Articles

Sustainable forest biomass: a review of current residue harvesting guidelines

Forest biomass harvesting guidelines help ensure the ecological sustainability of forest residue harvesting for bioenergy and bioproducts, and hence contribute to social license for a growing bioeconomy. Guide...

Authors: Brian D. Titus, Kevin Brown, Heljä-Sisko Helmisaari, Elena Vanguelova, Inge Stupak, Alexander Evans, Nicholas Clarke, Claudia Guidi, Viktor J. Bruckman, Iveta Varnagiryte-Kabasinskiene, Kęstutis Armolaitis, Wim de Vries, Keizo Hirai, Lilli Kaarakka, Karen Hogg and Pam Reece

Good living of communities and sustainability of the hydropower business: mapping an operational framework for benefit sharing

The negative impact of hydropower companies is cushioned frequently through compensation that is proportional neither to the needs of communities nor to the energy business. Considering the dependence of hydro...

Authors: Indira Jiménez-Inchima, Jorge-Andrés Polanco and Manuela Escobar-Sierra

Energy planning for an eco-city based on a distributed energy network

In China, traditional energy planning is subordinate to city planning, with a primary purpose of meeting the energy demand in urban areas by planning and designing an energy system. However, most of the curren...

Authors: Xiaojun Zhu, Jianhua Zhu, Bencheng Wu, Minsheng Liu, Guoqing Wang, Zhenqi Zhu, Zhongxue Gan, Jing Zhang and Chuizhou Meng

Central versus wellhead power plants in geothermal grid electricity generation

The long gestation period, high upfront costs and the risks in the development of central geothermal power plants are the main reasons for the slow rate of geothermal electricity growth and its contribution to...

Authors: Moses Jeremiah Barasa Kabeyi and Oludolapo A. Olanrewaju

Effects of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act and environmental, social and economic factors on biogas plant adoption and agricultural land use change

The German energy transition strategy calls for a reform of the German energy sector. As a result, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) passed in 2000 is widely regarded as successful legislation for ...

Authors: Xueqing Yang, Yang Liu, Daniela Thrän, Alberto Bezama and Mei Wang

Conceptual framework for increasing legitimacy and trust of sustainability governance

While the quantity of sustainability governance initiatives and systems has increased dramatically, crises persist over whether specific governance systems can be trusted as legitimate regulators of the sustai...

Authors: Inge Stupak, Maha Mansoor and C. Tattersall Smith

Competing socio-technical narratives in times of grid capacity challenges: the representative case of Sweden

Around the globe the electricity sector is strikingly similar, as regardless of nation it is structured around centralized large-scale power production. However, these centralized systems are currently experie...

Authors: Frans Libertson

Transnational sustainability certification for the bioeconomy? Patterns and discourse coalitions of resistance and alternatives in biomass exporting regions

The bioeconomy is nowadays widely proclaimed by governments and corporations around the world as a new paradigm for a sustainable economy. Essentially, it broadly denotes the promotion, development and establi...

Authors: Thomas Vogelpohl

Multilevel governance energy planning and policy: a view on local energy initiatives

A sustainable energy system based on renewables, energy-efficiency, decentralisation of energy generation and synergies between different sectors requires new energy planning methods and policies. Energy trans...

Authors: Viktorija Dobravec, Nikola Matak, Christian Sakulin and Goran Krajačić

Embedding the United Nations sustainable development goals into energy systems analysis: expanding the food–energy–water nexus

There have been numerous studies that consider the nexus interactions between energy systems, land use, water use and climate adaptation and impacts. These studies have filled a gap in the literature to allow ...

Authors: Taco Niet, Nastaran Arianpoo, Kamaria Kuling and Andrew S. Wright

Energy landscapes of today and tomorrow

Authors: Daniela Thrän, Erik Gawel and Dagmar Fiedler

Temporal and spatial availability of cereal straw in Germany—Case study: Biomethane for the transport sector

By 2030, the German transport sector needs to achieve additional greenhouse gas savings of 67 million tonnes CO₂-eq. and further progress requires swiftly implementable solutions. The fermentation of cereal straw...

Authors: André Brosowski, Ralf Bill and Daniela Thrän

A consolidated potential analysis of bio-methane and e-methane using two different methods for a medium-term renewable gas supply in Germany

The German energy transition has entered a new phase and one important aspect is the question, to what degree the gas sector could be supplied with so-called “green” gases, i.e., gases from renewable sources. ...

