World Small Hydropower Development Report 2019

The World Small Hydropower Development Report (WSHPDR) 2019 is the result of an enormous collaborative effort between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Center on Small Hydro Power (ICSHP) and over 230 local and regional small hydropower (SHP) experts, organizations, engineers, academics and government officials across the globe. Prior to the World Small Hydropower Development Report (WSHPDR) 2013, it was clear that a comprehensive reference publication for decision makers, stakeholders and potential investors was needed to promote SHP as a renewable and rural energy source for sustainable development more effectively and to overcome the existing barriers to development. The 2019 edition aims to not only provide an update but also to greatly expand on the 2013 and 2016 edition by providing improvements on data accuracy with enhanced analysis and a more comprehensive overview of the policy landscapes compiled from a larger number of countries. Energy remains one of the most critical economic, environmental and development issues facing the world today. It is estimated that 1.06 billion people (13 per cent) worldwide, a predominantly rural population, still do not have access to electricity. Access to reliable and affordable electricity has an immediate and transformative impact on quality of life, access to basic services (e.g., health, education) and livelihoods. Small hydropower is a key building block towards the broader development goals associated with environmental sustainability, delivery of public services and poverty eradication. Despite the appeal and benefits of small hydropower (SHP) solutions, much of the world’s SHP potential remains untapped (66 per cent). The global installed SHP capacity for plants up to 10 MW is estimated at 78 GW according to the World Small Hydropower Development Report (WSHPDR) 2019, an increase of approximately 10 per cent compared to data from the WSHPDR 2013. SHP represents only approximately 1.5 per cent of the world’s total electricity installed capacity, 4.5 per cent of the total renewable energy capacity and 7.5 per cent (< 10 MW) of the total hydropower capacity. Nonetheless, it plays a major role in improving many lives. This impact is shown in the WSHPDR 2019 case studies. The case study section is a new addition to the WSHPDR. It is comprised of 18 case studies of successful SHP implementation in a range of communities. The case studies add a more detailed, practical perspective on the transformative potential of SHP and the best practices. Case studies give specific examples of communities that are using SHP for productive purposes to meet their needs and improve quality of life. The purpose of this new section is to provide easy access to the learnings drawn from such experience, thus forming a knowledge base that can benefit communities, decision-makers and developers elsewhere

Policy Brief: How to Promote Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation in Ethiopia

In this policy brief we investigate a research question on " Why do households use energy efficient appliances and other energy conservation methods? How can adoption be improved in Ethiopia? " We provide insights from the energy systems development pathways for Ethiopia (PATHWAYS) project, based on a survey of urban households

Assessing uncertainty of climate change impacts on long-term hydropower generation using the CMIP5 ensemble—the case of Ecuador

This study presents a method to assess the sensitivity of hydropower generation to uncertain water resource availability driven by future climate change. A hydrology-electricity modelling framework was developed and applied to six rivers where 10 hydropower stations operate, which together represent over 85% of Ecuador’s installed hydropower capacity. The modelling framework was then forced with bias-corrected output from 40 individual global circulation model experiments from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 for the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 scenario. Impacts of changing climate on hydropower resource were quantified for 2071–2100 relative to a baseline period 1971–2000. Results show a wide annual average inflow range from + 277% to − 85% when individual climate experiments are assessed. The analysis also show that hydropower generation in Ecuador is highly uncertain and sensitive to climate change since variations in inflow to hydropower stations would directly result in changes in the expected hydropower potential. Annual hydroelectric power production in Ecuador is found to vary between − 55 and + 39% of the mean historical output when considering future inflow patterns to hydroelectric reservoirs covering one standard deviation of the CMIP5 RCP4.5 climate ensemble

Climate change impacts on hydro-generation and land suitability for agriculture in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar

This paper quantifies and analyses the impacts of climate change on water availability for hydro generation and land suitability for key crops in three least developed countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, namely, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The method used for the climate study is supported by the inter-sectoral model inter-comparison project (ISIMIP database). The recent ISIMIP input dataset, ISIMIP2b, outlines simulation scenarios divided into different emissions pathways (or 'Representative Concentration Pathways' known as RCPs). This paper focuses on the two extreme RCPs, specifically RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, which would result in global average temperature increases of approximately 1.6 and 4.3°C respectively. Th analysis concentrates on the difference between the historic period and the end of the century (toward 2100) for the climate conditions for the future. The fuzzy logic global land suitability model has been used to calculate the suitability of the land to support growing crops as well as to investigate how the climate changing could impact this. The analysis shows that quite significant changes in hydro-generation potential can occur depending on the region: Laos and Cambodia show decrease when Myanmar shows increase in output potential between present and RCP2.5 and RCP8.5 respectively. Quite significant increases or decreases in land suitability can occur depending on the region and the crop

80 Gb/s optimised pulse source using a gain-switched laser diode in conjunction with a nonlinearly chirped grating

The authors demonstrate the generation of transforms limited short optical pulses, which display excellent spectral and temporal qualities by employing a novel technology, based on an externally injected gain-switched laser in conjunction with a non-linearly chirped grating. Using this technique, 3.5 ps optical pulses, exhibiting a time bandwidth product of 0.45, are generated, which are suitable for use in high-speed 80 Gb/s OTDM communications systems

What are the costs of Scotland's climate and renewable policies?

