Green Energy Technologies as the Road Map to Sustainable Economic Growth in Kenya

Author(s):  
Joan Mwihaki Nyika

Kenya, just like other developing countries of the world, is energy deficient. Power supply is characterized by flaws including inaccessibility by marginalized rural communities, high cost of electricity, power outages, and over-reliance on biomass and hydropower sources. Despite these trends, the country has great potential to produce green energy including wind, biofuels, solar, and geothermal power in excess of the entire country's demand. This chapter explores the status of each of these green energy sources and their production potential using in Kenya. Findings show that the production capacity for all of the sources is high though limited tapping and harnessing of these energy resources is done. This could be attributable to lack of exploitation technology and expertise, huge capital investments involved and the uncertainty on the effects of these renewable energy sources to food and water security. For optimal exploitation, Kenya must invest in the energy sector hugely to enhance technical know-how on its development and cater for the associated financial opportunity costs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-539
Author(s):  
Chukwuma Chris Okonkwo ◽  
Francis Odikpo Edoziuno ◽  
Adeolu Adesoji Adediran ◽  
Enoch Mayowa Ibitogbe ◽  
Rasheedat Mahamood ◽  
...  

There is a huge renewable potential found in Nigeria which is yet to be explored. The heavy reliance on fossil fuels such as crude oil for its energy production has made it a top contributor to greenhouse gases up to 1.01 % of global emissions. Pertinent efforts have been placed on exploring renewable energy sources given the increased awareness of its sustainability. Furthermore, indicators suggest that crude oil will become a much less significant driver of the energy sector in the coming years. In the light of these issues, this paper presents the potentials that renewable energy has to offer, challenges that could limit its exploitation, and the current status of energy initiatives, including the decade-old renewable energy master plan. Meanwhile, we also discuss the benefits of adopting renewable energy technologies for urban and rural communities. In conclusion, the adverse effect of the exploitation of fossil fuels on the environment, including global warming, glacial meltdown, and acid rain, can be mitigated. Overall, the carbon footprint can be reduced if the potentials are appropriately utilized and converted into an accessible and affordable energy source. Although renewable energy projects have a high initial cost of running over a long life, the cost is small or no compared to conventional sources. The authors recommend the need to explore alternative energy sources that will be environmentally friendly and meet present energy demands.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan ◽  
Hayati Mamur ◽  
Ömer Faruk Dilmaç

Background: Future sustainable energy industrialization is a green energy source that has a lower circumstantial impact than traditional energy technologies. The advancement of new energy generation is important to expand the share of renewable energy sources. Objective: Worldwide, for the next generation, future energy demand may be fulfilled by using one of the renewable energy sources such as thermo electricity. Methods: The bismuth telluride-based (Bi2Te3-based) nanostructure material in thermo electricity stillhas a major part of applications. It is known as the most prospective TE device manufactured from a research arena towards successful commercialization. Results: The Bi2Te3-based nanostructure material is now on commercialization stages that it has some limitations. In order to find out the future direction of research and development of this material, the material will face a challenging way. Conclusion: The review paper provides an effective approach to overcome the limitation of Bi2Te3-based nanostructure. Moreover, in this review paper, the performance evaluation with existing Bi2Te3-based nanostructure and some other TE materials will be discussed in detail.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
JAVED ALAM SHEIKH

Almost 50 per cent of the world population is constituted by the women and they have been making substantial contribution to socio-economic development. But, unfortunately their tremendous contribution remains unrecognized and unnoticed in most of the developing and least developed countries causing the problem of poverty among them. Empowering women has become the key element in the development of an economy. With women moving forward, the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves. Hence, improving the status of women by way of their economic empowerment is highly called for. Entrepreneurship is a key tool for the economic empowerment of women around the world for alleviating poverty. Entrepreneurship is now widely recognized as a tool of economic development in India also. In this paper I have tried to discuss the reasons and role of Women Entrepreneurship with the help of Push and Pull factors. In the last I have also discussed the problems and the road map of Women Entrepreneurs development in India.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3398
Author(s):  
Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski ◽  
Paweł Dudziec ◽  
Michał Krzyżaniak ◽  
Ewelina Olba-Zięty

