• Energy Research

The potential for cool storage air-conditioning (CSA) has been assessed for the Thai commercial sector. Computer simulations of customer groups of electric utilities were performed to evaluate investment and electricity costs for a number of tariff cases. Field evaluations were performed through interviews with decision makers, using a multi-criteria decision method. The results confirm good potential for application of CSA.

AbstractThe energy sector of a country is the backbone in which a country's industrial competitiveness is built. It is imperative that a well-functioning energy sector is present to facilitate the growth of a country. That being said, the environmental wellbeing of the country and the entire world is important. The energetic analyses of the power, transport and industrial sectors of Sri Lanka are presented in this paper, along with possible Low Carbon scenarios (LCS). The Low Carbon scenarios are assessed for the CO2 mitigation, energy consumption reduction and also for co-benefits such as energy security and productivity. The Sri Lankan energy sector is modeled using Asia-Pacific Integrated Model AIM/Enduse. Results show that Low Carbon activities in Sri Lanka increase energy security of the country. Mitigations of 41.3%, 25% and 37% are achieved in the most ambitious LCS, when compared to the business as usual (BAU) case in 2050, in the power, industry and transport sectors, respectively. Along with this, in all LCS, the diversity of the fuel share increases, while increasing the renewable fuel share. This also reduced the oil dependency of these sectors, thus reducing the cost burden of the Sri Lankan economy.

Thailand currently relies largely on natural gas, coal & lignite, fuel oil, and less portion in renewable energy for electricity production. Due to the cheap fuel costs, fossil fuels dominate in energy supply. However, utilization of more fossil fuels results in increasing CO 2 emissions. The introduction of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) for the future thermal power plant in Thailand is modeled in the multi-period linear programming MARKAL (MARKet ALlocation) model. The increasing share of renewable energy is introduced in this study to influence the adoption of technologies. Comparing with possible introduction of nuclear power plants and increasing share of renewable energy policy up to 20% are considered for long term CO 2 mitigation option. The differences in marginal costs are analyses in terms of CO 2 mitigation in the business-as-usual (BAU), nuclear (NUC) and renewable (RE) cases up to 20% share: RE05, RE10, RE15 and RE20. The marginal costs are calculated as the ratio between the difference in total system costs and emission mitigation between the baseline and CO 2 mitigation options. This analysis is performed in the scope of complete energy system, from supply side to technologies for energy transformation, and to sectors for energy consumption. The results show options are better from the optimality side of CO 2 mitigation strategies, associated costs compared with utilizing Carbon Credit Mechanism (CDM) program and possible future technologies for investment in Thailand.

AbstractRoad transport is the major mode in the transport sector in Thailand, which accounted for about 78% of the total energy consumption in the transport sector. This study investigates the effect of two scenarios of realistic and idealistic scenarios in three actions: 1) electric vehicles, 2) fuel switching and 3) modal shift to reduce energy demand and CO2 emission during 2010 - 2030. This study employs the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) model to estimate energy demand and CO2 emission in Thai road transport sector. Energy demand in the road transport will increase from 19,221 ktoe in 2010 to 42,852 ktoe in 2030 while CO2 emission increases from 42,852 kt-CO2 in 2010 to 80,717 kt-CO2 in 2030. Finally, the energy consumption and CO2 emission in realistic scenario is reduced to 34,998 ktoe and 71,355 kt-CO2, respectively while in idealistic scenario they are reduced to 32,116 ktoe and 62,179 kt-CO2 in 2030, respectively.

