Access to energy is crucial in tackling many of the current global development challenges that impact on people’s economic, health and social well-being as well as the ability to meet the commitments of reducing carbon emissions through clean energy use. Despite increased attention from multiple governments and agencies, energy poverty remains a serious sustainable development issue in many developing countries. To date, most research have focused on general access to electricity and the generation of clean energy to replace fossil fuels, failing to address the lack of basic access to clean energy for cooking and heating. More people in the world lack access to clean cooking fuels than to electricity. This issue is one aspect of a broader research which investigates the impacts of optimized energy policy and energy business models on sustainable development in developing countries.

Power overgeneration by renewable sources combined with less dispatchabe conventional power plants introduce the power grid to a new challenge, i.e., instability. The stability of the power grid requires constant balance between generation and demand. A well-known solution to power overgeneration is grid-scale energy storage. Although different energy storage technologies have been tested and demonstrated, reducing the cost of energy storage remains as a challenging goal for researchers, industries, and governments. Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) has been utilized for grid-scale energy storage for a few decades. However, conventional diabatic CAES systems are difficult and expensive to construct and maintain due to their high pressure operating condition. Hybrid Compressed Air Energy Storage (HCAES) systems are introduced as a new variant of old CAES technology to reduce the cost of energy storage using compressed air. The HCAES system split the received power from the grid into two subsystems. A portion of the power is used to compress air, as done in conventional CAES systems. The rest of the electric power is converted to heat in a high-temperature Thermal Energy Storage (TES) component using Joule heating. In this study, a solid-state grid-tied TES system is designed to operate with a HCAES system. The storage medium is considered to be high-temperature refractory concrete. The thermal energy is generated inside the concrete block using resistive heaters (wires) that are buried inside a concrete block. A computational approach was adopted to investigate the performance of the proposed TES system during a full charge/storage/discharge cycle. It was shown that the proposed design can be used to receive 200 kW of power from the grid for 6 hours without overheating the resistive heaters. The discharge computations show that the proposed geometry of the TES, along with a control strategy for the flow rate can provide a 74-kW micro-turbine of the HCAES with the minimum required temperature, i.e., 1144K at 0.6 kg/s of air flow rate for 6 hours. The computations were performed in ANSYS/FLUENT and the results were verified and validated using a grid independence study.

When a coal-fired power plant is considered for closure, arguments are commonly made about the loss of jobs and unrealized investments. Facing this pressure, governments are reluctant to enact enforceable emission standards, and these plants continue to emit pollutants into the atmosphere. As the equipment ages, the plants may retire, but in their lifetime they will cause irreversible environmental damage. This report presents a method to mediate this damage, create jobs, maintain the efficiency of the turbine, and maintain or increase the capacity factor of the plant. Solar parabolic troughs using molten salt technology are scalable and can meet the steam conditions of a standard Rankine cycle coal-fired power plant. A marriage of these technologies allows the parabolic trough field to be installed without new power generation equipment. The turbine, generator, and transmission equipment are already in place, and when compared to a standalone concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, can be amortized over a greater number of operational hours without the use of very large amounts of thermal storage. That allows for a reduction in capital investment compared to a greenfield CSP plant, and reduces the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from the solar contribution to well below current US Department of Energy SunShot targets. Coal-fired plant operators note that they typically cannot operate at partial power output without reducing the efficiency of their turbine accordingly. So, while a photovoltaic hybridization can take advantage of existing transmission infrastructure, it will require that the coal-fired system reduces its output and will consequently reduce the efficiency of the coal cycle. If we have to burn coal, we should do it in the most efficient way possible. Hybridizing with a molten salt parabolic trough installation makes use of the same turbine as the coal-fired system, which maintains the overall efficiency of the turbine at its design point and optimal load. With this model, the coal plant can operate at full power, reduce overall usage of coal while maintaining or even increasing employment opportunities, and reduce CO2 emissions.