Conventional energy sources often do not fully satisfy the needs of a modern economy, especially given the climate changes associated with them. These issues should be addressed by diversification of energy generation, including the development of renewable energy sources (RES). Solid biomass will play a major part in the process in Poland. The function of rural areas, along with a well-developed agricultural and forest economy sector, will be a key aspect in this as these areas are suitable for solid biomass acquisition in various ways. This study aimed to determine the solid biomass energy potential in the commune of Goworowo to illustrate the potential in the smallest administrative units of Poland. This research determined the environmental and natural conditions in the commune, which helped to identify the crucial usable solid biomass resources. The total energy potential of solid biomass resources in the commune of Goworowo amounted to 97,672 GJ y−1. The highest potential was accumulated in straw surplus (37,288 GJ y−1) and the lowest was in wood from roadside maintenance (113 GJ y−1). This study showed that rural areas could soon play a significant role in obtaining solid biomass, and individual communes could become spaces for the diversification of energy feedstock.


2020 ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
G.S. Suleimanov ◽  
◽  
G.N. Safarova ◽  
A.I. Mirheydarova ◽  
◽  
...  

The paper studies the role of alternative and renewable energy sources (ARES) in the maintenance of Azerbaijan’s energy security. In the view of annual depletion of reserves capacity of such traditional natural resources as the oil, gas, coal, shale and the environmental disorder in their usage, as well as considering the fact of their implementation as the major pressure means serving to the geopolitical interests of the countries, due to the instability and variability of the fuel types prices in the world market, the necessity of surveying new alternative and renewable energy sources in the region is marked. It is pointed out that wide-scale recovery of alternative and renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan will lead to the involving of oil-gas raw into the petrochemical industry, to the decrease of degree of the harmful man-made effect on the environment in the process of energy production, as well as to the significant reduction of economic dependence on the various fuel types. The methods of increasing the production capacity of alternative energies in the strengthening of country’s energetic safety by the acceleration of implementation process of alternative and renewable energy sources were studied and the significance of the development of oil concept considered the essential of long-term maintenance of national energy safety marked as well.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indre Siksnelyte-Butkiene ◽  
Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas ◽  
Dalia Streimikiene

Different power generation technologies have different advantages and disadvantages. However, if compared to traditional energy sources, renewable energy sources provide a possibility to solve the climate change and economic decarbonization issues that are so relevant today. Therefore, the analysis and evaluation of renewable energy technologies has been receiving increasing attention in the politics of different countries and the scientific literature. The household sector consumes almost one third of all energy produced, thus studies on the evaluation of renewable energy production technologies in households are very important. This article reviews the scientific literature that have used multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods as a key tool to evaluate renewable energy technologies in households. The findings of the conducted research are categorized according to the objectives pursued and the criteria on which the evaluation was based are discussed. The article also provides an overview and in-depth analysis of MCDM methods and distinguishes the main advantages and disadvantages of using them to evaluate technologies in households.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7457
Author(s):  
Joanna Kisielińska ◽  
Monika Roman ◽  
Piotr Pietrzak ◽  
Michał Roman ◽  
Katarzyna Łukasiewicz ◽  
...  

