Prioritization of renewable energy technologies for power generation in Cameroon : using analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

Alain Bakari Adamou Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2019 국내석사

Energy in the world is an essential component for development. Even more for the countries, whose aspiration is the improvement of the living conditions of these populations. Due to the multitude of sources of energy in their global origin challenges the establishment of adequate policies for their use. Cameroon with its multiple energy potential in the renewable resource is the subject of this case study. Through the prioritization of the most appropriate technology for the generation of power as an alternative secondary to its current generation. As a follow-up, the Multiple Decision Tool (AHP) Analytic Hierarchy Process used for the first time in the energy sector for the prioritization of technologies such as solar photovoltaic, solar thermal (CSP), wind energy, and biomass. Which are the least renewable energy involves in the production of energy in Cameroon for this fact four essential criteria will be taken into account (economic, technical, environmental, and social). Criteria in which are associated with sub-criteria, all selected through the literature review of the essential components in a similar exercise of selection. In order to conduct this study, a survey of the expert presbyter established. For the pairwise comparison of the components of this model respecting the primary, object. From this prioritization, come out that solar photovoltaic an alternative is class one for the generation of energy, followed by Biomass, then wind energy and finally solar thermal. Through this analysis and analysis of the prioritization component, planning implications have made for sustainable planning.

Solar energy project analysis in Lao PDR : case study of solar energy potential sites 3 MW, 15 MW and 20 MW

Boualom Saysanavong Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2018 국내석사

Electricity plays an important role in all sectors of national economic. The need to intensify to effort of development is in electrical power systems in terms of policy planning and budget allocation. The national energy and economic in developing countries are often ignored by energy planner in the constructing energy demand and economic. Lao PDR is one of developing countries which also requires energy supply to improve living standard of the people and to promote industrial development. As we know that the major power supply of Lao’s bases on hydraulic power plant. However, due to precipitation reduction of last rain season the whole country is faced with long-term power shortage at present. Furthermore as the dramatic change of global climate, there is no guarantee that there will be sufficient precipitation in the coming rain season. To meet this requirement, solar energy is one of the promising solutions for the energy supply. Laos has a large potential of renewable energy resource. Especially, hydropower, solar, wind and etc... As electricity demand is increasing rapidly. Besides of hydropower, Laos needs to add new capacity for power generation from other sources of renewable energy such as solar and wind. Solar being environment-friendly and a decentralized source of energy could be beneficial for the country for promoting sustainable development. However, solar suffers from the relatively higher cost of production, limit of operating time, low efficiency, lack of incentive policy, lack of research and study and limited solar feasibility study. This study is being conducted with the aim of developing tools for support renewable energy economic analysis, especially, solar project analysis, and design suitable incentive policy for grid-connected solar PV (Photovoltaic) systems. The main objective of this research is to study the using the RETScreen Software for analysis of solar power potential sites in Lao PDR to identify energy production, Cost Analysis, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Analysis and Financial Summary. This research is focus only the on-gird system which solar power development project that is the first priority to development by reference to the renewable development plan. Development of solar is to improve the energy security and reduce environmental impact on energy development in Laos. A case study is performed by investigate of three potential sites. To demonstrate of the proposed method is focus on solar power plant 20 MW in Vientiane Province, 3 MW in Khammoun Province and 15 MW in Attapeu Province. The benefit of the research could be help on the part of renewable energy development plan, to meet the renewable energy policies of Lao Government to encourage intensive production and attract local and foreign investment to support the target of government for increase renewable energy sharing 30 % in 2025. After establishing the model capability, a feasibility on the three potential sites for solar energy project analysis in Lao PDR was carried out by applying two scenarios, first scenario is using the current electricity tariff (no Feed-In Tariffs: FiT) at the average value of 0.065 US$/kWh, second scenario with assuming FiT at value of 0.1US$/kWh. The results show that the average energy yield per megawatt of the Case2 was observed to be 6% higher than Case1 and 8% higher than Case3 during the study period. The existing tariff of 0.065 US$ per kWh is not attractive enough for an investor to the investment of solar energy in Laos. The project becomes economically viable when the tariff is higher than 0.10 US$ per kWh. This could be extended to overall middle and southern parts of Lao PDR, because of not much variation of weather across the country.