Achieving energy efficiency in buildings is an important factor in developed and as well in developing countries in order to meet its energy demand. Over the past few years, a number of reports have been emerged stating that the buildings sectors are responsible for approximately 31% of global final energy demand. Buildings account for 35% of total final energy consumption in India and building energy consumption is growing about 8% per years. Final energy demand in Indian building sector will grow up-to five times by the end of this century, driven by rapid income and population growth. Hospitals are institutions for the care of people with health problems and are usually functional 24hrs a day, all year around, which demands a lot of energy. Health sector is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in India. By 2020, it is expected to become a $ 280 billion industry. In India hospitals contribute 23% of total energy consumption and the hospital building growth rate 12–15% in last decade. The World Health Organization estimated that India need 80,000 additional hospital beds every year to meet the demands of India’s population. The aim of this study is to assess the energy demand, energy savings & reduced greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the energy efficiency using advanced retrofitting. Bottom-Up Energy Analysis System (BUENAS) is an end use energy demand projection model for Hospital buildings in India, to normalize the assessment of energy-saving models also going to fill the gap in energy demand reduction by energy system modeling and decomposition analysis. Energy efficiency retrofitting of existing buildings plays a major role in developing country like India in order improve its energy security and minimizing the greenhouse gases. The positive effects of retrofitting of energy efficiency and need the policies and target base proposal for government intention to achieve the potential for energy efficiency are discussed.

This paper proposes a national energy efficiency policy to go along with the Development Plan of the State of Kuwait 2015–2020. Obstacles hindering the energy savings including, the general consensus of government officials, securing national energy funds, engaging various stakeholders, setting targets and establishing benchmarks and legal framework to monitor and gage progress are discussed. A SWOT analysis is conducted to arrive at short term (5 years) and long term (15 years) milestones for the policy roadmap needed to achieve optimum potential saving. Compared with the present consumption pattern (business as usual), primary energy saving will reach 2.4% by 2020 and extending to 30% saving by 2035. This saving target is the result of analyzing various policy scenarios through the application of energy conservation code, building energy audits, appliance labeling, building labeling, smart building energy monitoring and control, vehicle energy labeling, and electric vehicles.

Airports are key components of the global transportation system and are the subject of continuous sustainability improvements. Promoting clean energy sources and energy-efficient practices can help attain major sustainability goals at airports around the world. Although small airports are greater in number, most of the “sustainability” attention has been given to large airports. Small airports are typically located in rural areas, making them excellent candidates for renewable energy. This paper focuses on the planning and selection of renewable energy systems as a strategic method to reduce energy use and increase electric power reliability at small-scale airport facilities. The target system may use a combination of renewable energy sources to produce electrical power for the on-site facilities. The framework details include methods of energy collection, power production, and energy storage that are environmentally sound. A small airport serving a dual role as a flight training facility was used as case study. In the case study, systems engineering methodology was adapted to the small airport/ renewable energy domain in order to effectively identify stakeholders and elicit user requirements. These, coupled with industrial standards, relevant government regulations, and a priori constraints, are used to derive the initial requirements that serve as the basis for a preliminary design. The proposed framework also contains provisions for an on-site assessment of existing airport energy needs, sources, providers, and location-specific assets and challenges.

Human dependence on electricity has increased greatly over the years and, as a result, access to energy resources has become a priority in most countries, both developed and developing. With this expansion comes the need for government involvement in the planning and expansion of energy resources, especially when it comes to nuclear energy. This study presents a review of Brazil’s nuclear power program with the Angra 1 and Angra 2 power plants and the construction of the Angra 3 plant. It examines the Plano Nacional de Energia (National Energy Plan – NEP-2030) which aims, among other objectives, to implement a revised nuclear energy program, including the construction of new power plants in locations yet to be determined throughout the country.

