LibGuides: Green Week Library Resources: Renewable & Sustainable Energy

Books and eBooks

Power electronics in renewable energy systems and smart grid: technology and applications [eBook] / Bimal K. Bose

Green energy and infrastructure: securing a sustainable future [eBook] / edited by Jacqueline A. Stagner and David S-K. Ting

Climate change and renewable energy: how to end the climate crisis [eBook] / Martin J. Bush

Sustainable and clean energy production technologies [eBook] / edited by Dan Bahadur Pal and Jay Mant Jha

Renewable energy resources [eBook] / John Twidell

Sustainable energy - without the hot air / David J. C. MacKay

PINCH technology: Energy recycling in oil, gas, petrochemical and industrial processes / Vahid Pirouzfar, Yeganeh Eftekhari and Chia-Hung Su

Fundamentals and applications of renewable energy / Mehmet Kanoglu, Yunus Cengel and John Cimbala

Articles, Journals & Online Resources

ARROW@TUDUBLIN A new epoch for community renewable energy co-operatives in Ireland? An exploration of the factors influencing their development by Gerard Doyle ABSTRACT The paper outlines the capacities required for community groups to successfully establish and maintain renewable energy co-operatives in Ireland. The paper finds that community groups that successfully establish renewable energy co-operatives must possess high levels of resilience, have access to technical expertise, and have appropriate finance. It also highlights how it is crucial that at least one member of each renewable energy co-operative engages with state agencies and the community. Pringle’s (2015) theoretical framework applied in this paper focuses on the capacities required for the successful implementation of community renewable energy projects (which include community renewable energy co-operatives) in rural settings. Although this is a robust framework, when applied to Irish communities it may require some modification to detail the capacities required to successfully implement renewable energy co-operatives. Urban communities, particularly marginalised communities, may not possess the same level of expertise as rural communities. The theoretical framework could be broadened to acknowledge the critical importance of the amount of volunteer time that is required to ensure that a renewable energy co-operative becomes operational.
Publication Date: 4 Jan 2022
ARROW@TUDUBLIN Resolving the policy paradox: the case of biofuel production in Ireland by Alan Gilmer, Mark J. McGarrity and Vivienne Byers ABSTRACT Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the status of policy design and policy implementation in the biofuel sector in Ireland. The focus of the work addresses the overarching operational context of the biofuel sector in Ireland and the role of different actors in shaping and resolving inconsistencies in policy outlook and practice. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a qualitative research approach involving a series of semi-structured interviews with members of the relevant sub-groups concerned. This study sought to address two questions – whether current or proposed policy is likely to affect consumption of indigenous biofuel feedstocks in the biofuel sector and what are the controlling factors in the demand for indigenous feedstocks for biofuel. Findings – Outcomes suggest that while Irish government policy recognises the need to support the development of renewable energy, it also operates under a number of parallel and potentially inconsistent paradigms in relation to biofuels as a renewable energy commodity. It is contended that the outcome of this position is a lack of coherent and coordinated policy in the area of biofuel production, including second generation biofuel using indigenous feedstocks. Originality/value – This paper provides a new cross sectoral perspective on the status of biofuel policy in Ireland with particular reference to second generation biofuel feedstocks. It focuses analysis on the nature of policy-operational inconsistencies and the need for a deeper ecological perspective in governance.
Publication Date: 11 March 2022
Modelling sustainable non-renewable and renewable energy based on the EKC hypothesis for Africa’s ten most popular tourist destinations by Liton Chandra Voumik, Md. Hasanur Rahman, Shohel Md. Nafi, Md. Akter Hossain, Abdul Rahim Ridzuan and Nora Yusma Mohamed Yusoff ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study was to examine how tourism, GDP, renewable energy, and fossil fuels cause environmental damage. This study examined ten African countries between 1997 and 2021 to test the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory. Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Tunisia, Mauritius, Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria are the ten African countries with the most tourists. In this paper, the augmented mean group (AMG), mean group (MG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) models were used to deal with slope heterogeneity (SH), cross-sectional dependence (CSD), and a mix of first-differenced and level stationary variables. Though the inverted U-shaped exists, the findings are significant only for MG. The impact of renewable energy is favorable for the environment and significant for the AMG estimator. Inversely, impact of tourist arrivals and fossil fuels are detrimental for environment and significant. Based on the findings for each country, the tourism-based EKC theory only works for Kenya, Egypt, and Tanzania. The research found that using more renewable energy minimizes CO2 emissions more effectively in almost all countries except Morocco and Ghana. Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda’s CO2 emissions increase when more tourists come from other countries. For the sake of both tourism and the environment, the government must reconsider its tourism policies and implement ones that include renewable energy. The findings of this study assist in the transition to clean energy, aiding in sustainable tourism growth. As a result, selected countries should develop a new tourism plan that focuses on renewable energy sources and protects the environment.
