Renewable energy programmes in India

Efforts towards the development and deployment of technologies based on renewable energy sources in India are described. A brief review of renewable energy programmes with an emphasis on the specific strengths of the different programmes in the context of India's renewable energy programme is presented. Renewable energy systems which appear to have a significant role to play in the sustainable energy programme of India are identified and their implementation discussed .     

(Not) talking about justice: justice self-recognition and the integration of energy and environmental-social justice into renewable energy siting

Renewable energy often provokes heated debate on climate change, energy security and the local impacts of developments. However, how far such discussions involve thorough and inclusive debate on the energy and environmental-social justice issues associated with renewable energy siting remains ambiguous, particularly where government agendas prioritise renewable energy and planning systems offer limited opportunities for public debate on value-based arguments for and against renewable energy developments. Using the concept of justice self-recognition, we argue for greater attention to public discussion of the justice dimensions of renewable energy to assist in developing mechanisms to integrate distributive and procedural fairness principles into renewable energy decision-making. To explore how justice is currently invoked in such contexts, we examine recent U.K. policies for renewable energy and public submissions to applications for small-scale wind energy projects in Cornwall, U.K. The analysis of public comments revealed that justice concerns were rarely discussed explicitly. Comments instead did not raise concerns as justice issues or focused implicitly on distributive justice, stressing local aesthetic, community and economic impacts, clean energy and climate change. However, the findings indicated limited discussion of procedural or participatory justice, an absence that hampers the establishment of coherent procedures for deciding acceptable impacts, information standards, public participation and arbitrating disputes. We conclude by suggesting procedural reforms to policy and planning to enable greater public expression of justice concerns and debate on how to negotiate tensions between energy and environmental-social justice in renewable energy siting decisions.     

Wind energy development in Ontario: a process/product paradox

The Province of Ontario is aggressively pursuing renewable energy development, but not without significant turbulence. Ontario's Green Energy Act (2009) reflects this aggressive pursuit, and is aimed at making the province a global leader in renewable energy development. Wind energy is an integral but controversial part of these commitments. While several installations have been built or announced, conflicts surrounding the development of the technology continue to grow. This article documents, analyses and interprets media coverage in order to understand public discourse potentially driving support for and resistance to wind energy development (WED) in Ontario. Contrary to numerous studies which have elucidated public attitudes towards WED, the media discourse analysed suggests that roadblocks to public acceptance of the technology are more rooted in the development process (renewable energy policies and their implementation) rather than the products of WED (wind turbines). The study highlights the need for increased procedural justice to ameliorate feelings of unfairness which play a key role in fuelling resistance to the technology.     

Local aspects of UK renewable energy development: exploring public beliefs and policy implications

Despite several recent UK initiatives to promote renewable energy development at the local level, little research has been carried out to investigate public beliefs about aspects of local renewable energy development. This research attempted to address this gap. Empirical data were collected at the Awel Aman Tawe development in South Wales immediately before and after a public participation process. The results indicate that support for specific aspects of local energy development (partnership with local communities, local use of generated energy and profits put back into the local community) was consistently high across time, with support for local ownership at a slightly lower level, yet still high. Secondly, socio-demographical analyses indicated that personal factors such as respondents' age, gender and employment status were important in shaping several of these beliefs. Since UK renewable energy development has often been controversial and subject to delay, results suggest that the adoption of a locally embedded development approach by public and private sector stakeholders will be strongly supported by local people. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to existing industry best practice guidelines and recent policy initiatives.     

Local aspects of UK renewable energy development: exploring public beliefs and policy implications

Despite several recent UK initiatives to promote renewable energy development at the local level, little research has been carried out to investigate public beliefs about aspects of local renewable energy development. This research attempted to address this gap. Empirical data were collected at the Awel Aman Tawe development in South Wales immediately before and after a public participation process. The results indicate that support for specific aspects of local energy development (partnership with local communities, local use of generated energy and profits put back into the local community) was consistently high across time, with support for local ownership at a slightly lower level, yet still high. Secondly, socio-demographical analyses indicated that personal factors such as respondents' age, gender and employment status were important in shaping several of these beliefs. Since UK renewable energy development has often been controversial and subject to delay, results suggest that the adoption of a locally embedded development approach by public and private sector stakeholders will be strongly supported by local people. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to existing industry best practice guidelines and recent policy initiatives.     