Today the United States is plagued by societal issues, economic insecurity, and increasing health problems. Societal issues include lack of community inclusion, pollution, and access to healthy foods. The high unemployment coupled with the rising cost of crude oil derivatives, and the growing general gap between cost of living and minimum wage levels contribute to a crippled consumer-driven US economy. Health concerns include increasing levels of obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. These epidemics lead to staggering economic burdens costing Americans hundreds of billions of dollars each year. It is well-known that many of the health issues impacting Americans can be directly linked to the production, availability, and quality of the food. Factors contributing to the availability of food include reduction of United States farmland, an increase in food imported from overseas, and the cost of goods to the consumer. The quality of food is influenced by the method of growth as well as imposed preservation techniques to support food transportation and distribution. At the same time, it has become increasingly common to implement biotechnology in genetically modified crops for direct human food or indirectly as a livestock feed for animals consumed by humans. Crops are also routinely dosed with pesticides and hormones in an attempt to increase productivity and revenue, with little consideration or understanding of the long term health effects. Research shows that community gardens positively impact local employment, community involvement and inclusivity, and the diets of not only those involved in food production, but all members of their households. The purpose of this work is to determine the feasibility of an energy efficient large-scale aquaponic food production and distribution facility which could directly mitigate growing socioeconomic concerns in the US through applied best practices in sustainability. Aquaponics is a symbiotic relationship between aquaculture and hydroponics, where fish and plants grow harmoniously. The energy efficient facility would be located in an urban area, and employ solar panels, natural lighting, rain water reclamation, and a floor plan optimized for maximum food yield and energy efficiency. Examples of potential crops include multiple species of berries, corn, leafy vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, squash, and carrots. Potential livestock include responsibly farmed tilapia, shrimp, crayfish, and oysters. The large scale aquaponic facility shows a lengthy period for financial return on investment whether traditional style construction of the building or a green construction style is used. However many forms of federal government aid and outside assistance exist for green construction to help drive down the risk in the higher initial investment which in the long run could end up being more profitable than going with a traditionally constructed building. Outside of financial return there are many proven, positive impacts that a large-scale aquaponic facility would have. Among these are greater social involvement and inclusivity, job creation, increased availability of fresh food, and strengthening of America’s agriculture infrastructure leading to increased American independence.

The United States Military Academy has been charged with reaching Net Zero Energy consumption by 2020. Feasibility assessments to this point have neglected the field facilities used for military training, which are remote locations susceptible to power loss and subject to a higher rate structure for electricity than the rest of the installation. An energy security analysis methodology is described and applied to the training camps at West Point. This began with identifying the mission of the camps and critical power needs based on discussions with the customer, the Director of Cadet Military Training. Details of power and energy usage along with supply and delivery cost structure were provided by the utility and the facility Energy Manager. Conventional and renewable resource potentials were assessed to meet the load profile within financial constraints and funding opportunities unique to a federal government agency. The final recommendation is to incorporate three different technologies: a 50 kW photovoltaic solar system installed through a power purchase agreement, two small scale hydropower systems totaling 30 kW, and a lake based cooling system to provide air conditioning. The installation of these three systems would move the installation closer to the Net Zero Energy goal and lower the energy requirements to provide cooling. Altogether the proposed project would pay back in 16 years with an expected lifespan of 20–30 years. Batteries, generators, and pumped hydro were also examined as possible energy storage options and to shave the peak electrical load. However, the lack of on peak/off peak pricing made these options less viable. These recommendations will increase West Point’s energy security, progress towards the Net Zero Energy goal, and provide cost savings over current utility expenditures.

Due to the mounting concerns about climate changes and depletion of fossil fuels, solar energy, as one type of renewable energy, has attracted a lot of interests from academia, industries, and government in the past few decades. Currently, solar thermal technologies have been applied to the applications at the low operating temperature below 100°C by using flat-plate solar collectors and at the high operating temperature above 250°C by using solar tracking concentrators. For the medium operating temperatures between 100°C and 250°C, flat-plate solar collectors can hardly reach 100°C and solar tracking concentrators are too expensive. In this context, the use of external compound parabolic concentrators (XCPC) for applications operated at medium temperature draws quite attentions because of its higher efficiency than flat plate solar collectors and better cost effectiveness than solar tracking concentrators. However, currently only a few experimental data is available on the actual performance of XCPCs from literatures, especially for the recently new XCPCs with a low concentration ratio. In order to contribute to the knowledge, a series of experiments have been conducted on the new XCPCs recently installed at Bowen Lab, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. The experiments showed that the XCPCs raised the temperature to 170°C, which is 140°C higher than the ambient temperatures, with a thermal efficiency of 29%. Based on the data collected from the experiments, the optical and thermal efficiencies of XCPCs are determined for different solar irradiations, operating temperatures, and incident angles. A new regression model is proposed and fitted accordingly. The experimental data and analysis demonstrated the feasibility and potentials of using XCPCs for applications in medium temperature range such as solar absorption cooling and heating systems, seawater desalination, solar disinfection, post-combustion carbon capture systems and other industrial process heating.

