Renewable energy cooperatives
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Impact of green bonds on CO2 emissions and disaggregated level renewable electricity in China and the United States of America
Green financial products have emerged that can benefit economic actors in financing green initiatives to promote renewable energy and enable carbon neutrality. Against this backdrop, the study examines the impact of green bonds (GBs) on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and renewable electricity generation (EG) in China and the USA, the leading countries in terms of GB issuance and CO2 emissions. To this end, the study conducts a disaggregated-level analysis by applying novel nonlinear quantile methods between January 2, 2019, and July 31, 2023. The results demonstrate that at higher quantiles; (i) GBs mainly have a dampening impact on CO2 emissions from the transportation sector in China and the USA; (ii) GBs have a stimulating impact on solar and wind EG in China; (iii) GBs have a diminishing impact on all types of EGs in the USA. Thus, GBs have an impact on carbon neutrality and renewable energy, which differs by quantiles, sectors, and EG sources. Accordingly, various policy implications are discussed in terms of further contributions of GBs to carbon neutrality and renewable energy in China and the USA.
Power price stability and the insurance value of renewable technologies
To understand if renewables stabilize or destabilize electricity prices, we simulate European power markets as projected by the National Energy and Climate Plans for 2030 but replicating the historical variability in electricity demand, the prices of fossil fuels and weather. We propose a β-sensitivity metric, defined as the projected increase in the average annual price of electricity when the price of natural gas increases by 1 euro. We show that annual power prices spikes would be more moderate because the β-sensitivity would fall from 1.4 euros to 1 euro. Deployment of solar photovoltaic and wind technologies exceeding 30% of the 2030 target would lower it further, below 0.5 euros. Our framework shows that this stabilization of prices would produce social welfare gains, that is, we find an insurance value of renewables. Because market mechanisms do not internalize this value, we argue that it should be explicitly considered in energy policy decisions.
An Integrative lifecycle design approach based on carbon intensity for renewable-battery-consumer energy systems
Driven by sustainable development goals and carbon neutrality worldwide, demands for both renewable energy and storage systems are constantly increasing. However, the lack of an appropriate approach without considering renewable intermittence and demand stochasticity will lead to capacity oversizing or undersizing. In this study, an optimal design approach is proposed for integrated photovoltaic-battery-consumer energy systems in the form of a m2-kWp-kWh relationship in both centralized and distributed formats. Superiorities of the proposed matching degree approach are compared with the traditional uniformity approach, in photovoltaic capacity, battery capacity, net present value and lifecycle carbon intensity. Results showed that the proposed method is superior to the traditional approach with higher net present value and lower carbon intensity. Furthermore, the proposed method can be scaled and applied to guide the design of photovoltaic-battery-consumer energy systems in different climate zones, promoting sustainable development and carbon neutrality globally.
Decarbonizing urban residential communities with green hydrogen systems
Community green hydrogen systems, typically consisting of rooftop photovoltaic panels paired with hybrid hydrogen-battery storage, offer urban environments with improved access to clean, on-site energy. However, economically viable pathways for deploying hydrogen storage within urban communities remain unclear. Here we develop a bottom-up energy model linking climate, human behavior and community characteristics to assess the impacts of pathways for deploying community green hydrogen systems in North America from 2030 to 2050. We show that for the same community conditions, the cost difference between the best and worst pathways can be as high as 60%. In particular, the household centralized option emerges as the preferred pathway for most communities. Furthermore, enhancing energy storage demands within these deployment pathways can reduce system design costs up to fourfold. To achieve cost-effective urban decarbonization, the study underscores the critical role of selecting the right deployment pathway and prioritizing the integration of increased energy storage in pathway designs.
Diversity of biomass usage pathways to achieve emissions targets in the European energy system
Biomass is a versatile renewable energy source with applications across the energy system, but it is a limited resource and its usage needs prioritization. We use a sector-coupled European energy system model to explore near-optimal solutions for achieving emissions targets. We find that provision of biogenic carbon has higher value than bioenergy provision. Energy system costs increase by 20% if biomass is excluded at a net-negative (−110%) emissions target and by 14% at a net-zero target. Dispatchable bioelectricity covering ~1% of total electricity generation strengthens supply reliability. Otherwise, it is not crucial in which sector biomass is used, if combined with carbon capture to enable negative emissions and feedstock for e-fuel production. A shortage of renewable electricity or hydrogen supply primarily increases the value of using biomass for fuel production. Results are sensitive to upstream emissions of biomass, carbon sequestration capacity and costs of direct air capture.
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