Discourses of on-farm wind energy generation in the UK farming press

As the owners of the majority of land in the U.K., farmers are well placed to contribute to renewable energy targets. Media coverage can both drive and reflect farmers’ views about renewable energy but has been largely unexplored to date. This article uses discourse analysis to examine the evolution of coverage of one form of renewable energy – on-farm wind – in the U.K. farming press from 1980 to 2013. We identified a diverse debate with five major discourses. On-farm wind turbines are alternatively represented as: profitable farm diversification opportunities; producers of clean energy; important for rural development and sources of conflict. Although press coverage predominantly encourages wind energy production, a further discourse advises farmers to ‘Proceed with Caution’. While emphasising images and values which have widespread affinity among U.K. farmers, the press have increasingly employed an economic frame, constructing wind energy generation as a farm diversification strategy. The most recent farming press coverage predominantly encourages an instrumental approach to wind energy, crowding out other (non-economic) rationales and marginalising local community concerns. This appears to reflect the financial orientation of recent policy support (particularly Feed-in Tariffs), and may have long-term costs in enabling sustainable energy production systems.     

Cautious but Committed: Moving Toward Adaptive Planning and Operation Strategies for Renewable Energy’s Wildlife Implications

Wildlife planning for renewable energy must cope with the uncertainties of potential wildlife impacts. Unfortunately, the environmental policies which instigate renewable energy and those which protect wildlife are not coherently aligned—creating a green versus green dilemma. Thus, climate mitigation efforts trigger renewable energy development, but then face substantial barriers from biodiversity protection instruments and practices. This article briefly reviews wind energy and wildlife interactions, highlighting the lively debated effects on bats. Today, planning and siting of renewable energy are guided by the precautionary principle in an attempt to carefully address wildlife challenges. However, this planning attitude creates limitations as it struggles to negotiate the aforementioned green versus green dilemma. More adaptive planning and management strategies and practices hold the potential to reconcile these discrepancies to some degree. This adaptive approach is discussed using facets of case studies from policy, planning, siting, and operational stages of wind energy in Germany and the United States, with one case showing adaptive planning in action for solar energy as well. This article attempts to highlight the benefits of more adaptive approaches as well as the possible shortcomings, such as reduced planning security for renewable energy developers. In conclusion, these studies show that adaptive planning and operation strategies can be designed to supplement and enhance the precautionary principle in wildlife planning for green energy.     

碳达峰碳中和目标下可再生能源产业财税金融支持政策研究

能源作为经济社会发展的重要物质基础,也是碳排放的主要来源,推动能源结构调整、大力发展可再生能源产业是实现碳达峰碳中和目标的必然要求。为了促进可再生能源产业发展,国家实施了一系列财税宏观调控政策。本文在梳理政策现状的基础上,对存在的问题进行了识别,包括弃风弃光现象影响财政资金使用效益、可再生能源电价补贴不到位、财税优惠政策形式相对单一、优惠政策执行的配套机制不足等。从建立、完善可再生能源电力消纳保障机制,多种渠道解决可再生能源补贴缺口问题,进一步完善税收优惠政策,适时优化调整财政支持政策,与其他政策协同发挥作用等方面提出了政策优化建议。     

Locating ‘power’ in wind power planning processes: the (not so) influential role of local objectors

There have been conflicting accounts of the role and influence of local opposition within planning application outcomes for wind power developments. There is an expanding literature that considers public responses to proposed renewable energy developments and much of this suggests that public opposition is a key factor in the slow growth in renewable energy capacity. However, this paper will show that local opposition groups' power over such planning processes is very limited, and in fact extends only so far as delaying an outcome. Through a thematic content analysis of objection letters to one particular proposed wind power development, the key issues raised in connection with the development will be highlighted. Subsequently, these issues will be compared with those discussed in the official report of the planning appeals process, and it will be shown that the concerns of local objectors had little influence over the eventual verdict.     

