Search

The fight against climate change implies changes in the energy model, which is being strongly supported by the policies of the European Union and the Member States. The spatial materialization of the energy policy to promote renewable energies is a crucial element that must take shape on pre-existing land uses, which in turn causes changes in the ecosystems and landscapes. This article investigates the territorial implementation of wind and solar plants in the Iberian Peninsula to assess which types of land use are most affected. Based on the evolution of energy policy in Spain and Portugal, a comparative analysis is made of wind and solar plant developments and land use in Spain and Portugal between 2005 and 2020. The results of the research confirm these developments in rural areas, mainly on arable crops with scrub and grassland, causing a significant alteration on rural economies and landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The main aim of this study was to analyse scientific and energy production, funding, collaboration among countries and most cited papers on the renewable energies topic through bibliometric and social network study of articles included in the Web of Science database. 12,167 papers were recovered from 2007 to 2016. Wind power is the energy from which a greater number of articles have been published (n = 3,930), followed by solar energy (n = 2,570) and ocean energy (n = 1,565). The United States leads the world production of articles (n = 2,320), followed by China (n = 1,629), the United Kingdom (n = 1007), Germany (n = 730) and Spain (n = 729). China is the leading country in financed works (80%), followed by South Korea (77%), Spain (61%) and the United States (59%). An important level of international collaboration has been identified, notably popping up the triangle made by United States, China and the European Union. Highlights • Scientific study based in the analysis of the energy production, funding and collaboration among countries. • Wind power is the energy from which a greater number of articles have been published. • The United States leads the world production of articles. • China is the leading country in financed works. • The triangle made by United States, China and the European Union have the most important level of collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to develop a software to calculate the economic parameters so as to determine the feasibility of a floating offshore renewable farm in a selected location. The software can calculate the economic parameters of several types of offshore renewable energies, as follows: one renewable energy (floating offshore wind-WindFloat, tension leg platform (TLP), and spar; floating wave energy-Pelamis and AquaBuoy), hybrid offshore wind and wave systems (Wave Dragon and W2Power), and combined offshore wind and waves with different systems (independent arrays, peripherally distributed arrays, uniformly distributed arrays, and non-uniformly distributed arrays). The user can select several inputs, such as the location, configuration of the farm, type of floating offshore platform, type of power of the farm, life-cycle of the farm, electric tariff, capital cost, corporate tax, steel cost, percentage of financing, or interest and capacity of the shipyard. The case study is focused on the Galicia region (NW of Spain). The results indicate the economic feasibility of a farm of floating offshore renewable energy in a particular location in terms of its costs, levelized cost of energy (LCOE), internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV), and discounted pay-back period. The tool allows for establishing conclusions about the dependence of the offshore wind resource parameters, the main distances (farm-shore, farm-shipyard, and farm-port), the parameters of the waves, and the bathymetry of the area selected., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest

When it comes to the construction of an index, one of the main problems is determining the weights that each variable carries. In this article, through models based on the Structural Equation Modelling methodology, an index for the measurement of the evolution of renewable energies is developed, and applied for a group of countries in the European Union. The results show that, in Europe, there are two groups clearly differentiated in terms of their level of development in renewable energy. In the first group, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy stand out while the second group is led by the United Kingdom, and includes countries like Portugal, Finland, and Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges humanity faces globally. For this reason, governmental efforts to reduce emissions of polluting gases have multiplied in the last decade. Against this panorama, petroleum companies have adopted a strategic policy focused on energy diversification, intending to contribute to sustainable development. In the case of Spain, wind energy has been one of the renewable energies that have attracted the most investment from petroleum companies. In particular, this trend is especially acute in Galicia (a region located in the northwest of Spain), since its biophysical conditions and, above all, its institutional framework for the promotion of photovoltaic energy has aroused the interest of petroleum companies. The objective of this article is to perform a feasibility analysis of an average wind project in Galicia. through the calculation of the initial investment, the necessary financing, and the preparation of balance sheets and profit and loss accounts. For this purpose, the methodology used is based on the preparation of a feasibility plan, through which the necessary investment is analyzed and the flows of receipts and payments generated by the company are considered. In this way, this analysis is intended to be useful for companies that are considering the appropriateness/inappropriateness to carry out this type of investment. The results show a high internal rate of return, which indicates the high profitability of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energies play a fundamental role within the current political and social framework for minimizing the impacts of climate change. The ocean has a vast potential for generating energy and therefore, the marine renewable energies are included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These energies include wave, tidal, marine currents, ocean thermal, and osmotic. Moreover, it can also be included wind, solar, geothermal and biomass powers, which their main use is onshore, but in the near future their use at sea may be considered. The manuscript starts with a