WEEK 2

10

Energy efficient designs: Cleaner and greener energy

technologies, sustainable development and environment

Abdeen Mustafa Omer

Energy Research Institute (ERI),

Forest Road West, Nottingham NG7 4EU, UK

ABSTRACT

The move towards a de-carbonised world, driven partly by climate science and partly by the business

opportunities it offers, will need the promotion of environmentally friendly alternatives, if an acceptable

stabilisation level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is to be achieved. This requires the harnessing and use of

natural resources that produce no air pollution or greenhouse gases and provides comfortable coexistence of

human, livestock, and plants. This article presents a comprehensive review of energy sources, and the

development of sustainable technologies to explore these energy sources. It also includes potential renewable

energy technologies, efficient energy systems, energy savings techniques and other mitigation measures

necessary to reduce climate changes. This article presents a comprehensive review of energy sources, the

development of sustainable technologies to explore these energy sources. It also includes potential renewable

energy technologies, energy efficiency systems, energy savings techniques and other mitigation measures

necessary to reduce climate change. The article concludes with the technical status of the GSHP technologies.

Keywords: Renewable energy technologies, solar, wind, GSHP, sustainable development

1. Introduction

Over millions of years ago, plants have covered the earth converting the energy of sunlight into living plants

and animals, some of which was buried in the depths of the earth to produce deposits of coal, oil and natural

gas [1-3]. The past few decades, however, have experienced many valuable uses for these complex chemical

substances and manufacturing from them plastics, textiles, fertiliser and the various end products of the

petrochemical industry. Indeed, each decade sees increasing uses for these products. Coal, oil and gas, which

will certainly be of great value to future generations, as they are to ours, are however non-renewable natural

resources. The rapid depletion of these non-renewable fossil resources need not continue. This is particularly

true now as it is, or soon will be, technically and economically feasible to supply all of man‟s needs from the

most abundant energy source of all, the sun. The sunlight is not only inexhaustible, but, moreover, it is the

only energy source, which is completely non-polluting [4].

Industry‟s use of fossil fuels has been largely blamed for warming the climate. When coal, gas and oil are

burnt, they release harmful gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere and cause global warming. However,

there had been an ongoing debate on this subject, as scientists have struggled to distinguish between changes,

which are human induced, and those, which could be put down to natural climate variability. Notably, human

activities that emit carbon dioxide (CO2), the most significant contributor to potential climate change, occur

primarily from fossil fuel production. Consequently, efforts to control CO2 emissions could have serious,

negative consequences for economic growth, employment, investment, trade and the standard of living of

individuals everywhere.

2. Energy sources and use

Scientifically, it is difficult to predict the relationship between global temperature and greenhouse gas (GHG)

concentrations. The climate system contains many processes that will change if warming occurs. Critical

processes include heat transfer by winds and tides, the hydrological cycle involving evaporation, precipitation,

runoff and groundwater and the formation of clouds, snow, and ice, all of which display enormous natural

variability. The equipment and infrastructure for energy supply and use are designed with long lifetimes, and

the premature turnover of capital stock involves significant costs. Economic benefits occur if capital stock is

replaced with more efficient equipment in step with its normal replacement cycle. Likewise, if opportunities to

reduce future emissions are taken in a timely manner, they should be less costly. Such a flexible approach

International Journal of Innovative Mathematics, Statistics & Energy Policies 5(1):10-19, Jan.-Mar. 2017

© SEAHI PUBLICATIONS, 2017 www.seahipaj.org ISSN: 2467-852X

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would allow society to take account of evolving scientific and technological knowledge, while gaining

experience in designing policies to address climate change [4].

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 [4] committed itself to „„encourage

and promote the development of renewable energy sources to accelerate the shift towards sustainable

consumption and production‟‟. Accordingly, it aimed at breaking the link between resource use and

productivity. This can be achieved by the following:

 Trying to ensure economic growth does not cause environmental pollution.

 Improving resource efficiency.

 Examining the whole life-cycle of a product.

 Enabling consumers to receive more information on products and services.

 Examining how taxes, voluntary agreements, subsidies, regulation and information campaigns, can best stimulate innovation and investment to provide cleaner technology.

