbines installations globally. The article concludes that it is vital in the scientific community to further analyze the relationship among global wind energy integration, extreme weather events, and climate changes, and for politicians to formulate a comprehensive energy policy strategy, as engineers continue to investigate the means of deploying additional inland and offshore wind farms and consider other types of renewable energy resources with a direct link with weather conditions, for a sustainable, economic, secure, and resilient energy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has a significant importance in achieving the global Paris agreement's long-term goal as it is the world's third-largest consumer of energy. This paper aims to improve the understanding of the opportunities and constraints of decarbonizing India's electricity sector and adds to the growing body of literature by modelling the electricity sector in India with a dynamic optimization approach that assesses options for effective greenhouse reductions through carbon pricing. Attaining significant variable renewable energy penetration in India by 2050 is consistent with the lowest cost power generation options identified through our simulations, where solar and wind can provide 66 % of the electricity needs by 2050, even without a carbon price. With a carbon price of US$50/tCO2e, the simulations project that wind and power generation share in the electricity mix will rise to 81 %, leading to significant emission reductions. In this scenario, power sector emissions will be 164 million tCO2e by 2050, which is only about 14 % of the emissions levels in 2019. The analysis also indicates that fossil fuels remain part of India's electricity mix in 2050, but their role and operation would dramatically change. When a carbon price of US$50/tCO2e is introduced, coal capacity remains valuable to fill demand when solar and wind are not available. This would require modifications in operation schedules and repurposing coal power plants for frequent ramping up and down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is an important piece of the puzzle in meeting growing energy demands and mitigating climate change, but the potentially adverse effects of such technologies are often overlooked. Given that climate and ecology are inextricably linked, assessing the effects of energy technologies requires one to consider their full suite of global environmental concerns. We review here the ecological impacts of three major types of renewable energy – hydro, solar, and wind energy – and highlight some strategies for mitigating their negative effects. All three types can have significant environmental consequences in certain contexts. Wind power has the fewest and most easily mitigated impacts; solar energy is comparably benign if designed and managed carefully. Hydropower clearly has the greatest risks, particularly in certain ecological and geographical settings. More research is needed to assess the environmental impacts of these ‘green’ energy technologies, given that all are rapidly expanding globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy resources have garnered considerable attention owing to concerns regarding climate change mitigation and sustainability. The performance of renewable energy resources varies based on weather conditions, which is an important consideration in power system planning as renewable energy penetration increases. In this study, a probabilistic approach for the potential estimation of renewable energy resources based on augmented spatial interpolation was proposed. The proposed algorithm was verified using empirical data obtained from wind farms in Jeju Island. Wind power output scenarios were modeled through ordinary kriging and Monte Carlo simulations. Moreover, the point and cause of line overload according to the seasonal wind power output and power demand were analyzed through transmission security analysis, and the frequency and scale of the curtailments were estimated. This can be used to estimate potential renewable energy resources and establish a power system operation plan. Further study includes the development of stable power system operation plans for large-scale renewable energy resource-integrated power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spanish national energy and climate plan (PNIEC) has recently been published, leading the worldwide task of climate change mitigation towards a net zero-carbon economy by 2050. The objective scenario of the PNIEC expects to reach a renewable share in the power system of 74% by 2030. In this context, three contributions are developed: i) providing an analysis of how Spain is facing the energy transition; ii) conceptualizing the link between an hourly energy model (EnergyPLAN) and a yearly integrated assessment model (MEDEAS); and iii) proposing a transparent policy agenda for the Spanish benchmarking in line with the official report. The results clarify the decreasing role such technologies as the combined heat and power facilities, as well as the pressure of biomass in Spain. Coherency in translating common variables in the energy chain of IAMs to the energy model is effectively reflected in the tables as an output of the research. Positive conclusions are found for Spain. The commitment of 74% might well be completed and the Spanish economy could run with a 100% renewable energy system by 2050, with requirements of sixteen and six times more installed capacity of solar-PV and wind onshore, respectively, by 2050 related to 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The progress made in the penetration of renewable energy (RE) sources in most parts of the world is not fast enough for achieving the international climate mitigation