Showing papers on "Electricity generation published in 2023"

CO2 Emissions from Renewable and Non-Renewable Electricity Generation Sources in the G7 Countries: Static and Dynamic Panel Assessment

Abstract: The threat of global warming has increased due to industrialization, urbanization, population expansion, and changes in lifestyle among the Group of Seven(G7) Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) directly affect how much electricity can be generated from various sources. This research aims to identify environmental hazards associated with various energy sources. Analyzing the impact of various energy sources on CO2 emissions from electricity and heat production using data from the G7. The data is analyzed using quantile regression (QR), generalized method of moments (GMM), random effects (RE), and fixed effects (FE). Our results indicate a substantial positive impact on CO2 emissions regardless of the technology used to generate coal and gas power. Coal-fired power plants have a larger impact on the environment than other sources of emissions. Also, all coal and gas coefficients are significant in FE, RE, GMM, and QR. Oil coefficients have a negative impact on environmental degradation and are significant for FE, RE, and D-GMM regressions. Hydroelectric and renewable energy production can reduce CO2 emissions in all regression models. Nuclear energy has a beneficial impact on the environment, but the coefficients are only significant for S-GMM and the last quantile. However, the most significant result of this study is the identification of a cause-and-effect relationship between CO2 emissions and energy production. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be lowered by shifting away from fossil fuels and toward renewable and hydroelectric sources. The research also suggests several renewable and alternative electricity production policies for sustainable energy.

Exploiting Internet Data Centers as Energy Prosumers in Integrated Electricity-Heat System

Abstract: In some emerging Internet data center (IDC) projects, the waste heat dissipated from IT facilities is being captured and supplied to the district heating systems for energy efficiency concerns. From the perspective of electricity consumption and heat production, IDCs can be regarded as energy prosumers, whose spatial and temporal flexibility of energy behaviors is of great significance for the operation of integrated electricity-heat systems (IEHSs). To explore the potential benefits, the required modeling and dispatching techniques are investigated in this paper. Firstly, an Internet-service based energy prosumer model of IDCs is formulated. Especially, the heat production capability is represented considering the complete dynamic heat flow including the heat dissipation, exchange, recovery, and upgrading. And fuzzy parameters are utilized to characterize the uncertainties of the forecasted workloads in advance of the dispatch for IDCs. Moreover, an integrated operation framework for the IDC-IEHS is constructed. Specifically, a hierarchical dispatch scheme is further proposed to achieve privacy-constrained cooperative scheduling between the energy system and IDCs. In the scheme, the energy requirements for IDCs are obtained from the integrated optimal heat and power flow calculation where the temporal scale difference between the electric power and heating systems is considered. The obtained energy requirements are then regarded as the target values for the workload scheduling of IDCs. A deviation correction mechanism is designed to achieve the overall optimality of the IDC-IEHS. Finally, the hydraulic-thermal decomposition and trapezoid fuzzy value equivalence methods are used to solve the optimization problems. Simulation results demonstrate that exploiting IDCs as energy prosumers can promote the accommodation of renewables and reduce system cost in the IEHS, as well as improving the self energy efficiency of IDCs.

A Quantile Regression Analysis of the Impact of Electricity Production Sources on CO2 Emission in South Asian Countries

Abstract: This study wants to fill a gap in the empirical literature by looking at how the sources of electricity affect CO2 emissions in South Asian countries. Because of the consistent production levels and economic growth in South Asian countries, energy generation is becoming a key issue. The data, which covers from 1972 to 2015, is subjected to quantile regression (QR). The quantile regression coefficients’ findings are statistically significant at a 1% level of significance. According to the regression results, all energy generation sources and associated variables have a positive impact on CO2 emissions. Coal-fired power plants have a bigger impact on the environment than other types of pollution. On the other hand, renewable energy sources have the minimum impact on environmental degradation. Possible alternatives for reducing carbon dioxide emissions instead of coal, oil, and gas-based energy production sources have been presented. The policy implications also suggest that environmental policy should be improved by applying renewable energy, wind energy, hydroelectric sources, and nuclear energy. The link between economic growth and energy concentration needs to be looked into more with the help of more economic indicators and the parameters of electricity-generating sources.

Drivers of renewable energy penetration and its role in power sector's deep decarbonization towards carbon peak

Abstract: The power sector is a linchpin of global carbon mitigation goal, and renewables are increasingly the preferred source of new electricity generation globally. It is necessary to uncover the driving mechanism of renewable energy penetration and its impact on deep decarbonization of the power sector. To this end, this research utilizes the production-theoretical decomposition analysis to attribute the change in renewable electricity generation to nine drivers. Then, a system dynamics model is established to track the trajectory of carbon emissions in the power sector under multiple scenario settings of renewable energy penetration. Additionally, cross-country heterogeneity analysis is conducted between China, the USA, the UK, and Germany. The results indicate that: (1) The electricity consumption scale plays a decisive role in driving China's renewable electricity generation during 1995–2018, while electricity productivity and output productivity are the major negative contributors. (2) In the UK, the USA, and Germany, electricity productivity and output productivity act as the main promoters of renewable electricity generation. (3) The decline in China's two productivity effects is primarily attributed to the drop of technical efficiency. However, technology progress in these developed countries contributes to increasing the two productivity indexes. (4) The IRENA roadmap scenario (40%) is not enough to peak carbon emissions in China's power sector before 2030, while 46.3% of renewables in electricity generation is sufficient to achieve this goal. This research provides an insightful roadmap for facilitating renewable energy transition and decarbonizing the power sector.