The energy conservation scenarios include rational use of energy policies in all economy sectors and the use

of combined heat and power systems, which are able to add to energy savings from the autonomous power

plants. Electricity from renewable energy sources is by definition the environmental green product. Hence, a

renewable energy certificate system, as recommended by the World Summit, is an essential basis for all policy

systems, independent of the renewable energy support scheme. It is, therefore, important that all parties

involved support the renewable energy certificate system in place if it is to work as planned. Moreover,

existing renewable energy technologies (RETs) could play a significant mitigating role, but the economic and

political climate will have to change first. It is now universally accepted that climate change is real. It is

happening now, and GHGs produced by human activities are significantly contributing to it. The predicted

global temperature increase of between 1.5 and 4.5 o C could lead to potentially catastrophic environmental

impacts [5]. These include sea level rise, increased frequency of extreme weather events, floods, droughts,

disease migration from various places and possible stalling of the Gulf Stream. This has led scientists to argue

that climate change issues are not ones that politicians can afford to ignore, and policy makers tend to agree

[5]. However, reaching international agreements on climate change policies is no trivial task as the difficulty

in ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and reaching agreement at Copenhagen have proved.

Therefore, the use of renewable energy sources and the rational use of energy, in general, are the fundamental

inputs for any responsible energy policy. However, the energy sector is encountering difficulties because

increased production and consumption levels entail higher levels of pollution and eventually climate change,

with possibly disastrous consequences. At the same time, it is important to secure energy at an acceptable cost

in order to avoid negative impacts on economic growth. To date, renewable energy contributes only as much

as 20% of the global energy supplies worldwide [5]. Over two thirds of this comes from biomass use, mostly

in developing countries, and some of this is unsustainable. However, the potential for energy from sustainable

technologies is huge. On the technological side, renewables have an obvious role to play. In general, there is

no problem in terms of the technical potential of renewables to deliver energy. Moreover, there are very good

opportunities for RETs to play an important role in reducing emissions of GHGs into the atmosphere,

certainly far more than have been exploited so far. However, there are still some technical issues to address in

order to cope with the intermittency of some renewables, particularly wind and solar. Nevertheless, the

biggest problem with relying on renewables to deliver the necessary cuts in GHG emissions is more to do with

politics and policy issues than with technical ones [6]. For example, the single most important step

governments could take to promote and increase the use of renewables is to improve access for renewables to

the energy market. This access to the market needs to be under favourable conditions and, possibly, under

favourable economic rates as well. One move that could help, or at least justify, better market access would be

to acknowledge that there are environmental costs associated with other energy supply options and that these

costs are not currently internalised within the market price of electricity or fuels. This could make a significant

difference, particularly if appropriate subsidies were applied to renewable energy in recognition of the

environmental benefits it offers. Similarly, cutting energy consumption through end-use efficiency is

absolutely essential. This suggests that issues of end-use consumption of energy will have to come into the

discussion in the foreseeable future [7].

However, RETs have the benefit of being environmentally benign when developed in a sensitive and

appropriate way with the full involvement of local communities. In addition, they are diverse, secure, locally

based and abundant. In spite of the enormous potential and the multiple benefits, the contribution from

renewable energy still lags behind the ambitious claims for it due to the initially high development costs,

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concerns about local impacts, lack of research funding and poor institutional and economic arrangements [8].

Hence, an approach is needed to integrate renewable energies in a way that meets the rising demand in a cost-

effective way.

3. Role of energy efficiency system

The prospects for development in power engineering are, at present, closely related to ecological problems.

Power engineering has harmful effects on the environment, as it discharges toxic gases into atmosphere and

also oil-contaminated and saline waters into rivers, as well as polluting the soil with ash and slag and having

adverse effects on living things on account of electromagnetic fields and so on. Thus there is an urgent need

for new approaches to provide an ecologically safe strategy. Substantial economic and ecological effects for

thermal power projects (TPPs) can be achieved by improvement, upgrading the efficiency of the existing

equipment, reduction of electricity loss, saving of fuel, and optimisation of its operating conditions and

service life leading to improved access for rural and urban low-income areas in developing countries through

energy efficiency and renewable energies.

