Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Energy development'

La energía es un elemento fundamental para muchos aspectos del desarrollo socioeconómico. Los servicios que la mayoría de las personas en los países industrializados dan garantizados - iluminación adecuada, energía limpia para calefacción y cocina, telecomunicaciones, fuerza motriz y ocio - están fuera del alcance en gran parte de la población mundial. La falta de acceso a servicios energéticos confiables y asequibles representa un claro obstáculo para el desarrollo humano, social, económico y para el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio. Constituyendo actualmente un hecho inaceptable e insostenible, la pobreza energética representa una cruda realidad que junto a otros problemas globales debe ser tratada de manera urgente. A pesar de los importantes esfuerzos realizados por las instituciones y los gobiernos locales, las entidades públicas y las organizaciones internacionales, la tendencia indica que el número total de pobres en términos de acceso a la energía aumente en las próximas décadas, a menos de que se inicien de forma inmediata acciones adicionales orientadas a evitar ese incremento. En este sentido, la historia ha demostrado que es posible lograr un significativo avance en acceso energetico en un corto espacio de tiempo. Este hecho se ha producido recientemente en varios países asiáticos (por ejemplo, Vietnam), Sudáfrica y Brasil. Sin embargo, a pesar de los avances realizados en los países mencionados, las iniciativas que hoy en día se están desarrollando a nivel global para erradicar la pobreza energética no son suficientes en cuanto a su tamaño y alcance. Las estrategias relacionadas con la promoción del acceso a la energía para el desarrollo socioeconómico deben ir mucho más allá de la iluminación para hogares pobres. Los objetivos de dichas estrategias deberían estar orientados a generar cambios estructurales que originen un desarrollo sostenible. Además, la reciente crisis ha provocado retrocesos en el desarrollo sostenible de los países. La comunidad internacional tiene que adaptarse rápidamente a las nuevas circunstancias y proporcionar asesoramiento y asistencia que sea duradera en el tiempo y adaptable a cada caso, de cara a provocar un ambiente propicio para el desarrollo interno en los países. Hoy en día, no existen barreras técnicas que impidan suministrar servicios modernos de energía de forma segura, fiable y asequible a los miles de millones de pobres que no tienen acceso a la misma. Es nuestro deber contribuir a lograr la aspiración de los países más desfavorecidos para avanzar hacia economías sostenibles, y la energía es fundamental para esta transformación. Afortunadamente, el tema de acceso a la energía está recibiendo una atención cada vez mayor en todas las esferas. Como ejemplo ilustrativo de este hecho, el año 2012 ha sido declarado por la Asamblea General, el principal órgano normativo y representativo de las Naciones Unidas, como el Año Internacional de la Energía Sostenible para Todos. Es fundamental aprovechar este impulso, ya que la energía es necesaria para enfrentar muchos de los desafíos clave actuales. Así, abordar la pobreza energética de manera integral tendría enormes beneficios en diversas áreas relacionadas con el desarrollo de los países (por ejemplo, salud, educación, igualdad de género). Los capítulos de esta tesis persiguen conformar un conjunto coherente de piezas individuales de análisis en torno a un tema central: el nexo entre energía y el desarrollo socio-económico. Los diferentes capítulos están basados en artículos independientes y ofrecen perspectivas contrastadas y a la vez complementarias en relación al tema en cuestión. En definitiva, se trata de un ejercicio de investigación aplicada así como de desarrollo metodológico y el conjunto deriva en una evaluación integrada de las implicaciones de la energía para el desarrollo sostenible. La tesis está organizada de forma que se presente como una narrativa coherente y estructurada. En términos generales de su estructura, los primeros capítulos describen el problema de la pobreza energética, como la falta de acceso a servicios energéticos modernos. Estos capítulos ofrecen una idea de la magnitud del desafío que nos ocupa y presentan una evaluación de los escenarios posibles para lograr el acceso universal a la energía. En los capítulos siguientes, se presenta la escala de la inversión necesaria para abordar la cuestión así como intervenciones concretas que permitirían superar algunas de las cuestiones que se discuten. La Energía y los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio Aunque intuitiva, la relación entre energía y desarrollo sostenible es difícil de determinar cuantitativamente y no ha sido explorada ni analizada en detalle en la literatura científica. La correlación entre el acceso a los servicios de energía y el desarrollo socioeconómico se refleja a menudo, por ejemplo, mediante el uso de índices compuestos como el Índice de Desarrollo Humano (HDI), o a partir de un análisis centrado únicamente en las repercusiones económicas. Este trabajo presenta una articulación estadística que analiza la relación entre la energía y varios elementos clave del desarrollo socioeconómico, utilizando los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio como marco de referencia. Los resultados confirman la influencia potencialmente positiva que el acceso a los servicios de energía genera. La evaluación desarrollada en el trabajo proporciona una perspectiva basada en una serie de supuestos que a menudo se emplean alrededor de la correlación entre energía y desarrollo, y examina reivindicaciones de sus beneficios universalmente positivos a las prioridades específicas de desarrollo socioeconómico. Entre las conclusiones, se destaca que los beneficios para el desarrollo sostenible del acceso a los servicios de energía varían considerablemente. Medición de la pobreza energética Cualquier política que pretenda ser efectiva para expandir de forma considerable el acceso a energía moderna ha de estar fundamentada en una sólida base documental. Por lo tanto los análisis cuantitativos que se pueden utilizar con fines comparativos y de seguimiento de los avances hacia los objetivos planteados, representan una herramienta de apoyo esencial. Este trabajo revisa la literatura relevante en la materia, y analiza la idoneidad y la aplicabilidad de los instrumentos existentes para medir la pobreza energética. Basándose en esos instrumentos y en sus resultados, se propone un nuevo índice compuesto para medir la pobreza energética. Tanto la metodología como los resultados iniciales obtenidos de la aplicación del índice son presentados para varios países africanos. Mientras que la mayoría de los indicadores e índices compuestos existentes se centran en la evaluación del acceso a la energía o en el grado de desarrollo relacionado con la energía, el nuevo índice desarrollado - el Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional de la Energía (MEPI) - se centra en la privación del acceso a servicios energéticos modernos. Este índice, refleja la incidencia e intensidad de la pobreza energética y proporciona una nueva herramienta para la elaboración de políticas. Escenarios de acceso a la energía hasta el año 2030 para el África subsahariana Con el fin de alcanzar una meta de acceso universal a servicios modernos de energía para el año 2030, se han considerado varias opciones de desarrollo de sector eléctrico así como el hecho de informar consecuentemente a los políticos e inversionistas, de cara a orientar de forma adecuada el diseño del sistema. Con este fin, y basándose en las herramientas y análisis existentes, se presentan varios escenarios de forma transparente y para toda la economía del sector energético de África subsahariana hasta el año 2030. Estos escenarios se han elaborado teniendo en cuenta el contexto de las tendencias históricas y las diversas interpretaciones sobre el concepto de acceso universal a la energía. Los mismos, están diseñados para proporcionar una indicación de la escala general en relación al esfuerzo requerido por la comunidad internacional. Actualmente, la mayoría de las proyecciones con métodos tradicionales de predicción a largo plazo en materia de planificación energética muestran un aumento de aproximadamente tres veces la capacidad de generación instalada para el año 2030, pero probablemente se requiera que ese aumento sea de más de diez veces, si se pretende proporcionar un acceso completo a nivel global - incluso a niveles relativamente modestos de consumo de electricidad. Esto equivale a aproximadamente un 13% la tasa media de crecimiento anual, en comparación con un histórico (en las últimas dos décadas) de 1,7%. Escala de la inversión para el acceso a la energía universal Para ayudar a proporcionar una mayor claridad y apoyo a la toma de decisiones políticas, así como en el diseño de propuestas financieras, en este trabajo es considerado y analizado el nivel global de gasto requerido para satisfacer el acceso universal a servicios de energía modernos. Este trabajo revisa la literatura existente a nivel mundial, regional, nacional y de proyecto, y a su vez se realiza un desglose de las estimaciones de costos necesarios, a fin de proporcionar una mayor transparencia a través del desarrollo de indicadores comparables. Con la nueva metodología desarrollada, calculamos tres escenarios de costos nuevos que intentan abordar varias deficiencias analíticas existentes. Como conclusión, el costo total de proporcionar (de forma aproximada) el acceso universal se espera que probablemente sea considerablemente más alto que las estimaciones publicadas, que a menudo se centran principalmente en los costos de capital. Si bien se reconoce la naturaleza aproximada de los análisis, el costo anual del acceso universal a la electricidad y energía limpia para la cocinar se calcula que va desde USD 14 a 136 mil millones (de USD 12 a 134 mil millones para electrificación y de USD 1,4 a 2,2 mil millones para energía limpia para la cocinar). Actuales flujos financieros relacionados con el acceso a la energía De cara a contribuir al diseño de políticas apropiadas y eficaces para reducir la pobreza energética, este análisis presenta una evaluación de los flujos macro financieros actuales en el sector eléctrico y de distribución de gas en los países en desarrollo. Se basa en la metodología más extendida actualmente para cuantificar los flujos de inversión en el área de cambio climático. El enfoque se centra en las variables de formación bruta de capital fijo nacional, la ayuda al desarrollo procedente del extranjero y la inversión extranjera directa. Estas cifras proporcionan a los responsables políticos una idea de la escala de inversión necesaria, aunque esto representan sólo una pequeña parte de la información necesaria para diseñar los instrumentos financieros requeridos para lograr el acceso universal a la energía. Igualmente, estas cifras tienden a ocultar muchas variaciones entre sectores y países, así como las tendencias y otras fluctuaciones en el tiempo. En cualquier caso, se puede concluir que la corriente de inversión destinada a los países más pobres se queda muy corta (por lo menos cinco veces) si se pretende proporcionar un nivel básico de acceso a servicios modernos de energía limpia a los ‘pobres energéticos’. Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio y el Desarrollo Sostenible El Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL) tiene un doble objetivo: compensar las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y contribuir al desarrollo sostenible en el país anfitrión, aunque la contribución a este último objetivo parece marginal en la mayoría de las actividades del MDL. Además, las actividades del MDL están distribuidas de forma desigual entre los países en desarrollo. En respuesta a estas inquietudes, se han puesto en marcha varias iniciativas cuyo objetivo es la promoción de proyectos MDL que generen amplios dividendos orientados al desarrollo local sostenible, como el Gold Standard y el Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF). La certificación Gold Standard recompensa las mejores prácticas de proyectos MDL, mientras que el CDCF se centra en la promoción de las actividades del MDL en comunidades desfavorecidas. A partir de un método de criterios múltiples, este trabajo analiza, la contribución potencial al desarrollo local sostenible de los proyectos del MDL, comparando los proyectos que tienen atributos particulares con los proyectos ordinarios. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que generalmente aunque no siempre, los proyectos MDL con certificación, tienden a superar ligeramente a los proyectos similares sin certificación en términos de beneficios a nivel local.