Commercial-scale implementation of concentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies for electricity generation has been increasing worldwide, but technology assessments produced by engineering consultancies typically indicate that electricity production using CST is more expensive than most other renewable energy technologies. A review of a selection of costing studies that have been prepared in recent years for Australian government and industry bodies suggests that electricity cost estimates for CST technologies are exaggerated by a combination of high capital cost estimates and the financial analysis methods used. The results of these assessments are often used in investment decision-making processes of industry and government bodies, so this may have a negative impact on further development of CST technologies. While it is apparent that revision of the methods used in these analyses could improve the apparent cost effectiveness of CST, it is also apparent that the competitiveness of CST technologies needs to be improved through cost reduction and generation improvement. One major driver for this is that some CST technologies have the capability to efficiently store energy in thermal form for electricity production on demand and this could have significant benefits to both specific users and to the general electricity network stability. As a stage in identifying potential targets for new research that will improve competitiveness of CST technologies, a sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the influence of a broad range of factors on the cost of electricity using combined performance modeling and financial analysis. This largely reconfirms the commonly held view that reduction of solar collector costs is a critical target, but also identifies the importance of improving the performance of the overall power generation cycle and general cost reduction throughout the plants.

A study of the state of solar energy development in Taiwan has been performed. In this work, general energy use, solar research issues, and solar manufacturing status and applications were surveyed in late 2011. It was found that there are active research efforts underway in a variety of solar technologies, primarily in photovoltaics, and to a limited extent in solar domestic water heating. Significant manufacturing capabilities in photovoltaic cells have developed within the last decade, and this has grown rapidly, such that Taiwan has edged out Germany for the number two spot in the list of top manufacturers. Very little in the line of photovoltaic installations are found on the island, however. Another characteristic in terms of solar water heating manufacturing and application is that not much is found in Taiwan in contrast to what has taken place on the mainland of China. Some government efforts to stimulate the Taiwanese consumer market both in photovoltaics as well as water heating are outlined, but goals for the PV installations seem overly optimistic based upon recent history.

The development of social housing In Mexico during the last decade has been supported by the different levels of government (federal, state, and municipal) in order to assist low-income families. The accelerated construction that takes place in order to address the housing deficit causes a reduction in the quality of design and construction, which is also affected by rising building costs. Environmental comfort conditions inside the dwellings are reduced drastically when houses are constructed without considering climate conditions, especially in hot arid regions. This situation generates uncomfortable thermal conditions for users and high-energy costs due to the unavoidable need of air conditioning. User profiles, architectural program, comfort preferences and guidelines for design and construction of future dwellings in the city of Hermosillo, in northwest Mexico, were determined by surveying beneficiaries of government affordable housing programs. One survey measured the degree of satisfaction of inhabitants in a sample of over 370 households; a second survey sampled 200 households and was aimed at determining aspects of comfort. This paper describes the results of thermal simulations carried out on two housing models. The first model represents the type usually constructed by commercial developers, and the second is a proposal developed by the research team according to guidelines based on the results of the research project described before. This study is a preliminary step in the construction of a physical model for experimental research and demonstration.

As we know, more and more energy are required to meet the demands of society, and this has forced the government to review the economy and energy policies. The solar energy resource is abundant in China, which provides a good foundation with the utilization of solar energy. In China, there is a Silica Valley in Beijing, an Optics Valley in Wuhan, and also an Electricity Valley in Baoding. First, the only domestic national industry base of renewable energy and equipment is located in Baoding National New and High-tech Industry Zone. Secondly, there are great advantages on the photovoltaic industry, the wind power generation and the power transmission and transformation equipment, corresponded with the Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, Zhong Hang Huiteng Wind Power Equipment Corporation Limited and Tian Wei Group Corporation Limited, respectively. Then it is a natural choice for the local government to develop the renewable energy in the readjustment of industry structures. This paper deals with the utilizations and prospects of solar energy.

