scholarly journals An Engineer’s Guide to Public Engagement in Renewable Energy Projects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalin Moy
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Energy Projects

CROWDTHERMAL – A vision for citizens’ empowerment in geothermal projects

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gauthier Quinonez ◽  
Isabel Fernandez ◽  
Jan Hildebrand ◽  
Georgie Friederichs ◽  
Christina Baisch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Geothermal Energy ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
European Federation ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Alternative Finance

<p>CROWDTHERMAL is an EU Horizon 2020 project, developing alternative funding schemes for geothermal energy. CROWDTHERMAL supports the European Green Deal aiming at reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. To reach this goal the involvement of society is needed. In 2017, renewable energy accounted for 17.5% of the European gross energy consumption, of which only 3% were geothermal energy – despite its upsides and positive impact regarding decarbonization and heating and cooling in Europe. Geothermal is green, available 24 hours a day. CROWTHERMAL contributes to decrease dependency on fossil fuels in Europe by empowering local communities to directly participate in the development of geothermal projects via alternative financing schemes and engaging communication strategies.</p><p> </p><p>To support the participation in geothermal projects, CROWDTHERMAL is analysing the perception of geothermal energy and will develop a public engagement approach making extensive use of social media. Since our project started in September 2019, the CROWDTHERMAL team has developed a set of reports, addressing social, environmental and financial aspects of community financed geothermal projects.</p><p> </p><p>With regards to finance, CROWDTHERMAL formulates new financing models for community funding at national and international levels covering Member States and the EU alike. Community funding will enable citizens to collectively finance geothermal projects that will not only benefit them but also the society as a whole. The positive effect of citizens’ participation in energy projects was showcased by a report on renewable energy projects in Europe using alternative financing methods at different stages of their development published in 2020. Furthermore, an alternative finance risk inventory and potential mitigation tools have been developed. The deliverables compile the advantages, potential risks and possible risk mitigation measures for different alternative finance methods, each from a project developer’s and from a community investor’s perspective. The financial models are currently being developed and will be validated with the help of three geothermal Case Studies in Iceland, Hungary and Spain and through an European survey conducted by European Federation of Geologists’ (EFG) Third Parties.</p><p> </p><p>For the remaining 1.5 years of its funded period, CROWDTHERMAL will create Core Services and a social media powered platform that will support the deployment of integrated development schemes for geothermal energy utilising alternative finance and community engagement tools. It is targeted at project developers and citizens with an interest in energy empowerment. The aim is to connect the new approaches brought forwardhighlighted by CROWDTHERMAL with conventional financing, public engagement and risk mitigation schemes. It is also planned to launch a European mobilisation campaign via social media and conferences and workshops and by mobilising EFG Third Parties and the Altfinator Network. The CROWDTHERMAL Core Services will be designed to be operated after the EC-funded period helping geothermal projects tapping into alternative finance during the years to come.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Finally, CROWDTHERMAL started to strengthen ties with the Cost Action Geothermal-DHC and lately organised two joint meetings to identify synergies and potential opportunities for cooperation. The goal is to further expand the CROWTHERMAL network to provide opportunities to test CROWDTHERMAL concepts in a growing European geothermal energy market.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

Renewable Energy on Tribal Lands: A Feasibility Study for a Biomass-to-Energy Plant on the Cocopah Reservation in Arizona

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Lauren K. D’Souza ◽  
William L. Ascher ◽  
Tanja Srebotnjak
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biomass Energy ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Energy Plant ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Alternative Investment