Energy is central to many aspects of socio-economic emancipation. The services that most people in industrialised countries take from granted – adequate lighting, low-polluting heating and cooking energy, telecommunication and entertainment, motive power – are out of reach to large parts of the world’s population. A lack of access to affordable and reliable energy services represents a key obstacle to human, social, and economic development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. As unacceptable and unsustainable as it is, widespread energy poverty represents a stark reality which must be dealt alongside other pressing global issues. Despite the significant efforts by local institutions and governments, utilities and international organisations, the absolute number of energy poor is expected to rise in coming decades in the absence of additional dedicated action. History has shown, however, that significant progress can be achieved with regard to improving energy access in a short timeframe. Remarkable improvements occurred rapidly in several Asian countries (e.g. Vietnam), South Africa and Brazil in the recent past. However, current initiatives to eradicate energy poverty are insufficient in scale and scope, and attempting to address the issue in the same incremental fashion as in the past is clearly inappropriate. Energy for development strategies must go well beyond merely providing light to poor households. They should aim at transformative changes that bring about sustainable development. The recent succession of crises has set back some development progress. The international community needs to adjust swiftly to the new circumstances and provide advice and assistance that is resilient and long-lasting, and creates an environment that is conducive to enhancing endogenous development. Today, there is no technical barrier to providing the billions of energy poor with modern, safe, reliable and affordable energy services. It is our duty to deal with the aspiration of countries to move towards modern economies, and energy is paramount to such transformation. Fortunately, the issue of energy access is receiving greater and greater attention. As an illustrative example, 2012 has been declared by the General Assembly, the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations, as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. It is crucial to capitalise on this momentum, as energy is central to facing many of today's key development challenges. Addressing the issue of energy poverty in a comprehensive manner would have enormous multiple benefits (e.g. health, education, gender equality). The various chapters of this thesis form a coherent ensemble of individual pieces of analysis around a core topic, namely the nexus between energy and socio-economic development. The different chapters, which are based on stand-alone articles, provide contrasting and complementary perspectives around the issue at hand. It consists of applied research as well as methodological development, and forms altogether an integrated assessment of energy for sustainable development. The thesis is organised in such a way so as to present a consistent and structured narrative. In terms of broad structure, the first chapters gauge the issue of energy poverty, or the lack of access to modern energy services. They offer a sense of the magnitude of the challenge at hand, as well as present an assessment of scenarios towards universal energy access. This is followed by insights on the scale of investment required to address the issue. Finally, concrete interventions to overcome some of the issues are discussed. Energy and the Millennium Development Goals While intuitive, the relationship between energy and development is difficult to quantitatively ascertain and has not been analytically explored in detail in the scientific literature. The correlation between access to energy services and development is, however, often addressed in aggregate in the literature, for example by using composite indexes such as the Human Development Index (HDI), or by focusing strictly on economic impacts. This analysis presents a statistical articulation of the link between energy and various proxies of development, using the Millennium Development Goals as a framework. The outcomes confirm the potentially positive influence of access to energy services on development. The assessment provides a perspective on a number of often employed assumptions about the correlation between energy and development, and challenges claims of its universally positive benefits to specific development priorities. It is found that the benefits to development of access to energy services vary considerably. Measuring Energy Poverty Effective policies to dramatically expand modern energy access need to be grounded in a robust information-base. Metrics that can be used for comparative purposes and to track progress towards targets therefore represent an essential support tool. This analysis reviews the relevant literature, and discusses the adequacy and applicability of existing instruments to measure energy poverty. Drawing on those insights, it proposes a new composite index to measure energy poverty. Both the associated methodology and initial results for several African countries are discussed. Whereas most existing indicators and composite indices focus on assessing the access to energy, or the degree of development related to energy, the new index developed – the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI) – focuses on the deprivation of access to modern energy services. It captures both the incidence and intensity of energy poverty, and provides a new tool to support policy-making. Energy Access Scenarios to 2030 for sub-Saharan Africa In order to reach a goal of universal access to modern energy services by 2030, consideration of various electricity sector pathways is required to help inform policy-makers and investors, and help guide power system design. To that end, and building on existing tools and analysis, several ‘high-level’, transparent, and economy-wide scenarios for the sub-Saharan African power sector to 2030 are presented. These simple scenarios are constructed against the backdrop of historical trends and various interpretations of universal access. They are designed to provide the international community with an indication of the overall scale of the effort required. Most existing projections, using typical long-term forecasting methods for power planning, show roughly a threefold increase in installed generation capacity occurring by 2030, but more than a tenfold increase would likely be required to provide for full access – even at relatively modest levels of electricity consumption. This equates to approximately a 13% average annual growth rate, compared to a historical one (in the last two decades) of 1.7%. Scale of Investment for Universal Energy Access To help provide clarity, support political decision making, and inform the design of financial responses, the overall scale of spending required to meet universal access to modern energy services is considered. The existing literature at the global, regional, national, and project levels and disaggregate cost estimates is reviewed in order to provide increased transparency through comparable metrics. A new methodology is developed to calculate three new cost scenarios that attempt to address several existing analytical gaps. As a conclusion, the total cost of providing (near) universal access is expected to be likely considerably higher than published estimates which often focus primarily on capital costs. While recognizing the coarse nature of the analysis, the annual cost of universal access to electricity and clean cooking is estimated at ranging from USD 14 to 136 billion (USD 12 - 134 billion for electrification and USD 1.4 to 2.2 billion for clean cooking) depending on the various scenarios and assumptions. Current Financial Flows related to Energy Access To help inform the design of appropriate and effective policies to reduce energy poverty, this analysis presents an assessment of the current macro financial flows in the electricity and gas distribution sectors in developing countries. It builds on the methodology used to quantify the flows of investment in the climate change area. The approach relies on national gross fixed capital formation, overseas development assistance, and foreign direct investment. These high-level and aggregated investment figures provide a sense of the scale to policy-makers, but are only a small part of the information required to design financial vehicles. In addition, these figures tend to mask numerous variations between sectors and countries, as well as trends and other temporal fluctuations. Nonetheless, for the poorest countries, one can conclude that the current flows are considerably short (at least five times) of what will be required to provide a basic level of access to clean, modern energy services to the ‘energy poor’. Clean Development Mechanism and Sustainable Development The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has a twofold objective, to offset greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to sustainable development in the host country. The contribution to the latter objective seems marginal in most CDM activities. Also, CDM activities are unevenly spread among developing countries. In response to these concerns, initiatives with the objective of promoting CDM projects with broad local sustainable development dividends have been launched, such as the Gold Standard and the Community Development Carbon Fund. The Gold Standard label rewards best-practice CDM projects while the Community Development Carbon Fund focuses on promoting CDM activities in underprivileged communities. Using a multi-criteria method, the potential contribution to local sustainable development of those CDM projects with particular attributes is compared with ordinary ones. This evaluation suggests that labelled CDM activities tend to slightly outperform comparable projects, although not unequivocally.

