The IPCC Low Energy Demand scenario requires significant efficiency gains in the use of energy. This report aims to describe how nations can increase their understanding of efficiency, invest in it and project a vision forward.
This website contains information on more than 800 clean energy policies around the world. It is searchable by policy name, geography, mechanism and status with subsector impacts noted per policy.
These three online courses cover the opportunities and advantages of clean power, the tools needed to build a global low-carbon power sector and the challenges and solutions of the energy transition. Available online through EdX, the courses are free and part of a professional certificate programme. Each course should take approximately 2–5 hours per week, spread over 5–6 weeks.
This course, which is is designed for interested participants from governments, financial sector, businesses and civil society teaches the basics of sustainable finance and provides opportunities to dive deeper.
This case study highlights the various ways in which LaGeo—a geothermal energy utility in El Salvador—developed strategies throughout its corporate mission and operations to adhere to national laws on gender equality and national development goals, resulting in environmental, social, and women’s empowerment outcomes as well as positive impacts on business outcomes. The case study also shows how utilities can increase gender equality and promote women’s empowerment through institutional policies by examining management structures and applying corporate social responsibility (CSR).
India’s deployment of wind and solar surged has surged in recent years thanks to government targets and cost declines that have made variable renewable sources competitive with coal capacity. But without policy intervention and new market design, India’s clean electricity future may struggle to achieve its potential, according to the authors of this report. They explore how India’s ambitious targets may be met through an integrated approach to flexibility that combines demand management, adaptation of dispatchable fleet and energy storage technologies.
To emerge from its deep recession, Brazil urgently needs to develop strategies and policies that promote growth and reduce poverty, according to the authors of this report. At the same time, the nation’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) within the Paris Agreement represents an ambitious commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. The authors present evidence for policymakers and stakeholder as they look at three sectors that are critical to creating a greener future for the nation: land use, energy and transportation.
This report explores the state of finance for climate adaptation. And it proposes practical near-term solutions to both fill knowledge gaps and increase investment, particularly in developing countries. The authors identify context, business model, and internal capacity barriers to adaptation measures. And they advocate for increasing demand for adaptation services, scaling-up of service providers and derisking adaptation investment.
This report contains the input of stakeholders from the gas, telecommunications and aviation industries about the characteristics of an effective process for developing industry standards and codes of practice. These discussions suggested two important features: (1) regulatory oversight and (2) active and informed representation of different interests. The authors identify actions that can be taken to improve the interconnection process.
The Plug and Play project aimed to identify and drive the implementation of institutional and policy solutions to make grid connections for existing and emerging technologies as straightforward and cost effective as possible for customers and proponents while safeguarding electricity supply. This report outlines the findings from the first stage of the project, in which the authors looked at (1) the current connection requirements and processes and (2) the barriers and unnecessary costs they impose on the connection of low-emission technologies to the electricity network.
This summary of Plug & Play 2: Enabling Distributed Generation Through Effective Grid Connection Standards reviews the input of stakeholders from the gas, telecommunications and aviation industries about the characteristics of an effective process for developing industry standards and codes of practice for grid interconnections.
The October 2018 IPCC report found the Low Energy Demand scenario delivered the fastest results in combatting climate change. This document highlights IPEEC efforts to educate, identify opportunities, and coordinate policy actors to effect efficiency gains. The authors emphasize the organizations through which aspects of this effort are undertaken.
This website is intended to help commercial and industrial companies develop low-carbon microgrids. It serves as a “a living library: where companies can browse and submit existing project examples.
This report provides an integrated analytical framework to identify the drivers and barriers to the use of cooperation mechanisms for deployment of concentrating solar photovoltaics (CSP). The authors empirically identify those drivers and barriers to the use of those mechanisms in the future with the help of a literature review, and they rank the drivers and barriers according to the views of different types of stakeholders.
The document is an adaptation of the 2018 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code. It is meant to specifically meet the needs of the Caribbean and other countries in tropical environments. It establishes minimum energy efficiency requirements for buildings using prescriptive and performance-related provisions inclusive of building envelope, cooling system, ventilation, pumping, lighting and the service water-heating systems in buildings. The technical requirements of this code are the product of regional and international expertise.
This study analyzed the capital costs of large solar photovoltaic, wind and hydro generation projects built in the Pacific over the past decade. According to the authors, a large range of project costs for renewable generation projects in the Pacific is due to a variety of factors, including remoteness, scale, local capacity, perceptions of risk, design parameters and any upgrades for existing infrastructure included in the project scope. And there are numerous challenges in obtaining cost breakdown data and making like-with-like comparisons.
