Large scale integration of renewable energy sources (RES) in the future Colombian energy system

The diversification of the energy matrix, including larger shares of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), is a significant part of the Colombian energy strategy towards a sustainable and more secure energy system. Historically, the country has relied on the intensive use of hydropower and fossil fuels as the main energy sources. Colombia has a huge renewables potential, and therefore the exploration of different pathways for their integration is required. The aim of this study was to build a model for a country with a hydro-dominated electric power system and analyse the impacts of integrated variable RES in long-term future scenarios. EnergyPLAN was the modelling tool employed for simulating the reference year and future alternatives. Initially, the reference model was validated, and successively five different scenarios were built. The results show that an increase in the shares of wind, solar and bioenergy could achieve an approximate reduction of 20% in both the CO2 emissions and the total fuel consumption of the country by 2030. Further, in the electricity sector the best-case scenario could allow an estimated 60% reduction in its emission intensity

Examining the dimensions of resourcefulness and redundancy in achieving resilience in terms of robustness and rapidity in selected universities in the Philippines

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were forced to close down and rapidly adopt a fully-online based learning to continue delivery of education. Such disruptions are likely to increase exponentially with the increasing threat of climate change. This study aims to investigate how selected universities in Metro Manila promoted academic continuity to achieve university resilience through technical, organizational, and social measures. The proponents adopted the framework of Donnelly et al. (2020), which classified resourcefulness and redundancy as the means to improve the desired ends of resilience, robustness and rapidity. A quantitative approach using multivariate regression analysis in SPSS was used to determine which indicators significantly influence university resilience and to assess the combined impact of means of resilience on the desired ends. In analyzing the 404 student responses, being resourceful and promoting redundancy were both found to have significant effects on resilience in terms of robustness and rapidity. However, when resourcefulness and redundancy were tested jointly, it was revealed that there were no observed substitutes when professors were absent. Students indicated in the open-ended questions that they have high appreciation for asynchronous classes, which reduced the need for substitutes. This study provides universities with indicators to improve response to unforeseen crises and recommendations to promote resilience