V současné době se problematika energetických úspor dostává do popředí zájmu jak na úrovni jednotlivých podniků, tak i na úrovni celého státu. Často bývá příčinou sporů ve vědeckých kruzích i mezi odborníky z praxe. Lidstvo tradičně začalo využívat energii z minerálních přírodních zdrojů, které však ve srovnání s obnovitelnými zdroji energie mají omezení. Výzkum a implementace moderních technologií jsou ztíženy otázkou investic a časově omezeny. Proto se evropská strategie energetické bezpečnosti zaměřuje na energetickou účinnost, která je jedním z nejefektivnějších způsobů zlepšení bezpečnosti spotřeby energie. Velké společnosti a podniky jsou jedním z hlavních spotřebitelů energie. Proto je tato vědecká práce zaměřena na problematiku úspor energie a zlepšování energetické účinnosti podniku. Těžiště práce spočívá ve vytvoření a zavedení metodiky pro úsporu energie a managementu hospodaření s energií ve výrobním procesu automobilového podniku. Dále je pro účely této práce vytvořen a popsán způsob vizualizace spotřeby energie v prostředí virtuální reality

Enligt lagen om kommunal energiplanering ska varje svensk kommun ha en energiplan för tillförsel för tillförsel och användning av energi. Huruvida energiplanering är ett bra sätt att styra det kommunala energisystemet är dock omdebatterat. Denna avhandling studerar innehåll i, och implementering av, ett antal svenska kommunala energiplaner. Energiplanernas effektivitet studeras på två nivåer: uppfyllelse av mål och visioner i planerna, samt hur detta bidrar till att uppfylla de nationella energipolitiska målen.

Forskningen baseras på tre studier: en studie av innehållet i tolv energiplaner från Östergötland, en studie av mål och visioner i sju energiplaner och hur energisystem utvecklats efter energiplanerna antagits, samt en fallstudie av Kungälvs kommun där mål och måluppfyllelse studerats mer utförligt. Innehåll och målformuleringar i energiplanerna har analyserats med avseende på miljö, effektiv energianvändning och systemnivå. Mål och måluppfyllelse har även analyserats med avseende på aktörer.

Resultaten visar på att de studerade energiplanerna har smal systemsyn och att de miljöanalyser som finns i planerna är undermåliga. Energiplaneringen har varit effektiv till viss del. Bäst måluppfyllelse har kommunerna när det gäller mål på en relativt låg systemnivå och när det är kommunen själv som äger frågan, exempelvis fjärrvärmeutbyggnad och energieffektivisering av kommunens lokaler. När det gäller utvecklingens bidrag till de nationella energipolitiska målen är resultaten varierande: användning av biobränslen har ökat avsevärt, medan självförsörjningsgraden på el bara ökat något. Bäst är utvecklingen när det gäller minskade koldioxidutsläpp.

Baserat på bristerna som upptäckts i de studerade energiplanerna och dess implementering förs en diskussion kring möjligheter att öka energiplaneringens effektivitet och vidga systemsynen. Förbättringar som diskuteras är att stärka kopplingen till fysisk planering, och att inkludera medborgarmedverkan och miljöbedömningar. Om kopplingen till energifrågor stärks i översiktlig planering och om även privata aktörer kommer till tals under planeringsprocessen, skulle detta kunna underlätta implementering av energiplanerna. Miljöbedömningar i sin tur kan bidra med en vidare systemsyn om mer relevanta mål i planerna. Slutligen föreslås att ramverket för miljöbedömning av planer och program (2001/42/EC) kan användas vid energiplanering eftersom det framhåller vikten av breda analyser, samråd med privata aktörer och miljöbedömningar.

Swedish municipalities are required to produce a municipal energy plan for energy supply and use. Whether energy planning is suitable to manage local energy systems, however, is subject to debate. This thesis explores municipal energy planning and development of local energy systems after energy plans were adopted to examine whether energy planning is effective. The effectiveness of energy planning is studied on two levels: in terms of whether goals in energy plans were implemented, and whether energy planning contributes to fulfilling national energy policy goals.