Sustainable energy is a prerequisite for development. Energy-based living standards in developing countries,

however, are clearly below standards in developed countries. Low levels of access to affordable and

environmentally sound energy in both rural and urban low-income areas are therefore a predominant issue in

developing countries. In recent years many programmes for development aid or technical assistance have been

focusing on improving access to sustainable energy, many of them with impressive results. Apart from

success stories, however, experience also shows that positive appraisals of many projects evaporate after

completion and vanishing of the implementation expert team. Altogether, the diffusion of sustainable

technologies such as energy efficiency and renewable energy for cooking, heating, lighting, electrical

appliances and building insulation in developing countries has been slow. Energy efficiency and renewable

energy programmes could be more sustainable and pilot studies more effective and pulse releasing if the entire

policy and implementation process was considered and redesigned from the outset [9]. New financing and

implementation processes, which allow reallocating financial resources and thus enabling countries

themselves to achieve a sustainable energy infrastructure, are also needed. The links between the energy

policy framework, financing and implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects have to

be strengthened as well efforts made to increase people‟s knowledge through training.

3.1 Energy use in buildings Buildings consume energy mainly for cooling, heating and lighting. The energy consumption was based on

the assumption that the building operates within ASHRAE-thermal comfort zone during the cooling and

heating periods [10]. Most of the buildings incorporate energy efficient passive cooling, solar control,

photovoltaic, lighting and day lighting, and integrated energy systems. It is well known that thermal mass with

night ventilation can reduce the maximum indoor temperature in buildings in summer [11]. Hence, comfort

temperatures may be achieved by proper application of passive cooling systems. However, energy can also be

saved if an air conditioning unit is used [12]. The reason for this is that in summer, heavy external walls delay

the heat transfer from the outside into the inside spaces. Moreover, if the building has a lot of internal mass

the increase in the air temperature is slow. This is because the penetrating heat raises the air temperature as

well as the temperature of the heavy thermal mass. The result is a slow heating of the building in summer as

the maximal inside temperature is reached only during the late hours when the outside air temperature is

already low. The heat flowing from the inside heavy walls could be reduced with good ventilation in the

evening and night. The capacity to store energy also helps in winter, since energy can be stored in walls from

one sunny winter day to the next cloudy one. However, the admission of daylight into buildings alone does

not guarantee that the design will be energy efficient in terms of lighting. In fact, the design for increased

daylight can often raise concerns relating to visual comfort (glare) and thermal comfort (increased solar gain

in the summer and heat losses in the winter from larger apertures). Such issues will clearly need to be

addressed in the design of the window openings, blinds, shading devices, heating system, etc. In order for a

building to benefit from daylight energy terms, it is a prerequisite that lights are switched off when sufficient

daylight is available. The nature of the switching regime; manual or automated, centralised or local, switched,

stepped or dimmed, will determine the energy performance. Simple techniques can be implemented to

increase the probability that lights are switched off [13]. These include:

 Making switches conspicuous and switching banks of lights independently.

 Loading switches appropriately in relation to the lights.

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 Switching banks of lights parallel to the main window wall. There are also a number of methods, which help reduce the lighting energy use, which, in turn, relate to the

type of occupancy pattern of the building [13]. The light switching options include:

 Centralised timed off (or stepped)/manual on.

 Photoelectric off (or stepped)/manual on.

 Photoelectric and on (or stepped), photoelectric dimming.

 Occupant sensor (stepped) on/off (movement or noise sensor). Likewise, energy savings from the avoidance of air conditioning can be very substantial. Whilst day-lighting

strategies need to be integrated with artificial lighting systems in order to become beneficial in terms of

energy use, reductions in overall energy consumption levels by employment of a sustained programme of

energy consumption strategies and measures would have considerable benefits within the buildings sector. It

would perhaps be better to support a climate sensitive design approach that encompasses some elements of the

pure conservation strategy together with strategies, which work with the local ambient conditions making use

of energy technology systems, such as solar energy, where feasible. In practice, low energy environments are

achieved through a combination of measures that include:

 The application of environmental regulations and policy.

 The application of environmental science and best practice.

 Mathematical modelling and simulation.

 Environmental design and engineering.

 Construction and commissioning.

 Management and modifications of environments in use. While the overriding intention of passive solar energy design of buildings is to achieve a reduction in

purchased energy consumption, the attainment of significant savings is in doubt. The non-realisation of

potential energy benefits is mainly due to the neglect of the consideration of post-occupancy user and

management behaviour by energy scientists and designers alike. Calculating energy inputs in agricultural

production is more difficult in comparison to the industry sector due to the high number of factors affecting

agricultural production. However, considerable studies have been conducted in different countries on energy

use in agriculture [14-19] in order to quantify the influence of these factors.