Towards low carbon development : an analysis of Botswana's energy sector transformation

Mareledi Gina Maswabi Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2020 국내박사

The UNFCCC and global governments are working towards stabilization of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere to levels that will not harm the environment. In 2015, the governments collectively adopted the Paris Agreement with a goal to suppress global warming to temperatures well below 2°C. In line with this, the government of Botswana made a voluntary commitment to reduce emissions by 15% by the year 2030, against a 2010 base year. However, as a developing country, Botswana has to increase energy production to meet the increasing demand and for now, her current energy expansion plans are biased towards coal as it presents the least cost option. This will proliferate CO2 emissions and dissuade the country’s aspirations to reduce atmospheric emissions. In order to strike a balance, transitioning from reliance on coal towards increase in use of cleaner options such as solar and improved efficiency is vital. There seems to be a strong political will from the Botswana government in this regard, considering the ratification of various international environment and climate change treaties that promote low carbon development. On this note, the government can take a stance to power the currently non-electrified remote villages with solar and improve efficiency of the current system hence eliminate the need for additional electricity production from coal. A research framework was developed for this study and used to analyse Botswana’s existing policy and institutional frameworks to examine their likelihood to steer transformation of the energy system towards low carbon development. The framework analyses the impacts of external pressure (top-down) on the existing electricity regime as well as regime changes that come as a result of learnings from previous niche experiments (bottom-up). The review of documents has shown that global pressure exerted on governments has led to changes in the focus of Botswana’s energy policy instruments, which now support energy transition. Interviews with experts, on the other hand, revealed a number of barriers that can impede transformation of the energy sector. Currently, the use of solar in Botswana is very insignificant, constrained mainly by absence of clear policy instruments and/or clear roadmaps for scaling up of this resource. There is also a technology lock-in driven by the government’s subsidy on conventional power, which makes solar expensive and exorbitant. This study makes some recommendations for changes that can be effected in the current regime in order for Botswana to facilitate solar energy development. The recommendations are confined to energy transition in the electricity subsector and not transformation of the holistic energy system because electricity generation contributes the most to Botswana’s total emissions and electricity is an enabler for other sectors of the economy. Energy transition will not only assist the government to meet its global obligation of reducing GHG emissions, but can also attribute; (i) increasing energy access, (ii) facilitating local market for renewable energies, (iii) promotion of local renewable energy-related industries, (iv) job creation, and (v) provision of affordable energy from on-site production through decentralised systems.

Identifying the most suitable renewable technology for electricity generation in Kazakhstan