Investigating the intensity of GHG emissions from electricity production in Iran using renewable sources

Abstract: The emission intensity is considered important data in determining technical and environmental efficiency in power plants. In this research, the goal is to determine the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity production sector in Iran under the influence of new energies. To achieve this goal, the total greenhouse gases produced in a year in the electricity sector in fossil and renewable power plants are divided by the total electricity produced and obtained quantitatively in terms of tCO2/kWh. Also, the effect of each primary source of electricity generation is analyzed separately in terms of emission intensity. The results showed that the participation of renewable sources in the highest situation was about 9.5%, and their emission intensity was 2.2 tCO2/kWh. The fossil fuel-based power plant had an estimated emission intensity of 506 tCO2/kWh in the same year. Although the environmental policies in Iran seek to reduce the intensity of emissions, and generally, the growth of this index is negative, there are many fluctuations in this process. With the reduction of rainfall in Iran and the reduction of water behind the dams, the dependence of electricity production on water sources has decreased significantly So that in the year when the precipitation is significant, the intensity of emission has increased from its minimum value of 613.6 tCO2/kWh to 654.34 tCO2/kWh in the year of low rainfall. As a result, it has been suggested that the potential of solar resources, which emission intensity is lower than other renewable sources and is one of the most reliable and stable primary sources, should be used more effectively to reduce the emissions of electricity production sector.

Development, exergoeconomic assessment and optimization of a novel municipal solid waste-incineration and solar thermal energy based integrated power plant: An effort to improve the performance of the power plant

Abstract: Due to the growing population rate and increasing social activities, the content of municipal solid waste (MSW) production is increasing. Energy production from MSW is one of the promising ways to dispose of waste and reduce the limitations of fossil energies. However, this technology has a relatively low efficiency due to the high volume of moisture and inert materials in MSW and the lower heating value of waste. The integration of solar thermal collectors is one of the suggested solutions to increase the temperature of inlet steam to the power generation cycle in order to improve the power plant performance. In this regards, the present study develops a comprehensive thermodynamic-conceptual and exergoeconomic investigation of the performance of a MSW-incineration (MSWI) plant integrated with a parabolic trough collector (PTC)-based solar field. Accordingly, the temperature of the steam elevates by the solar field before entering the electric power generation cycle. Additionally, the solar unit is integrated with a phase change material (PCM)-based storage system. The use of storage tank at the delivery line of PTC can improve the power plant’s reliability. A comprehensive comparison of the developed power plant with the conventional MSWI power plant is presented. In addition, the technical and economic behaviors of the considered power plant have been optimized under two different single and multi-objective optimization scenarios. The outcomes indicated that the developed power plant can provide 15.75% and 15.68% higher energetic and exergetic efficiencies compared to MSWI power plant. In addition, the rate of electric power obtained from S-MSWI power plant is almost 16.1% more compared to MSWI power plant. However, the total cost rate of MSWI plant is almost 24.13% lower compared to the developed power plant. But, the value of LCOE in the developed power plant is approximately 8.93% lower than MSWI power plant. It was also found that, the multi-objective optimization can provide better and optimal results to energy engineers and decision makers compared the single-optimization. The conceptual design of the implementation of the solar field is also developed in a specific geographical condition. Additionally, this research comes from the key technology of the National Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection.

Solar energy potential assessment for electricity generation on the south-eastern coast of Iran

Abstract: Among the types of renewable energy, solar energy has received more attention due to its ability to convert directly into electricity and heat, its ease of use, its possibility of storage, and its endlessness, so in recent decades, a lot of research has been done on solar energy systems in the world and in Iran. Considering Iran's potential in the field of solar energy and the country's need for this type of energy, it is necessary to locate and identify suitable sites for the use of solar energy. In this research, the potential of generating power from solar energy on the ocean coasts of south-eastern Iran has been investigated. The geographical data of the solar radiation map of Iran was used to estimate the power of electrical energy from spatial limiting criteria for the feasibility of installing photovoltaic panels at the power plant scale. Finally, the total power of electricity that can be extracted from suitable places in the region was calculated; results showed that 37.5% of the Makran area is exploitable as solar farms. With a conversion efficiency of 15% and an area factor of 70%, annual electricity production for the exploitable area is roughly 17200 GWh, which can be a driving force for the industrial, economic and social development of Makran region.

