This book addresses the rapidly changing citizen roles in innovation, technology adoption, intermediation, market creation, and legitimacy building for low-carbon solutions. It links research in ...innovation studies, sustainability transitions, and science and technology studies, and builds a new approach for the study of user contributions to innovation and sociotechnical change. Citizen Activities in Energy Transition gives detailed and empirically grounded overall appraisal of citizens’ active technological engagement in the current energy transition, in an era when Internet connectivity has given rise to important new forms of citizen communities and interactions. It elaborates a new way to study users in sociotechnical change through long-term ethnographic and historical research and reports its deployment in a major, decade-long line of investigation on user activities in small-scale renewables, addressing user contributions from the early years to the late proliferation stages of small-scale renewable energy technologies (S-RETs). It offers a much-needed empirical and theoretical understanding of the dynamics of the activities in which users are engaged over the course of sociotechnical change, including innovation, adoption, adjustment, intermediation, community building, digital communities, market creation, and legitimacy creation. This work is a must-read for those seeking to understand the role of users in innovation, energy systems change and the significance of new digital communities in present and future sociotechnical change. Academics, policymakers, and managers are given a new resource to understand the "demand side" of sociotechnical change beyond the patterns of investment, adoption, and social acceptance that have traditionally occupied their attention.
Examines four long-term cases of nations shifting to low-carbon energy sources from dependence on fossil fuels, in order to discuss better ways for a nation to make such a transition.
The long-term forecasting of energy supply and demand is of prime importance in Africa due to the steady increase in energy requirements, the non-availability of sufficient resources, the high ...dependence on fossil-fuels to meet these requirements, and the global concerns over the energy-induced environmental issues. This paper is concerned with modelling possible future paths for Africa's energy future and the related emissions. Future energy demand is forecasted based on socio-economic variables such as gross domestic product, income per capita, population, and urbanisation.
The Long-range Energy Alternative Planning System (LEAP) modelling framework is employed to analyse and project energy demand and the related emissions under alternative strategies for the period of 2010–2040. Results of scenarios including business-as-usual (BAU) policies, moderate energy access and accelerate energy access policies, renewable energies promotion and energy efficiency policies and their environmental implications are provided.
The study provides some policy insights and identifies synergies and trade-offs relating to the potential for energy policies to promote universal energy access, enable a transition to renewable energy, and mitigate climate change for a sustainable development.
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•Possible future paths for Africa's energy future and the related emissions are modelled.•Scenarios using an adaptation of Schwartz's scenario approach, under LEAP are developed.•Under the current energy policies, the universal access to modern energy will not be met by 2030.•Policies to accelerate the changes in energy structure are required for sustainable development.•Investing in Energy efficient strategies has emerged as one of the best solution.
Energy in Africa Hafner, Manfred; Tagliapietra, Simone; de Strasser, Lucia
2018
eBook
Open access
This open access book presents a picture of the current energy challenges on the African continent (and the Sub-Saharan region in particular) and proposes pathways to an accelerated energy ...transition. Starting with an analysis of the status quo and the outlook for Africa’s energy demand and energy access, it provides an account of the available resources, including hydrocarbons and renewable energy resources, which are playing an increasingly crucial role. It then moves on to analyze the level of investment required to scale-up Africa’s energy systems, shedding light on the key barriers and elaborating on potential solutions. It also provides a suggestion for improving the effectiveness of EU–Africa cooperation. While mainly intended for policymakers and academics, this book also speaks to a broader audience interested in gaining an overview of the challenges and opportunities of the African energy sector today and in the future.
An overview of ocean renewable energy in China Wang, Shujie; Yuan, Peng; Li, Dong ...
Renewable & sustainable energy reviews,
January 2011, 2011, 2011-01-00, 20110101, Volume:
15, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Facing great pressure of economic growth and energy crisis, China pays much attention to the renewable energy. An overview of policy and legislation of renewable energy as well as status of ...development of renewable energy in China was given in this article. By analysis, the authors believe that ocean energy is a necessary addition to existent renewable energy to meet the energy demand of the areas and islands where traditional forms of energy are not applicable and it is of great importance in adjusting energy structure of China. In the article, resources distribution and technology status of tidal energy, wave energy, marine current energy, ocean thermal energy and salinity gradient energy in China was reviewed, and assessment and advices were given for each category. Some suggestions for future development of ocean energy were also given.
Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, a vital pre-cursor to economic development and poverty reduction. ...Ambitious international policy commitments seek to address this, but scholarship has failed to keep pace with policy ambitions, lacking both the empirical basis and the theoretical perspective to inform such transformative policy aims. Sustainable Energy for All aims to fill this gap. Through detailed historical analysis of the Kenyan solar PV market the book demonstrates the value of a new theoretical perspective based on Socio-Technical Innovation System Building. Importantly, the book goes beyond a purely academic critique to detail exactly how a Socio-Technical Innovation System Building approach might be operationalized in practice, facilitating both a detailed plan for future comparative research as well as a clear agenda for policy and practice.
The use of fossil fuels has contributed to climate change and global warming, which has led to a growing need for renewable and ecologically friendly alternatives to these. It is accepted that ...renewable energy sources are the ideal option to substitute fossil fuels in the near future. Significant progress has been made to produce renewable energy sources with acceptable prices at a commercial scale, such as solar, wind, and biomass energies. This success has been due to technological advances that can use renewable energy sources effectively at lower prices. More work is needed to maximize the capacity of renewable energy sources with a focus on their dispatchability, where the function of storage is considered crucial. Furthermore, hybrid renewable energy systems are needed with good energy management to balance the various renewable energy sources’ production/consumption/storage. This work covers the progress done in the main renewable energy sources at a commercial scale, including solar, wind, biomass, and hybrid renewable energy sources. Moreover, energy management between the various renewable energy sources and storage systems is discussed. Finally, this work discusses the recent progress in green hydrogen production and fuel cells that could pave the way for commercial usage of renewable energy in a wide range of applications.
The recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) provides an enabling framework for “Renewable Energy Communities” (RECs) that is being transposed into law by the 27 European Union Member States ...by June 2021. RECs are majority owned by local members or shareholders who are authorized to share energy within the community, offering the potential to unlock private investment and financing for renewable energy sources and provide social benefits. However, successful implementation and a just energy transition requires the coupling of technological solutions with more open decision making, based on sound analysis, knowledge of engineering, spatial planning, and social science. We argue that financing and ownership models that address renewable energy complementarity, spatial organization of resource potential, demographics, pushback from incumbents, and inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups, are common issues across all Member States that are crucial for the transposition of RED II and a just energy transition. This paper highlights the benefits and challenges of widespread development of RECs, and using examples from the pending transposition process provides policy advice for effective implementation of the RED II with respect to RECs.
•Rules for renewable energy communities (RECs) are being transposed in the EU.•RECs can contribute to a just and democratic energy transition.•There are common issues for implementation across EU member states.•Complementarity and proximity of renewable energy must be explicitly considered.•Ownership models that promote justice and community control are crucial to success.
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