In this work we estimate the amount of energy required to produce the food consumed in the United States in 2002 and 2007. Data from government sources and the scientific literature were used to calculate the energy intensity of food production from agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, food sales, storage and preparation. Most data were from 2002; consequently we scaled all data from other years to 2002 by using ratios of total energy consumption in 2002 to total energy consumption in the year data were reported. We concluded that food production required at least 7,880±733 trillion BTU in 2002 and 8,080±752 trillion BTU of energy in 2007, over a third of which came from food handling in homes, restaurants and grocery stores. The energy used to produce food represents approximately 8% of energy consumption. Our estimate is for the energy required to produce the food consumed in the United States and takes into account food imports and exports. To account for net food exports in the agriculture sector we calculated values for the energy intensity of ten food categories and then used the mass of domestic food consumption in each category to calculate the energy embedded in the food consumed in the United States. The amount of energy required to produce the food consumed in the United States has policy implications because it is a substantial fraction of total energy consumption and is responsible for a commensurate amount of greenhouse gas emissions. There are many opportunities for decreasing the energy intensity of food production at all steps of the food system. Education of the public and policy measures that promote energy efficiency in the food sector have the potential for decreasing food waste and the energy intensity of the food system.

In January 2008 the Governor of Hawaii announced the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative; an initiative that aims to have at least 70 percent of Hawaii’s power come from clean energy by 2030 [4]. In July 2009, the Hawaii Department of Accounting and General Services awarded NORESCO, an energy service company, a $33.9M contract to improve the energy efficiency of 10 government buildings. The avoided utility cost of the energy and water savings from the improvements is the project funding mechanism. The energy savings realized by the project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions associated with utility power generation. However, as renewable energy becomes a larger portion of the utility generation profile through the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, the carbon dioxide emissions reductions from specific energy efficiency measures may erode over time. This work presents a method of analysis to quantify the carbon dioxide emissions reduction over the life of a project generated by energy efficiency upgrades that accounts for both the impact of policy initiatives and climate change using DOE-2/eQUEST. The analysis is based on the fact that HVAC energy usage will vary with climate changes and that carbon dioxide emission reductions will vary with both energy savings and the corresponding utility’s power generation portfolio. The energy savings related to HVAC system energy efficiency improvements are calculated over the life of a 20 year performance contract using a calibrated DOE-2/eQUEST model of an existing building that utilizes weather data adjusted to match the predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The carbon dioxide emissions reductions are calculated using the energy savings results and a projection of the implementation of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. The emissions reductions are compared with other analysis methods and discussed to establish more refined expectations of the impact of energy efficiency projects in context with climate changes and policy initiatives.

The Energy Conservation Act 2001 was the first major initiative in India to channelize and catalyze energy efficiency improvement in various sectors of economy. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency was set up per the provision of this act, which in 2007 brought out Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) with an overall purpose of providing minimum requirements for the energy efficient design and construction of buildings. ECBC covers building envelope, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, interior and exterior lighting system, service hot water, electrical power and motors. Since the launch of this code in May 2007, efforts are being made to promote and facilitate the adoption of this code through several training and capacity building programs. A program committee has been set to take care of the comments from stakeholders and inconsistencies, due to which revision of the code was brought out in May 2008. Currently the code is voluntary in the initial phase, but it is designed to be mandatory in future. One major feature of the code is that implementation is left under the scope of State and local governments. During the capacity building effort, a need was felt to provide additional guidance to design and construction professionals on the rationale behind the ECBC specifications and provide explanations to the key terms and concepts. The ECBC User Guide was therefore developed and released in July 2009 for this purpose. This paper describes the current status, experiences during capacity building and market transformation required for successful implementation of this code. It also covers commentary on how various stakeholders are contributing towards one common goal in different ways. With successful implementation, the code is expected to reduce the energy consumption of the upcoming new buildings by 20–40% from their average performance level at the time of launch of ECBC. Having this huge potential of energy saving, there is an urgent need to address the problems and issues for early adoption of the energy conservation building code in the country.

