Renewables will expand slowly in Central America

Subject Energy diversification. Significance Central America is exploring ways to diversify its power generation, pursuing more sustainable hydropower and geothermal energy and developing other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biofuels and agricultural waste. The region’s massive potential to develop renewable energy is increasingly being recognised internationally, but issues with capacity and investor confidence weigh on progress. Impacts Fossil fuel use will continue to grow alongside an increase in renewables. Cross-border trade in renewable energy is likely to develop over the coming years. Costa Rica's image as an ecotourism hub will drive domestic and international enthusiasm for renewables investment there.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 5907
Author(s):  
Valerii Havrysh ◽  
Antonina Kalinichenko ◽  
Anna Brzozowska ◽  
Jan Stebila

The European Union has set targets for renewable energy utilization. Poland is a member of the EU, and its authorities support an increase in renewable energy use. The background of this study is based on the role of renewable energy sources in improving energy security and mitigation of climate change. Agricultural waste is of a significant role in bioenergy. However, there is a lack of integrated methodology for the measurement of its potential. The possibility of developing an integrated evaluation methodology for renewable energy potential and its spatial distribution was assumed as the hypothesis. The novelty of this study is the integration of two renewable energy sources: crop residues and animal husbandry waste (for biogas). To determine agricultural waste energy potential, we took into account straw requirements for stock-raising and soil conservation. The total energy potential of agricultural waste was estimated at 279.94 PJ. It can cover up to 15% of national power generation. The spatial distribution of the agricultural residue energy potential was examined. This information can be used to predict appropriate locations for biomass-based power generation facilities. The potential reduction in carbon dioxide emissions ranges from 25.7 to 33.5 Mt per year.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-36
Author(s):  
Branko Blazevic

In this paper, the author focuses on the fundamental hypothesis that the adoption of a concept of regional sustainable development and the use of renewable energy sources are preconditions to organising an acceptable regional tourism offering based on an eco-philosophy The renewable development of tourism regions is the basic framework for research regarding opportunities for introducing renewable energy sources such as hydro energy, wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy, and biomass energy. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the real opportunities that exist for substituting conventional energy sources with renewable ones and the role of renewables in regional development from economic, environmental and sociological viewpoints. It should also be noted that renewable energy sources have a strong regional importance and can contribute significantly to local employment.


Nanoscale ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingbing Cui ◽  
Guo-Dong Fu

The fossil-fuel shortage and severe environmental issues have posed ever-increasing demands on clean and renewable energy sources, for which the exploration of electrocatalysts has been in a big challenge toward...


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Melis Aras

The energy transition in Europe requires not only the implementation of technological innovations to reduce carbon emissions but also the decentralised extension of these innovations throughout the continent, as demonstrated by the ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ package. However, decentralised energy generation, and specifically electricity generation, as it gives rise to new players and interactions, also requires a review of the energy planning process. In this sense, governance becomes the key concept for understanding the implementation of the energy transition in a territory. This is particularly visible in a cross-border setting, especially considering cross-border cooperation in the development of renewable energy sources (RES) provides the necessary elements to determine the criteria of local regulation between the different levels of governance. In light of the current legal framework in France, this paper presents the institutional framework of the multi-level governance of the RES development planning process. It concludes that it is quite conceivable for the rationales of governance at the local level (decentralisation) and the large-scale operation of a large interconnected network (Europeanisation) to coexist.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5119
Author(s):  
Tomasz Sliwa ◽  
Tomasz Kowalski ◽  
Dominik Cekus ◽  
Aneta Sapińska-Śliwa

Currently, renewable energy is increasingly important in the energy sector. One of the so-called renewable energy sources is geothermal energy. The most popular solution implemented by both small and large customers is the consumption of low-temperature geothermal energy using borehole heat exchanger (BHE) systems assisted by geothermal heat pumps. Such an installation can operate regardless of geological conditions, which makes it extremely universal. Borehole heat exchangers are the most important elements of this system, as their design determines the efficiency of the entire heating or heating-and-cooling system. Filling/sealing slurry is amongst the crucial structural elements. In borehole exchangers, reaching the highest possible thermal conductivity of the cement slurry endeavors to improve heat transfer between the rock mass and the heat carrier. The article presents a proposed design for such a sealing slurry. Powdered magnesium was used as an additive to the cement. The approximate cost of powdered magnesium is PLN 70–90 per kg (EUR 15–20/kg). Six different slurry formulations were tested. Magnesium flakes were used in designs A, B, C, and magnesium shavings in D, E and F. The samples differed in the powdered magnesium content BWOC (by weight of cement). The parameters of fresh and hardened sealing slurries were tested, focusing mainly on the thermal conductivity parameter. The highest thermal conductivity values were obtained in design C with the 45% addition of magnesium flakes BWOC.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-36
Author(s):  
Abir Muhtadi ◽  
Ahmed Mortuza Saleque ◽  
Mohammad Abdul Mannan

