Green Engineering And Energy Efficiency: A Case Study

Bioenergy Incentive Schemes: UK RHI vs US RFS

Part A:

Introduction:

In recent years, Climate change represents one of the most significant threats that is faced by human civilisation today. Under the agreement proposed in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, the European Union agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 54% by the year 2030 relative to the levels in 1990. To achieve the ambitious targets that need to be set, rapid carbonisation across all the economic sectors must occur by entering a major change or transition, which is a shift from fossil fuels. Bioenergy, in the form of biomass and biofuel, is expected to play an important role in the energy transition in selective policy incentives that are enacted at the National drive. This report will represent a comparison analysis of two hugely used and existing bioenergy incentive schemes: The UK's Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and the US's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). This will evaluate their combined and individual strength and weak points in controlling carbonisation. The findings and analysis aim to find which model could potentially be the most effective implemented across the EU and to help state members to achieve the challenges against climate change. The threat of climate change is a serious concern in the modern developing world. The emission of greenhouse gases has been promised to be reduced by by approximately 54% by the year 2030 by the Paris Climate Agreement. The lack of diversity in the geological parameters of the data can be a disadvantage for the evaluation of the data that is gathered for the evaluation of the system.

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Methodology

The report is based on the data that was compiled on extensive secondary data research done from different academic studies, government data and reports, and databases suggesting statistics focused on the RHI and RFS incentive system. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse the data that can facilitate a balanced comparison between these two initiative structures. These issues and limitations were closely observed, and the outcomes were evaluated regarding bioenergy growth science and their implementations. The comparison research aims to highlight the key advantages and disadvantages in each national-level incentives approach to support the conclusion about the most effective and appropriate model that can have the potential to be used all around EU state members. The secondary data process has described the statistical data of RHI and RFS that is related to the incentive schemes. The collection of data has been done by going through many governmental data that are available in different sources of the system. The data collection has also helped in the recognition of the important data that helped in understanding this research properly. In this research, both qualitative and quantitative data were used for analyzing the information properly.

Literature Review

EU Climate Targets & Need for Bioenergy Incentives

According to the Paris Agreement, the EU has agreed and committed to the economy of the wide emissions cuts of below 54% by 2030 compared to the year 1990 data, which includes a target increase of renewable energies to at least 32% in the next few decades (Fridahl et al. 2020). Heating, transportation, and the industrial sectors are far behind in terms of using the energy source than the power sector of carbonisation efforts. Using more and more bioenergy production will be essential to complete the 2030's climate change goals through switching the fuel in transport, providing renewable heating, and most especially supporting the high temp industrial processes to replace something other than coal. However, the supply chain and cost barriers hope to have a rapid growth in these selective criteria's; biogas, biomass, and advanced biofuels market across the EU. Target incentives at the national level are mostly recognised by the necessary policies that are willing to enable the bioenergy sector to reach its maximum carbonisation potential over the coming years and mature at the same time. The figure below describes the emission patter in the Swedish way, but the data that is evaluated cannot provide the adequate data that could help in understanding the system of sustainable development process achieved by implementing new technologies.

Figure 1: Swedish total territorial emissions of greenhouse gasses

Overview of the UK RHI Scheme

The initiative taken by UK THI was first introduced by the national government in 2011 to mainly promote biomass heat and biomethane usage around the public sector, commercial areas, and residential areas. The main incentive mechanism has provided subsidy payments for over 20 years in different tiers and technologies, which has been presented as an upfront capital investment by supporting ongoing production bonuses to help the renewable energy projects overcome high costs compared to oil furnaces and gas (Lowes, 2019). To support the payments and qualify it, strict sustainability criteria must be created and met, which include a minimum 60% lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction in the heat usage of the renewables sector. The program's utilisation grew from the beginning of its launch, providing payments of around £3.14 billion in 10 years (2011-21), which supported further renewable heat investments to £12.7 billion. The journals has provided crucial information about the way the process has weakened the sustainability parameters of RFS that affected the process of carrying reliable information from the system.