state-of-the-art review of the abovementioned marine renewable energy resources worldwide. The paper continues with a case study focused on the Spanish coast, divided into six regions: (I) Cantabrian, (II) Galician, (III) South Atlantic, (IV) Canary Islands, (V) Southern Mediterranean, and (VI) Northern Mediterranean. The results show that: (1) areas I and II are suitable for offshore wind, wave and biomass; (2) areas III and V are suitable for offshore wind, marine current and offshore solar; area IV is suitable for offshore wind, ocean wave and offshore solar; (3) and area VI is suitable for offshore wind, osmotic and offshore solar. This analysis can help politicians and technicians to plan the use of these resources in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research delves into a case study of a photovoltaic (PV) energy community, leveraging empirical data to explore the integration of renewable energy sources and storage solutions. By evaluating energy generation and consumption patterns within real-world energy communities (a nominal generation capacity of 33 kWn) in Gipuzkoa, Spain, from May 2022 to May 2023, this study comprehensively examines operational dynamics and performance metrics. This study highlights the critical role of energy consumption patterns in facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources and underscores the importance of proactive strategies to manage demand fluctuations effectively. Against the backdrop of rising energy costs and environmental concerns, renewable energies and storage solutions emerge as compelling alternatives, offering financial feasibility and environmental benefits within energy communities. This study emphasizes the necessity of research and development efforts to develop efficient energy storage technologies and the importance of economic incentives and collaborative initiatives to drive investments in renewable energy infrastructure. The analyzed results provide valuable insights into operational dynamics and performance metrics, further advancing our understanding of their transformative potential in achieving a sustainable energy future. Specifically, our study suggests that storage capacity should ideally support an average annual capacity of 23%, with fluctuations observed where this capacity may double or reduce to a minimum in certain months. Given the current market conditions, our findings indicate the necessity of significant public subsidies, amounting to no less than 67%, to facilitate the installation of storage infrastructure, especially in cases where initial investments are not covered by the energy community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of renewable energy sources and water production technologies is a must when facing water scarcity problems in semiarid regions, such as Mediterranean regions. The use of additional water resources and production methods, such as reclaimed water and, more specifically, desalinated water, means present and necessary water resources to introduce in the water balances to attend to water demands within a global warming and droughting scenario. These solutions have the inconvenience of energy/power needs and costs. However, the development of renewable energies like photovoltaic solar energy, with lower and lower costs and greater efficiency, makes these economically feasible facilities, reaching competitive production costs for marine or sea desalinated water by around 50% of reduction in energy costs and 20–30% of savings in final water production cost. This paper presents a practical project or action focused on the integration of renewable energies and new water resources by introducing a Photovoltaic Energy Plant (PVEP) as an energy source to feed a Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant (SWDTP). The PV facility is designed to cover all the energy demanded using the SWDTP during the day, and even studying the possibility of selling the energy production exceeds and injecting them into the energy supply network, covering the needs of buying energy needed during the high period where there is no photovoltaic energy production. Thus, savings related to energy costs and even incomes coming from energy sales mean an important reduction in operation costs or expenditures (OPEX), which makes economically feasible and sustainable the investment and the final price of water produced within the Mutxamel SWDTP. The final reduction cost in water desalination reaches 25% on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anales de Geografía de la Universidad Complutense is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Spanish government is a strong advocate of reducing CO2 emissions and has made a clear commitment to the implementation of renewable energies. As reflected in Spain's National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), its objective is to double the current capacity of pumped hydropower storage (PHS) plants by 2030. Therefore, the study presented here is both current and forward-looking. This paper presents the results of the analysis of the technical potential of installing floating photovoltaic (FPV) plants at 25 PHS plants in Spain, i.e., the total capacity of Spanish hydropower plants. The study was conducted using various assessment indicators: the global horizontal irradiance ratio, electrical efficiency ratio, area required ratio, pumping area ratio, volume ratio of water pumped per day, and achievable power ratio. In summary, the following conclusions can be drawn: (i) The global horizontal irradiance ratio indicates whether a FPV plant is economically viable. From this point of view, the Aguayo PHS plant and the Tanes PHS plant are not suitable, as this ratio is very low; (ii) the compliance with the electrical efficiency ratio is flexible, and all hydropower plants meet this criterion; (iii) maximising the use of the assigned grid connection capacity is one of the goals sought by electrical companies when implementing FPV plants at existing PHS plants. The following hydropower plants are not suitable for the implementation of an FPV plant in view of the following: La Muela I, La Muela II, Aguayo, Sallente, Aldeadavila II, Moralets, Guillena, Bolarque II, Montamara, and IP; (iv) if the aim is energy storage, the following hydropower plants are not suitable for the implementation of an FPV plant: the La Muela I, La Muela II, Tajo de la Encantada, Aguayo, Sallente, Aldeadavila II, Conso, Moralets, Guillena, Bolarque II, Tanes, Montamara, Soutelo, Bao-Puente Bibey, Santiago de Jares, IP, and Urdiceto; (v) if the aim is to expand an FPV plant already installed at a PHS plant, the following hydropower plants do not meet this criterion: the La Muela