Kairat, Izbassov Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2021 국내석사

Kazakhstan has significant reserves of oil, gas, coal, uranium, and others, among which coal accounts for about 70% of electricity generation. Moreover, the country is an exporter of these energy resources. At the same time, the extraction of fossil resources for the production of electricity can have a serious impact on the environment. One of the types of such impacts are greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Considering this, Kazakhstan, like most countries in the world, following the Paris and other environmental agreements, considers such energy consumption to be unsustainable in the long term due to its depletion and has recently been actively pursuing a policy in the field of renewable sources. For this reason, this study made a comparison between renewable energy sources wind, solar, biogas, and waste, which are characterized by mobility for independent use in regions where there is a shortage of electricity. At the same time, for the first time, the choice was made only among the options for renewable sources, taking into account a new source of energy for Kazakhstan, obtained from waste incineration. Hydropower with a share of 10% in the country's energy sector, which is already quite developed, and therefore is not considered in this study. The AHP model is built of four criteria for assessing environmental, social, economic, and technical and the corresponding fourteen sub-criteria that are relevant to the energy policy of Kazakhstan. In the course of the study, a survey was conducted of the opinion of experts working in Kazakhstan in the field of energy, ecology, and renewable energy sources, the purpose of which was to determine the most suitable renewable technology for generating electricity in Kazakhstan. The survey results indicate that solar energy is perceived as the best alternative for renewable electricity generation in Kazakhstan, followed by wind energy, biogas, and waste. At the same time, it is confirmed that AHP, as one of the multi-criteria methods, is a suitable tool when choosing from a variety of criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives, helping to plan a sustainable energy system of the country. Compared to a similar study conducted earlier for Kazakhstan in 2017 (Ahmad, S., et al., 2017), the 2020 study highlights the increased impact of environmental and social criteria, with economic and technical criteria, when choosing suitable energy sources. And this was significantly influenced by the step-by-step decision by the state of legislative, financial, and other issues arising from the introduction of renewable energy. Based on the foregoing, the study provides officials, as well as other decision-makers, the opportunity for detailed consideration and analysis of technologies for the production of renewable electricity, taking into account the specifics of Kazakhstan.

Energy and environmental implication of electric mobility in line with NDC target 2050 : a case of nepal, using modelling tool approach

Rashmi Adhikari Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2021 국내석사

The paper explores the energy and environmental implication of NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) target 10th “to decrease its dependency on fossil fuel in the transport sector by 50% through effective mass public transport means by promoting energy-efficient and electric vehicles”. The study shows that the NDC target could be achieved by implementing the policies related to electric mobility and targets strictly as mentioned in this study. The bottom-up Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) System platform is utilized for modeling the national transport system and for accessing the benefits. The benefit is analyzed in terms of reduction of national transport demand, petroleum import, greenhouse gas emission, and the increase in electricity demand during the period of 2015 – 2050. The study shows, if the share of electricity-based transport services for three-wheelers, two-wheelers, train and LPG run vehicles is to grow to 20% by 2030, 50% by 2040, 100% by 2050 and similarly, for rest of the road transport system, if the share of the electric-based transport system is to grow to 20% by 2030, 30% by 2040 and 40% by 2050, diesel import would be decreased by 41%, gasoline (motor spirit) would be decreased by 59%, LPG used would be decreased by 100%, national transport demand would be decreased by 18%, greenhouse gas emission would be decreased by 40% and there would be a substantial increment in electricity demand.

Improved electrochemical performances of lithium-oxygen battery with tungsten carbide-coated cathode

구본석 Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2015 국내석사

The electrochemical properties of the lithium-oxygen battery are improved by coating a tungsten carbide (WC) layer onto the oxygen cathode. WC coating is conducted by using physical vapor deposition (PVD). The uniform deposition of WC onto the surface of the cathode is confirmed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The discharge-recharge voltage gap (“overpotentials”) of the cell with a WC-coated electrode is estimated to be 0.88 V which is 700 mV smaller than that of an electrode without the WC coating at a current density of 100 mA g-1carbon. The discharge-recharge voltage gap of WC-coated electrode remains unchanged even after 10th cycles, while that of the uncoated electrode(KB) gradually increases and leads to complete failure of the cell after about 14th cycles. Besides, the WC-coated electrode exhibits stable voltage profile, even at a high current density of 200 mAg-1carbon(good rate capability). The observed improvement in the cell performance can be attributed to the catalytic property and high electrical conductivity of WC. The enhanced electrochemical properties of cells are conducted by impedance analysis and SEM.