4. Renewable energy technologies

Sustainable energy is the energy that, in its production or consumption, has minimal negative impacts on

human health and the healthy functioning of vital ecological systems, including the global environment. It is

an accepted fact that renewable energy is a sustainable form of energy, which has attracted more attention

during recent years. Increasing environmental interest, as well as economic consideration of fossil fuel

consumption and high emphasis of sustainable development for the future helped to bring the great potential

of renewable energy into focus. Nearly a fifth of all global power is generated by renewable energy sources,

according to a book published by the OECD/IEA [20]. „„Renewables for power generation: status and

prospects‟‟ claims that, at approximately 20%, renewables are the second largest power source after coal

(39%) and ahead of nuclear (17%), natural gas (17%) and oil (8%) respectively. From 1973-2000 renewables

grew at 9.3% a year and it is predicted that this will increase by 10.4% a year to 2010. Wind power grew

fastest at 52% and will multiply seven times by 2010, overtaking biopower and hence help reducing green

house gases, GHGs, emissions to the environment.

The challenge is to match leadership in GHG reduction and production of renewable energy with developing a

major research and manufacturing capacity in environmental technologies (wind, solar, fuel cells, etc.). More

than 50% of the world‟s area is classified as arid, representing the rural and desert part, which lack electricity

and water networks. The inhabitants of such areas obtain water from borehole wells by means of water pumps,

which are mostly driven by diesel engines. The diesel motors are associated with maintenance problems, high

running cost, and environmental pollution. Alternative methods are pumping by photovoltaic (PV) or wind

systems. At present, renewable sources of energy are regional and site specific. It has to be integrated in the

regional development plans.

5. Ground source heat pumps

The term “ground source heat pump” has become an all-inclusive term to describe a heat pump system that

uses the earth, ground water, or surface water as a heat source and/or sink. The GSHP systems consist of three

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loops or cycles. The first loop is on the load side and is either an air/water loop or a water/water loop,

depending on the application. The second loop is the refrigerant loop inside a water source heat pump.

Thermodynamically, there is no difference between the well-known vapour-compression refrigeration cycle

and the heat pump cycle; both systems absorb heat at a low temperature level and reject it to a higher

temperature level. However, the difference between the two systems is that a refrigeration application is only

concerned with the low temperature effect produced at the evaporator, while a heat pump may be concerned

with both the cooling effect produced at the evaporator and the heating effect produced at the condenser. In

these dual-mode GSHP systems, a reversing valve is used to switch between heating and cooling modes by

reversing the refrigerant flow direction. The third loop in the system is the ground loop in which water or an

antifreeze solution exchanges heat with the refrigerant and the earth.

The GSHPs utilise the thermal energy stored in the earth through either vertical or horizontal closed loop heat

exchange systems buried in the ground. Many geological factors impact directly on site characterisation and

subsequently the design and cost of the system. The solid geology of the United Kingdom varies significantly.

Furthermore there is an extensive and variable rock head cover. The geological prognosis for a site and its

anticipated rock properties influence the drilling methods and therefore system costs. Other factors important

to system design include predicted subsurface temperatures and the thermal and hydrological properties of

strata. The GSHP technology is well established in Sweden, Germany and North America, but has had

minimal impact in the United Kingdom space heating and cooling market. Perceived barriers to uptake

include geological uncertainty, concerns regarding performance and reliability, high capital costs and lack of

infrastructure. System performance concerns relate mostly to uncertainty in design input parameters,

especially the temperature and thermal properties of the source. These in turn can impact on the capital cost,

much of which is associated with the installation of the external loop in horizontal trenches or vertical

boreholes. The climate in the United Kingdom makes the potential for heating in winter and cooling in

summer from a ground source less certain owing to the temperature ranges being narrower than those

encountered in continental climates. This project will develop an impartial GSHP function on the site to make

available information and data on site-specific temperatures and key geotechnical characteristics.

The GSHPs are receiving increasing interest because of their potential to reduce primary energy consumption

and thus reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The technology is well established in North Americas and

parts of Europe, but is at the demonstration stage in the United Kingdom. The information will be delivered

from digital geoscience‟s themes that have been developed from observed data held in corporate records. This

data will be available to the GSHP installers and designers to assist the design process, therefore reducing

uncertainties. The research will also be used to help inform the public as to the potential benefits of this

technology.