Harnessing place attachment for local climate mitigation? Hypothesising connections between broadening representations of place and readiness for change

Public engagement in local environmental planning and decision-making is often advocated on various grounds, both instrumental and normative. Yet in developed countries in the context of renewable energy infrastructure deployment, place attachment, place identity and place-protective action continue to be implicated in public objection. We set out an interdisciplinary change readiness hypothesis of specifically how local participatory scenario or visioning processes that include climate mitigation measures may support the mobilisation of place attachment for climate mitigation, including renewable energy deployment. We hypothesise that local visioning may support movement towards change readiness by helping to anchor unfamiliar social representations of low carbon energy infrastructure and new patterns of urban form in existing, more positive representations of localities and associated attachments. To this end, seeking ways to modify threat perceptions relating to climate change and renewable energy infrastructure is advocated as a key direction for study.     

Indicators for sustainable energy development: Brazil's case study

This article summarizes the results of the project on indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED) in Brazil. The project's aim was to present energy related economic, social and environmental data to policy makers in a coherent and consistent form, showing interlinkages, time‐series and cross‐sectoral analyses and assess energy policy. Two priority areas assessed by these indicators, regarding the country's energy supply and demand, helped in the identification of a number of energy policy options that focused on specific aspects of the country's energy sector. On the supply side, these options include the development and stimulation of renewable energy, such as small‐scale hydroelectric, wind, solar photovoltaic power and bagasse cogeneration; stimulation of programmes for ethanol use as automotive fuel and sugarcane bagasse cogeneration; and implementation of natural gas‐fired, combined heat and power (CHP) plants. On the demand side, policy options include: the full implementation of the law on efficiency standards for appliances; expansion of utility investment in end‐use energy efficiency; adoption of targets and protocols to reduce energy intensity in the industrial sector; improvement of passenger transport efficiency; and the creation of a fund to improve energy affordability for the poor.     

Public acceptance of large-scale wind energy generation for export from Ireland to the UK: evidence from Ireland

Although international trade in energy may offer a flexible and cost effective means by which European countries could meet their renewable energy targets, developers in the exporting nation can face local opposition for reasons which are not always clear. Using focus groups and a public survey, we contrast perspectives between local stakeholders and wind farm operators and investigate the community impacts associated with large-scale wind energy for domestic use and export from Ireland to the UK. Although the export of renewable energy from Ireland to the UK is currently on hold, our findings suggest that significant investment is required by the state and wind farm operators in better information provision, trust building, effective instruments to internalise wind farm externalities and co-management arrangements before Ireland can fully capture the benefits of wind exports to the UK.     

德国可再生能源政策与沼气工程简介

本文介绍了德国可再生能源政策,政策对沼气、光伏太阳能及风力发电行业的影响,沼气工程技术现状。德国的经验表明,政策激励是农场沼气工程发展的主要动力。     

Expanding the Range of Choice in Water Management: An Evaluation of Policy Approaches

This paper examines the ‘range of choice’ concept in water management. Although many efforts have been made to design policies that broaden the consideration of water resources alternatives, the experiences gained from these policy experiments have not been adequately assessed. What insights might American policy approaches offer for developing countries? To address this question, four general policy types were identified and compared: (1) comprehensive single-objective policies; (2) comprehensive multiple-objective policies; (3) specific non-structural policies; and (4) specific technological policies. Case studies of each approach revealed that effective institutional development occurs when policies are: (1) stated in clear and specific language; (2) modified as experience is gained; (3) adequate in terms of statutory and administrative authority; and (4) subject to an orderly process of public and judicial review. The most successful policy efforts to date have involved specific alternatives, while multiple-objective policies have encountered the most difficulties. Common institutional problems are identified, and their potential relevance for developing countries is discussed.     

Eco‐efficiency,self‐sufficiency and sustainability in transport: The limits for Brazilian sugarcane ethanol policy

This paper examines the historic development of the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol sector and the largely successful attempt to create a sustainable, renewable fuel for the transport sector. The policy that resulted from this process is an example of meeting the need for sustainable transport through the consideration of location‐specific characteristics and appropriate policy. The paper then questions the current and expected trajectory of the sugarcane ethanol sector with the focus on one key question: can sustainability be exported? In this analysis, the paper identifies new threats to the sustainability of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol and potential “opportunity costs” incurred in further development and internationalization of the sector. The paper concludes that exporting sugarcane ethanol may bring unanticipated deleterious consequences, which in turn means that both policy and theory need to be more precise about how sustainable transport is defined and bounded by time and space.     