The research is based on three studies. In the first, the scope of twelve municipal energy plans from a Swedish region was assessed. In the second study, goals and visions in seven energy plans were analysed and compared to the development of the local energy systems. The third case involved Kungälv municipality, where the implementation of goals in its energy plan was studied more thoroughly. Scopes and goals in the energy plans were analysed from three perspectives: the environment, energy efficiency and the systems level. Goals and development were also analysed from an actor’s perspective.

The results show that the scopes of the studied energy plans have narrow systems boundaries, and that the environmental analyses presented in the plans are very basic. Energy planning was found to have been fairly effective in terms of fulfilment of goals in energy plans. Most positive developments are for goals on a relatively low systems level when the local authority owns the issue, for example district heating expansion and energy efficiency measures in public buildings. When it comes to contributing to national energy policy goals, results vary; use of biomass has increased, but selfsufficiency in electricity supply has increased only slightly. The most favourable development when it comes to energy-related emissions is the reduction of carbon dioxide.

Based on shortcomings identified in the studied energy plans and implementation, possibilities to increase the effectiveness and widen the scope of energy planning are discussed. Improvements are discussed in terms of urban planning as well as participative planning, and with respect to the environmental assessment of plans. If energy issues are included in urban planning and a participatory planning approach is used, this could facilitate the implementation of energy plans. Including environmental assessment could facilitate wide scopes and more relevant goals. It is also proposed that the EU framework for environmental assessment of plans and programmes (2001/42/EC) can be used for energy planning, since it includes a comprehensive approach, public participation, and environmental assessment.

Maine is at a crossroads in its energy future. With 80 percent of homes in the state heated by oil, the highest percentage in the country, Mainers find themselves addicted to imported energy and without a renewable powered heating alternative for the long, harsh winters. Enter offshore wind into the equation. A relatively unknown technology in the United States, offshore wind farms are currently powering one million homes in Europe. Furthermore, the Gulf of Maine has world class wind resources that could potentially provide double the power production of the state’s current peak electricity demand. Through eight weeks of research conducted in Portland, Maine, which consisted of a literature review and stakeholder interviews, I have identified and focused on the key opportunities and obstacles to successful offshore wind energy development in Maine in the short and long term.

Modern energy services are a foundation for sustainable development. As recently acknowledged by the multilaterally supported UNDP’s ‘energy access for all’ objective, it is a missing cog for the socio-economic, empowerment, livelihood enhancement and sustainability of more than 2 billion people in developing and less developed countries. Efforts to provide modern energy services, however, face pervasive challenges reflective of wider development efforts, establishing the imperative for greater understanding of their underlying dimensions as a basis for enhancing sustainable development pathways. The thesis pursues this through ethnographic studies of innovative and contrasting energy access pathways in remote areas of Nepal. These were supported by preliminary site visits, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and observant participation with a range of key development actors, led by a reflexive, multi-sited research approach. The research reveals that the challenges and opportunities of effective energy access and sustainable development are embedded in under-recognised social routines and contexts that subsume essential dimensions of daily life. These are dynamic, multi-actor and interconnected through routinised codes, performances and institutions for which social emotions, meanings and relations are integral. Interventions, technologies and impacts interdepend on these mundane interactions and structures, signifying the vital role of social agency and conventions in everyday life. ‘Access’ is a constant (re)negotiation of these within a socio-technical context. The findings demonstrate the value of integrating these dimensions into development approaches through being attentive to, and co-produced by, the plurality of actors, settings and routines. A practice theory informed approach supported the analysis to signify further distinctive policy, research and pathway implications. The thesis thus demonstrates the potential of a social practice approach for enabling a more sensitive and effective framework for enabling energy access for sustainable development.

Lithuania has limited domestic energy resources, and is therefore, heavily dependent on imports of oil products and natural gas. Lithuania imported around 90% of its oil and 100% of natural gas in 2009. Particularly, after the accession to the European Union (EU), and decommissioning of main electricity generation source Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), energy security became one of the main concerns. Therefore, it is vital to evaluate different pathways the country could take in order to achieve desirable energy security, and ensure sustainable development of the energy system in Lithuania. The study was conducted using LEAP, the Long range Energy Alternatives Planning System, to develop energy policy analysis. Different scenarios presented in the report show how Lithuanian energy system would react in given different circumstances. Moreover, it demonstrates how implementation of existing energy projects separately or combined together would affect the level of energy security and sustainability in Lithuania. The research shows that current government policies could lead Lithuania to more secure and sustainable energy future. However, in a long run higher investments in renewable energy might be more environmentally and economically competitive alternative.

Dissertation (Ph.D. in Physics) Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2000.
Dissertation advisor, Colson, William B. "December 2000." Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2008.
Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Swedish municipalities are required to produce a municipal energy plan for their energy supply and use. Whether energy planning is suitable to manage local energy systems, however, is subject to debate. This thesis maps municipal energy planning: the scopes of energy plans and whether goals stated in energy plans are fulfilled. It also presents a pilot project with the implementation of an energy planning process where four different decision-making tools were applied: a Citizen’s panel, scenario techniques and quantitative and qualitative environmental assessments. The results from the mapping of energy planning and the experiences from the pilot project are then the bases for a discussion about the effectiveness of energy planning. The thesis is based on six papers; five scientific papers and one working paper. The first three papers contribute to mapping municipal energy planning in terms of expressed volition (goals, measures and strategies in the energy plans), whether goals are fulfilled and the extent of environmental analyses and assessments in the plans. The three subsequent papers present the implementation and evaluations of the energy planning process in the pilot project. The scopes of the studied energy plans have varied over time and have been adaptive to external factors such as contemporary energy policies and international trends. Environmental analyses and assessments were more commonly occurring in the energy plans adopted between 2006 and 2008 compared to those adopted between 1995 and 1998. The environmental analyses and assessments were however less comprehensive in the newer energy plans. Most positive development, in terms of fulfilled goals, took place for issues within the power of the local authority, for example district heating expansion and energy efficiency measures in public buildings. Experiences from the pilot project showed that decision-making tools can contribute to a broader scope of energy planning, more comprehensive environmental assessments and legitimacy. Based on the research findings possibilities for more effective energy planning are discussed. Effectiveness is discussed in terms of scope and legitimacy and how a broad scope and legitimacy are affected by the use of decision-making tools. It is concluded that energy planning has potential for being an effective tool for strategic energy work at the local level. The use of decision-making tools can also contribute to learning as well as legitimacy to energy planning.