The GSHPs play a key role in geothermal development in Central and Northern Europe. With borehole heat

exchangers as heat source, they offer de-central geothermal heating with great flexibility to meet given

demands at virtually any location. No space cooling is included in the vast majority of systems, leaving

ground-source heat pumps with some economic constraints. Nevertheless, a promising market development

first occurred in Switzerland and Sweden, and now also in Austria and Germany. Approximately 20 years of

R and D focusing on borehole heat exchangers resulted in a well-established concept of sustainability for this

technology, as well as in sound design and installation criteria. The market success brought Switzerland to the

third rank worldwide in geothermal direct use. The future prospects are good, with an increasing range of

applications including large systems with thermal energy storage for heating and cooling, ground-source heat

pumps in densely populated development areas, borehole heat exchangers for cooling of telecommunication

equipment, etc.

Loops can be installed in three ways: horizontally, vertically or in a pond or lake. The type chosen depends on

the available land area, soil and rock type at the installation site. These factors help to determine the most

economical choice for installation of the ground loop. The GSHP delivers 3-4 times as much energy as it

consumes when heating, and cools and dehumidifies for a lower cost than conventional air conditioning. It can

cut homes or business heating and cooling costs by 50% and provide hot water free or with substantial

savings. The GSHPs can reduce the energy required for space heating, cooling and service water heating in

commercial/institutional buildings by as much as 50%.

Efficiencies of the GSHP systems are much greater than conventional air-source heat pump systems. A higher

COP (coefficient of performance) can be achieved by a GSHP because the source/sink earth temperature is

relatively constant compared to air temperatures. Additionally, heat is absorbed and rejected through water,

which is a more desirable heat transfer medium because of its relatively high heat capacity. The GSHP

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systems rely on the fact that, under normal geothermal gradients of about 0.5 o F/100 ft (30

o C/km), the earth

temperature is roughly constant in a zone extending from about 20 ft (6.1 m) deep to about 150 ft (45.7 m)

deep. This constant temperature interval within the earth is the result of a complex interaction of heat fluxes

from above (the sun and the atmosphere) and from below (the earth interior). As a result, the temperature of

this interval within the earth is approximately equal to the average annual air temperature [20]. Above this

zone (less than about 20 feet (6.1 m) deep), the earth temperature is a damped version of the air temperature at

the earth‟s surface. Below this zone (greater than about 150 ft (45.7 m) deep), the earth temperature begins to

rise according to the natural geothermal gradient. The storage concept is based on a modular design that will

facilitate active control and optimisation of thermal input/output, and it can be adapted for simultaneous

heating and cooling often needed in large service and institutional buildings. Loading of the core is done by

diverting warm and cold air from the heat pump through the core during periods with excess capacity

compared to the current need of the building. The cool section of the core can also be loaded directly with air

during the night, especially in spring and fall when nights are cold and days may be warm.

6. Fuel cells

Platinum is a catalyst for fuel cells and hydrogen-fuelled cars presently use about two ounces of the metal.

There is currently no practicable alternative. Reserves are in South Africa (70%), and Russia (22%). Although

there are sufficient accessible reserves in South Africa to increase supply by up to 5% per year for the next 50

years, there are significant environmental impacts associated with its mining and refining, such as

groundwater pollution and atmospheric emissions of sulphur dioxide ammonia, chlorine and hydrogen

chloride. The carbon cost of platinum use equates to 360 kg for a current fuel cell car, or 36 kg for a future

car, with the target platinum loading of 0.2 oz, which is negligible compared to the CO2 currently emitted by

vehicles [20]. Furthermore, Platinum is almost completely recyclable. At current prices and loading, platinum

would cost 3% of the total cost of a fuel cell engine. Also, the likely resource costs of hydrogen as a transport

fuel are apparently cheapest if it is reformed from natural gas with pipeline distribution, with or without

carbon sequestration. However, this is not as sustainable as using renewable energy sources. Substituting

hydrogen for fossils fuels will have a positive environmental impact in reducing both photochemical smog and

climate change. There could also be an adverse impact on the ozone layer but this is likely to be small, though

potentially more significant if hydrogen was to be used as aviation fuel.

