Electricity from Renewable Resources

Electricity from Renewable Resources
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2010-04-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 030913708X

A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system. A quantitative characterization of technologies, this book lays out expectations of costs, performance, and impacts, as well as barriers and research and development needs. In addition to a principal focus on renewable energy technologies for power generation, the book addresses the challenges of incorporating such technologies into the power grid, as well as potential improvements in the national electricity grid that could enable better and more extensive utilization of wind, solar-thermal, solar photovoltaics, and other renewable technologies.

The Power of Renewables

The Power of Renewables
Author: Chinese Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2011-01-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309160006

The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.

Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2020

Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2020
Author: International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA
Publisher: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
Total Pages: 117
Release: 2019-06-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9292602667

The sixth edition of the series highlights employment trends in renewables worldwide, noting increasing diversification of the supply chain.

Small-Scale Renewable Energy Systems

Small-Scale Renewable Energy Systems
Author: Sven Ruin
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2019-10-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0429670435

A revolution is ongoing in the field of small-scale energy solutions, which can enable lower impact on the environment, more robust supply and self-determination. Solar power and other forms of renewable energy sources, which you can implement to generate your own electricity, are growing quickly. Electromobility is transforming the car industry and transportation systems and can also play a role in your energy system. Electricity can be used much more efficiently than before, for example by using LED light, variable speed motor drives and efficient home appliances. Smart controls are available, sometimes with free open source software. All this opens up tremendous opportunities for energy independence, which is the focus of this book. The book introduces the reader to a number of renewable energy sources, to different options for storing electricity and to smart use of electricity, particularly in the context of small isolated systems. This is important because many renewable energy sources are weather- and season-dependent and usually require storage and smart control, in order to obtain a system that is completely independent of the electricity grid. In the book, overall system design is explained, including how to combine different sources in a hybrid system. Different system sizes and architectures are also covered. A number of real cases are described, where homes, businesses and communities have achieved a high level of energy independence or are on their way to achieving it. This book will prove useful in university education in renewable energy at bachelor and master level, and also for companies and private individuals, who want to start or expand activities in the area of renewable energy.

Valuing the Environment: Methodological and Measurement Issues

Valuing the Environment: Methodological and Measurement Issues
Author: Rüdiger Pethig
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 378
Release: 1994-06-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780792326021

During the last decades, environmental economics as a science has been very successful in improving our understanding of environment-economy interdepen dence. Using conventional economic methodology, environmental aspects have been explicitly incorporated into economic models making use of the concept of externality. This concept was already familiar to economists long before evidence of severe environmental deterioration found its way into the headlines and peo ple's awareness. But before that time, external effects were not considered as being empirically very relevant, they seemed to be -like the example of the bees and the fruit trees - somewhat bucolic in nature. All that changed dramatically when it was no longer possible (or easy) to ignore the large-scale environmental disruption with its negative feedback on consumers and producers caused by growing pollution and excessive use of environmental resources. In diagnosing the discrepancy between private and social cost as the cause of the problem, the externality paradigm proved very useful. The correct diagnosis implies the straightforward cure to internalise all external cost, namely the damage cost of pollution. But it is one thing to identify the qualitative nature of the problem at an abstract conceptual level and quite another thing to place specific money values on pollution damage and society's valuation of the environment, respectively, in the context of specific pollution (control) problems. Very often it is controversial not only how inefficient the no-policy situation is but also what exactly the net benefit of any public action of reducing pollution is.

A Manual for the Economic Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies

A Manual for the Economic Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies
Author: Walter Short
Publisher:
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2005
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781410221056

A Manual for the Economic Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies provides guidance on economic evaluation approaches, metrics, and levels of detail required, while offering a consistent basis on which analysts can perform analyses using standard assumptions and bases. It not only provides information on the primary economic measures used in economic analyses and the fundamentals of finance but also provides guidance focused on the special considerations required in the economic evaluation of energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.

Applications of Simulation Methods in Environmental and Resource Economics

Applications of Simulation Methods in Environmental and Resource Economics
Author: Riccardo Scarpa
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2005-08-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781402036835

Simulation methods are revolutionizing the practice of applied economic analysis. In this book, leading researchers from around the world discuss interpretation issues, similarities and differences across alternative models, and propose practical solutions for the choice of the model and programming. Case studies show the practical use and the results brought forth by the different methods.

The Future of Electricity Retailing and How We Get There

The Future of Electricity Retailing and How We Get There
Author: Frank A. Wolak
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030850056

This book covers the current trends and challenges faced by regulators, policymakers, and researchers in the field of retail electricity market design and regulation. It addresses the role that “smart” technologies are playing in reshaping how utilities and consumers interact with each other and with their generating technologies. The book covers topics including smart meter adoption, dynamic pricing, demand response, distributed and utility-scale solar, technology costs trends, and the microeconomic theory that governs our understanding of retailer and consumer incentives. Existing inefficiencies of transmission and distribution network pricing as well as the potential regulatory approaches that can be used to remedy them are discussed along with the advantages of retail competition and draw attention to the barriers that currently are preventing all of the benefits of retail competition from materializing. The book uses very recent data to provide the most up-to-date overview of retailing trends and policies in the USA, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. The book will be useful for researchers and regulators and policymakers.