A roadmap for China to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve a 20% share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy by 2030

As part of its Paris Agreement commitment, China pledged to peak carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions around 2030, striving to peak earlier, and to increase the non-fossil share of primary energy to 20% by 2030. Yet by the end of 2017, China emitted 28% of the world's energy-related CO2 emissions, 76% of which were from coal use. How China can reinvent its energy economy cost-effectively while still achieving its commitments was the focus of a three-year joint research project completed in September 2016. Overall, this analysis found that if China follows a pathway in which it aggressively adopts all cost-effective energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction technologies while also aggressively moving away from fossil fuels to renewable and other non-fossil resources, it is possible to not only meet its Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments, but also to reduce its 2050 CO2 emissions to a level that is 42% below the country's 2010 CO2 emissions. While numerous barriers exist that will need to be addressed through effective policies and programs in order to realize these potential energy use and emissions reductions, there are also significant local environmental (e.g., air quality), national and global environmental (e.g., mitigation of climate change), human health, and other unquantified benefits that will be realized if this pathway is pursued in China

Rural electrification in central america and east africa, two case studies of sustainable microgrids

This paper deals with the electrification of rural villages in developing countries using Sustainable Energy Systems. The rural electrification feasibility study is done using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable PRO (HOMER PRO). The HOMER PRO energy modelling software is an optimization software improved by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It helps in designing, comparing and optimizing the design of power generation technologies. In this paper, two rural electrification case studies are modelled and analysed using HOMER PRO. Technical and economic evaluation criteria are applied to study the feasibility of a micro-hydro plant in El Díptamo (Honduras), and a hybrid plant composed of photovoltaic module arrays, Diesel generators, and flow batteries, in a small island on Victoria Lake. For both cases, we show the results of the studies of the daily and yearly loads, of the resources available in the area and the economic evaluation of the chosen plants configuration

Screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

This chapter discusses screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

Energy for sustainable rural development

Rural energy in developing countries is discussed with a view to sustainable development. The project-oriented approach in rural energy which has often dominated in the past, is contrasted with an overall strategy for sustainable rural energy demand and supply. An outline for a demand-oriented policy is formulated, indicating the role of the government in energy pricing and market development. Special attention is given to electricity as the fastest-growing energy subsector. It is concluded that major changes are required to accommodate and institutionalize the planning of decentralized energy supply

Energy Information Systems: From the Basement to the Boardroom

A significant buildings energy reduction opportunity exists in the office sector, given that this market segment typically is an early adopter of new technology. There is a rising trend towards smart and connected offices through the internet of things (IoT) that provides new opportunities for operational efficiency and environmental sustainability practices. Leading commercial real estate companies have begun to shift from individual building automation systems (BAS) to partially integrated and automated systems such as energy information systems (EIS). In both the United States and India, organizations are seeking operational excellence, enhanced tenant relationships, and topline growth. Hence it is imperative to engage the executives with decision-making power, by tapping into their interest in sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and innovation. This expansion of interest can enable data-driven decisions, strong energy investments, and deeper energy benefits, and would drive innovation in this field. However, none of this would be possible without robust, consistent building energy information to provide visibility across all the levels of decision making, i.e. from the basement where the facilities staff take operational action to the boardroom where the executives make investment decisions. Price, security, and ease of use remain barriers to the adoption and pervasive use of promising EIS technologies in commercial office buildings. We believe that these barriers can be addressed through the development of ready, simplified, consistent, commercially available, low-cost EIS-in-a-box packages, that have a pre-defined set of hardware components and software features and functionality that are pertinent to a particular building sector. These simplified, sector-specific EIS packages can help to obviate the need for customization, and enhance ease of use, thereby enabling scale-up, in order to facilitate building energy savings. The EIS-in-a-box are adaptable in both U.S. and Indian office buildings, and potentially beyond these two countries

MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS AS A TOOL FOR MUNICIPAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