I, La Muela II, Aguayo, Sallente, Aldeadavila, Moralets, Guillena, Bolarque II, Montamara, and IP. There are only eight hydropower plants that meet conditions (i), (iii) and (iv): the Villarino, Torrejon, Valparaiso, Gabriel y Galan, Guijo de Granadilla, Pintado, and Gobantes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energies play an important role as a solution to the challenge of satisfying the growing global energy demand without jeopardizing the achievements in the fight against climate change. Given this panorama, different countries, including Spain, have developed policies to promote renewable energies. One of the technologies that benefit from these policies is photovoltaics. In Spain, the number of grid-connected photovoltaic installations has increased significantly in recent years. It is interesting to analyze the panorama of these facilities and identify the trends in their design criteria. In this line, in this work, the projects of 70 grid-connected photovoltaic installations distributed across Spain were analyzed. For that purpose, benchmarking techniques were applied, facilitating the systematization of information, the intercomparison of plants and the identification of trends and efficient solutions. A set of characteristic indicators of each installation was defined, and a statistical analysis of them was developed. Likewise, a tool was developed that allows the designers of this type of photovoltaic plant to compare the design parameters chosen for their installations with those of the surrounding area. Therefore, this work provides knowledge about the current panorama of photovoltaic implementation applicable to its future advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric microgrids based mainly on renewable energies have seen a big expansion in recent years due to the great advantages they present against fossil fuels. Nowadays different governments are becoming aware of the use of environmentally friendly energies, so progressive investment has been granted to the consumers in Spain. Many microgrids have been installed in both connected and isolated circumstances, and this fact brings new challenges regarding the technical and economic points of view. This study aims to delve into electrical microgrids based on renewable energies applied in industrial facilities through a review of the literature associated with the study of general microgrids. It later focuses on the relationships between renewable energies and industrial environments. A brief reference is made to the use of energy storage systems in industrial installations depicting the most used systems. This paper presents a review of the state of the art of microgrids from distributed energy resources technologies to industrial microgrids optimization, with the primary objective of providing insight on current trends and directions in research and further identifying areas in need of further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Nachhaltigkeitsrecht is the property of Verlag Oesterreich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Energy saving and the development of renewable energies already form part of the daily discourse in our society. Climate change and the environmental problems arising from it affect all of us on the planet. In view of the recent energy supply crisis in Europe and in line with the EU's Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to accelerate the ecological transition. This means, among many other things, encouraging energy efficiency and energy savings. This research is based on the EURONET 50/50 max project, which applied a methodology with no upfront capital outlay, but based on changing user habits to save energy in educational buildings. It was carried out in twelve educational centres of the Spínola Foundation throughout Spain. Significant reductions in energy and water consumption were achieved. The maximum reduction obtained in water consumption was 29%, 24% in electricity consumption and 33% in heating consumption. The average reduction in consumption obtained was 13% compared to 11% achieved in the 50/50 max project. It was concluded that, on the journey to optimising our energy consumption, working on patterns of usage is fundamental, raising awareness and involving users in order to give rise to permanent processes over time, gradually reversing climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article summarizes the Seminar "Water and Food Security" that took place at the University of Castilla-La Mancha on May 4, 2023. The seminar addressed the relationship between renewable energies, water, and food, and was attended by students, researchers, and professionals in law, as well as irrigation communities, agri-food cooperatives, river basin authorities, and agronomical engineers. During the event, presentations were given on water policies, needs and problems of agri-food cooperatives, and proposals to improve water policies in the agricultural sector. Dr. Alberto Garrido Colmenero, Professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, gave a presentation on the challenges and opportunities of irrigation in Spain. On the other hand, Dr. Francisco Bombillar Sáenz spoke about the connection between sustainable food and food legislation, highlighting the importance of organic food production and consumption. Additionally, water security and the importance of renewable energies to guarantee it are discussed, despite possible environmental and social conflicts that may arise. Finally, the importance of implementing a sustainable food system through various means, such as optimizing the efficiency of food, water, and energy production, recycling waste, and shifting towards sustainable diets and consumption, is emphasized. [Extracted from the article]