Authors: Patrick Matschoss, Michael Steubing, Joachim Pertagnol, Yue Zheng, Bernhard Wern, Martin Dotzauer and Daniela Thrän

Heat consumption scenarios in the rural residential sector: the potential of heat pump-based demand-side management for sustainable heating

Poor air quality and inadequate domestic heating sources are tightly connected problems in the Eastern-European countryside. There are a few alternatives to comprehensively solve these problems with an emphasi...

Authors: José Campos, Csaba Csontos, Ádám Harmat, Gábor Csüllög and Béla Munkácsy

Valorization of organic waste fractions: a theoretical study on biomethane production potential and the recovery of N and P in Austria

Due to climate change and the rising world population, sustainable energy and fertilizer production faces many challenges. The utilization of organic waste fractions is one possible solution for promoting sust...

Authors: Daniel C. Rosenfeld, Johannes Lindorfer and Markus Ellersdorfer

Transitioning to a sustainable development framework for bioenergy in Malaysia: policy suggestions to catalyse the utilisation of palm oil mill residues

The global commitment to climate change mitigation enforces the worldwide development of renewable energy sources. Therefore, various studies have investigated the growth of renewable energy in Malaysia, most ...

Authors: Siti Fatihah Salleh, Mohd Eqwan Mohd Roslan, Adlansyah Abd Rahman, Abdul Halim Shamsuddin, Tuan Ab Rashid Tuan Abdullah and Benjamin K. Sovacool

Correction to: A review of the trends in Ghana’s power sector

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Maame Esi Eshun and Joe Amoako-Tuffour

Stakeholder perceptions about sustainability governance in the German biogas sector

Since the steady growth of the German biogas sector, its sustainability is subject to constant scrutiny, especially economic and environmental sustainability. Public concerns about sustainability of biogas sta...

Authors: Thomas Horschig, Kay Schaubach, Catharina Sutor and Daniela Thrän

Exploring the influencing factors of continuous crop residue supply: from the perspective of a sustainable and bioenergy-oriented crop cultivation

Crop residues are an important raw material for bioenergy. There is, however, obvious seasonality in crop harvests, and thus, a continuous supply of crop residues and its respective influencing factors should ...

Authors: Xin Long Xu, Hsing Hung Chen and Yi Li

Deep learning-based estimation of PV power plant potential under climate change: a case study of El Akarit, Tunisia

Several climatologists and experts in the renewable energy field agree that GHI and DNI calculation models must be revised because of the increasingly unpredictable and powerful climatic disturbances. The cons...

Authors: Afef Ben Othman, Ayoub Ouni and Mongi Besbes

Energy efficiency in an integrated agro-ecosystem within an acidic soil area of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Both exergy and energy analysis methodologies are used for analysing energy efficiencies in various processes, including agriculture. This study focuses on the connection of three main process components (husb...

Authors: Nguyen Thi Thu Thao, Tra Van Tung, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Son Le Thanh, Sibylle Braunegg, Gerhart Braunegg, Hans Schnitzer and Le Thanh Hai

Renewable energy consumption in Africa: the role of economic well-being and economic freedom

This study investigates the role of economic well-being and economic freedom as drivers of renewable energy consumption using the share of renewables in total energy consumption in Africa. To achieve this, the...

Authors: Anthony Amoah, Edmund Kwablah, Kofi Korle and Daniel Offei

Market development and consequences on end-of-life management of photovoltaic implementation in Europe

The 2018 European Renewables Directive sets a binding target of 32% of renewable energy generation by 2030. Free-field photovoltaic plants are characterised by significant land use and material flows. Although...

Authors: Manuela Franz and Gerhard Piringer

Assessment of a decentralized grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) / wind / biogas hybrid power system in northern Nigeria

Electricity is considered a fundamental service which is highly correlated with sustainable development. Nigeria will serve as a case study that has been experiencing an energy deficit, and severely needs a st...

Authors: Ismail Abubakar Jumare, Ramchandra Bhandari and Abdellatif Zerga

Energy decisions within an applied ethics framework: an analysis of five recent controversies

Everywhere in the world, and in every period of human history, it has been common for energy decisions to be made in an ethically haphazard manner. With growing population pressure and increasing demand for en...