In most decision making situations more than one criterion is involved and, as a consequence, confusion can arise if there is no logical and well structured decision-making process in place. The multi-criteria analysis (MCA) constitutes a tool that can help evaluate the relative importance of all criteria involved and reflect on their importance during project management and decision making. MCA is a management tool aiming at supporting decision makers faced with making numerous and conflicting evaluations by deriving a way to come to a compromise. This paper discusses the possibilities of applying MCA in the field of municipal property management, where the decision-makers have to find the most convenient destinations of municipal assets that can be used for various purposes such as: governmental, business, social use. In each case specific criteria and indicators are employed in the ranking and rating process, so as to get the corresponding weighted score. An application is also presented, as performed within a work package included in the project “Municipal Property Management in South- Eastern Cities (PROMISE)â€, aiming to develop a comprehensive system for municipal property classification for governmental use, social use and business use by means of criteria previously defined, processed by MCA operation. The resulted system is adapted to the strategic goals of the administrative authorities, contributing to an effective municipal property management by optimising and standardising the decision-making procedures. The framework created enables the municipalities to find an appealing combination between the use of properties for their own needs and for attracting investment and promoting sustainable development of their cities and regions. The project was initiated in 2009, being funded by the ERDF within the South-East Territorial Co-operation Programme. Keywords: multi-criteria analysis, criteria, indicators, ranking, municipal assets, strategic management

CDM Potential for Rural Transition in China Case Study: Options in Yinzhou District, Zhejiang Province

This paper aims to examine the potential of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to address energy- related issues during the rural transition process in China, using a case study of quickly urbanizing and industrializing Yinzhou district in coastal Zhejiang province. Yinzhou's per capita GDP reached US$3100 in 2002, three times China's average, and is targeted to achieve$10,000 in 2020. We assess the current energy status of Yinzhou, and provide projections of energy consumption and CO2 emissions up to the year 2020. Energy resource shortages and limited possibilities to obtain coal-fired electricity from national grid illustrate the opening gap between energy supply and demand. We find that Yinzhou's CDM potential is concentrated in efficiency improvement on the demand side. In that context, we suggest to systematically explore the CDM potential in the industrial sector. Projects will have to involve many stakeholders and the necessary local capacity has to be built. These CDM projects can be considered as killing three birds with one stone, namely maintaining continuous economic growth, alleviating local environmental pollution as well as mitigating global climate change.Clean Development Mechanism, China, urbanization, energy efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q 540, Q 580,

Improving the energy efficiency of dehumidification technology at a large facility in Florida

This thesis examines energy use and management of twenty heat pipes used in dehumidification systems at a large (10,000+ acre) facility in Florida. Eleven of the twenty heat pipes use electric strip heaters that, when activated, consume 693.8 kW of electrical power from the grid. Solar photovoltaics, specifically a silicon monocrystalline cell with 22.5% efficiency, were considered as a means to provide an alternative energy source and opportunity for cost savings for 11 of the heat pipes (Sunpower, 2011). The remaining nine heat pipes use hot water heaters for which alternative energy sources were not considered. Data gathered and analyzed include weather, solar irradiance, PV size and cost, utility incentives, emissions, fuel consumption, energy cost, and heat pipe operating parameters. These data were used to calculate the (1) annual electricity cost for the heaters, (2) installed cost for enough PV to offset electric heater energy use, (3) surface area needed to install the estimated PV system, (4) one-time and ongoing financial incentives, (5) avoided energy savings, (6) avoided fuel usage and emissions, and (7) the undiscounted payback period of the various equipment investments. Savings were calculated to be almost $600,000 annually (approximately$145,000 attributable to the heaters) if PV were to power the heaters 125 days of the year and ancillary systems at other times. The cost of an appropriately sized PV system (4.57 acres with between 8,553 and 15,205 PV panels depending on panel size) was estimated at $3,228,806 assuming$150,000 of electric utility incentives. It was also estimated that the photovoltaic (PV) system could earn $85,087 in annual tax credits through the Florida Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit program, and that the undiscounted payback period would be about five years. Further, the use of 728,350 US gallons of oil, and the emission of 13,656.6 lbs of SO2, 9,104.37 lbs of NOx, and 10,843,300 lbs of CO2, could also be avoided. It is recommended that the installation of PV energy generation capabilities be further investigated. It is also recommended that further research be performed to obtain accurate costs and benefits of integrating solar thermal into the hot water heaters at the facility because of the complexity of integrating solar thermal into the existing hot water heaters, the lack of readily available price information regarding solar thermal heating, and the fact that the hot water heaters consume about$170,000 per year