Figure 2: UK 2017 total heat consumption by fuel-based of BEIS consumption data

Overview of the US RFS Program

The RFS program, which was first established in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act, mandates the increasing volumes of renewable energies to be blended annually in the national transportation fuels supply each year (Lamers, 2019). This percentage is based on annual blending requirements for the total renewable fuels at nearly 4 billion in the year 2006, and it will gradually keep increasing to 36 billion gallons by the year 2022, which will represent 22% of the national liquid fuel demand if it can be adopted. The policy here aims to reduce the economy related to greenhouse gas emissions and expand the use of rural areas' bio-economy. Also, increases U.S. energy independence by encouraging the production of the next and old generation to use biofuels as their regular usages.

Figure 3: US Fuel Consumption 2017

Issues with Bioenergy Usage and Built-In Policy Safeguards

Renewable energy holds a huge potential for the development of every country, especially in India. At the current time, wind and solar power is growing, while a small amount of hydro and biomass is meeting the needs all over, especially in rural areas. The renewable capacity that was installed had reached the capacity of 150gw, which is more than 27% of the total capacity ratio. The target is to reach 450 GW by the year 2030, which sounds very ambitious (Majid, 2020). The most important critical factors are energy security, affordability, and availability while keeping in mind the climate change obligation. But challenges remain there in the form of infrastructure, storage solutions of energy, finance vital issues, policy and other different regular issues.R&D jobs keep rising in the field of research. India is keeping track to be one of the top countries to be in use renewable energies in the next decade. The move is already on high alert from the government authorities to the financial ministers. People are accepting the usage of renewables nowadays, which can help the targets to be reached in the next few years. This paper discussed the biofuel problems that should be overcome by using renewable energy sources that can mitigate the pollution of the environment.

Figure 4: Growth of renewable energy in recent years

Implementation Issues & Outcomes Under Each Scheme

UK's RHI scheme has grown rapidly in the early years of implementations, but it was subjected to the rising overruns of the budget in 2020, spending was caped and the breach happened three years early. Increasing the use of biomethane in the gas network was lower than what was suspected by studies, as the flow of cash was not sufficient to come to estimated growth in the entire industry (Fridahl et al. 2020). In 2018 reformationists were implemented that was to improve the cost controls, new technologies were introduced on the time being to avoid the problems that were occurring because of the implementation.

Figure 5: RHI movement effect

However, the US RFS program was increased in the time being. Production was increased of the advanced categories of the biofuels to meet the statutory targets as the technology was getting matured more slowly than expected, and the commercialization was getting slower during the decade (Gan et al.2019). The American corn ethanol production had a significant growth, by implementing the real world climate change issues.

Result

The literature review has highlighted that both the UK RHI and US RFS incentive schemes had mixed access and were also facing implementation challenges.

Figure 6: Growth over the time

Plus, some key advantages and disadvantages were seen in the review:

• The RHI model that utilises the direct financial subsidy support mechanism provides a greater market for certain investors, but it can be prone to budget overruns if not properly structured in the industrial cost & adaptation methods.
• The US's RFS policy forces biofuel usage to mostly rely upon the market mechanism without any definitive subsidy payments. Which can reduce the state cost but is subject to the targets that were lagging in progress.
• Technology advancement was always progressing, but adopting new advances was helping the movements.
• Most of the renewable fuel in the US RFS has been coming from corn ethanol and other generating options, near to 95%, it showed limited diversity in technology.

Discussion

While Both the programs have proven that they were giving successful incentive substantial growth in bioenergy production, The UK's RHI initiative provided almost the same approach that is in use by most of the state members in EU in the field of bio-economy, and the move kept growing towards the Paris climate change movement (Ebadian et al. 2020). Direct payment was more subsidies to avoid any unnecessary market uncertainty that can get restricted on investment crucial for the keep advancing bioenergy sub-sectors, while sustainability criteria was integration aligns objectives between any reducing member state were making a case against the emissions and developing renewable industries (Fridahl et al. 2020). Implementation issues around potential budget overruns compensating the cost containment measures such as total reduction in returns on the overtime as technology costs were decreasing, cap limits on the annual expenditures can help fully realise carbonisation potentials that can be from across conversion of technology pathways in transport, industry and heating areas of power generation. The discussion showed the proper alignment that meets with the climate objectives of the EU organisation. The mechanism of the market strategies can help in the spread of the RFS agenda and implement proper incentives for developing adequate improvement in the system. The balance of the government organisation and the free markets is also discussed to understand the operation of the market to spread the idea of sustainable development to recover the environment from its previous condition and provide a better place to utilise new technologies and improve the system. The critical evaluation of the information can help in the distribution of different thoughts that can help in developing new ideas to implement in the system.