Authors: Jacob Bethem, Giovanni Frigo, Saurabh Biswas, C. Tyler DesRoches and Martin Pasqualetti

Stakeholders’ satisfaction as a key determinant of critical success factors in renewable energy projects

Renewable energy projects (REPs) are critical to providing a clean and sustainable environmental perspective alongside the economic prosperity of any country. Unfortunately, recent trends in renewable energy p...

Authors: Rashid Maqbool, Xiaomei Deng and Yahya Rashid

Cultivation of microalgae for biofuel production: coupling with sugarcane-processing factories

Despite their potential as biofuel resources, large-scale production of biofuels from microalgae is still uncertain primarily due to a lack of feasibility of the process and that it proves to be capital and en...

Authors: Deribew Tefera Zewdie and Abubeker Yimam Ali

The energy potential of soft rush (Juncus effusus L.) in different conversion routes

Rushes are prominent wetland plants that are well adapted to conditions of waterlogging. Tall rushes like soft rush (Juncus effusus L.) tend to dominate the vegetation and offer a great biomass potential. Removin...

Authors: Jürgen Müller, Christian Jantzen and Denny Wiedow

The establishment of a micro-scale heat market using a biomass-fired district heating system

Local biomass potential in Southeastern European countries is relatively high. Nevertheless, biomass residues such as wood leftovers, straw and energy crops are often not properly managed or inefficiently util...

Authors: Tihamér Tibor Sebestyén, Matija Pavičević, Hrvoje Dorotić and Goran Krajačić

Do we need disasters to adopt more environmental policies?

In this paper, we try to shed light on the question whether natural disasters, such as nuclear accidents, have an impact on policy makers’ activity in passing new green energy policies. Disruptive moments like...

Authors: Sherief Emam, Thomas Grebel and Ana-Despina Tudor

Assessing the wood sourcing practices of the U.S. industrial wood pellet industry supplying European energy demand

As the demand for wood pellets has increased in EU member states, so has a multi-pronged examination of the environmental effects of establishing a transatlantic trade in wood pellets between the U.S. and Euro...

Authors: Brian Kittler, Inge Stupak and C. Tattersall Smith

Strengths and gaps of the EU frameworks for the sustainability assessment of bio-based products and bioenergy

The high number of bioeconomy (BE) policies and strategies indicates the interest in the BE in many nations. The development of the BE holds opportunities but also risks for sustainability. Thus, the future de...

Authors: David Moosmann, Stefan Majer, Sergio Ugarte, Luana Ladu, Simone Wurster and Daniela Thrän

On the axiomatic foundation of carbon and energy footprints

A wide variety of footprint concepts is proposed in the scientific literature giving rise to a selection problem.

Authors: Thomas Kuhn, Radomir Pestow and Anja Zenker

Economic growth, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions in the E7 countries: a bootstrap ARDL bound test

International awareness of the impact of global warming and climate change is increasing. Developing countries face the task of achieving sustainable economic growth while also improving the efficiency of thei...

Authors: Teng Tong, Jaime Ortiz, Chuanhua Xu and Fangjhy Li

A sustainable biomass network design model for bioenergy production by anaerobic digestion technology: using agricultural residues and livestock manure

Scarcity of fossil fuels and their emissions have led energy policymakers to look for alternative renewable and clean energy sources. In line with this target, biomass is a promising alternative source for the...

Authors: Mohadeseh Bijarchiyan, Hadi Sahebi and Saeed Mirzamohammadi

How municipalities support energy cooperatives: survey results from Germany and Switzerland

Energy cooperatives are a prominent and common form of community energy. Community energy has the potential to increase actor diversity and local acceptance of renewable energies and has therefore been highlig...

Authors: Thomas Meister, Benjamin Schmid, Irmi Seidl and Britta Klagge

Challenges of future energy landscapes in Germany — a nature conservation perspective

The energy transition in Germany is characterized by a rapid growth of renewable energy and infrastructure. In order to reduce the impact of humans on the climate system, a more ambitious development of renewa...

Authors: Jens Ponitka and Sarah Boettner

Sustainability indices for energy utilization using a multi-criteria decision model

Energy and water availability are considered vital for a country’s development. An exhaustive review of literature has been undertaken on indicators for sustainable energy development. In addition to energy an...