Green Public Food Procurement (GPFP) has revealed itself to be an ally for achieving ecological transition objectives, however there is little work attempting to assess its contribution. This work proposes a set of sustainability and health indicators that comprise a tool able to evaluate the performance of GPFP. A Delphi analysis and a participatory process is used to determine Key Performance Indicators that have been tested through two case studies in Spain. The results obtained show that the presence of short marketing circuits and food sovereignty and institutions rooted in the territory contribute to improved economic sustainability and good performance in terms of health. However, for environmental issues the performance is somewhat lacking, as instruments such as renewable energies and the circular economy are not implemented on a local scale. Elements linked to territorial cohesion and social capital are key for the principles of social and labor justice, as well as governance, to prevail. The Mediterranean diet integral to the case studies presented results in adequate health indicators. These types of indicators would be a useful tool for introducing sustainable food certification as a driving force for changing the food model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harmful consequences of fossil fuels use has resulted in the promotion of clean and renewable energies. During the past decades, green technologies have experienced a strong development, paying especial attention to wind energy, that covers a significant share of the electric energy demand. In this context, the main efforts are focused on the optimization of wind generator facilities, not only in the mechanic design but also in the energy management. Then, the present work deals with the prediction of the energy generated in a small wind turbine placed in a bioclimatic house located on the north west region of Spain. This includes an analysis of the characteristics of the atmospheric variables registered during the turbine operation for a period of one year and an exploratory examination of a range of regression techniques in order to assess the suitability of using the registered information to predict the installation's power generation levels on the short term. The study detailed in this work proves that this objective is an attainable one with a good degree of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The current EU 2020 reference framework has set a 20% goal for energy coming from non-exhaustive resources. In general, it can be said that the national action plans for renewable energy sources and the biennial control provided in Directive 2009/28/EC, regarding the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, have been adequate in encouraging clarity for venture capitalists and other stakeholders and, thus, have favored a rapid development of renewable energy from 10.4% in 2007 to 17% in 2015. Between 2005 and 2013, the Spanish government implemented a renewable aid plan that induced an important boost in the number of wind energy projects facilitated by companies. This scheme was modified in 2013, resulting in a drastic decrease in the investments on wind energy capacity. The reason that this regime was modified not only because of the worldwide economic downturn since 2010 but also owing to the shortcomings of this scheme. The expected venture capitalist behavior with respect to the current energy regime is still uncertain. Given the limited support provided by the Spanish government, any remarkable development seems unlikely. This research suggests that a sudden change in the decreased investments on wind energy capacity is unlikely and the wind energy targets for 2020 will not be achieved if no new policies are implemented. Graphical abstract fx1 Highlights • In 2013 Spain retroactively modified the remuneration system for wind energy. • As a result, the rate of return of wind energy was reduced to seven percent. • This governmental arrangement has jeopardized investor certainty. • Any remarkable development for the wind energy sector in Spain seems unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Energy security concerns require novel greener and more sustainable processes, and Paris Agreement goals have put in motion several measures aligned with the 2050 roadmap strategies and net zero emission goals. Renewable energies are a promising alternative to existing infrastructures, with solar energy one of the most appealing due to its use of the overabundant natural source of energy. Photocatalysis as a simple heterogeneous surface catalytic reaction is well placed to enter the realm of scaling up processes for wide scale implementation. Inspired by natural photosynthesis, artificial water splitting's beauty lies in its simplicity, requiring only light, a catalyst, and water. The bottlenecks to producing a high volume of hydrogen are several: Reactors with efficient photonic/mass/heat profiles, multifunctional efficient solar‐driven catalysts, and proliferation of pilot devices. Three case studies, developed in Japan, Spain, and France are showcased to emphasize efforts on a pilot and large‐scale examples. In order for solar‐assisted photocatalytic H2 to mature as a solution, the aforementioned bottlenecks must be overcome for the field to advance its technology readiness level, assess the capital expenditure, and enter the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Climate change impacts on irrigated agriculture reveal the necessity of improving water and energy use efficiency and integrating renewable energies in this sector. Pressurized networks are typical in the irrigation sector. In these networks, nodes with excess pressure are frequent and the installation of pressure-reducing devices is required for their proper operation. As these devices imply an energy dissipation previously used, this work focuses on determination of the optimal number and location of pumps as turbines (PATs) in irrigation networks to maximize the energy recovery, provided that the feasibility of installation of each PAT separately is guaranteed considering the large flow fluctuations typical in these networks. The proposed methodology considered theoretical PAT curves and was evaluated in two irrigation networks located in Southern Spain. The results showed three and four potential sites for PAT installation in each network, with total annual energy recovery estimations of 43.1 and 91.8 MWh, a payback period lower than 10 years in most of them, and potential annual CO2 emissions savings up to 13.4 and 28.5 tCO2. The developed model could be an interesting tool to offer irrigation district managers or technicians a baseline hydropower potential scenario in irrigation networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of protected housing in Spain during the period analysed (1939-1989) reached its maximum between 1950-1980 with the construction of almost three million homes per year. The analysis of the homes built for railroad workers from this housing stock is distinct for four main reasons: it is a housing stock with a representative number of homes in relation to the total of social housing built in Spain, which is still mostly in use and covers all the typologies used in the country and which is dispersed throughout it. Thus, for the present analysis, there is a sample that is adequately representative of the whole stock of social housing constructed in Spain, this sample enables a comparative global analysis that can be extrapolated to the remaining stock. The objective of this study is to analyse the energy efficiency of homes through