Conclusion

The report has presented a comparison analysis and the details of relevant advantages and disadvantages, outcomes achieved by the implementation, and the key learnings of being able to deliver the use of renewable energy to complement the climate change act. The UK's RHI and U.S. RFI program structures were introduced in the report to find out which process is more helpful and more acceptable in this decade, and also which one will be more acceptable by most of the state members. The bioenergy incentives were implemented where the RHI and RFS were compared to recognize the better choice for the model of subsidy that could be used for better results. These implementation processes experienced challenges that should be resolved for the proper implementation of the technologies for developing the system. The limited sources of research data could only provide generalised information that could help in only a simple development of the system. The development of the industries in this field could help in gathering more data to incorporate it for improvement in the process of using renewable energy sources and complying with the EU standards.

Part B:

Introduction:

In this modern world, solar energy is the primary source of renewable energy that has been approved by the European Union and meets the standards of the organisation. According to the EU standards, the energy released by the photovoltaic part has the aim to increase capacity to reach energy efficiency up to 320 GW by 2026 and approximately 610 GW by 2031 for better utilization of the technologies to integrate into the solar panel system.

This can be an icebreaker on using and commercialising renewable energy for everyday use regarding the energy consumption of the world. The cost reduction process of the use of biofuels can be controlled and the amount can be spent on other projects for making the world a better place.

Methodology

The research method for this paper helped in understanding the adaptability of renewable energy in this world and the way the research is done to resort to using solar energy for a better reduction in the pollution that has been caused by the biofuels that cause damage to the environment. The EU has come up with different strategies that can help in adopting solar energy consumption in a commercialised way and create an impact in the solar energy consumption in the households. The plan of the EU was mentioned as REPowerEU, which investigates the plans that have been adopted to implement it to deploy solar systems in almost all countries in this world. The research data that was taken in a quantitative way that was retrieved from the Commission of the Environment and the capacity of the photovoltaic cells were evaluated properly for a better understanding of the system that is going to work in reducing the use of biofuels to reduce the pollution of the environment (Almaktar et al., 2021). The policies of the government are discussed that can help implement the technologies for better use of solar technology in an efficient way. The EU transition based on energy can create a greater impact on the standards of maintaining the environmental parameters subtly.

Literature review

A review of solar photovoltaic incentives and Policy: Selected countries and Turkey

The photovoltaic cells are the most important components of a solar energy system that can absorb the sun's rays and convert them into electrical energy. The photovoltaic systems have classifications, such as the off-grid system and on-grid system (K?l?ç and Kekezo?lu, 2022). The grid of the circuit is connected to the system that can transfer the excess energy to the grid of the system, and in return, the demand is received from the network of the photovoltaic system in the solar system. In the picture are the potential and future provisions that can help in the growth of using the solar power system.

Figure 7: Power potential and future provision of countries

Incentives and strategies for financing the renewable energy transition: A review

The use of solar panels all over the world results in a reduction in the use of fossil fuels that in terms, reduces the damage to the environment. The carbon footprint is also reduced by using renewable energy to generate energy to be used in households. The plan of the EU was mentioned as REPowerEU, which investigates the plans that have been adopted to deploy solar systems in almost all countries in this world (Ahmad et al., 2020). The research data that was taken quantitatively was retrieved from the Commission of the Environment and the capacity of the photovoltaic cells was evaluated properly for a better understanding of the system that is going to work in reducing the use of biofuels to reduce the pollution of the environment.