This publication is the product of a carbon dioxide capture and storage stakeholder process convened by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2009. It draws on and adapts WRI’s research on community engagement by extractive industries in developing countries. The document provides principles for engagement, including (1) understand the local community context, (2) exchange information about the project, (3) identify an appropriate level of engagement, (4) discuss risks and benefits, and (5) continue the engagement over time.
This presentation represents the outcome of regional meetings in which international stakeholders were asked to convey their carbon capture and storage (CCS) experiences via a survey. Common themes from the survey include the importance of sustained political support; the importance of CCS awareness for financing; and the need for ongoing research, development, and demonstration. Considerations and recommendations specific to the European and American regions are included.
This communique reports on a 2015 meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum that focused on moving beyond carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstrations and towards deployment. The communique commends the progress made since 2013, including R&D expansion, greater collaboration, initiation of operations at the world's first large-scale power sector CCS project and the number of new projects in development.
This report reflects the consensus of two workshops organized by the IEA in 2011 and attended by the geological surveys of Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, together with the IEA. At these workshops, the need for a common procedure was identified to allow for a transparent and robust assessment of geologic CO2 storage resources throughout the world and across geologic settings, regardless of the amount of available geologic data.
These guidelines complement U.S. federal and state level regulations by harnessing the insights of over 80 World Resources Institute-selected stakeholders to examine, describe and explain best practices for the implementing specific carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. The guidelines provide a set of practical considerations for demonstrating and deploying CCS technologies.
This report surveys standards under CSA: Z741-12 ("Geological storage of carbon dioxide"); ISO/TC265 ("Carbon dioxide capture, transportation, and geological storage"); national and international guidelines; and various best practice manuals pertinent to the field. The report compares the standards to the following factors: planning/pre-feasibility, site screening/selection, simulation and modeling, construction/integrity, operation, closure, monitoring and verification, and risk management/assessment.
This online resource library of diverse national labs, universities and corporations includes a section on standards relevant to carbon storage.
This online resource library concentrates on carbon capture and storage standards under ISO/TC265 (“carbon dioxide capture, transportation, and geological storage”). Resources are sorted by technical code and international harmonized stage code. Summaries of resources are provided along with purchase prices in Swiss francs.
Recognizing that addressing legal liability issues is a critical step to enable financing in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) arena, the authors of this report focus on storage, which according to them is where the most distinctive liability challenges lie. The report is intended to highlight key themes in the design of legal liability regimes for CCS and uses as case examples of three jurisdictions within the common law tradition: the State of Victoria, Australia; the Province of Alberta, Canada; and the United Kingdom.
This review aims to help countries develop their own regulatory frameworks. It provides documentation and analysis of recent carbon capture and storage (CCS) legal and regulatory developments from around the world with the goal of highlighting safe and environmentally responsible CCS deployment and demonstration approaches. It gathers contributions by national, regional, state and provincial governments at all stages of CCS regulatory development. This edition of the report focuses on permitting of projects that have built on already established frameworks and experience.
This IEAGHG-commissioned study collates information from the public domain on existing CO2 pipelines into a comprehensive reference document, discusses the similarities and differences between CO2 and other pipelines and provides lessons learned to support developers, decision makers, regulators and governmental bodies that do not regularly work with engineering calculations or cost estimates.
Based on a review of relevant literature, the authors of this report examine existing carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and consider future opportunities by identifying gaps, risks and challenges faced by regions that are developing CCS clusters. As part of the review, the authors compares CCS business models.
This database provides access to a variety of publications about the state of carbon capture and storage. Databases entries are broken down into discrete repositories. The data and knowledge repository contains information on CCS facilities, status reports, research, reports and analysis, and publications. The analysis repository contains policy analysis, market analysis, economic analysis, financial analysis and technology analysis. The strategy repository offers legal and regulatory framework assessment and design, policy advice and order of magnitude prefeasibility studies.
This paper describes Phase I of the World Bank Group’s technical assistance project for the development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in Mexico. Phase I, which was concluded in 2016, saw the completion of three studies: (1) a pre-feasibility study of a proposed post-combustion capture plant, (2) a review of state-of-the-art practices for combining carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery with geological storage of CO2 and (3) a study of the development of a CCUS regulatory framework.