Highly selective asymmetric polybenzimidazole-4,4(hexafluoroisopropylidene) bis(benzoic acid) hollow fibre membranes for hydorgen separation

김도영 Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2016 국내석사

We demonstrated for the development of PBI-HFA based asymmetric hollow fiber membrane for hydrogen separation. High molecular weight PBI-HFA was synthesized in-house by a solution polycondensation method. Hollow fiber membranes were fabricated by conventional dry-jet wet spinning technique. Defect free asymmetric PBI-HFA hollow fiber membranes were successfully produced, which influenced of PBI-HFA concentration and LiCl. The effect of bore fluid chemistry was found to have a significant effect on the morphology as well as gas performance of the hollow fiber membranes. Development of PBI_HFA hollow fiber membranes with improved gas permeation properties their known excellent thermal and chemical properties depicts their potential for gas separation applications at harsh environment. PBI_HFA hollow fiber showed good gas flux and selectivities for industrially important gas pairs such as H2/CO, H2/N2 with the ideal selectivities of 35.7 and 43.4, respectively, while the permeation fluxes of H2, N2, CO2 and CO were at 664, 15.3, 263.37 and 18.6 GPU at 1bar. Mixed gas results discussed above indicate that PBI_HFA hollow fiber is an excellent H2 selective membrane material for syngas separations. This improvement in gas selectivities was attributed to their increased closer chain packing by high solubility.

Community solar photovoltaic by crowdfunding in Malaysia : an effort to upsurge substantial public participation to achieve sustainable development goals

Mohamad Hamzi Abdul Azziz Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2020 국내박사

Electricity generation by solar photovoltaic (PV) technology have been increased over the years throughout the world. Cost of solar PV have also declined. Recent advancement of solar PV technology and the reduced cost should increase investments for the solar PV project especially in equatorial country such as Malaysia. Due to that, the Government have been actively promoting policies to increase solar PV development albeit at a controlled growth by introducing policies such as Feed-in Tariff (FiT) and Net Energy Metering (NEM). FiT have successfully encouraged investment for solar PV from entrepreneurs and individuals that resulted in the increased quota and subsequently closed in 2017 with total of 354 MW capacity installations. NEM also allows participation from individuals, however only total of 8 MW have been installed despite quota allocation of 50 MW that is opened until 2020. True to the objective of Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals that is to provide affordable and clean energy, the Government acknowledged that one of the primary indicator for Goal 7 is “proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology”. Since solar PV is still one of the best renewable energy technology that can be accessed by the public, crowdfunding for developing a community solar PV can be one way to encourage more public participation in renewable energy initiative. This will provide opportunity to general public from the middle to lower income in Malaysia to also invest in the fast growing solar PV technology. The Government may consider appropriate policy interventions to promote this concept. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the economic feasibility for developing community solar PV by crowdfunding in Malaysia and investigate public willingness to be involved in this effort.

Low emission scenarios and policies for the rural household energy sub-sector of cameroon

Frankline Enow Arrey Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2021 국내석사

In accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement to stabilize global temperature rise to 1.5o Celsius over the next 100 years, Cameroon submitted her Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) seeking to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25% by 2035, based on international support which was changed to the nationally determined contribution (NDC) with a 20% GHG emissions reduction by 2035 in July 2016, upon ratification of this global accord. This paper is an attempt to use the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) model to analyze rural households’ energy demand of Cameroon within the framework of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), climate change mitigation and SDGs. The Technology and Environmental Database (TED) installed in LEAP software was used to calculate GHG emissions. The key assumptions used in this model are the 2015 real GDP growth rate, and population growth rate. Other variables used include the energy intensity of fuel consumption (in Giga joules), time (in years) and the IPCC Tier 1 default emission factors. The base year was 2015 while the target year was 2035. Three scenarios were developed in the framework of this assessment: a baseline or business as usual (BAU) scenario, and two policy scenarios: an energy access scenario and a climate change mitigations scenario. The results show that cooking is the greatest source of energy demand and biomass is the greatest energy source in rural households in Cameroon particularly wood fuel and charcoal. The energy demand for rural households in Cameroon by 2035 for the baseline, energy access and climate mitigation scenario are respectively 692.8 Million GJ, 616.4 Million GJ, and 525.1 Million GJ. The GHG emissions by 2035 are respectively 14.03 Million tons of CO2eq, 11.84 Million tons of CO2eq. Some of the issues involved with rural household energy consumption in Cameroon include indoor air pollution and infectious diseases, deforestation, and mass extinction of species, GHG emission, etc. I identified expansion of rural electrification via grid, mini-grid and micro-grid, the use of solar home systems (SHSs) and solar appliances such as LED lanterns, energy efficiency, sustainable consumption, afforestation, environmental protection, REDD+, and green growth as measures to achieve energy access, NDC and hence SDGs in Cameroon rural households’ energy sub-sector.