For a longer period of time, manufacturing was the core business activity and hence service has gained lesser attention. However, a time came when manufacturers faced a huge challenge to stay profitable which apparently gave service to get more attention. The reason to this can be classified in to three categories: economic reasons, customer satisfaction and competitive advantage (Oliva et al., 2003). Understanding this, Volvo Group has set high target for revenues from soft products including service. In order to achieve this it is necessary to expand existing service offerings and explore more new service offerings. As part of this goal, Volvo Technology has been working on several projects. One of the projects which are closely related to this thesis is the Hauler Development Service (HDS) which started in 2008 for the trucking (Hauling) industry. HDS has two versions; HDS Green Field and HDS Efficiency and Effectiveness. HDS Green field focuses on starting up new road transport operations and establish business processes including system support on emerging markets. HDS Efficiency and Effectiveness focuses on performing assessments and improvement programs on already established firms on mature markets. These business offerings started to get their orders from customers and thus proving their functionality. However, unlike the trucking industry, the construction equipment business area within Volvo Group is lacking such business offerings today. Volvo Construction Equipment is the second largest business area within the Volvo group generating about 16 % of the total sales. Volvo CE is mostly offering hard products and wants to expand its service offerings and assume a better position as a professional service solution provider. The development of HDS for the trucking industry and the need for Volvo CE to expand its service offerings laid the background for this thesis. One of the market segments Volvo CE provides equipments is to the quarry and aggregate business segment. Customers with in this business area were successfully contacted and collaborated in this study. This master thesis investigated what the customers in the quarry and aggregate business area needs and problems are and developed a service concept which Volvo CE can offer while at the same time solving customer problems. This service concept was found out to be Energy Efficiency Improvement Service intended to help lower production costs of the customer by eliminating or lowering energy wastes and improve environmental impacts by lowering carbon emissions. Moreover, customer energy performance measures were studied and analysed if they are robust enough to be used as measures to the improvements inevitable by the new service offer, the Energy Efficiency Improvement Service. Results show that the energy performance measures currently in use are not robust enough, and suggest further development of energy performance measure system. In order to realize the service offer in a practical manner, the five lean principles (define value, identify value stream, floe, pull and continuous improvement) were tested if they can be used as tools to identify and measure energy wastes at the customers operation site and proved to be useful.

The energy crisis of 2001, high prices for gas and electricity and worries of climate change have caused a growing awareness about energy issues in California. The problems are clear. This paper looks at the next step of finding and implementing solutions. In this case the contribution that solar photovoltaic and solar thermal generation could make toward solving the problem. This paper looks at technological change, the current state of solar energy research, current government policies on solar energy, and finally makes policy recommendations to meet the stated problem.

Renewable energy is a current issue in the world as well as in Turkey. Turkey has developing policies in the renewable energy field. Although it is a beneficial mean of obtaining energy, there are barriers on renewable energy production. In order to develop renewable energies, those barriers have to be analyzed and suitable implementations should be developed to overcome them. In this thesis policy and implementation on the renewables are evaluated in general and specially for Turkey. The electricity market is one of the crucial factors of development of the renewable energy. The day-ahead market and renewable energy support mechanism in Turkey are investigated. Finally benefit calculations is carried out in order to compare benefits of renewable energy in market and support mechanisms by using real time price and production values of two renewable energy plants
a hydropower and a wind power plants. Further, outcomes of newly developed prediction project for wind power plants are evaluated in terms of market benefit.

The thesis examines the process of technical change in industrialized and developing country situations, and extracts lessons from this analysis for the design and implementation of forest energy development programmes. It notes how the role of technology users is of great importance in innovation" whether this process involves "high technology" development in large, competitive firms, or "appropriate technology" development to meet basic needs in poor, rural communiti~s. In reviewing the results of the past ten years of work in renewable energy programmes in developing nations, it finds that a major factor in the poor performance of such work is the lack of provision for user participation in innovation. Forest energy development programmes, which have been an important part of renewable energy development assistance, also have suffered from this insufficient attention to technology users. It is postulated that new approaches to forest energy development that provide for a more interactive relationship between R&D establishments and technology Llsers will have greater. success in bringing about innovations in this sector. The experience of charcoal production, charcoal stove, and forestry development under the Sudan Renewable Energy Project, supported by the Sudan Energy Research Council and the US Agency for International Development, demonstrates the positive results of just this sort of interactive innovation strategy. The SREP, in its ~ priori commitment to user participation, uncovers valuable resources of indigenous technical knowledge and skills, which play an integral part in the design and dissemination of these 3 forest energy technologies. The project's success provides an empirical justification of the importance of technology users to the innovation process, and its example h~s larger implications for renewable energy development, government R&D management, and development assistance policy.

Hybrid energy harvesters (HEHs) targeting multiple energy forms have been drawing increasing interest in recent years. While large scale photovoltaic power plants are capable of providing energy for domestic usage, research has also been focused on kinetic energy harvester with less power output which can be integrated into self-powered electronics such as implantable device, remote wireless sensor, wearables, etc. A number of successful designs of hybrid energy harvesters have been demonstrated which could scavenge solar and kinetic energy simultaneously. However the structures remain complicated; the majority of the designs involve different types of energy harvesters connected in series, which involves complex fabrication processes. Here, a simple structure based on a p-n junction piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) was designed. The utilization of columnar piezoelectric n-type ZnO nanorods coated with light absorber layer enabled the device to harvest both kinetic and solar energy. This was adapted to either form a N719-based dye-sensitized solar cell (N719-HEH), or a perovskite solar cell (PSC-HEH). To allow high processing temperatures while maintaining mechanical flexibility, Corning© Willow™ (CW) glass substrate was used and compared to the more common ITO/PET. CW showed 56% lower charge transfer resistance and a related 4 times fold increase in power conversion efficiency for N719-HEHs. Oscillation (NG effect) and illumination (PV effect) testing indicated that both N719-HEHS and PSC-HEHs operated as kinetic and solar energy harvesters separately, with the current generated by the photovoltaic orders of magnitude greater than it from mechanical excitation. In addition, under illumination, both N719-HEHs and PSC-HEHs demonstrated further current output enhancement when oscillation was applied. The fact that the current output under NG+PV condition was higher than the summation of current output achieved under NG and PV conditions individually, suggests the piezoelectric potential originated from ZnO affected the charge dynamics within the devices. Thus, HEHs with enhanced output were successfully designed and developed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 133-137).
Membrane distillation (MD) has shown potential as a means of desalination and water purification. As a thermally driven membrane technology which runs at relatively low pressure, which can withstand high salinity feed streams, and which is potentially more resistant to fouling, MD could be used for desalination where reverse osmosis is inadequate. The use of thermal energy, and the ease of construction at small scale, makes this technology attractive for off-grid or renewable power applications as well. However, most research on MD has focused on maximizing purified water output per unit of membrane area as opposed to minimizing system energy consumption and cost. Current MD systems suffer from poor energy efficiency, with reported performance rarely exceeding that of a simple solar still. This thesis explores means to optimize the design of MD for energy efficiency to make it competitive with existing thermal desalination systems, with particular focus on the Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) configuration. A detailed ID numerical model to explore the effect of design parameters on energy efficiency was developed. Means to enhance energy recovery from hot discharge brine without additional brine concentration, and reduce diffusion resistance by means of reducing pressure in the air gap were explored. A novel configuration delivering solar flux directly to the membrane, and multi-stage, multi-pressure configurations comparable to MSF were also developed. A parameter to relate the performance of a benchscale experiment with similar membrane and gap size to a production system was developed and validated. Small scale experiments were conducted to verify performance for the novel solar powered configuration, reduced gap pressure, and capturing energy from hot discharge brine. Experiments demonstrated the efficacy of a solar absorbing membrane to provide heat to the cycle, and established a benefit of deforming the membrane into the gap under hydraulic pressure; reducing gap size and measurably improving performance. Parametric studies have shown the effectiveness of using the model to design larger, more practical, competitive systems; establishing the importance of long flow lengths, low mean membrane flux, and large membrane area in the design of efficient MD systems.
by Edward K. Summers.
Ph.D.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-107).
In the spring of 2012, nine countries were seriously considering embarking on nuclear energy programs, either having signed contracts with reactor vendors or having made investments for the development of infrastructure for nuclear energy. Several more countries are expected to initiate nuclear energy programs during this decade. The new nuclear power plants that will be built in these countries will require well-trained personnel in numbers sufficient to ensure their safe and efficient operation, maintenance and regulation. The approaches to manpower development of the American, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Indian nuclear industries are described and analyzed. Lead times for the development of education and training infrastructure and for training workers are found to be of the order of several years. This necessitates forecasting manpower requirements and planning ahead. Differences between these countries in their approaches to manpower development are observed. These include differences of job specialization, educational qualifications, and workforce size. Such differences are driven by differences in the structure of the industry, regulatory pressures, historical factors and future expectations. Comparisons are also made between the nuclear, coal, and airline industries in the U.S. These findings have important implications for the institutional design of new nuclear energy programs. Differences in the objectives, expected scale, and pace of development of these programs mean that systems of manpower development need to be tailored to each country. A hierarchy of strategic and implementational decisions informing the creation of manpower development systems for newcomer countries is presented.
by Aditi Verma.
S.B.