The authors of this feasibility study aim to identify at least one technically feasible CCS chain (capture, transport and storage) and its cost estimates. This study evaluated the efforts of three companies operating in the cement, ammonia and energy recovery sectors, as well as three storage sites on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The results demonstrate the feasibility of CO2 transport by ship from multiple sources to a single storage hub, which supports the notion that an initial investment in CO2 infrastructure can benefit several CO2 capture projects.
As of this report's writing, while carbon capture and storage (CCS) has experienced growth in various markets, there have been no commercially financed CCS projects. The authors of this report explore why that is the case and what would be required to foster bank-financed CCS projects. They explore the role of export credit agencies, multilaterals, commercial banks and other sources of finance within the CCS industry as well as the unique requirements of each. They conclude that successful demonstration projects can provide momentum to kick-start the young market.
This report notes that there is lower investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) than in renewable energy technologies, and that there is a need to mobilize private sector investment to close this gap.
The People's Republic of China's 13th Five Year Plan is characterized by a shift from intensive growth to an increased focus on efficiency and long-term sustainability. Lacking a national plan for carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration and deployment, China partnered with the Asian Development Bank to produce this road map, which outlines the technical, legal, policy, financial and public engagement solutions needed to move CCS to full-scale commercialization.
This road map describes progress in carbon capture and storage (CCS) since the issuance of the 2009 version of the road map. The present road map makes the case that CCS is critical to combating climate change, deployment modalities will improve through experience, incentives and regulations are a determinative factor in deployment success, CCS needs to be deployed beyond the power sector, non-OECD countries require the greatest deployment of CCS and the present decade is critical to effectively deploying CCS as part of a strategy to combat climate change.
This road map sets out to answer three questions within the context of the power generation and industrial sectors: (1) What is the current status of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and deployment, particularly in CSLF member countries? (2) Where should CCS be by 2020 and beyond? (3) What is needed to get from Point A to Point B while also addressing the different circumstances of developed and developing countries?
This road map provides recommendations to Ministers of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) member countries on technology developments that are required to facilitate the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. It focuses on collaborative efforts that address key technical, economic and environmental obstacles.
This communique reports on the 6 December 2017 meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum. The meeting focused on expanding and strengthening the business case for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) around the world.
The authors of tis report argue it is impossible to economically meet Paris Climate Accord targets and minimize climate change without developing and using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Estimates of storage capacity are provided in order to demonstrate the practicality of using CCS to meet CO2 reduction targets. A history of international progress in the implementation of CCS technologies and supporting policies provides background for a discussion of national policies.
This brochure introduces the Asian Development Bank's Clean Energy Program, which seeks advances in regional energy security, the transition to a low-carbon energy economy and the alleviation of energy poverty. The program pursues these goals by supporting energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment and energy access for the poor. The brochure outlines the program's history, key projects and finance mechanism with a focus on efforts to aggregate markets, facilitate technology transfer and deployment, innovatively finance and build regional partnerships.
This summary follows the structure of the longer AR5 Climate Change 2014 report, which addresses the following topics: observed changes and their causes; future climate change, risks and impacts; future pathways for adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development; and adaptation and mitigation. In this report, the certainty in key assessment findings is communicated as in the Working Group Reports and Special Reports.
This commentary argues the perspective that the U.S. Budget Bill passed by the House and Senate in mid-February 2018 will shape funding for energy technologies for the next decade. Alongside the extension of renewable tax credits and credits for energy efficiency, nuclear and fuel cells, the bill contains a provision that could provide the first significant stimulus to the global status of carbon capture for several years, according to the commentary.
This paper focuses on assessing the water-related implications of food consumption and waste among Spanish consumers to discern possible policy recommendations. Specifically, the authors estimate the water footprint of the diet and associated food waste of Spanish households from October 2014 to September 2015, broken down by footprint component and its geographical origin.
This study presents the key elements required to implement a nexus-based resource management approach in Kazakhstan, by identifying linkages between water resources, energy production and agriculture. A case study illustrates how the methodology can be applied to quantify linkages between the water and energy sectors.
This case study examines the possibility of generating, by a solar industrial process heating plant, the thermal energy required annually by an existing factory in Sicily (Italy) that produces durum wheat pasta. A TRNSYS model has been developed in order to simulate the energy performance of a described plant with the aim of optimizing the design of the solar heat for industrial process systems.