The primary aim of this study was to assess and compare EU countries in terms of the use of renewable energy sources in road transport. The following research tasks were undertaken to realize this aim: (1) a review of the literature concerning the negative externalities in road transport, the concept of sustainable development, and legal regulations referring to the utilization of renewable energy sources; (2) presentation of changes in energy consumption (both traditional and renewable) in road transport in EU countries in the years 2008–2019; and (3) identification of leaders among the EU countries in terms of consumption of renewable energy sources in road transport. The aim and tasks were realized using the literature review and TOPSIS method as well as descriptive, tabular, and graphic methods. The analysis was conducted for 28 EU countries according to the status for 2019. The period of 2008–2019 was investigated. Sources of materials included literature on the subject and Eurostat data. Although renewable energy sources accounted for as little as 6% of total energy consumption in road transport in EU countries in 2019, this is a significant topical issue. It results from the direction in which changes need to be implemented in terms of energy generation in this area of human activity. It turned out that blended biodiesel and blended biogasoline were the most commonly used fuels originating from renewable sources. The application of the TOPSIS method resulted in the identification of five groups of EU member countries, which differed in terms of the degree of utilization of renewable energy sources in road transport. Luxemburg, Sweden, and Austria were leaders in this respect. In turn, Malta, Estonia, and Croatia were characterized by very low consumption of renewable energy. The greatest progress in the utilization of renewable energy sources in road transport was recorded in Sweden, Finland, and Bulgaria (changes in the relative closeness to the ideal solution from 0.15 to 0.27), while the greatest reduction in relation to other countries was observed in Austria, Germany, and Lithuania (changes from −0.35 to −0.22).


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. E7-E13
Author(s):  
T. K. Barui ◽  
S. Goswami ◽  
D. Mondal

Renewable energy sources (RESs) are becoming increasingly important day by day to tranquilize the world’s energy crisis and consume fossil fuels in the lower rung. A microgrid system that assimilates clean and green energy-based sources such as solar, wind, and biogas is acquiring much prominence over the conventional grid-based power systems in this day and age. For the up and running of the inexhaustible energy sources in the AC power network, numerous conversions of the power sources occur. In the process of conversion, some amount of power is lost, which minimizes conversion efficiency. However, with the increasing use of DC loads and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), DC Microgrid could be more beneficial than the conventional AC power system by avoiding several types of drawbacks. This paper demonstrates an efficient system of digitally controlled boost converter for the parallel operation in DC microgrid. Here, the converter of 2.5kW 400V is designed and implemented to validate its functioning in a Microgrid. The whole system has been simulated in MATLAB with an input voltage range of 220–380 V. It has been found that the designed converter can maintain the desired output voltage in the DC Busbar at and around 400 V. Finally, some simulation results have been presented to analyze the converter’s operational characteristics and effectiveness in the practical domain.


Author(s):  
Natalia Vukovic ◽  
Ulyana Koriugina ◽  
Daria Illarionova ◽  
Daria Pankratova ◽  
Polina Kiseleva ◽  
...  

This study aims to estimate and explore the experience of introducing renewable energy use in the context of the world’s smart cities. In this regard, the study points out that the use of green energy is an important part of sustainable development. Environmental problems are a matter of global concern. Hence sustainable development is one of the approaches to end the harmful anthropogenic impact. The work includes quantitative assessment methods, for example, statistics, quantitative analysis, analogy, and synthesis. As a result, the analysis confirms that the effective development of a smart green city is impossible without the introduction of several renewable energy sources, the integrated use of which will reduce the likelihood of problems with the city’s energy supply. Likewise, the outcome accentuates that the desire to fully switch to renewable energy sources (RES) can be accompanied by several problems as the creation of RES technologies does not always take the risk of abnormal situations into account. In conclusion, the research findings are recommended to be taken into consideration by researchers in the field of smart and sustainable cities development, as well as urbanists and economists for designing future smart green cities based on renewable energy sources.


Sci ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Moriarty ◽  
Damon Honnery

Because of the near-term risk of extreme weather events and other adverse consequences from climate change, and, at least in the longer term, global fossil fuel depletion, there is world-wide interest in shifting to noncarbon energy sources, especially renewable energy (RE). Because of possible limitations on conventional renewable energy sources, researchers have looked for ways of overcoming these shortcomings by introducing radically new energy technologies. The largest RE source today is bioenergy, while solar energy and wind energy are regarded as having the largest technical potential. This paper reviews the literature on proposed new technologies for each of these three RE sources: microalgae for bioenergy, photolysis and airborne wind turbines. The main finding is that their proponents have underestimated the difficulties facing their introduction on a very large scale.


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