Analysis of small-scale renewable energy options for electricity supply in remote rural areas of Nepal

Surya Kumar Sapkota Green School Graduate School of Energy and Environ 2021 국내박사

For sustainable development of remote rural areas of Nepal, improving access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy services is one of the most critical factors. Considering the high cost of grid extension to the remote areas of the country, where the population densities are low and terrain is mountainous, small-scale renewable energy technologies can be feasible and alternative options for providing electricity. This dissertation explored techno-economic and sustainability aspects of small-scale renewable energy technologies for electricity supply in the remote rural areas of Nepal. The first study of the dissertation (chapter 2) conducted multi-criteria decision analysis for four renewable energy options to suggest the most suitable electricity supply technologies to the remote areas of Nepal. The result of an analytic hierarchy process from 25 experts showed that micro and mini hydro is the most preferred option followed by solar PV, biomass energy and wind energy for electricity supply in remote areas. The economic factor turned out to be the most important in selecting the small-scale renewable energy technologies in the context of remote rural areas of Nepal. This implies that economic feasibility and value-creating business model were considered more important than other technical, social, political and environmental factors. The study also identified key barriers for deploying small-scale renewable energy technologies using an analytic hierarchy process method. The result showed that economic and financial barriers were the most critical determinants. The nature of small-scale particularly requires appropriate financing and policy supports. Since the economic factors were found to be a major determinant for deploying the renewable energy technologies in remote areas of Nepal, the techno-economic assessment of off-grid hybrid renewable energy in Saptami village, Panchthar district of Nepal, was conducted in the second part of the dissertation (Chapter 3). Using Homer software, the study explored an optimum size and combinations of the hybrid system considering solar photovoltaic, wind turbine, diesel generator, and batteries which makes the system most economical. The result showed that hybrid energy system consisting of 131 kW solar PV, a 10kW wind turbine, 68 batteries, and 35.1 kW converter is the most economical to meet the peak electricity load and daily load of the Saptami village. The net present cost and levelized cost of electricity are $296,634 and $0.451/ kWh respectively. The net present cost and cost could be reduced further by increasing annual capacity shortage from 5 % to 10%. However, techno-economic optimization of the hybrid energy system does not always ensure sustainability. In the third study (Chapter 4), a case study was carried out to assess the five dimensions of sustainability for renewable energy hybrid systems installed and operated in two districts of Nepal - Dhaubadi, Nawalparasi and Narakot, Jumla. From economic sustainability, both systems turned out to have poor performance, failing to balance supply with the demand. However, the Narakot hybrid system was found to have better technical performance in terms of its technical quality, the capacity to meet electricity demand, the compatibility with the grid, promotion of productive end uses. On the other hand, the evaluation of the Dhaubadi system was poor across all five dimensions of sustainability. This study showed that comprehensive sustainability evaluations, considering technical, economic, environmental, political and social factors are needed when developing, deploying, and operating renewable energy systems. In the case of deploying small-scale renewable energy systems in the remote rural areas of Nepal, the government should particularly focus on developing financial incentives and appropriate business models. Furthermore, the sustainable development and operation of off-grid hybrid energy systems require accurate assessment of the energy resources, the adaptation of qualified technical standards, and the involvement of local human resources.