the thermal analysis of the envelope, as well as to acknowledge the specific constructive limitations of these homes and if possible, their rehabilitation that guarantees compliance with the required standards regarding sustainability and energy efficiency set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in the 2030 Agenda. This is a crucial goal to achieve, as the Spanish building stock currently consumes 30% of the total energy consumed, in addition to the socioeconomic profile and the potential for energy poverty, there is a portion of social housing with a precarious construction lacking the heating facilities, which is required due to the weather, with a significant potential for savings and the incorporation of renewable energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The relationship between water and renewable energy, as a vertebrate axis of the territory and landscape and its social acceptance in the Monachil river valley, was analysed. Qualitative interviews and surveys were designed and implemented using quantitative techniques that enabled the measure factors and dimensions of the perception of water, territory, and landscape. The main values and elements of the Monachil inventory, their links with ecosystem services, and traditional activities were identified. In addition, the influence of these premises on the acceptance of renewable energy projects was analysed. Results show that in Monachil, water is part of the territorial identity and landscape of the valley. There is also a strong link between the territory and hydroelectric power, which has generated a new energy landscape. More recently, solar energy has led them to pioneer an energy transition at the local scale. It is demonstrated how renewable energy infrastructures have been integrated into territorial practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Administración Pública is the property of Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wind energy, as one of the renewable energies with the most potential for development, has been widely concerned by many countries. However, due to the great volatility and uncertainty of natural wind, wind power also fluctuates, seriously affecting the reliability of wind power system and bringing challenges to large-scale grid connection of wind power. Wind speed prediction is very important to ensure the safety and stability of wind power generation system. In this paper, a new wind speed prediction scheme is proposed. First, improved hybrid mode decomposition is used to decompose the wind speed data into the trend part and the fluctuation part, and the noise is decomposed twice. Then wavelet analysis is used to decompose the trend part and the fluctuation part for the third time. The decomposed data are classified. The long- and short-term memory neural network optimized by the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to train the nonlinear sequence and noise sequence, and the autoregressive moving average model is used to train the linear sequence. Finally, the final prediction results were reconstructed. This paper uses this system to predict the wind speed data of China's Changma wind farm and Spain's Sotavento wind farm. By experimenting with the real data from two different wind farms and comparing with other predictive models, we found that (1) by improving the mode number selection in the variational mode decomposition, the characteristics of wind speed data can be better extracted. (2) According to the different characteristics of component data, the combination method is selected to predict modal components, which makes full use of the advantages of different algorithms and has good prediction effect. (3) The optimization algorithm is used to optimize the neural network, which solves the problem of parameter setting when establishing the prediction model. (4) The combination forecasting model proposed in this paper has clear structure and accurate prediction results. The research work in this paper will help to promote the development of wind energy prediction field, help wind farms formulate wind power regulation strategies, and further promote the construction of green energy structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PV self-consumption can contribute positively to the spread of PV and, therefore, to the progress of renewable energies as a key element in a decarbonized energy model. However, the policies of each country regarding the promotion of this type of renewable technology is fundamental for their growth. Despite the high number of sunshine hours registered in Spain, self-consumption in this country has not been authorized until recently. In this new context, this work presents a systematic study of the profitability limits of a self-consumption PV installation under different conditions of installed peak power, orientation and inclination of the PV panels and level of obstruction of the installation. It was proved that, for the case of study (Córdoba, Spain), the maximum profitability was achieved for PV panels oriented to the south and with an inclination of 15° whereas the most unfavourable conditions are those of PV panels with an orientation and inclination of 180° and 90°, respectively. Furthermore, when the level of obstruction increases the maximum of the Net Present Value of self-consumptions PV installations decreases and this optimal value is achieved for installations with lower power. Finally, empirical adjustment equations have been developed to estimate the profitability parameters of self-consumptions PV installations as a function of their design variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ensayos: Revista de la Facultad de Educacion de Albacete is the property of Ensayos Revista de la Facultad de Educacion de Albacete and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The proposal of new energy systems based on renewable energies requires thorough research in order to derive technically reliable and economically sustainable systems. One of the key inputs of such research is constituted by reliable databases of renewable resources. Despite the great effort of the scientific community in recent years, most current databases are far from optimal. Although some databases are based on real data, they lack adequate spatial resolution and/or temporal coverage. Other databases are obtained by estimating renewable energy potential from meteorological reanalysis; however, these estimates are subject to high uncertainty. One of the main problems when building these renewable resource databases is the lack of actual values of installed capacity. In this study we present the SOlar and Wind Installed Spanish Power (SOWISP) database. SOWISP provides the actual installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic solar energy in each Spanish town, with a monthly resolution, and covering the period of 2015–2020. SOWISP has been developed and validated based on a careful and thorough compilation of different public databases. It covers the need for a publicly available database with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution suitable for the analysis of energy systems. Moreover, SOWISP, along with other freely available datasets, supports many modern applications. In addition, a Python package (available on GitHub) was developed for managing this database. • Publicly available database of the wind/solar PV installed power at the Spanish towns. • Information from 59386 solar PV plants and 1205 wind farms are included. • Dataset validation conducted at regional (coarser) scale. • Allows for energy system modeling and regional solar/wind power generation modeling. • Python code for managing the database is publicly available on GitHub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One of the characteristics of the Spanish energy system is its high degree of dependence on imports. In 2005, the Spanish government approved the new Renewable Energy Plan in the following sectors: Windpower, Hydroelectric, Solar Thermal, Solar Thermo-electric, Photovoltaic, Biomass, Biogas and Biofuels. The aim of the Plan is to make it possible to reach the target of 12% of primary energy being met from renewable sources by 2010. When selecting one from various Renewable Energy investment projects different groups of decision-makers become involved in the process. Decision-making has to take into consideration several conflicting objectives because of the increasingly complex social, economic, technological, and environmental factors that are present. Traditional single-criterion decision-making is no longer able to handle these problems. The Compromise Ranking method, also known as the VIKOR method, introduces the Multi-criteria ranking index based on the particular measure of “closeness” to the “ideal” solution. In this paper, we apply the method in the selection of a Renewable Energy project corresponding to the Renewable Energy Plan launched by the Spanish Government. The method is combined with the Analytical Hierarchy Process method for weighting the importance of the different criteria, which allows decision-makers to assign these values based on their preferences. The results show that the Biomass plant option (Co-combustion in a conventional power plant) is the best choice, followed by the Wind power and Solar Thermo-electric alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Andaluces is the property of Revista de Estudios Andaluces and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper lays out the role of the first centre in the world for the integration into the electrical grid of electricity coming from renewable energy (the Spanish acronym for which is CECRE (Centro de Control de Energías Renovables; Control Centre for Renewable Energies)) and the industrial development of large energy suppliers and wind turbine manufacturers in Spain. These two initiatives enabled the development of one of the first integrated markets for this type of energy source. The key contributions were the development of two software programs (wind management and management of solar light incidence), their visual implementation, and centralized digital control. An economic and business history approach is used to show the rise and relative failure of the Spanish wind industry during the period 2004–2015, when Spain became the fourth country after China, the US, and Germany in terms of installed capacity of renewable energy and, in relative terms, the second country after Denmark. This study is unique in that it provides an integrated vision of the reasons for the relative fall of Spain in the world ranking of wind energy producers. The methodology of the economic analysis of industrial policies makes it possible to explain the fall in the relative importance of Spain in the international panorama of wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In European countries, an energy transition towards renewable energies is taking place, promoting self-consumption photovoltaic systems. Some studies point out that the existing regulations and support for photovoltaic systems is still scarce in Spain. This work analyses the penetration of photovoltaic systems and their amortisation in rural areas within the Spanish regulatory framework. For this purpose, an economic decision-making method for the implementation of photovoltaic systems is proposed. This method is based on comparing the possible self-consumption scenarios included in the Spanish regulation and their payback periods. Subsequently, a rural municipality in Spain has been analysed in detail as a case study. Results show that the Spanish regulation on self-consumption does not provide an adequate profitability in rural areas, as the amortisation period with surplus sale is between 16 and 22 years. If the surplus generation is not sold, the payback rises up to 28 years. Therefore, from the economical point of view, photovoltaic generation power plants with surplus sale are more attractive than self-consumption installations, as the payback period is around 12 years. Consequently, a change in the current Spanish regulations is necessary to support individual self-consumption photovoltaic installations, to make them as profitable as photovoltaic generation power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do some European countries succeed in developing offshore wind power? This study compares the Spanish and Danish cases from the 1970s to 2021. By completing the literature on both policy failure and success with concepts from psychology, the study stresses the relevance of public funding instability, federal architecture, intertwined political interests and policy discourse as dimensions that impact the rise of offshore wind power. Drawing on this framework, the Danish success suggests that strong leadership based on a shared objective can create efficient institutions able to avoid veto players and secure financial investments over time. This process can boost the rise of a self-confident discourse that will reinforce the virtuous circle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Fiscal policies can be potential tools to boost renewables. • Electricity self-generation is implemented and evaluated. • Removal taxes to renewables achieves price competitiveness. The sustainability of the environment implies a dire need to redesign electricity systems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the