7. Hydrogen production

Hydrogen is now beginning to be accepted as a useful form for storing energy for reuse on, or for export off,

the grid. Clean electrical power harvested from wind and wave power projects can be used to produce

hydrogen by electrolysis of water. Electrolysers split water molecules into its constituent parts: hydrogen and

oxygen. These are collected as gases; hydrogen at the cathode and oxygen at the anode. The process is quite

simple. Direct current is applied to the electrodes to initiate the electrolysis process. Production of hydrogen is

an elegant environmental solution. Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet, it cannot be

destroyed (unlike hydrocarbons) it simply changes state (water to hydrogen and back to water) during

consumption. There are no CO or CO2 generation in its production and consumption and, depending upon

methods of consumption, even the production of oxides of nitrogen can be avoided too. However, the

transition will be very messy, and will take many technological paths to convert fossil fuels and methanol to

hydrogen, building hybrid engines and so on. Nevertheless, the future of hydrogen fuel cells is promising.

Hydrogen can be used in internal combustion engines, fuel cells, turbines, cookers gas boilers, road-side

emergency lighting, traffic lights or signalling where noise and pollution can be a considerable nuisance, but

where traffic and pedestrian safety cannot be compromised.

Hydrogen is already produced in huge volumes and used in a variety of industries. Current worldwide

production is around 500 billion Nm 3 per year [28]. Most of the hydrogen produced today is consumed on-

site, such as at oil refineries, at a cost of around $0.70/kg and is not sold on the market [20]. When hydrogen

is sold on the market, the cost of liquefying the hydrogen and transporting it to the user adds considerably to

the production cost. The energy required to produce hydrogen via electrolysis (assuming 1.23 V) is about (33

kWh/kg). For 1 mole (2 g) of hydrogen the energy is about (0.066 kWh/mole) [20]. The achieved efficiencies

are over 80% and on this basis electrolytic hydrogen can be regarded as a storable form of electricity.

Hydrogen can be stored in a variety of forms:

 Cryogenic; this has the highest gravimetric energy density.

 High-pressure cylinders; pressures of 10,000 psi are quite normal.

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 Metal hydride absorbs hydrogen, providing a very low pressure and extremely safe mechanism, but is heavy and more expensive than cylinders, and

 Chemical carriers offer an alternative, with anhydrous ammonia offering similar gravimetric and volumetric energy densities to ethanol and methanol.

8. Discussion

Peoples rely upon oil for primary energy and this for a few more decades. Other conventional sources may be

more enduring, but are not without serious disadvantages. The renewable energy resources are particularly

suited for the provision of rural power supplies and a major advantage is that equipment such as flat plate

solar driers, wind machines, etc., can be constructed using local resources and without the advantage results

from the feasibility of local maintenance and the general encouragement such local manufacture gives to the

build up of small-scale rural based industry. This communication comprises a comprehensive review of

energy sources, the environment and sustainable development. It includes the renewable energy technologies,

energy efficiency systems, energy conservation scenarios, energy savings in greenhouses environment and

other mitigation measures necessary to reduce climate change. This study gives some examples of small-scale

energy converters, nevertheless it should be noted that small conventional, i.e., engines are currently the major

source of power in rural areas and will continue to be so for a long time to come. There is a need for some

further development to suit local conditions, to minimise spares holdings, to maximise interchangeability both

of engine parts and of the engine application. Emphasis should be placed on full local manufacture. It is

concluded that renewable environmentally friendly energy must be encouraged, promoted, implemented and

demonstrated by full-scale plant (device) especially for use in remote rural areas.

Figure 1. Energy sources their final uses

Wind

Power

Wind turbines

(Conversion

into electricity)

Water heating

Space heating

Electricity for

other uses

Transportation

Solar Energy

Photovoltaics (Conversion into electricity)

Solar collectors

Geo-

thermal

Energy

Geothermal

Fluid

(Conversion

into

Electricity)