The attention towards the topic of reducing the energy expenditures has dramatically grown in recent crisis times that have forced firms to reduce them. This reduction in energy expenditures of a firm can be pursued through a wise energy procurement (we can call it “administrative energy efficiency”), thus with a reduction in the specific cost of energy (both electricity and other energy sources). But, the highest effective saving — for the whole system — would come from a direct reduction of the consumption, thus increasing the so-called “operational energy efficiency”, the unique true energy efficiency, implying the effort of the whole firm, since it requires a lower and wiser use of energy, and new and more efficient technologies. It is quite diffused the perception that governments are now taking measures to reach a common and more efficient environmental and energetic policy, but the effort is still not sufficient. The attention has obviously been paid towards the industrial sector, that covers about 30% of the consumption, second just after transportation: since now several actions have been taken to achieve the energy performance of buildings, but very few in the operations. Furthermore, it should be clear that to be really effective in this field governments should focus their attention on Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), usually less efficient than Large Enterprises (LEs), since SMEs represent the vast majority of the total number of industries and cover a consistent share of the energy consumption of a whole domestic industrial sector. This paper aims at providing an overview of the most effective interventions for reducing energy consumption in industrial operations that have been successfully implemented in a large number of case studies investigated in North America and Europe. The paper provides different scenarios according to the implementation of those interventions, characterized all by being Best Available Technologies and Practices, showing the impact on the energy consumption for a set of Italian industrial districts. The final results show that, under certain assumptions, the financial support of the most effective interventions eventually provided by governments’ energy efficiency policies, would lead to a widespread increase of the overall energy efficiency of a district with strong benefits for the whole industrial system.

The goal of this study is to evaluate the economic and environmental performance of power plants based on integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology, and to compare it with currently relevant renewable and nuclear power generation options in China, until the year 2020. First, electricity demand is predicted, based on up-to-date policies made by Chinese government organizations. From this, a business as usual (BAU) study, in which coal-fired power plant technology is assumed to be unchanged from 2010 to 2020, is carried out as a reference. Different scenarios of IGCC technology adoption are then studied using a newly developed model, and the result show, for example, that there could be 10.05 billion tons of CO 2 emission avoided from 2010 to 2020 if 50% of newly built coal-fired plants are based on IGCC technology with CO 2 capture. When compared with other options, the cost of avoided CO 2 emissions in this scenario is more expensive than hydroelectric, nuclear, and wind, but cheaper than solar (thermal and photovoltaic). The results also show that IGCC, although more expensive, could still be important in China’s coal-dominated electricity industry.

Arizona recently dedicated its first utility-scale wind plant, the 63-MW Dry Lake Wind Project on private, state and BLM land near Holbrook. While Arizona has developable wind resources and some available transmission capacity, wind power development has not taken off in the state, and this is often attributed to policy issues and resource quality. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Western Wind & Solar Integration Study quantified the wind capacity that should be built in Arizona under various wind development scenarios, including all-in-state development, least-cost wind resource across the western electric grid in the inter-mountain west, and a scenario providing some accounting for local economic impacts of wind development. In scenarios in which up to 20% of Arizona’s electrical energy was served by wind resources developed within Arizona, the study found that instate wind development actually resulted in a lower overall system operating cost of energy to state consumers than any other scenario (despite higher capacity factor sites being available outside of Arizona). In addition, the economic impacts of this potential development offer revitalization to many of the rural areas in the state. However, the state lacks coherent policies to attract wind power development and to bolster the services available in rural areas to meet the needs of developers during construction and operation of wind power plants. This study presents and evaluates policy mechanisms for use by the state, county, or tribal governments to increase wind penetration, attract wind development through financial incentives, and increase the local economic impacts of the development once it takes place. Example policies from other states, counties, and tribal governments are evaluated with regard to their appropriateness in Arizona, and suggestions are made for changes to federal policy that would increase the viability and impact of wind development projects on tribal land nationwide.