role of alternative fiscal incentives to promote renewable electricity. To this end, a disaggregated, electricity-related Computable General Equilibrium model is developed, taking the current structure of the (renewable and non-renewable) electricity sector into account. The Computable General Equilibrium model developed presents at least two advantages: the changes are analyzed from a global perspective (including impacts on prices), and second, rebound effects are accounted for. The fiscal measures examine three scenarios of change in line with the decarbonization processes of economies. Specifically, the scenarios assess: (1) a 100% decrease in renewable electricity taxes; (2) a 23% increase in taxes paid by the non-renewable electricity sector; and, (3) both together. In addition, these fiscal measures are evaluated assuming improvements in electricity self-generation. The case study is the Spanish economy for 2016. The Computable General Equilibrium model is calibrated on a symmetric input–output table, constructed from supply and use tables. These tables disaggregate the energy and electricity sectors. Results reveal the role and strength of fiscal policy in boosting the production of electricity generation technologies using green energy resources, and reducing the production of electricity generated from brown sources. However, results suggest that these effects are limited to the energy chain sectors, with insignificant effects in the whole economy. This study also provides better information and guidance to politicians and decision-makers who wish to promote renewables, and the need to have a clear understanding of the influence price competitiveness has on the economy. Moreover, the results of this study have implications for rebound effects when electricity self-generation is implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energies play a significant role to mitigate the impacts of climate change. In countries like Spain, there is a significant potential of wind energy production which might be a key resource. In this research, we obtain wind power at 80 m height and wind turbine energy (assuming a specific turbine). To achieve this objective we produce an optimal mapping of the hourly "instantaneous surface wind speed" (height 10 m), based on the available data. An extensive region (Granada Province, south Spain) is studied with a spatial resolution of 300 m, during a long period (1996–2016). It allows us to assess the intra- and inter-daily variability of wind energy resources. Several interpolation approaches are tested and a cross validation experiment is applied to identify the optimal approach. The obtained maps were compared with the results obtained in the stations with two common frequency distributions (Rayleigh and Weibull). This is the first time that this sensitivity integrated analysis is performed over an extensive region (12600 km2) for a long time period (20 years) at fine spatiotemporal resolution (300 m, hourly scale). The results can be very valuable for a preliminary analysis of potential optimal location of wind energies facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents two recent laws in Spain. The first one is Law 19/2022, which grants legal personality to the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin, with the aim of protecting and conserving this ecosystem. The second one is Royal Decree-Law 18/2022, which approves measures to strengthen the protection of energy consumers and reduce natural gas consumption, in line with the Plan + Security for your Energy. These measures include the extension of the last resort tariff for natural gas consumers, the promotion of self-consumption of renewable energies, and administrative simplification for small-scale electricity production facilities. [Extracted from the article]

The materializ ation of the potential benefits derived from renewable electricity exchanges across the Mediterranean has been partly blocked due to energy security and geopolitical concerns. This profile explores the geopolitics of Moroccan –Spanish cooperation in electricity and renewable energies, identifying drivers and barriers for its development. It argues that narrow energy security considerations, namely an excessive focus on reducing energy dependence and 'renewable mercantilism', have acted as a barrier, while more comprehensive geopolitical approach could offer new strategic opportunities. It identifies two geopolitical positive externalities for both countries: the strategic benefits of belonging to a grid community and the soft power of projecting themselves as energy transition companions. Finally, it derives some policy implications for on-going and future initiatives promoting electricity interconnections and renewable exchanges across the Mediterranean, taking stock of the Desertec and the Mediterranean Solar Plan failed geopolitical narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to report on a case study concerning the development of sustainable energy partnerships involving engineering faculty and undergraduate students at the University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Design/methodology/approach: Faculty were motivated to seek partnerships with public and private entities in the local area for the purposes of realising mutually beneficial outcomes. The educational programmes of future engineers, when sustainability is considered, are analysed. Education for sustainable development has to include multidisciplinary active learning as a desirable competence. Active learning can be obtained when problems are based on real life because they are most motivating for students. Constructive alignment component is obtained because learning objectives are linked with learning activities related to the needs of public and private entities. Findings: Through the provision of technical expertise, the adoption and success of renewable energy projects was facilitated on the one hand, while final year undergraduate students benefited in terms of hands-on experience in helping to bring these projects to life, drawing on the knowledge and skills they had acquired throughout their degree programmes. These works are addressed to students by faculty members with the aim of developing and promoting renewable energies. Outcomes from partnerships surpassed expectations; not only were different benefits realised as were initially hoped for, but this success led to partnerships being sustained over time. Originality/value: Fossil fuel-based energy systems are associated with a myriad of negative environmental and social externalities. It is difficult to overstate the importance of transitioning towards alternative low