Native American reservations are among the most economically disadvantaged regions in the United States; lacking access to economic and educational opportunities that are exacerbated by “energy insecurity” due to insufficient connectivity to the electric grid and power outages. Local renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass offer energy alternatives but their implementation encounters barriers such as lack of financing, infrastructure, and expertise, as well as divergent attitudes among tribal leaders. Biomass, in particular, could be a source of stable base-load power that is abundant and scalable in many rural communities. This case study examines the feasibility of a biomass energy plant on the Cocopah reservation in southwestern Arizona. It considers feedstock availability, cost and energy content, technology options, nameplate capacity, discount and interest rates, construction, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, and alternative investment options. This study finds that at current electricity prices and based on typical costs for fuel, O&M over 30 years, none of the tested scenarios is presently cost-effective on a net present value (NPV) basis when compared with an alternative investment yielding annual returns of 3% or higher. The technology most likely to be economically viable and suitable for remote, rural contexts—a combustion stoker—resulted in a levelized costs of energy (LCOE) ranging from US$0.056 to 0.147/kWh. The most favorable scenario is a combustion stoker with an estimated NPV of US$4,791,243. The NPV of the corresponding alternative investment is US$7,123,380. However, if the tribes were able to secure a zero-interest loan to finance the plant’s installation cost, the project would be on par with the alternative investment. Even if this were the case, the scenario still relies on some of the most optimistic assumptions for the biomass-to-power plant and excludes abatement costs for air emissions. The study thus concludes that at present small-scale, biomass-to-energy projects require a mix of favorable market and local conditions as well as appropriate policy support to make biomass energy projects a cost-competitive source of stable, alternative energy for remote rural tribal communities that can provide greater tribal sovereignty and economic opportunities.

scholarly journals A Decision Support Tool for Long-Term Planning of Marine Operations in Ocean Energy Projects

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 810
Author(s):  
Francisco X. Correia da Fonseca ◽  
Luís Amaral ◽  
Paulo Chainho
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Ocean Energy ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Marine Renewable Energy ◽  
Marine Energy ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Selection Algorithms ◽  
Maritime Infrastructure

Ocean energy is a relevant source of clean renewable energy, and as it is still facing challenges related to its above grid-parity costs, tariffs intended to support in a structured and coherent way are of great relevance and potential impact. The logistics and marine operations required for installing and maintaining these systems are major cost drivers of marine renewable energy projects. Planning the logistics of marine energy projects is a highly complex and intertwined process, and to date, limited advances have been made in the development of decision support tools suitable for ocean energy farm design. The present paper describes the methodology of a novel, opensource, logistic and marine operation planning tool, integrated within DTOceanPlus suite of design tools, and responsible for producing logistic solutions comprised of optimal selections of vessels, port terminals, equipment, as well as operation plans, for ocean energy projects. Infrastructure selection logistic functions were developed to select vessels, ports, and equipment for specific projects. A statistical weather window model was developed to estimate operation delays due to weather. A vessel charter rate modeling approach, based on an in-house vessel database and industry experience, is described in detail. The overall operation assumptions and underlying operating principles of the statistical weather window model, maritime infrastructure selection algorithms, and cost modeling strategies are presented. Tests performed for a case study based a theoretical floating wave energy converter produced results in good agreement with reality.

scholarly journals Renewable Energy Attitudes and Behaviour of Local Governments in Poland

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2765
Author(s):  
Joanna Rakowska ◽  
Irena Ozimek
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Energy Behavior ◽  
Public Aid ◽  
Energy Projects

The deployment of renewable energy at the local level can contribute significantly to mitigating climate change, improving energy security and increasing social, economic and environmental benefits. In many countries local authorities play an important role in the local development, but renewable energy deployment is not an obligatory task for them. Hence there are two research questions: (1) Do local governments think investments in renewable energy (RE) are urgent and affordable within the local budgets? (2) How do they react to the public aid co-financing investments in renewable energy? To provide the answer we performed qualitative analysis and non-parametric tests of data from a survey of 252 local authorities, analysis of 292 strategies of local development and datasets of 1170 renewable energy projects co-financed by EU funds under operational programs 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 in Poland. Findings showed that local authorities’ attitudes were rather careful, caused by financial constraints of local budgets and the scope of obligatory tasks, which made renewable energy investments not the most urgent. Public aid was a factor significantly affecting local authorities’ behavior. It triggered local authorities’ renewable energy initiatives, increasing the number and scope of renewable energy investments as well cooperation with other municipalities and local communities. Despite this general trend, there were also considerable regional differences in local authorities’ renewable energy behavior.

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