Figure 8: Money spent through the years

A game theoretic incentive model for closed-loop solar cell supply chain by Considering Government role

The systematic evaluation of the supply chain of the solar system can be utilised to understand the distribution of the solar system all over the world. The use of solar modules in an efficient way is highly advisable as this can control the working of the entire solar system. The solar units should be situated in an area where the sun rays are visible p[properly and create a major amount of sunlight for the absorption of the photovoltaic cells to produce electricity for the households (Alam et al., 2021). The policies of the government are discussed that can help implement the technologies for better use of solar technology in an efficient way.

Figure 9: Solar power supply chain

Resource Adequacy with Increasing Shares of Wind and Solar Power: A Comparison of European and U.S. Electricity Market Designs

Solar power can create a great impact on using renewable energy that can encourage the use of other renewable sources that can be used for better consumption of energy in an efficient way. The plan of the EU was mentioned as REPowerEU, which investigates the plans that have been adopted to implement it to deploy solar systems in almost all countries in this world (Nosratabadi et al., 2021). The EU has come up with different strategies that can help in adopting solar energy consumption in a commercialised way and create an impact on solar energy consumption in households. The comparison between solar energy and wind energy will also help in adopting wind energy for efficiently generating electricity.

Figure 10: Increasing capacity of solar power

A Review of Techno-Economic Assessment of Solar Water Heating Systems in the Middle East

The review of renewable energy consumption in the Middle East is discussed as it can utilise sunlight in vast ways and enhance the capacity of the photovoltaic cells to produce large amounts of energy. The carbon footprint is also reduced by using renewable energy to generate energy to be used in households (Paraschiv et al., 2021). The plan of the EU was mentioned as REPowerEU, which investigates the plans that have been adopted to implement it to deploy solar systems in almost all countries in this world.

Figure 11: Water heating load

Results

The analysis of data and the policies of the EU can help in efficiently developing the new technologies. The discussion in different journals has helped in understanding the improvement that needs to be done to develop better plans to implement solar energy systems for efficiently producing energy. Sustainable development can also be achieved by resorting to the use of renewable energy sources and reducing the carbon footprint to recover the damage that has been done to the environment (Kennedy et al., 2021). Solar energy can produce a great amount of energy by absorbing the sunlight and can run for a long time to provide electricity to households. The exponential growth in solar power systems can also increase its utility all over the world (Tercan et al., 2022). The EU incentives are also helpful in implementing new technologies to improve the working of solar panels that are useful in generating a great amount of electricity to use in households and other places. The government's policies are discussed, which can help implement the technologies for better use of solar technology in an efficient way.

Discussion, presentation of argument, scrutiny of information gathered and evaluation

The policy and data evaluation of the EU has created a place for adopting renewable energy sources to generate a great amount of energy that can be used for supplying electricity to the whole world. Solar energy can produce a great amount of energy by absorbing the sunlight and can run for a long time to provide electricity to households. The exponential growth in the solar power system can also increase its utility all over the world. The EU has come up with different strategies that can help in adopting solar energy consumption in a commercialised way and create an impact on solar energy consumption in households. The scrutiny of the system discloses some challenges that the authority should overcome efficiently (Chanchangi et al., 2021). The equipment that is used, such as the interconnectors, batteries, and different smart grids, can increase the absorption capacity of the system. The carbon footprint is also reduced by using renewable energy to generate energy to be used in households.

Table 1: Solar panel parameters

In the above table different parameters are mentioned that are used to discuss the efficiency of a solar panel. The parameters are mentioned to make a clear understanding for the completion of this paper.

Conclusion

The solar energy system can boost the use of renewable energy and create a great impact in reducing the use of fossil fuels, which can help in recovering the damaged environment. The implementation of new technology to enhance the capacity of photovoltaic cells to absorb great amounts of sunlight to generate vast energy sources for supplying electricity. The incentives authorised by the EU have helped to a great extent to utilize the full potential of solar panels and create future development to boost the utility of solar panels. Solar energy can boost energy use, decrease pollution and provide a better environment to use renewable energy sources in the system.

References

Journals

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