scholarly journals External costs of electricity generation in 27 European countries from 2010 - 2030: Pathway towards sustainability or business as usual?

Author(s):  
Frank Baumgärtner ◽  
Peter Letmathe

Abstract Electricity generation in Europe is undergoing fundamental change. The aim is to increase sustainability by reducing emissions. Each country has a different electricity mix, and there is no established method for measuring environmental impacts of electricity production with a single indicator, in a uniform manner and with country-specific data. To address this gap, we have developed a model that measures costs of 19 environmental externalities (usually types of emissions). Using country-specific technologies, electricity mixes and external cost rates, we assess and analyse the development of external costs of generating electricity in 27 European countries between 2010 and 2030. Our simulation results show that despite the initiated transformation of the energy systems in many EU countries, external costs per kWh are decreasing in only eight of these countries. This fact underlines the need for a drastic change in national energy strategies. Particularly striking are the developments of the energy mixes in six countries. Overall, the results show that more far-reaching policy measures are needed in order to significantly reduce the external costs of the energy sector in Europe.

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 5502
Author(s):  
Dominic Samoita ◽  
Charles Nzila ◽  
Poul Alberg Østergaard ◽  
Arne Remmen

Currently, Kenya depends mainly on oil, geothermal energy and hydro resources for electricity production, however all three have associated issues. Oil-based electricity generation is environmentally harmful, expensive and a burden to the national trade balance. The rivers for hydropower and their tributaries are found in arid and semi-arid areas with erratic rainfall leading to problems of supply security, and geothermal exploitation has cost and risk issues amongst others. Given these problems and the fact that Kenya has a significant yet underexploited potential for photo voltaic (PV)-based power generation, the limited—although growing—exploitation of solar PV in Kenya is explored in this paper as a means of diversifying and stabilising electricity supply. The potential for integration of PV into the Kenyan electricity generation mix is analysed together with the sociotechnical, economic, political, and institutional and policy barriers, which limit PV integration. We argue that these barriers can be overcome with improved and more robust policy regulations, additional investments in research and development, and improved coordination of the use of different renewable energy sources. Most noticeably, storage solutions and other elements of flexibility need to be incorporated to balance the intermittent character of electricity generation based on solar PV.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-35
Author(s):  
Iwona Kargulewicz ◽  
Damian Zasina

Abstract The structure of fuels consumed for energy production and the amount of CO2 emissions associated with that production in Poland in 1990–2017 and in other selected European countries were presented. The countries to be compared were selected so that the analysed group was diverse in terms of electricity generation conditions. CO2 emission intensity from electricity production for Poland were estimated and compared with the average intensity for the EU and for the other selected European countries. Additionally, CO2 emission in the electricity and commercial heat production sector projected until 2040 was included to present the impact of the fuel mix on the emission results.


Author(s):  
Christian Bjørnskov

Abstract I explore the association between the severity of lockdown policies in the first half of 2020 and mortality rates. Using two indices from the Blavatnik Centre’s COVID-19 policy measures and comparing weekly mortality rates from 24 European countries in the first halves of 2017–2020, addressing policy endogeneity in two different ways, and taking timing into account, I find no clear association between lockdown policies and mortality development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shutaro Takeda ◽  
Alexander Keeley ◽  
Shigeki Sakurai ◽  
Shunsuke Managi ◽  
Catherine Norris

The adoption of renewable energy technologies in developing nations is recognized to have positive environmental impacts; however, what are their effects on the electricity supply chain workers? This article provides a quantitative analysis on this question through a relatively new framework called social life cycle assessment, taking Malaysia as a case example. Impact assessments by the authors show that electricity from renewables has greater adverse impacts on supply chain workers than the conventional electricity mix: Electricity production with biomass requires 127% longer labor hours per unit-electricity under the risk of human rights violations, while the solar photovoltaic requires 95% longer labor hours per unit-electricity. However, our assessment also indicates that renewables have less impacts per dollar-spent. In fact, the impact of solar photovoltaic would be 60% less than the conventional mix when it attains grid parity. The answer of “are renewables as friendly to humans as to the environment?” is “not-yet, but eventually.”


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3088
Author(s):  
Henry Wasajja ◽  
Saqr A. A. Al-Muraisy ◽  
Antonella L. Piaggio ◽  
Pamela Ceron-Chafla ◽  
Purushothaman Vellayani Aravind ◽  
...  