The development of free energy simulation protocols for calculating relative binding free energies of ligands is presented in this thesis. To this end, the protein Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase (DHODH), complexed to a highly congeneric series of compounds that show ambiguities in their binding modes, was studied in detail. To estimate the systematic error in force fields, relative free energies of hydration have been calculated using Replica-exchange Thermodynamic Integration (RETI) for sets of force field parameters and atomic partial charges in a classical molecular mechanics environment as well as a novel hybrid molecular mechanics/quantum mechanics model. The results demonstrated that all force fields and methods employed yield similar estimates of the relative free energies, while GAFF and OPLS-AA in conjunction with AM1BCC and AM1CM1A charges, respectively, performed best. To balance accuracy and ease of generating parameters, GAFF in conjunction with AM1BCC charges was selected to be the most valuable for describing the inhibitors in DHODH. To rigorously assess the thermodynamic end states for the ligands, crystal hydrates present in the binding site of DHODH have been investigated using the Just-Add-Water-molecules (JAWS) algorithm, Grand-canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations and the double-decoupling approach (DDM). These findings clearly suggested a change in hydration networks for both the inhibitors and their different binding modes, while all three approaches essentially yield identical results. This allowed us to construct free energy cycles using the single and dual topology approach in order to calculate the free energies of binding of the ligands as well as the stability of their binding modes. The results obtained were precise within the error of the methods, but not accurate, and allowed to complement the crystallographic findings.

To ensure energy independence of Ukraine on the way to sustainable development one of the priority areas is the implementation of alternative energy projects. Rising energy demand raise the issues of a gradual shift from traditional technologies that involve the use of mainly energy assets and passive energy networks to fundamentally new solutions, focused on the widespread use of renewable energy sources (RES) and active networks that can provide services for transfer, storage and conversion of electricity.

У першому розділі розглядаються передумови та останні світові тенденції прогресу бізнесу із зеленою енергетикою, а також національні схеми економічної підтримки, що використовуються для управління розвитком відновлюваної енергії. Другий розділ охоплює питання оцінки ліванського потенціалу відновлюваної енергетики та стану його використання, визначення поточних економічних та організаційних стимулів для розвитку національної зеленої енергетики та аналіз економічних результатів їх реалізації. У третьому розділі для вдосконалення управління бізнесом із зеленої енергетики в Лівані проводиться економічне обгрунтування реалізації розподілених сонячних фотоелектричних проектів, а також пропонуються рекомендації щодо вдосконалення економічної та організаційної підтримки бізнесу із зеленої енергетики в країні щодо виявив проблеми його адміністрування.
The first chapter examines the prerequisites and the world's latest trends in green energy business advancement as well as the national economic support schemes used to manage renewable energy development. The second chapter covers issues on evaluating the Lebanese renewable energy potential and the state of its use, identifying current economic and organizational incentives for national green energy business advancement, and analyzing the economic results of their implementation. In the third chapter, for improving the management of green energy business in Lebanon, the economic substantiation of implementing distributed solar photovoltaic projects is conducted as well as recommendations on improving economic and organizational support of green energy business in the country are offered with regard to the revealed problems of its administration.

As is the case with many countries, Namibia has an economy dependent on fossil fuels. The country is, however, blessed with abundant and diverse - but as yet unexploited - renewable energy (RE) resources that could be used for improving the livelihood of the vast majority of its 2.2 million people. Today the conflict between energy production from fossil fuels and protection of the environment is intensifying and this compels all countries to search for means of resolving this conflict. Developing RE through the enactment of enabling legislation and implementation of relevant policy is one important step towards attaining the ideal of an energy-secure future. This state of affairs is not unique to Namibia, as most countries with abundant RE sources are striving to promote and deploy RE in their respective regimes through appropriate policies and legal frameworks. This study examines Germany and Ghana from, respectively, the developed and developing world, as leading countries that have established a proactive RE regime. However, such a regime can only be successfully achieved if countries, including Namibia, adopt laws and policies that promote and encourage the use of RE in order to move away from fossil fuel dependence to a greener economy. Thus the study seeks to investigate RE resources in Namibia and their potential development. It outlines the current legislation pertaining to the regulation of RE in Namibia. As such, the study further examines the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines and draws examples from other regimes, particularly Germany and Ghana, in order to provide a guideline for the enactment of a general Energy Act with a particular chapter on RE. It concludes with recommendations as to how Namibia can secure a sustainable energy future.

Ion and antiproton beams at keV energies are very attractive for a number of fundamental studies. The diagnostic of these beams, however, is a challenge because most detectors are either not sensitive enough or too disturbing. In this work, a set of optimised detectors has been developed to suit the particular beam diagnostic needs of the novel Ultra-low-energy Storage Ring (USR) at the future Facility for Low-energy Antiproton and Ion Research (FLAIR), accommodating as few as 10^7 particles at energies down to 20 keV. The instrumentation includes beam profile monitors based on scintillating screens and secondary electron emission, ultra-sensitive Faraday cups for absolute intensity measurements, and capacitive pick-ups for on-line beam position monitoring. This thesis presents results from theoretical studies and modelling, the design of prototypes of all monitors, and results from measurements with beam. All detectors are characterised in detail, their individual limitations are described and options for further improvements are indicated. Whilst initially developed for the USR, the instrumentation described in this thesis is also well suited for use in other low-intensity, low-energy accelerators, storage rings, and beam lines.

Energy Management strategy for sustainable regional development has been selected as the topic of my research due to the fact that energy demand alongside with energy dependency have been continuously growing from a long term perspective. Sustainable development is defined by three imperatives – energy efficiency, ecology and security. Review of the current state and analysis of historical trends in Energetics at global and regional level are covered in this research. Results of the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis introduce a set of implications and recommendations for Energy Management strategy in the Czech Republic.