carbon energy sources for climate change mitigation which are less centralised compared to the status-quo for energy security and energy independence. By actively facilitating the development of decentralised renewable energy sources in Catalonia, the projects reported herein are of significant value in social environmental and educational terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of DYNA - Ingeniería e Industria is the property of Publicaciones Dyna SL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Water resources in Algeria are scarce, often low quality, fragile, and unequally dispersed over time and space. The pressure on water resources can be associated with industrial development, a steady population growth, and demanding land irrigation measures. These conditions create a tense competition for managing water resources and sharing them between agricultural development, drinking water supply, industrial activities etc. Water treatment and reuse for agriculture is common in some countries. For example, in Spain, 71% of wastewater is used for the agricultural industry. In addition, the effect of climate change has brought national policies focused on the water-energy-food nexus (WEF) to the forefront. Within this context, desalination membrane technologies could play an increasing role for supporting segments of the Algerian economy that are heavily water dependent. In addition, by using renewable energies, such as solar energy in desalination, we would be taking advantage of Algeria's great potential, estimated at 13.9 TWh/y. By implementing water reuse and desalination strategies together in the agricultural sector, there is an opportunity to expand the access to healthy food and clean water, thereby keeping the WEF nexus effects under control. As well, effective use of energy potential for food use will be a step forward for economic growth in Algeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A building is an element that consumes great quantities of primary energy both during construction and operating life. Buildings are reported to consume 40% of total primary energy in Europe. Efficiency and saving policies in this sector should be priority to reduce the European energetic dependence on third countries as well as to diminish greenhouse emissions. The present work is aimed at review the results obtained during the first operating year of a public building with high energetic qualification in Mérida (Spain), which develops novel techniques on efficiency, energy saving and integration of renewable energies applied to the building sector. The building was constructed according to the climatic characteristics of Mérida. Diverse techniques regarding passive solar collection and thermal isolation, window and roofing shadowing and natural lighting were accounted for. The results showed that it is possible to air-condition public buildings in extreme weather regions by applying specific measures to minimize energy consumption with the use of renewable energy sources (solar energy and biomass). Based on the actual energetic results, the economic, energetic, and environmental feasibility of this kind of building is also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a theoretical framework to explore how the support policies for renewable energies can promote rent-seeking incentives in private firms. We develop a political economy of rent-seeking that considers the link between the regulatory decisions of political agents and the potential scope of socially wasteful pursuits. We argue that systematic public support schemes bring rent-seeking as a perception shared by entrepreneurs that influencing political allocations of resources is an essential and potentially preferable source of private profit than other for-profit economic avenues. As evidence of our claims, the framework is applied to the case of Spain to illustrate the economic effects of support policies on the production and distribution of renewable energy. We find rent-seeking behavior in Spain's renewable energy industry, and precisely that: (i) political regulations have induced market concentration and rent-seeking in renewable energy firms, (ii) these firms have required increasing regulations and premiums to survive, and (iii) energy consumers are forced to pay rent-seeking through increasingly expensive electricity bills. The analysis reveals some challenges and opportunities to drive efficient market-based policies to strengthen entrepreneurial competition and curb rent-seeking behavior. These insights have relevant proposals for the Spanish energy industry in complying with the EU Green Deal through a sustainable transition and comprehensive growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the correct operation of the electricity system, producers must provide an estimate of the energy they are going to discharge into the system, and they must face financial penalties if their forecasts are wrong. This is especially difficult in the case of renewable energies, and in particular wind energy because of its variability and intermittency. The tool proposed allows, in a first step, to improve the prediction of wind energy to be produced and, in a second step, to optimize the offer to be presented to the electricity market, so that the overall economic performance can be improved. This tool is based on the use of public information and automatic learning and has been evaluated on a set of 30 wind farms in Spain, using their historical production data. The results indicate improvements in both the accuracy of the energy estimation and the profit obtained from the energy sold. [Display omitted] • A tool to improve the forecasting of energy production and economic performance of wind farms is presented. • Wind energy forecasting by using this tool is based on public information and automatic learning. • Comparing the results with similar tools, an improvement in both energy forecasting and economic performance is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although, Spain does not obtain an official arctic strategy, it was mentioned in the paper for Spanish Polar Strategy that the Arctic region has become one of the country's national interests. The government of Spain is also deeply concerned about the problem of climate change and how it affects economic and social aspects of life. When addressing the Arctic energy issue we must make a prior delimitation, since it does not propose to study in detail, and only in general description, the internal functioning of the Arctic energy systems, that is, the one that serves to supply their populations with lighting, water, gas or electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]