Photovoltaic power generation is a growing renewable primary energy source, expected to assume a major role as we strive toward fossil fuel free energy production. However, the photovoltaic efficiencies limit the conversion of solar radiation into useful power output. Hybrid systems extend the functionality of concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) from simply generating electricity, to providing si...

This article explores public opposition to renewable power technologies in the United States. It begins by discussing the genesis of environmental ethics, or how some Americans have come to place importance on the protection of the environment and preservation of species, ecosystems, and the biosphere. As result, renewable power systems have become challenged on ethical and environmental ground...

Fuels based on renewable energy sources (RES) are considered as an important mean to cope with environmental problems in transport. The core objective of this paper is to investigate the perspectives of “renewable fuels” from economic, energetic and ecological points-of-view in a dynamic framework till 2050. Renewable fuels are various 1 and 2 generation biofuels as well as electricity and hydr...

Demand for renewable energy is booming. Scholars often attribute this success to feed-in tariffs (FITs), which mandate that energy utilities pay a premium to renewable electricity producers and guarantee grid access for them. Why have so many countries, including least developed ones, adopted these policies? We hypothesize that democratic governments have political incentives to adopt the FIT b...

Pacific Islands are at the forefront of the trend towards high or even 100% renewable energy penetration of their electricity grids. Many have been highly or totally reliant on imported diesel fuel, with associated price uncertainties and GDP impacts. Countries like Fiji are highly reliant on hydro power and become vulnerable in periods of low rainfall, such as during El Nino events, when diese...

Time correlation functions for an exotic hybrid meson, J PC £ 1¤ ¦ ¥ , are analyzed using the maximum entropy method (MEM). The MEM analysis provides both ground and excited state energies. Both the location and strength of each spectral mass density peak are determined when a simulated annealing process is employed with the MEM analysis. We extract ground and excited states of about 1.4, 1.6, ...

1.0 Overview In 2009, the electricity consumption in Portugal was 49.9 TWh, which represents a reduction of 1.4% in demand, the first decrease since 1981. By the end of December 2009, Portugal had a renewable energy capacity of 9,093 MW, which represents 51% of the total installed capacity (1). The energy generation by the renewable power plants during this year corresponded to 33% of the gener...

All renewable energy systems make some contribution to climate change. This is due to the emission of greenhouse gases from the fossil fuels combusted for their construction, and as back-up energy during their operation. Accurate calculation of greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt hour of electricity is difficult, but is an important part of policy making and planning. Calculation methodologie...

U.S. regions are expected to follow the national trend towards investment in renewable energy as part of their electricity portfolio. The progress of energy portfolios that typically involves traditional methods, such as centralized nuclear and coal-fired generation, and towards cleanerand renewable-source generation will impact economic growth and public health. Renewable electricity productio...

In order to minimize the social and environmental concerns arising from the use of traditional energy resources such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy, the South Korean government has attempted to develop alternative energy resources. In particular, the large educational institutes and islands in South Korea—which have the motivation and potential to provide electrical services—are required to...