To determine the influence of each component of the energy-water-food nexus on a system's output and identify the weakest link of the system (e.g., water scarcity, energy shortage or inconsistent supply of food), the authors of this paper use a quantitative model to calculate the total cost of sustainable energy-water-food nexus systems. The impact of each design decision variable (e.g. size of the system, water recycling capacity, solar system) on the system's output is formulated and then optimized.
This paper explores the relevance of existing and ongoing scholarship within the water community, as well as current research needs, for (1) understanding energy-water-food nexus processes and systems and (2) implementing solutions through innovations in technologies, infrastructures and policies.
This paper reviews the results of recent research to offer tentative answers to the following questions: (1) Why is the governance dimension important to undertake an integrated analysis of water-energy-food challenges? (2) What does the nexus approach connote in normative and institutional terms? (3) What does implementation mean in nexus terms? (4) How can we establish if the nexus approach is an improvement over business as usual?
The authors of this paper review many publications in an attempt to (1) reveal the lines of justification for the need of the water-energy-food nexus debate and (2) identify the range of tools for analyzing the interdependent resource issues of the nexus using an integrated framework of science and policy.
This aims to quantify key sources of energy and water consumption in the food processing industry. It focuses on food-related facilities common in the U.S. states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Industrial processes that have the greatest potential for energy savings are identified, and novel emerging technologies directly related to food processing are summarized.
Water use and agricultural practices in the Mediterranean area are unsustainable, and they are being worsened by the increased frequency of droughts and floods, as well as desertification and soil depletion, associated with climate change, according to the authors of this paper. They evaluate the monitoring tools used to measure success of Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA), an organization that aims to foster an integrated programme of sustainable food production and water provision in the framework of the water-energy-food nexus.
Coupling freshwater aquaculture and forest bioenergy markets can improve food, energy, and water resiliency by enhancing ecosystem services through fertilization, water-reuse, carbon storage and bioenergy via biomass production, according to the authors of this study. They evaluate how a model aquaculture-managed forest plantation could (1) provision fish and woody biomass, (2) regulate carbon, groundwater infiltration, and groundwater quality and (3) support nutrient cycling over a two-year period.
This study analyzes the production of biogas from the anaerobic digestion of energy crops, and the authors address concerns about potential negative effects on the environment, on competition in the food market, and the progressive changes in land use. In particular, they investigate the trade-offs between water use and bioenergy production by integrating “water footprint and life cycle assessment” methodologies for three different geographical locations (northern, central and southern Italy) and crops (maize, sorghum and wheat.)
In aiming to achieve economic and environmentally sustainable production, a compromise has to be found between water use, waste discharge, energy consumption and productivity, according to the authors of this paper. It reviews and discusses published studies about energy use and designs efficiencies for recirculating aquaculture systems using a survey about commercial energy use to produce an industry baseline.
This paper reviews the fields of floatovoltaic technology (i.e., water-deployed solar photovoltaic systems) and aquaculture (i.e., farming of aquatic organisms) to investigate the potential of hybrid floatovoltaic-aquaculture synergistic applications for improving food-energy-water nexus sustainability.
Using the Penman-Monteith model and Theil index combining the CROPWAT software, the authors of this paper study the Jilin Province. They quantify the virtual water content of agriculture and livestock husbandry, and they give comprehensively evaluate the spatiotemporal structure evolution of these parameters. The study aims to (1) help make clear the water consumption of agriculture and livestock husbandry and (2) offer advice on rational water utilization and agricultural structure adjustment.
Economic globalization (e.g. through transnational trade and foreign direct investment) results in a global conjunction of actors, interests and impacts, and it strongly affects patterns of resource extraction and environmental degradation, and local capabilities for its governance, according to the authors of this paper. Using the case of manure and digestate, they discuss the potential of the global production networks approach to analyze society-environment relations in the context of the water-energy-food nexus and processes of globalization.
This paper “unpacks” the nexus concept, and the authors aim to understand the differences between water, food and energy resources, especially in terms of spatial scales. To do so, they use physical indicators to show the differences in terms of absolute magnitude of production and the distance and volume of physical trade, for seven resource categories: water withdrawal, crops, animal products, bio-energy, coal, oil and natural gas.
Ecological modernization (ecological technology) policies and practices, and sustainable supply chains influence the energy-water-food nexus from a commerce and industry perspective. The authors of this paper use a biosolids case study to exemplify the complexities and interactions of these four thematic perspectives: the energy-water-food nexus, transdisciplinarity, ecological modernization, and sustainable supply chains to identify a series of research opportunities.