Authors: L. Suganthi

Probabilistic upscaling and aggregation of wind power forecasts

Wind power forecasts of the expected wind feed-in for the next hours or days are necessary to integrate the generated volatile wind energy into power systems. Most forecasting models predict in some sense the ...

Authors: Janosch Henze, Malte Siefert, Sascha Bremicker-Trübelhorn, Nazgul Asanalieva and Bernhard Sick

Bioenergy plants’ potential for contributing to heat generation in Germany

The Paris Climate Agreement requires a rapid and efficient shift to renewable energies and a decarbonization of the energy system. Combined heat and power provision from biomass is one way to efficiently provi...

Authors: M. Steubing, M. Dotzauer, T. Zakaluk, B. Wern, F. Noll and D. Thraen

The effect of digestate and mineral fertilisation of cocksfoot grass on greenhouse gas emissions in a cocksfoot-based biogas production system

Climate mitigation is a major consideration when choosing bioenergy systems. Anaerobic digestion of biomass is a bioenergy system, which is normally used for the treatment of manure or other residues, but cult...

Authors: Vita Tilvikiene, Kestutis Venslauskas, Virmantas Povilaitis, Kestutis Navickas, Vidmantas Zuperka and Zydre Kadziuliene

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

A novel project sustainability framework is used to evaluate 65 off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system projects in Malawi. This study addresses PV projects serving rural public facilities, a solution k...

Authors: Peter M. Dauenhauer, Damien Frame, Aran Eales, Scott Strachan, Stuart Galloway and Hannah Buckland

How to achieve the climate targets? Spatial planning in the context of the German energy transition

The transition of the energy system to renewable energy depends on how successfully the national objectives can be implemented at the lower planning levels. Germany pursues an incentive-oriented policy that is...

Authors: Julia Wiehe, Christina von Haaren and Anna Walter

Global carbon surcharge for the reduction of anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide

Many governments take the view that voluntary national targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are sufficient to avoid negative climate effects. In the absence of independent verification, however, pledges ...

Authors: André Thess, Martin Klein, Kristina Nienhaus and Thomas Pregger

Current state of biogas production in Croatia

For biogas production, different renewable feedstocks, e.g., feces, manure, silage, industrial by-products, and municipal waste, can be used. Biogas production from various renewable feedstocks has positive so...

Authors: Vlatka Petravić-Tominac, Nikola Nastav, Mateja Buljubašić and Božidar Šantek

The role of values for niche expansion: the case of solar photovoltaics on large buildings in Sweden

Solar photovoltaic (PV) plants can contribute to the transformation of the electricity system in Sweden not only by adding capacity, but also by forming new decentralized ownership structures and involving new...

Authors: Martin Warneryd and Kersti Karltorp

Designing a solar and wind hybrid system for small-scale irrigation: a case study for Kalangala district in Uganda

Dynamics in rainfall patterns are posing a threat to crop production in Uganda. Irrigation can be used to ensure constant production; however, the motorized powered irrigation methods are quite costly to run i...

Authors: Shaffic Ssenyimba, Nicholas Kiggundu and Noble Banadda

The politics of energy landscapes: the influence of local anti-wind initiatives on state policies in Saxony, Germany

In recent years, landscapes in many countries have been transformed by efforts to fight global warming, specifically the shift towards renewable energies such as wind power. This development has been met by gr...

Authors: Gerd Lintz and Markus Leibenath

Thermodynamic and ecological preselection of synthetic fuel intermediates from biogas at farm sites

Synthetic fuels based on renewable hydrogen and CO₂ are a currently highly discussed piece of the puzzle to defossilize the transport sector. In this regard, CO₂ can play a positive role in shaping a sustainable ...

Authors: Ralf Peters, Maximilian Decker, Lea Eggemann, Steffen Schemme, Felix Schorn, Janos Lucian Breuer, Stefan Weiske, Joachim Pasel, Remzi Can Samsun and Detlef Stolten

Governance of sustainability in the German biogas sector—adaptive management of the Renewable Energy Act between agriculture and the energy sector

Biomass is an integral part of the energy system being not only used in the chemical industry, but also as a basic raw material for the bio-economy sector, which is promoted worldwide. However, its potential c...

Authors: Daniela Thrän, Kay Schaubach, Stefan Majer and Thomas Horschig