Small-scale electrical power generation (<100 kW) from biogas plants to provide off-grid electricity is of growing interest. Currently, gas engines are used to meet this demand. Alternatively, more efficient small-scale solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) can be used to enhance electricity generation from small-scale biogas plants. Most electricity generators require a constant gas supply and high gas quality in terms of absence of impurities like H2S. Therefore, to efficiently use the biogas from existing decentralized anaerobic digesters for electricity production, higher quality and stable biogas flow must be guaranteed. The installation of a biogas upgrading and buffer system could be considered; however, the cost implication could be high at a small scale as compared to locally available alternatives such as co-digestion and improved digester operation. Therefore, this study initially describes relevant literature related to feedstock pre-treatment, co-digestion and user operational practices of small-scale digesters, which theoretically could lead to major improvements of anaerobic digestion process efficiency. The theoretical preamble is then coupled to the results of a field study, which demonstrated that many locally available resources and user practices constitute frugal innovations with potential to improve biogas quality and digester performance in off-grid settings.


Author(s):  
K. A. Khan ◽  
Shahinul Islam ◽  
M. A. Saime ◽  
S. R. Rasel ◽  
Sazzad Hossain

A new method of electricity generation based on Pathor Kuchi Leaf (Genus: Kalanchoe, Section: Bryophyllum) has been developed at the Department of Physics, Jagannath University, Dhaka- 1100, Bangladesh. This electricity generation method has several advantages for smart grid over the conventional electricity production. This sustainable method is likely to generate the employment at particularly in the rural areas of where grid electricity is absent. This research work reports an invention made on Pathor Kuchi Leaf (PKL) electric power plant to enhance the PKL electricity production. The efficiency of the PKl electricity production device, Short Circuit Current ( Isc ), Open circuit Voltage ( Voc ), Temperature effect of the PKL malt, pH of the PKL malt, Titratable acidity of the PKL malt, Generation of PKL electricity, Storage system of the PKL electricity, Particular utilization of PKL electricity, I-V characteristics of the PKL, Classification of PKL, Longevity of PKL malt for PKL electricity generation, Preparation of PKL electric unit cell, module, panel, arrays and the constituent elements of the PKL, Voltage regulation, Internal resistance of the cell and efficiency of the cell have been studied. The chemical reactions of the PKL electrochemical cell have also been studied. In experimental study, it is shown that the maximum efficiency of the PKL electricity production device is ≈ 34%, the pH of the PKL malt is ≈ 4.6(without water), pH of the PKL malt is ≈ 4.8 (with 10% solution), the titratable acidity of the PKL malt is ≈ 0.88%. Most of the results have been tabulated and graphically discussed.


Author(s):  
Miroslav P. Petrov

High-speed alternators are believed to be well developed nowadays, following the improvement in performance and decrease of costs for electronic power converters and permanent magnet materials. Their compact design and their ability to vary the rotational speed in off-design conditions promise superior performance when compared to conventional generators. High-speed alternators are only available in limited sizes for small-scale applications, whereas improvements in efficiency and optimized part-load behavior are particularly important especially for small-scale electricity generation. Enhanced energy utilization for electricity production by small utility plants or by distributed units located at private homes or commercial buildings, based on thermodynamic cycles powered by natural gas or various renewable energy sources, is possible to be achieved through a wider application of grid-integrated high-speed technology. This study presents a critical review of previous research and demonstration work on high-speed electrical machines and a summary of the technical challenges limiting their performance and their expansion into larger sizes. Conclusions are drawn for finding appropriate solutions for practical high-speed electricity generation units and their readiness for a much wider deployment. Closer analysis is attempted on the thermal and mechanical integrity of high-speed alternators and the technical challenges that slow down their scale-up to MW-size units for utility applications. The necessary research and development work that needs to be done in the near future is outlined and discussed herein.


Author(s):  
Morten Falch

Broadband is seen as a key infrastructure for developing the information society. For this reason many Governments are actively engaged in stimulating investments in broadband infrastructures and use of broadband services. This chapter compares a wide range of broadband strategies in the most successful markets for broadband. This is done through analysis of national policies in three European countries—Denmark, Sweden, and Germany—and the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. We concluded that successful implementation of broadband depends on the kind of policy measures to be taken at the national level. Many countries have provided active support for stimulating diffusion of broadband and national variants of this type of policies in different countries are important for an explanation of national differences in adoption of broadband.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (01) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Reilly ◽  
Allison Crimmins

This article predicts future global energy demand under a business-as-usual scenario. According to the MIT projections, conventional technology supported by fossil fuels will continue to dominate under a business-as-usual scenario. In fact, in the absence of climate policies that would impact energy prices, fossil fuels will supply nearly 80% of global primary energy demand in 2100. Alternative energy technologies will expand rapidly. Non-fossil fuel use will grow from 13% to 20% by 2100, with renewable electricity production expanding nearly tenfold and nuclear energy increasing by a factor of 8.5. However, those sources currently provide such a small share of the world's energy that even rapid growth is not enough to significantly displace fossil fuels. In spite of the growth in renewables, the projections indicate that coal will remain among the least expensive fuel sources. Non-fossil fuel alternatives, such as renewable energy and nuclear energy, will be between 40% and 80% more expensive than coal.


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