Due to sheer dependency upon fossil fuel sources, Bangladesh as a country is not free from numerous negative aspects. Country’s requirement for a certain portion of power be generated from renewable energy sources is due and required renewable energy target (RET) needs to be fulfilled. In this study, potential of distinguished coastal sites for entirely renewable energy such as solar and wind sources based microgrid for chosen community is explored. Microgrid architecture is appropriate considering the coastal areas’ geographical locations and due to the inconvenience in grid extension. Study suggests, potential of coastal sites are found to be feasible for such structures based on real case scenario data and modelled technical scheme.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrijana Stevanović ◽  
Boban Jolović

One of the most used renewable energy sources worldwide is geothermal energy. Itrepresents the heat, originated by natural processes happen in the Earth interior. The hot springsphenomena are the most frequent natural manifestation of geothermal activity.Geothermal potentiality of some area can be estimated based on geothermal gradient. Geothermalgradient is a conductive terrestrial parameter that represents the degree of increasing of the Earthtemperature vs. depth. It is usually expressed in ⁰C/m or ⁰C/km. Different areas have differentthermal gradients and thus different geothermal potential. Generally, higher geothermal gradientscorrespond to areas containing more geothermal energy.Geothermal characteristics of the territory of the Republic of Srpska are closely related to itscomplex geological setting. It is the reason why geothermal characteristics are different from areato area. Higher geothermal potentiality is recognised in the northern parts of the entity, in the firstorder in Semberija, Posavina and Banja Luka regions.The use of geothermal energy with different fluid temperatures can be considered throughthe Lindaldiagram, who firstly proposed acomprehensive scale with appropriate temperatures for differentuses. High temperature fluids are mostly used for electricity production and moderate and lowtemperature fluids for the direct use.Despite the fact that the territory of the Republic of Srpska hasfavourable geothermal properties, utilization of this kind of renewable energy resource isinadequate. Especially indicative are data about the use of geothermal energy by heat pumps (inbad sense) in comparison with praxis of developed countries.Chemical composition of thermal waters plays very important role and can be used in itsexploration stage, for analyses of possibility of its use and for prediction of exploitation effects, aswell. This kind of renewable energyresource, highly ecologically recommended, must be consideredmore seriously in the future in the Republic of Srpska. Furthermore, it must be put into the energystrategic documentsin appropriate manner.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke Welisch ◽  
Gustav Resch ◽  
André Ortner

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to provide estimation results for feasibility of renewable energy source (RES) deployment in Turkey, the Western Balkans and North Africa. From these results, the potential for cooperation in renewables production between the countries and the European Union (EU) is assessed and evaluated, in a mid- (2030) and long-term (up to 2040) perspective. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on the quantitative assessments undertaken on the extent to which RES cooperation can create mutual benefits, identifying costs and benefits for both sides, but in particular with respect to RES target achievement (2020 and 2030) at EU level. The potentials for RES generation in Turkey, North Africa and the Western Balkans are calculated under different policy pathways, taking into account different levels of economic and non-economic barriers that could occur. Findings Overall, the authors found that increasing RES deployment in the three analysed regions and initiating or intensifying cooperation with EU28 Member States leads to mutual benefits. Concretely, these benefits become apparent in terms of the EU Member States importing renewable energy sources for electricity with a good resource quality and adding on to their targets for RES deployment. At the same time, substantial savings occur for the EU, in turn leading to income and investments in the cooperating regions. Originality/value The assessment underlying this paper is the first of its kind to the authors’ knowledge that opens up the geographical spread in comparison to merely assessing cooperation between Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, the multitude of policy parameters analysed provides detailed and robust insights concerning a broad variety of different possible scenarios.


Author(s):  
Talip Arsu

Electricity generation, one of the renewable energy sources (RES), delivers a solution for various problems such as energy efficiency, energy supply security, reducing foreign dependency, and especially, environmental concerns. However, the solutions provided for these problems bring along the question of which RESs are produced more effectively. Therefore, in this research, RESs used for electricity generation in Turkey were analyzed by using generation data to show which one is more effective. Bi-objective multiple-criteria data envelopment analysis (BiO-MCDEA) method, a goal programming-based efficiency determination method, was used for the efficiency analysis conducted for five years between the years of 2014 and 2018. As a result of the analysis, geothermal energy came into prominence as the most effective RES for all of the years included in the solution. Geothermal energy was followed by biomass energy, wind energy, hydroelectric, and solar energy, respectively.


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