targets. Furthermore, there is a lack of energy planning strategies, methods and tools for assessing the implementation of RE technologies which considers the social support. In this work, we present a replicable multi-criteria spatial approach based on geographical information system to estimate the potential of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind and biomass energy technologies that could be implemented in the short-term in a given territory. This potential includes environmental, technical (with economic attributes) and geographical (with social-acceptability attributes) constraints, together with existing local power plants considerations for calculating the electricity generation by technology, and then estimating its jobs creation and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The approach was applied to the province of Jaén (Southern Spain), which has a pronounced unbalance between its inner electricity production and consumption and apparently is a territory with great technical potential for the aforementioned technologies. Results show that this province has a short-term implementable potential that would annually produce 8.9 TWh from solar PV, 911 GWh from wind energy and 683 GWh from biomass plants; which is 3.8 times greater than the current electricity consumption and would require 1.5% of the total surface of Jaén. This potential can create about 92,800 direct jobs and avoid the emissions of 3.78–8.61 MtCO 2 to the atmosphere. The proposed approach can be useful for energy planning processes and for allowing decision-making to accelerate the implementation of RE power plants in order to achieve the climate mitigation goals. • A multi-criteria GIS-based approach with local consideration is proposed. • A renewable energy potential with economic and socio-acceptability attributes was estimated. • 6.6 GW of photovoltaic (PV), 0.6 GW of wind and 88 MW of biomass energy can be installed in the near-term in Jaén. • PV and wind energy installed capacity would occupy 1.5% of the total surface of Jaén. • About 92,800 direct jobs can be created and 3.78–8.61 MtCO 2 emissions avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy can play an important role in India's climate change mitigation, as India has great potential for renewables, especially solar and wind. This paper analyses the role of renewables to meet India's possible 2050 climate change mitigation targets using a multi-region global energy system model called TIAM-UCL, where India is explicitly represented as a separate region. TIAM-UCL is a cost optimisation model. The climate policy is applied to all regions in the model based on equal per capita emissions of 1.3 tCO 2 by 2050. Analysis shows that renewable energy can play an important role to decarbonise the economy, especially the power sector. Two low-carbon scenarios are explored, the first allowing for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology deployment and the second excluding this technology. In the first low-carbon scenario (LC1), the most critical renewable energy technologies in the power sector are biomass with CCS, solar and wind. In the second low-carbon scenario (LC2), without CCS, there is an even greater role for solar and wind. Over the whole Indian economy, by 2050 renewables contribute 57% of the total CO 2 reductions in LC1 (relative to a reference scenario with no CO 2 target) and 63% of the CO 2 reductions in LC2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy plays a crucial role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation in highly climate-vulnerable nations such as Nepal. This paper reviews various types of renewable energy technologies and their status, potential for adoption, relationship to climate change, and mitigative and adaptive roles in Nepal. Nepal has installed micro-hydro projects, solar power, improved cooking stoves, biogas technology, improved water mills, and wind energy to mitigate and adapt to climate change. There is a growing potential for renewable energy development in Nepal, such as hydropower, solar, wind energy, biogas, and improved cooking stoves. Roughly 70% of Nepal's energy consumption is generated from traditional energy sources while renewable energy accounts for approximately three percent. The gradual increase in the use of renewable energy has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced carbon sequestration. By adopting renewable energy technologies, Nepal has reduced emissions by 221,129 tCO 2 e from 2017 to 2018. Nepal's second Nationally Determined Contribution targets a 15% increase in national energy use from renewables with a reduction of 23% of CO 2 emissions by 2030 using biogas and improved cooking systems. Furthermore, a significant increase in the adoption of renewable energy has become a pivotal strategy in adaptation to climate change in social, health, and economic sectors resulting in time savings, alternative income sources, improved health and educational status, local job opportunities, and the promotion of social capital. The benefits of adapting to climate change and mitigating CO 2 emissions via renewable energy are significant at the local, national, and international levels. This study recommends that the government of Nepal focus work on energy policy reviews to address local energy demand and climate change issues by utilizing renewable energy resources at the local level, which has global implications. • Suitable, potential renewable energy technologies in Nepal. • The relationship between energy and climate change. • Relevant data on energy and climate change in tables and figures. • Social, economic, and environmental benefits of renewable energy. • Climate change adaptation and mitigation via renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]