Fuel poverty and vulnerability in the EU low-carbon transition: the case of renewable electricity

The European Union (EU) and member states alike are following a tradition of addressing fuel poverty and vulnerability at the point of purchase by final consumers by seeking to influence the impact of income, energy price and the built environment on the ability of household consumers to access the energy that they need. By focusing on the conditions of energy transmission in the most rapidly growing renewable electricity sector in the UK – offshore wind – this paper aims to question whether the regulatory socio-technological framing of renewable electricity transmission is reproducing conditions for fuel poverty and vulnerability in the UK. By drawing a comparison with renewable electricity transmission in Bulgaria, this paper argues that the problem might be symptomatic of the EU as a whole. While not arguing against the proliferation of renewable electricity and its importance in meeting the 2020 targets, this paper calls for expanding the scope of fuel poverty alleviation policy throughout the whole renewable electricity supply chain, building on Helm's argument that energy companies at the middle of the supply chain are better suited to deliver fuel policy.     

Multi-criteria PSO-based optimal design of grid-connected hybrid renewable energy systems

ABSTRACT

Human-induced climate change through the over liberation of greenhouse gases, resulting in devastating consequences to the environment, is a concern of considerable global significance which has fuelled the diversification to alternative renewable energy sources. The unpredictable nature of renewable resources is an impediment to developing renewable projects. More reliable, effective, and economically feasible renewable energy systems can be established by consolidating various renewable energy sources such as wind and solar into a hybrid system using batteries or back-up units like conventional energy generators or grids. The precise design of these systems is a critical step toward their effective deployment. An optimal sizing strategy was developed based on a heuristic particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to determine the optimum number and configuration of PV panels, wind turbines, and battery units by minimizing the total system life-cycle cost while maximizing the reliability of the hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) in matching the electricity supply and demand. In addition, by constraining the amount of conventional electricity purchased from the grid, environmental concerns were also considered in the presented method. Various systems with different reliabilities and potential of reducing consumer’s CO₂ emissions were designed and the behavior of the proposed method was comprehensively investigated. An HRES may reduce the annualized cost of energy and carbon footprint significantly.     

A multi-criteria framework to assess the sustainability of renewable energy development in the Alps

A multi-criteria analysis (MCA) was implemented to assess the best solutions for enhancing the production of renewable energy in the Alps. A set of criteria were selected based on the impacts of four renewable energy sources (forest biomass, hydropower, ground solar photovoltaic and wind power) on the three spheres of sustainability (environmental, social and economic). Three different scenarios are presented, each with a different set of weights for the criteria: the first scenario considers equally all three aspects of sustainability; the second scenario foresees an environmentally-oriented perspective, while the third scenario is more focused on the socio-economic aspects related to the development of renewable energy. Results show that forest biomass and hydropower seem to be the most viable solutions for enhancing the share of renewable energy in the Alps. Ground solar photovoltaic and wind power, on the other hand, seem to be less attractive alternatives due to their high impacts on land use.     

Contrasting the core beliefs regarding the effective implementation of wind power. An international study of stakeholder perspectives

This paper analyses patterns in beliefs about the implementation of wind power as part of a geographical comparison of onshore wind power developments in the Netherlands, North-Rhine Westphalia and England. Q methodology is applied, in order to systematically compare the patterns in stakeholder views on the institutional conditions and changes in the domains of energy policy, spatial planning and environmental policy. Three factors represent support for wind power implementation from fundamentally different perspectives. The fourth perspective is critical opposed to wind power developments as well as critical to the manner in which wind projects are proposed, planned and implemented. These four perspectives exist across the geographical cases; however, some perspectives are prominent in one case and marginal in another. This relates to different legacies and varying implementation achievements in the three cases. The analysis shows that an approach that focuses on implementing as much wind power as possible, relying on technocratic reasoning and hierarchical policies is in practice the least successful, whereas collaborative perspectives with more emphasis on local issues and less on the interests of the conventional energy sector were particularly dominant in the most successful case, North-Rhine Westphalia.