La presenti tesi esamina il problema odierno della sicurezza energetica e ambientale. Energia e ambiente, infatti, risultano essere due elementi inscindibili nelle relazioni internazionali. Inizialmente, viene analizzato il concetto di sicurezza energetica e l’importanza che essa ha per la comunità. La descrizione dell’impatto dei combustibili fossili per lo sviluppo economico e la spiegazione delle tecniche di sfruttamento delle fonti alternative fungono da cornice per i successivi temi di analisi. Si passa, quindi, ad approfondire il tema della sicurezza ambientale, con particolare enfasi sulla questione climatica, valutando sia gli effetti naturali che il peso delle attività umane. In seguito, vengono descritti gli accordi principali finora raggiunti. Viene, infine, approfondito il problema della sostenibilità per le future generazioni, prendendo in esame le possibilità e i progetti realizzabili, al fine di garantire la sicurezza energetica e, allo stesso tempo, la salvaguardia ambientale. Le fonti impiegate per la stesura consistono in materiale disponibile sia in forma cartacea che elettronica, quali libri e riviste inerenti i temi trattati, redatti da studiosi, politologi, economisti e giornalisti di varie nazionalità, i quali si interessano di energia e ambiente. Inoltre, sono stati consultati molteplici banche dati e siti web di organizzazioni internazionali, al fine di garantire prove tangibili di quanto descritto. In conclusione, è possibile affermare che una transizione verso un sistema sostenibile sia certamente possibile. Tuttavia, affinché esso si possa pienamente realizzare saranno necessari ancora molti progressi, non solo in campo tecnologico, ma, soprattutto, in ambito economico e politico.

Energy is the engine that drives most human activity and is it very important today in the context of global warming and the high cost of energy. Yet there is limited research focusing on children's energy use in developing countries, including the ways in which they use energy, save energy and the factors that influence such activities. This is a serious deficit in energy literature and problematic because in the near future, today's children will make decisions about energy systems and climate change. This study gained insight into the ways in which Grade 7 children in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, use and save energy, and the factors that influence their energy saving. The study adopted a case study design, and mixed-methods approaches were used, including surveys, energy diaries, an interview and a focus group. The results show that children in Khayelitsha demonstrated a broad understanding of the concept of energy including topics on the environment, basis of life and thermal energy. The children displayed understanding of broader socio-economic, environmental and health issues as they were cognisant of national and community issues, such as limited energy access and the dangers of indoor use of coal. They had lower scores on more abstract and technical topics such as energy transitions and differentiating between renewable and non-renewable sources on energy. 86% of the children in this study acknowledged the importance of saving energy, while more than 50% failed to recognise the importance of caring for the environment and moving away from fossil fuels. The study results show that children use multiple sources of energy at home and that the majority of their energy activities were performed at home, followed by school and church. The children reported several energy consumption activities including cooking for others, using the kettle for bathwater and ironing their clothes - findings contrary to activities reported by children in developed countries. For some of the children, the results suggest that energy use may be accompanied by guilt as children want to reduce financial pressures at home, a finding consistent with existing literature. Energy-saving activities included switching off and removing appliances from the wall plug. Children were found to be motivated to save energy by several factors, of which financial considerations were the most dominant. The children demonstrate altruistic tendencies, as motivation to save energy seems to be influenced by the desire to help their families and communities. The study further identified that parents, the community, the school, peers and the relationship between the school and government departments had either a direct or an indirect influence on children. Parents with a positive attitude towards energy saving and the environment were more likely to talk to their children about energy saving, which tended to focus on related financial issues. A conceptual framework is presented to analyse the data, which incorporates existing psychological and sociological frameworks and theories used to explain energy behaviour in addition to theories on child development.

The global energy system is dominated by the use of fossil fuels. This system suffers from several problems, such as different environmental issues, while the long-term energy security is sometimes questioned. As an alternative to this situation, a transition to a global energy system based on renewable energy technologies, to a large extent solar and wind energy, is commonly proposed. Constructing the technology needed for such a transition requires resources and how fast this could happen is somewhat disputed. This thesis explores methods to assess the potential constraints for realizing such a transition by looking at potential technology growth rates and outlooks of production of the required natural resources. The thesis is based on three papers presenting case studies that look at growth rates of wind energy as well as future production outlooks of lithium and phosphate rock. Using different types of growth patterns reaching proposed installed capacities of wind power, annual commissioning requirements are investigated, taking account for the limited life expectancy oftechnology. Potential outlooks of mineral production are explored using resource constrained curve-fitting models on global lithium production. A more disaggregated model looking at individual countries are used on phosphate rock production to investigate new perspectives on production outlooks. It is concluded that the growth rates of individual energy technologies affect the resource requirements and prospective constraints on energy transitions. Resource constrained modelling of resource production can provide spans of potential outlooks for future production of resources required for anenergy transition. A higher disaggregation of the modelling can provide new perspectives of potential constraints on future production. These aspects should be further investigated when proposing alternative future energy systems.

Tumble dryers are becoming more and more common in ordinary households as a complement to the washing machine. Tumble dryers offer a fast drying cycle independent on weather conditions and require small space. They do, however, considering the large number of units use a large amount of electricity. The main objective in this thesis is to identify possibilities in order to reach a reduced electricity use for domestic tumble-drying of clothes. This involves an investigation of the condensing tumble dryer in order to point out possible energy efficiency improvements. The purpose of the energy label, which indicates the energy efficiency of the tumble dryer, is also studied, whether it matches the actual laundry habits. Finally, suggestions for technical development of the tumble dryer are made in line with today’s consumer behaviour. The performance of the condensing tumble dryer has been studied using a design of experiments to create a statistical model in Paper I. This model was used to find the best settings for the power supply to the heater, the internal airflow and the external airflow in order to reach a high specific moisture extraction rate (SMER) and a low leakage ratio. A low external airflow and high power supply to the heater gives the highest SMER. To reach the lowest values for the leakage ratio, a low internal airflow should be applied together with a high external airflow. The use of a statistical model gave valuable information of the performance of the existing tumble dryer. For further improving the energy efficiency of the dryer, the amount of leakage and its location was investigated in Paper IV. By studying energy and mass balances from experiments, pressure measurements and modelling, the effects of leakage on the process were evaluated. As the location of the leakage is so important for the energy efficiency, the worst-case scenario where leakage is located between the heater and the drum is used as a start point in the study. It was determined that there is a large leakage of air between the heater and the drum leading to a significant loss in energy recovery. The drying loads used by consumers are getting smaller, often less than 3 kg dry load, while the maximum capacity of the dryers are increasing, up to 7 or 8 kg. In Paper II, tests were made with different loads in order to investigate if the energy label serves its purpose as today’s standard is set at the dryers’ maximum capacity. The results from this study show that the energy efficiency when drying a small load is significantly lower than for a large load. In order to encourage a production of tumble dryers with higher energy efficiency for small loads, where the dryer is most frequently used, the standards for the energy label should be revised. Today, manufacturers do not gain any benefits by improving the performance for partial loads. A mathematical model over a venting tumble dryer was established in Paper III with the aim of testing different control strategies in order to improve the energy efficiency of the tumble dryer for partial loads. The ideas behind the different strategies were to minimize the heat losses during the drying process and to increase the residence time for the air in the drum and thereby increase the moisture content of the air leaving the drum. Using such a control strategy it is possible to reach an improvement of SMER by approximately 4% when drying small loads. In order to reach larger improvements, however, a more extensive product development will be necessary. Finally, the results in this thesis points at the necessity of including not only the technical development of the tumble dryer, but also the policy tools involved and the consumers’ habits in order to reach a reduced electricity use for drying clothes in households.