Water scarcity affects drylands, threatening their food security, while the oil and gas industry produces significant and increasing volumes of produced water that could be partly reused for agricultural irrigation in these regions. This review summarizes recent research and provides a broad overview of the potential for oil and gas produced water to irrigate food crops in drylands.
This research explores which counties in Colorado may be best suited to reusing produced water for agriculture based on a combined index of need, quality of produced water and quantity of produced water.
This educational video gives an overview of energy-water-food nexus research being done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carnegie Mellon University, and Columbia University. It focuses on the hydraulic cycle in energy and agriculture, desalination techniques and the use of GSI for soil evaluation.
The authors of this article project and aggregate global spatial patterns of expected urban and agricultural expansion, as well as conventional and unconventional oil and gas, coal, solar, wind, biofuels and mining development. Cumulatively, these threats place at risk 20% of the remaining global natural lands and could result in half of the world’s biomes becoming greater than 50% converted while doubling and tripling the extent of land converted in South America and Africa respectively, according to the authors.
In this work, a patented “agrivoltaic” solar tracking system named Agrovoltaico is examined in combination with a maize crop in a Northern Italian climatic simulation study. In the reported study, various panel distributions and management options were used to compare radiation differences as well as the agrivoltaic system’s effect on soil temperature, water and pH balance, evapotranspiration, yield and crop resilience.
To investigate and quantify PV generation potential, without significantly harming agriculture output, the authors of this study explore the viability of “agrivoltaic” farms deployment on existing grape farms in India. Considering the shade tolerance of grapes, they run a techno-economic analysis for the installation of PV systems in the area available between the trellises on a grape farm. Their findings show the economic value of the grape farms may increase more than 15 times that of conventional farming.
The authors of this paper take Brazil’s aluminum industry as a case study to demonstrate that exported electro-intensive products, such as aluminum, have fewer benefits than are portrayed by such heavily-subsidized and wealthy industries. They explore the “systematically underestimated” social and environmental impacts of dams, including population displacement and loss of livelihood (especially fisheries), biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions.
The limited endowments, uneven temporal and spatial distribution of energy and water resources pose significant challenges to China’s sustainable development, according to the authors of this paper. As described in the paper, they develop a bottom-up model (China TIMES model) to integrate China’s energy system with water resources, to project water demand in the power sector and to assess the impacts of China’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) and water constraints on power generation portfolio out to the year 2050.
The primary purpose of the evaluation described in this report is to enhance the contribution that the Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) program is likely to make toward CGIAR goals relating to the productivity and sustainability of water and land resources in agroecosystems, as well as the livelihoods of poor producers and consumers in developing countries.
The CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on aquatic agricultural systems was designed to bring together the CGIAR’s strengths in agricultural research with the experience and local knowledge of research and development partners.
Based on a detailed review of policy announcements and plans, this report reflects the way that governments, individually or collectively, see their energy sectors developing over the coming decades in regards to the water-energy nexus. Its starting point is the policies and measures that are already in place, but it also takes into account, in full or in part, the aims, targets and intentions that have been announced, even if these have yet to be enshrined in legislation or the means for their implementation are still taking shape.
The authors of this paper take the United Kingdom as a case study and calculate energy, water and food consumption-based accounts for 1997–2013. They Use Input-output analysis techniques to investigate the interaction of the energy, water and food impacts of products at different points along their supply chains, from the extraction of material and burning of energy to the point of final consumption.
In this article, the transnational interregional input-output approach is used in a tele-connected water-energy-food nexus analysis of the East Asia global value chain to assess competing demands for these resources and environmental outcomes. The analysis demonstrates the hidden virtual flows of water, energy, and food embodied in intraregional and transnational interregional trade.
The authors of this paper derive a model of the energy-water-food nexus using four versions of fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM). An aggregated FCM is developed and applied to predict the impacts on the nexus of four scenarios under which the United Kingdom would depart from the European Union (i.e., Brexit).
The authors of this report use case studies to demonstrate the growing global challenges associated with the energy-water-food nexus. Specifically, they focus on (1) the increasing burden that climate change and a growing population put on energy-water-food production and (2) how nations can integrate resiliency planning to prepare financially for the cost of necessary development.