Autonomous

Power Stations

Conventional Fuels

Direct Use

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The communication reviews various options of renewable energy sources that are possibly be applied to rural

based energy needs which may wholly or partly replace the conventional sources of energy. Sustainable

energy is a prerequisite for development. Energy-based living standards in developing countries, however, are

clearly below standards in developed countries. Low levels of access to affordable and environmentally sound

energy in both rural and urban low-income areas are therefore a predominant issue in developing countries. In

recent years many programmes for development aid or technical assistance have been focusing on improving

access to sustainable energy, many of them with impressive results. Apart from success stories, however,

experience also shows that positive appraisals of many projects evaporate after completion and vanishing of

the implementation expert team. Altogether, the diffusion of sustainable technologies such as energy

efficiency and renewable energy for cooking, heating, lighting, electrical appliances and building insulation in

developing countries has been slow. Energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes could be more

sustainable and pilot studies more effective and pulse releasing if the entire policy and implementation process

was considered and redesigned from the outset. New financing and implementation processes, which allow

reallocating financial resources and thus enabling countries themselves to achieve a sustainable energy

infrastructure, are also needed. The links between the energy policy framework, financing and implementation

of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects have to be strengthened and as well as efforts made to

increase people‟s knowledge through training. Different sources of energy, which can be used for different

final uses. Those sources are wind power, solar energy (Figure 1), geothermal energy, the existing electricity

production system and the conventional fuels with direct use. The main categories of final uses are:

transportation, space heating, water heating and electricity for other uses.

9. CONCLUSIONS

There is strong scientific evidence that the average temperature of the earth‟s surface is rising. This is a result

of the increased concentration of carbon dioxide and other GHGs in the atmosphere as released by burning

fossil fuels. This global warming will eventually lead to substantial changes in the world‟s climate, which

will, in turn, have a major impact on human life and the built environment. Therefore, effort has to be made to

reduce fossil energy use and to promote green energy, particularly in the building sector. Energy use

reductions can be achieved by minimising the energy demand, rational energy use, recovering heat and the use

of more green energy. This study was a step towards achieving this goal. The adoption of green or sustainable

approaches to the way in which society is run is seen as an important strategy in finding a solution to the

energy problem. The key factors to reducing and controlling CO2, which is the major contributor to global

warming, are the use of alternative approaches to energy generation and the exploration of how these

alternatives are used today and may be used in the future as green energy sources. Even with modest

assumptions about the availability of land, comprehensive fuel-wood farming programmes offer significant

energy, economic and environmental benefits. These benefits would be dispersed in rural areas where they are

greatly needed and can serve as linkages for further rural economic development.

However, by adopting coherent strategy for alternative clean sustainable energy sources, the world as a whole

would benefit from savings in foreign exchange, improved energy security, and socio-economic

improvements. With a nine-fold increase in forest – plantation cover, every nation‟s resource base would be

greatly improved while the international community would benefit from pollution reduction, climate

mitigation, and the increased trading opportunities that arise from new income sources.

The non-technical issues related to clean energy, which have recently gained attention, include:

(1) Environmental and ecological factors, e.g., carbon sequestration, reforestation and revegetation;

(2) Renewables as a CO2 neutral replacement for fossil fuels;

(3) Greater recognition of the importance of renewable energy, particularly modern biomass energy

carriers, at the policy and planning levels;

(4) Greater recognition of the difficulties of gathering good and reliable renewable energy data, and

efforts to improve it; and

(5) Studies on the detrimental health efforts of biomass energy particularly from traditional energy

users.

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10. RECOMMENDATIONS

 Launching of public awareness campaigns among local investors particularly small-scale entrepreneurs and end users of the RET to highlight the importance and benefits of renewable,

particularly solar, wind, and biomass energies.

 Amendment of the encouragement of investment act, to include furthers concessions, facilities, tax holidays, and preferential treatment to attract national and foreign capital investment.

 Allocation of a specific percentage of soft loans and grants obtained by governments to augment budgets of the (R&D) related to manufacturing and commercialisation of the RET.

 Governments should give incentives to encourage the household sector to use renewable energy instead of conventional energy. Execute joint investments between the private sector and the financing

entities to disseminate the renewable information and literature with technical support from the research

and development entities.

 Availing of training opportunities to personnel at different levels in donor countries and other developing countries to make use of their wide experience in application and commercialisation

of the RET particularly renewable energy.

 The governments should play a leading role in adopting renewable energy devices in public institutions, e.g., schools, hospitals, government departments, police stations, etc., for lighting,

water pumping, water heating, communication and refrigeration.

 Encouraging the private sector to assemble, install, repair and manufacture renewable energy devices via investment encouragement and more flexible licensing procedures.

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