The energy transition towards a renewable energy based society and a sustainable development, is an urgent shifting process in the light of climate change and environmental pollution. However, few fossil fuel based corporations are controlling energy systems, generating most of the energy society consumes. In response to this, the idea of democratizing energy has been gaining importance. Publicly owned energy, democratic participation and decentralization of energy generation are ideas that “energy democracy” stands for. The main aim of this study was to determine if and how the combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Växjö, Sweden, is related to energy democracy. The energy plant is owned by the municipality of Växjö and runs on biomass provided by the forestry industry. Eight interviews were conducted with stakeholders from the municipality of Växjö, the energy company and civil society.This research revealed that energy democracy is taking place in the case study, which provides several benefits. Nevertheless, some impacts were found that would require further research. Regarding ecological concerns, it was revealed that the forestry activity in the Kronoberg Region providing the biomass to the CHP plant is not as sustainable as it might seem. This might have an important effect on the sustainability of the energy generation.The study concludes that one of the main drivers for the democratization of energy in Växjö is the strong local governance.

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, June 2017.
"September 2016." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 94).
The built environment consumes more than 40% of the energy used around the world and nearly 70% of the electricity used in the United States. These same buildings use 25% of the world's fresh water resources and contribute 50% of global waste. In order to make the buildings we inhabit more resource-efficient, strategies are being employed through the use of technology, materials, and design in order to achieve a new standard of environmental impact, called net-zero buildings. To date, only a few dozen buildings in the United States have achieved net-zero or net-positive energy and water status, where they capture as much or more energy and water through renewable energy resources and water collection and reuse mechanisms as they use on an annual basis. This thesis examines the many energy- and water-efficient systems, design solutions, and materials that work together to create more sustainable structures and presents case studies for two highly-efficient developments. These net-zero interventions are then compared to the highest-scoring Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings across the United States in an attempt to detail the similarities and differences in the goals of each system. Research of the top 10 highest-rated investor-owned buildings shows a significant gap in performance between the systems and design elements used to achieve LEED Platinum status and the energy and water interventions that are necessary to reach net-zero consumption goals. The gap in performance between LEED and net-zero design is related to regulatory hurdles, technological advancements, and the sophistication of design teams. Combined, these influence the commercial diffusion of net-zero development projects and can be used to understand how the built environment can start to meet sustainability goals.
by Kevin M. Murphy.
S.M. in Real Estate Development

A planned development of the electricity supply system in the Maltese Islands is presented. The purpose of this project was to develop techniques for electricity supply system planning and design and to apply these techniques to a study of the development of the Maltese electricity supply system.

Includes abstract.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-94).
Growing concerns regarding climate change, energy security, long-term carbon price exposure, fuel price risk and fossil fuel depletion have continued to drive growth in wind energy globally over the past decade. In spite of South Africa’s renewable energy target and feed-in tariff for renewable energy, the current deployment of wind energy in South Africa is extremely low. Consequently, as the country embarks upon promoting the development of renewable energy, it is important to consider the challenges facing the wind energy industry in South Africa.

The ongoing transition of former communist countries from planned to market economies has been one of the most important economic phenomena in the last few decades. Among these, China is one of the largest and fastest growing emerging economies in the world since the reforms initiated in the late 1980s. China’s economic growth has been phenomenal. Therefore, understanding China’s energy economy is crucial in the new millennium for politicians, businessmen and energy economists. In particular, China’s energy policy directions will bring about both challenges and opportunities to the world in terms of an increasing share of primary energy consumption and investment in the energy industry. However, after surveying the literature, it is surprising to find that a few major areas of China’s energy economics are missing and the views on China’s energy economics are already out dated. Therefore, given the size and growth of its economy and the effect of its energy consumption on global energy markets, reviewing China’s energy situation and filling the missing literatures are essential for those who are interested in and concerned about China’s economic development in the new millennium. This study was motivated after conducting a survey of the literature on the study of China’s energy economy and reviewing China’s energy situation in the new millennium. The goal of the research is focused on providing readers the most important and the newest information on China’s energy economy. The study consists of three introductory sections and three core sections. The former includes a survey of literature, China’s energy situation in the new millennium, institutional evolution and changing energy prices. The latter includes tests for the emergence of an energy market in China, factor substitution and demand for energy, and technological change and the determinants of energy intensity. The main findings are as follows. China’s energy economy is still underdeveloped. It is crucial to review China’s energy situation in the new millennium. Energy, industrial deregulation and price reforms have been fast in China since the early 1990s. Empirical investigations have found evidence for the emergence of an energy market economy in China. The estimates demonstrate that there appears to be significant substitution possibilities between energy and labor when compared with international findings. Significant effects of substitution mainly come from the adoption of labor-intensive technology. Coal and electricity are significantly substitutable, while the demand for energy is elastic, in general. Finally, decomposing energy intensity shows that the budget constraint (a kind of price effect) reduces energy intensity while technological change increases energy intensity. These findings bring us to the following major implications. Firstly, it is important to understand the potential effect of new energy regulation and pricing mechanism on the future directions of China’s energy economy, which suggests that former predictions of China’s energy demand may have to be significantly discounted, and the potential effect on the global energy markets and emissions may need to be re-evaluated. Secondly, significant substitution between energy and labor is potentially good news as China possesses some of the most abundant labor sources in the world. However, because capital more easily substitutes for energy than labor, more policy incentives are needed for labor to substitute for energy. Thirdly, significant substitution between coal-electricity suggests that the effects of environmental taxes, however, may be smaller than expected due to the fact that most primary energy coming from coal. Also any shift from coal to electricity implies more investment in transmission lines rather than railways. Fourthly, energy constraints on energy supply may only slightly impede economic growth in China because the elasticity of substitution between energy and other factors is quite large compared to internationally. Fifthly, while many factors are responsible for the inelasticity of demand for energy, rising income may be one of the most important given the high levels of energy prices. Increasing energy prices may be unable to constrain energy consumption at present. Thus other energy policies need to be considered to encourage or depress certain types of energy consumption. Finally, reducing exports of energy-intensive commodities, reducing the high-level energy-using sectors, lowering capital investment and constraining imports of second-hand and obsolete equipment, would all help reduce growth in energy intensity. Politically, however, this may be at an unacceptable cost to economic growth. Although this study has conducted a series of investigations into the institutional changes and consumption behavior of China’s energy economy, continuous updating required as more data is continually added in a highly dynamic and changing environment. JEL Classifications: D24, O33, Q41.

Energy monitoring is pivotal to undertaking energy consumption and efficiency studies in residential buildings. Residential building account for approximately 25% of final energy demand. However, many of the promised gains from energy monitoring have yet to be realised. Key to this issue is the lack of an energy monitoring practice framework that can provide accurate and repeatable long-term load profile data for use in energy management systems. The lack of such a framework was recently highlighted by ISO 50001:2018 through the inclusion of monitoring performance evaluation in the 2018 revision of the standard. In this research a practice framework was developed and validated based on an energy measurement, monitoring, and processing conceptual hierarchy. The energy practice framework emphasises the links between the measurement, monitoring and load profile data processing functions integral to an energy monitoring process. To validate the application of the practice framework a building electrical energy simulator and tester (BEEST) was designed and constructed so that load profile time-series data could be simultaneously collected, communicated, and stored by multiple commercial energy monitoring devices. The physically simulated load profile time-series data from multiple simulations and across multiple different energy monitoring devices was examined using extracted statistical, structural and frequency domain features to gauge load profile accuracy and repeatability. The load profiles extracted features were also tested for accuracy and repeatability through the application of cluster analysis. Research results showed variations in energy monitoring practice caused significant inaccuracy and low precision in monitored load profile features. In particular precision of extracted feature (e.g., frequency domain data) can vary more than ±100%. The research showed that mapping energy monitoring practice to a known framework provides a basis on which load profile data can be compared and profiled.