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Energy security and climate change are among the top priority challenges for Turkey. High dependency on imported resources jeopardizes the economy, especially with high currency rate and conflicts in neighboring countries from where Turkey imports its energy. Besides, Turkey has already started to experience the impacts of climate change such as increasing temperature along with drought. Floating photovoltaics have proven themselves to be quite efficient in energy production, with evaporation reduction as a positive externality. The purpose of this article is to reveal the possible capacity of floating photovoltaics on constructed water reservoirs of Turkey and draw policy perspectives against existing or anticipated challenges. A total of 4,003 reservoirs were analyzed based on different water surface coverage scenarios. The results of the study proposed 125 TWh electricity generation, slightly above 40% of the nation-wide electricity demand, when 10% of suitable reservoirs were covered. This generation would be highly instrumental in reducing energy dependency and substituting renewables for conventional resource uses. Avoided CO 2 , thanks to this substitution, was calculated to be 77.1 Mton equivalent. This would obviously be favorable in light of the carbon emission reduction policy of the country and Paris Agreement requirements. Moreover, 1,242.1 hm3 freshwater was assessed to save resources from evaporation loss, which would help to mitigate the climate change pressure on water resources. • Turkey is 74% dependent to import energy resources. • A model proposing suitable reservoirs for floating photovoltaic is presented. • 125 TWh electricity can be generated if 10% of the reservoir surfaces are covered. • Water saving is 1,242 hm3: enough to supply 15 M people or hydroelectric as $32.3 M. • 77.6 million tons CO 2 equivalent is avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass plays a dual role as an energy source and a solution for climate change mitigation. There are complexities surrounding decentralized electricity generation, and Ghana could not achieve its 10% renewable energy target in 2020. The paper assesses the greenhouse gas mitigation potential and economic impact of electricity from major food crop residues subjected to anaerobic digestion technology in 16 regions and 88 districts in Ghana from 2017 to 2020. Buswell equation was applied to calculate the biogas and methane yield. The environmental impact assessment was expressed as global warming potential, and the economic feasibility was conducted. The results showed that crop residues' annual theoretical and technical potential was 28.92 Mt and 17.24 Mt. The top four residues with the largest share of technical potential were maize (5.41 Mt), yam (3.58 Mt), plantain (3.05 Mt) and cassava (2.39 Mt). Biogas and electricity potentials were 1,912.74 Mm3 and 3,068.34 GWh, which could offset 15.56% of electricity consumption in Ghana. The Ashanti (478.18 GWh), Eastern (430.20 GWh), Bono East (318.29 GWh) and Northern (314 GWh) regions demonstrated the highest electricity potential. Ghana could generate the highest electricity potential of 46.52 GWh in the districts and a minimum potential of 0.89 GWh annually. Power generation potential from anaerobic digestion had a diesel displacement capacity of 923.35 × 10 6 L with a GHG emissions reduction of 2,507.35 kt CO 2 eq. The largest GHG reduction potential was 38.15 kt CO 2 eq at the district level. The findings show that the project is economically viable, with an average net present value of $ 10,105,904 per region and an electricity cost of $ 0.0321/kWh. The study provides critical insights to policymakers and industry developers for decentralized biomass-based electricity generation in Ghana. • A sustainable crop residue assessment is conducted in Ghana. • The total biogas-based electricity is 3,068.34 GWh. • Ashanti region has high electricity (478.18 GWh) than Greater Accra (9.82 GWh). • The total GHG mitigation is estimated as 2507.35 kt CO 2 eq. • The project is economically viable at a cost of $ 0.0321/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation of the energy sector’s power generation mix is needed to contain global mean temperature rise to no more than 2 °C above the pre-industrial level. Because the power sector is also a dominant direct and indirect consumer of water, it is vital to understand current and likely future trends in power sector water consumption. In this paper, we use an input-output based hybrid approach to study the direct and indirect impacts on water consumption from power mix adjustment in the world’s seven largest emitting economies under multiple cost-effective mitigation pathways toward the 2 °C target. Although different pathways exist, we discovered generally increases in water consumption of power sector under the long-term 2 °C target compared with no-climate-policy pathways, especially for China and India. Fulfilling the Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) could decouple direct water consumption and electricity output for most regions but may result in increases of indirect water consumption in China. This paper suggests that in the light of geographically uneven water scarcity, more comprehensive evaluation of both the direct and indirect water demands of the power sector is demanded when considering climate policies relevant to significant structural and technological adjustments in power sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigates the partial correlations between the share of new renewable electricity in a country and income, energy security and climate change mitigation. For the purpose of this paper, new renewables refer to the electricity generating technologies that have not yet reached grid-parity (e.g. wind, solar). The author proposes a measure of energy security depending on the role of inputs (coal and natural gas) in electricity generation as well as a measure of a country's potential to mitigate climate change based on the quantity of fossil-based electricity generated per capita. Findings from 2007, 2008 and 2009 data on 107 middle and high-income economies show that rich countries relying on coal imports to generate their power, are also those with the highest shares of electric power from new renewables. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Addressing climate mitigation while meeting global electrification goals will require major transitions from fossil-fuel dependence to large-scale renewable energy deployment. However, renewables require significant land assets per unit energy and could come at high cost to ecosystems, creating potential conflicts between global climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Here, we explore the potential biodiversity implications of alternative future global electrification pathways as depicted under the Shared Socioeconomic Scenarios (SSPs), i.e., alternative trends in societal development. We examined the intersection of high-resolution estimates of global energy densities for ten renewable and conventional technologies with global richness data to estimate technology-specific biodiversity footprints (species per GWh), whereas a Cumulative Biodiversity Impact (CBI) score was used to assess land and biodiversity outcomes of alternative scenarios. Downscaled electricity generation scenarios (2020−2100) were also constrained by alternative land conservation and energy development policies. Unexpectedly, variation among SSPs did not exhibit a clear tradeoff between global climate mitigation and CBI. Rather, CBIs were an outcome of total infrastructure development to meet electricity demand (from population growth and GDP) and the total magnitude of renewable energy development and storage technologies. Renewables assembled along a spectrum from land sharing to sparing. At the land sharing end, biomass-powered electricity from dedicated crops contributed the most to biodiversity impacts due to low energy density, whereas land-sparing technologies (solar) caused more-intense land degradation, but in smaller areas. Our results suggest that local land conservation practices and strategies promoting energy diversification could have greater implications for future biodiversity conflicts than global socioeconomic drivers. • Energy transitions for climate mitigation may incur tradeoffs with biodiversity. • Alternative electrification and land conservation scenarios were assessed. • SSP 5 (high energy) had highest biodiversity impact whereas SSP 3 had lowest. • Highest impacts from large biomass, solar, wind, and hydropower expansion • Land conservation policy more important to conservation than global socioeconomics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessibility has been conceptualized and applied in different ways, depending on the underlying political objectives. In the context of climate change and ambitious emission reduction targets, environmental concerns have risen high on the political agenda. Existing methods for assessing transport-related environmental impacts typically depend on realized or modeled travel behavior. Many of them do not entail a spatial dimension, ignore the importance of the land use component, lack scenario building capabilities or have limited communication value. Consequently, accessibility analysis and planning could make a valuable contribution towards a low carbon transition, but needs to attune to the specific objective of reducing transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. This paper introduces a novel conceptualization of location-based accessibility, where CO 2 emissions are used as a travel cost in place of time or monetary costs. By identifying and assessing options for interventions in the land use and transport system, carbon-based accessibility instruments might serve a number of potential decision-making purposes related to low carbon mobility planning. Carbon-based accessibility of a business park in the Munich region is analyzed in multiple scenarios to demonstrate the application potential of the method. The experiential application focuses on the effects of changes in vehicle efficiency and occupancy rates of both car and transit, but also compares the resulting carbon-based accessibility levels to alternative sites with the transport system unchanged. Applying carbon-based accessibility instruments to real-world planning issues could enhance strategic decision-making processes in the context of climate change mitigation. • Accessibility instruments need to be attuned to the challenges of climate change. • The proposed method uses CO 2 emissions as a travel cost in location-based accessibility measures. • The accessibility measure is sensitive to changes in occupancy rate, vehicle efficiency, and electricity generation mix. • Carbon-based accessibility might be a useful addition to existing decision-making tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]