The UK government has established ambitious policies to address climate change and promote renewable energy, and has set targets both for reducing carbon emissions and for deploying renewables. Scotland, a constituent nation of the UK, has also set its own targets for climate change mitigation and renewable electricity. This paper analyses the energy, economic and environmental implications of carbon and renewable electricity targets in Scotland and the UK using a newly developed two-region UK MARKAL energy system model, where Scotland (SCT) and rest of the UK (RUK) are the two regions. The paper shows that meeting Scotland's carbon targets does not require additional decarbonisation effort if the UK meets its own targets at least cost; and that Scotland's renewable energy ambitions do imply additional costs above the least cost path to the meeting the UK's obligations under the EU renewable energy directive. Meeting Scottish renewable electricity targets diverts investment and deployment in renewables from rest of the UK to Scotland. In addition to increased energy system cost, Scottish renewable electricity targets may also require early investment in new electricity transmission capacity between Scotland and rest of the UK

Developing a set of policy recommendations to assist the promotion of residential energy efficiency programmes in Myanmar

This document presents guidance to assist the Myanmar Government to formulate policies and strategies that can help to further enhance energy efficiency improvement activities in the Myanmar residential sector. It builds on the MECON research project findings and was co-developed through a stakeholder engagement workshop, which was organised in Nay Pyi Taw in May 2019 and was attended by 26 delegates representing a range of academics, energy industry representatives, development organisations, and policy makers representing various ministries. The first draft of the document was presented to senior policy makers in the Myanmar Ministry of Industry and their feedback was incorporated. Four key topics were discussed in the stakeholder workshop, deeper analysis of which could reduce the energy efficiency gap in the residential sector: uncertainty and risks; learning-by-doing to remove information barriers; principal agent issues and consumer heterogeneity. The rest of this document summarises how the policies and implementation activities can be improved, given understanding from the MECON project, recent progress and reflections from the workshop

Multi-cluster technology learning in times: A transport sector case study with TIAM-UCL

The costs of technologies often fall over time due to a range of processes including learning-by-doing. This is a well-characterized concept in the economics of innovation, in which learning about a particular technology, and hence cost reduction, is related to cumulative investments in that technology. This chapter provides a case study applying technology learning endogenously in a TIMES model. It describes many of the key challenges in modelling technology learning endogenously, both in terms of the interpretation and policy relevance of the results, and in terms of methodological challenges. The chapter then presents a case study, exploring a multi-cluster learning approach where many key technologies (fuel cells, automotive batteries, and electric drivetrains) are shared across a set of transport modes (cars, buses and LGVs) and technologies (hybrid and plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles, battery electric vehicles, hybrid and plug-in hybrid petrol and diesel vehicles). The multi-region TIAM-UCL Global energy system model has been used to model the multi-cluster approach. The analysis is used to explore the competitive and/or complementary relationship between hydrogen and electricity as low-carbon transport fuels

Pulse source for 80 Gb/s systems using a gain-wwitched laser diode followed by a nonlinearly chirped grating

This work presents the generation of 3.5 ps pulses at a repetition rate of 10 GHz and the optimization of the pulse spectrum. The output pulses are near transform limited and have pulse pedestals that are virtually eliminated to 35 dB down from the peak of the pulse, thus providing a source suitable for use in 80 Gb/s OTDM systems

Optimized pulse source based on a gain-switched laser diode in conjuction with a non-linearly chirped grating for 40 Gbit/s systems

A technique based on the design of an optimized source of pico-second optical pulses, which exhibits excellent temporal and spectral purity, is presented. The procedure entails an initial complete intensity and chirp characterization of pulses, from an externally injected-gain switched laser (EI-GSL), using the technique of frequency resolved optical gating (FROG). This characterization yields the parameters that are required for the design of a non-linearly chirped fibre Bragg grating (NC FBG) with a chirp profile that is opposite to that measured across the pulse. By employing the tailor made NC FBG after the gain-switched laser, direct compression of the gain-switched pulses is achieved, to obtain pedestal-free, near transform-limited, 7 ps pulses. The system viability, characterized by simulations, portrays a 6 dB difference in performance between a pulse source with insufficient TPSR and one that exhibits adequate TPSR &(ge; 30 dB)