Publication Date: Feb 2023
Sustainable development of renewable energy integrated power sector: Trends, environmental impacts, and recent challenges by Ali Q. Al-Shetwi ABSTRACT The continuous growth in overall energy demand and the related environmental impacts play a significant role in the large sustainable and green global energy transition. Moreover, the electrical power sector is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, renewable energy (RE) integration into the power grid has attracted significant economic, environmental, and technical attention in recent years. However, RE can also harm the environment, even though it is deemed less harmful than fossil fuel-based power. It may also cause technical, operational, and social issues. This, in return, more consideration and appropriate precautions should be taken. Given the recent sharp increase in RE utilization and its progressing impact on the world energy sector, evaluating its effect on the environment and sustainable development is limitedly explored and must be investigated. This study aims to discuss the role of RE integration in sustainable development. It provides an up-to-date review of the most recent global trend of various RE integrations into the power sector. The role and impact of this high integration level on the environment and the adverse effects of each RE source are discussed in detail. The recent challenges, including technical and operational challenges (i.e., voltage stability, frequency stability, and power quality), integration policy and standards challenges, RE environmental concerns, resource selection and location, and social challenges towards a sustainable electricity future and grid decarbonization, are comprehensively reviewed, discussed, and analyzed. A review of the literature was conducted from 2010 to 2021. Around 712 articles were classified during this process, and 177 papers were filtered for critical review. The literature analysis showed that RE integration has increased dramatically and has many benefits; however, more attention should be paid to mitigate its harmful impacts and recent challenges appeared. The new challenges resulting from the increasing generation of RE and linking it to the electric grid were listed to allow for future studies to find the appropriate solutions towards green and sustainable energy. Finally, towards a sustainable power system, the paper concludes with recommendations for future research directions.
Publication Date: 20 May 2022
Sustainable renewable energy supply networks optimization – The gradual transition to a renewable energy system within the European Union by 2050 by Sanja Potrc, Lidija Cucek, Mariano Martin and Zdravko Kravanja ABSTRACT In order to achieve the goal of a carbon neutral EU by 2050 and meet the climate targets of the Paris Agreement, a sustainable, efficient, competitive and secure energy system needs to be developed. This paper presents the synthesis of sustainable renewable energy supply networks within the EU-27, proposing a stepwise energy transition in the transport and power sectors, achieving a carbon net neutral target by 2050. A multi-period mixed-integer programming model is developed, with the objective of maximizing sustainability net present value, considering different biomass and waste resources for the production of biofuels, renewable electricity, hydrogen, food and bioproducts, employing different types of technologies. The results show that, with further development of existing technologies, the goal of a carbon-neutral EU can be achieved without compromising food production. Wind farms have proven to be the most promising solution at present for the rapid expansion of electricity generation from renewable energy sources, while the importance of solar photovoltaics is increasing over the years, reaching the 43% share of electricity generation from RES in 2050. Moreover, the energy transition within the EU could have a significant positive impact on the economic, environmental and also social aspects of sustainability, with more than 1.5 million new job opportunities created across the EU over the next 30 years.
Publication Date: Aug 2021
Pathways for sustainable energy transition by Bin Chen, Rui Xiong, Hailong Li, Qie Sun and Jin Yang ABSTRACT Energy transitions are ongoing processes all over the world. While sustainable solutions are envisioned for the future, many societies are still under high-carbon and high-pollution energy regime borne by fossil fuels. How to design pathways towards sustainable energy transition has attracted worldwide concerns. Understanding the possible transition pathways of the energy system requires the integration of new energy technologies, environmental sciences, economics and management. This Special Issue of Journal of Cleaner Production targets to collect the latest research results on sustainable energy systems, discover innovative avenues and inspiring models and share knowledge on energy system modelling and management. In this paper, we identify 4 themes on sustainable energy transition pathways including: (1) Sustainable energy economics and management; (2) Renewable energy generation and consumption; (3) Environmental impacts of energy systems; and (4) Electric vehicle and energy storage. Theories, technologies, innovative models, and successful experiences are discussed accordingly. It is suggested that creative, robust and audacious strategies in governance, management and education are needed to boost sustainable energy transition across various scales and sectors.
Publication Date: 10 Aug 2019