Research opportunities and challenges in fuel cell science and engineering

Abstract: The fuel cell technology is an emerging technology for electric power generation for stationary, mobile and portable applications. While tremendous technological progress has been made in the last 10 years, it is going to take another 10 years for commercialization and considerable penetration of power generation by fuel cell systems. The most promising fuel cell types are proton exchange membrane (PEMFC), molten carbonate (MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) while the phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC) are commercially available for up to about 200 kW units. Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) are considered for portable power applications such as electronic devices. After a brief discussion of these fuel cell systems, the major challenges and research opportunities are outlined for automotive, stationary and portable power generation applications. This includes electrocatalysis, water and thermal management, modeling, and other challenges. The focus is on the R & D needs for each of these fuel cells starting at the cell level, followed by stack level, system level including combined gas turbine and cogeneration systems as well as fuel processing.

Balancing renewable energy and river resources by moving from individual assessments of hydropower projects to energy system planning

Abstract: As governments and non-state actors strive to minimize global warming, a primary strategy is the decarbonization of power systems which will require a massive increase in renewable electricity generation. Leading energy agencies forecast a doubling of global hydropower capacity as part of that necessary expansion of renewables. While hydropower provides generally low-carbon generation and can integrate variable renewables, such as wind and solar, into electrical grids, hydropower dams are one of the primary reasons that only one-third of the world’s major rivers remain free-flowing. This loss of free-flowing rivers has contributed to dramatic declines of migratory fish and sediment delivery to agriculturally productive deltas. Further, the reservoirs behind dams have displaced tens of millions of people. Thus, hydropower challenges the world’s efforts to meet climate targets while simultaneously achieving other Sustainable Development Goals. In this paper, we explore strategies to achieve the needed renewable energy expansion while sustaining the diverse social and environmental benefits of rivers. These strategies can be implemented at scales ranging from the individual project (environmental flows, fish passage and other site-level mitigation) to hydropower cascades to river basins and regional electrical power systems. While we review evidence that project-level management and mitigation can reduce environmental and social costs, we posit that the most effective scale for finding balanced solutions occurs at the scale of power systems. We further hypothesize that the pursuit of solutions at the system scale can also provide benefits for investors, developers and governments; evidence of benefits to these actors will be necessary for achieving broad uptake of the approaches described in this paper. We test this hypothesis through cases from Chile and Uganda that demonstrate the potential for system-scale power planning to allow countries to meet low-carbon energy targets with power systems that avoid damming high priority rivers (e.g., those that would cause conflicts with other social and environmental benefits) for a similar system cost as status quo approaches. We also show that, through reduction of risk and potential conflict, strategic planning of hydropower site selection can improve financial performance for investors and developers, with a case study from Colombia.

Upgrading Electricity Generation and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Efficiency via Phase‐Change Feedback and Simple Origami Strategy

Abstract: Developing ultimate electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials that can simultaneously upgrade the quality of generated electricity and the light‐thermal‐electric conversion efficiency based on traditional thermoelectric devices is crucially desired. Herein, a series of flexible multilayered phase change films (PCFs) is developed by a simple and novel origami strategy. The PCFs are first reported to improve the light‐thermal‐electric conversion efficiency by as high as 11.3%. Simultaneously, the PCFs could significantly upgrade the generated electricity on average voltage (27.3%), average current (23.8%), and lasting power outputs by 2010 times from microwatts to milliwatts. Besides, the EMI shielding efficiency of PCFs could be tuned from 39.2 to 71.9 dB by the origami process, the wide‐range EMI shielding performance could be suitable for varying occasions. Overall, this work provides a promising solution for both the preparation of multifunctional materials, high‐efficiency solar energy harvesting and upgrading electricity generation, which shows broad application prospects in EMI shielding, energy storage, and conversion.

An optimization framework for capacity planning of island electricity systems

Abstract: Meeting decarbonization goals requires taking significant action on electricity systems, which are a major source of CO 2 emissions. Decarbonizing island electricity systems raises additional challenges due to their heavy historical dependence on fossil fuels and strict power-reserve and reliability requirements. To address this challenge, this paper presents a comprehensive optimization model for long-term capacity planning of island electricity systems. Our model determines an optimal mix of generation and transmission capacity to satisfy energy demand at least cost while respecting the strict technical constraints that are inherent in island systems. In addition, our model considers the use of thermal and renewable generation, electric vehicles providing electricity-system services, batteries, pumped-hydroelectric storage, and ac and high-voltage dc transmission lines. We demonstrate our model with a case study of the Canary Islands archipelago. Our results show that combining the aforementioned technologies reduces generation costs by up to 25% and capacity requirements up to 50% (relative to a case without the technologies). In addition, without any mechanism to internalize the social cost of carbon, fossil-fueled thermal generation is the lowest-cost source of energy. Environmental considerations demonstrate the benefits of renewable generation and result in these carbon-free energy sources supplying about 40% of the energy mix. • Carbon pricing can increase renewable-energy supply up to 40%. • Energy storage reduce costs up to 23% and favors more renewable-energy capacity. • Transmission interconnectors reduce costs but do not increase renewable-energy use. • Combining technologies reduces costs by 25% and capacity requirements by 50%. • Strict reserve requirements may keep renewable-energy shares below 3%.