This article reviews city case studies to inform a framework for developing urban infrastructure design standards and policy instruments that together aim to pursue energy efficiency and greenhouse gas mitigation through city carbon budgets and water use efficiency and climate risk adaptation through city water budgets. The authors propose combining carbon and water budgeting at the city scale to achieve successful coupled city carbon and water budget programs.
This paper applies a livelihoods framework to characterize urban households by the resources or assets that comprise their livelihoods. It then combines a fuzzy logic approach with an analytic hierarchy process to examine the relative influence of wealth (poverty), exposure, sensitivity and capacity on vulnerability to climate hazards in Mumbai, India.
Renewable energy has become the least-expensive energy choice in many parts of the world, leading to a powerful feedback cycle and growth. This report explores enabling policy environments, market factors, regulatory factors, and contractual factors. It was written to support policymakers in designing policy environments to enable low-cost renewables in their jurisdictions.
Off-grid renewable energy solutions have emerged as a mainstream solution to expand access to modern energy services in a timely and environmentally sustainable manner. Fostering private investment and innovation is a critical aspect to achieving this goal, according to the authors of this brief. It captures key trends, and the authors discuss the key components of an enabling environment to scale-up deployment.
Chapter 1 of this report on Southeast Asia describes macroeconomic and social trends in the region, examining the relationship between economic growth and energy demand. Chapter 2 analyses the region’s energy sector landscape, focusing on trends in supply and consumption. Chapter 3 explores the region’s renewable energy options, analysing the latest trends in costs and deployment as well as the benefits offered by a renewables-driven energy transition in terms of gross domestic product growth and jobs.
This report summarizes several efforts in the Asia-Pacific region to enhance the living environment through environmentally-friendly endeavors, including water treatment, energy provision and advanced cooking technologies.
The collection of case studies from different geographies highlights challenges, breakthrough solutions, project outcomes and the learning from project implementation. Each case bring outs the distinguishing feature of a project that has the potential of being replicable and scalable across the geographies with comparable conditions.
This annual report highlights how and where REEEP worked towards its achieving in 2017-2018, including in Zambia, in South Africa, and with the the Private Financing Advisory Network in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Vietnam and Nigeria.
This report assesses the DRE market—looking at the supply, demand and framework conditions for the sector—and articulates potential approaches to levelling the playing field. Rather than delving into specific technologies or business models (although it does touch on a few), the report focuses on (2) the overall long-term political economy of electrification and (2) potential approaches and mechanisms that international impact-connected financing and national government stakeholders could employ to de-risk the sector immediately by building predictability and security for investment.
This report was designed to be a comprehensive overview of the costs and performance of electricity storage systems, with a focus on battery electricity storage, to 2030 for stationary applications. It provides overviews of the (1) current state of BES deployment and use in various applications, (2) currently available ESS and their suitability in various applications, (3) current costs and performance of ESS in stationary applications, (4) future cost reduction and performance improvements for ESS to 2030, and (5) an outlook for growth in ESS technologies to 2030.
Thailand set a new renewable energy target of 30% of total final energy consumption by 2036 in its Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP) 2015. This study evaluates the three subsectors of power generation, thermal use and bioenergy, with a focus on the identification and analysis of the key challenges to achieving the targets set out in AEDP 2015.
This paper evaluates the performance of 1,080 thermoelectric plants across the contiguous United States under future climates (2035–2064) and their collective performance at 19 North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) subregions. Joint consideration of engineering interactions with climate, hydrology and environmental regulations reveals the region-specific performance of energy systems and the need for regional energy security and climate-water adaptation strategies.
This study analyses the prospective impact of renewable energy deployment, along with recently mandated changes to power plant cooling systems, on water use in India’s electricity sector. Looking at the expected freshwater intensity of non-hydro power generation under different scenarios, the analysis aims to quantify the impact of India’s energy transition on freshwater use. The findings highlight the need to incorporate water considerations into energy planning.
Ignoring synergies and trade-offs between energy and natural flows can generate misleading modelling outcomes. Several modelling tools are available to address energy and the nexus. Based on six such models, this paper aims to support the design and testing of coherent strategies for sustainable development. Model improvements would be achieved by comparing model outcomes and including a common baseline, according to the authors.
This working paper explores the use of freshwater in India's thermal power plants, including risks and opportunities. It highlights the 30 terawatt-hours of lost power generation caused by water stress in the region as well as the water savings predicted by the nation's "40/60" renewable energy development plan.