Abstract This paper aims to analyze the effects of biogas and electricity based cooking on energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) as well as local air pollutant emissions during 2010–2050 in the case of Nepal, which is highly dependent on traditional biomass (mainly fuelwood) for cooking. The country is rich in hydropower resources. A long-term bottom-up energy system model has been developed using Asia-Pacific Integrated Model/Enduse (AIM/Enduse) model for the analysis. The study developed a business as usual (BAU) scenario and three alternative cooking scenarios. Three alternative scenarios, named as “CL”, “CM” and “CH” scenarios; consider low, medium and high level of penetrations of electric- and biogas-based cooking options, respectively. The changes in energy use and electricity generation in the BAU and alternative scenarios have been compared. Fuelwood consumption in the residential sector in 2050 when compared to the BAU would decrease by 12.5% in CL, 19.0% in CM and 24.2% in CH scenarios; and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption would decrease by 12.8% in CL, 16.3% in CM and 19.6% in CH scenarios. The electricity generation requirement in 2050 would increase by 9.4% in CL, 13.9% in CM and 17.0% in CH scenarios. Finally, the assessment of GHG and local pollutant emissions shows the decrease in all gases in CL, CM and CH scenarios when compared to the BAU.

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of CO2 mitigation potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the residential sector in Indonesia and Thailand. The Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) model was used to analyze future energy demand, energy consumption and CO2 emissions during 2010-2050. This study applied demand side management (DSM) options to reduce CO2 emission in the residential sector by implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in lighting, cooking, and cooling devices. In this analysis, five mitigation actions were selected, called Sustainable Solar System (Solar), Sustainable Biogas System (Biogas), Efficient Lighting Devices (Lighting), Efficient Cooling Devices (Cooling), and Efficient Cooking Stove (Cooking) scenarios. Results show that in 2050 the Cooling scenario shows the highest energy saving of 22.99% when compared with the BAU. In the BAU, energy demand and emission in Indonesian residential sector will be 73,578 ktoe and 68,219 kt-CO2eq in 2050, respectively. The highest CO2 mitigation of 45,208 kt-CO2eq, accounted for 33.73% of emissions in the BAU, will be achieved in the Cooling and Lighting scenarios. In Thailand’s residential sector, the Cooling scenario shows the highest energy saving of 6.04% in 2050 when compared with the BAU. In the BAU scenario in Thailand’s residential sector, energy demand and CO2 emissions will be about 21,916 ktoe and 26,607 kt-CO2eq in 2050, respectively. The highest CO2 mitigation potential of 23,573 kt-CO2eq will be achieved in the Biogas scenario, CO2 reduction will be 11.42% of emissions in the BAU. The Lighting scenario shows the lowest potential of CO2 mitigation of 25,221 kt-CO2eq. The CO2 reduction will be 5.21% of emissions in the BAU.

Abstract CO2 mitigation has become increasingly an important environmental issue for developing countries. This paper analyses the energy system development, the associated CO2 and local pollutant emissions in Nepal and Thailand using the bottom-up cost-minimizing MARKet ALlocation (MARKAL) modeling framework under the base case and three different carbon tax scenarios during 2010-2050. Nepal’s energy system is dominated by biomass and is estimated to remain the same by 2050, however its share is likely to decrease from 84% to 35% during 2010-2050. A wide increase in the share of petroleum products and hydropower is expected in the energy system of Nepal by 2050. The power generation mix of Nepal would continue to remain hydropower dominant during the planning period, however there would be a small increase in the share of other renewables (i.e. solar and municipal solid waste) by 2050. For Thailand, this study found that the energy system would be driven by coal with the reduction in the combined share of oil and natural gas by 2050. Unlike Nepal, the power sector of Thailand is natural gas dominant, and would continue to remain the same throughout the planning period. Nuclear power generation is estimated to penetrate after 2035 and its share is estimated to increase from 3% in 2035 to 9% in 2050 under the base case. The transport sector is the major contributor in the total CO2 emissions in Nepal while the power sector occupied the largest share in the total CO2 emissions in Thailand in 2010. The transport sector in Nepal would continue to remain the major CO2 emitting sector while the industrial sector in Thailand would be the major CO2 contributor by 2050. Under the carbon tax scenarios, the majority of the CO2 emission reduction would come from the residential sector in Nepal while that from the power sector in Thailand.

Abstract In order to quantify the total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from different commodities, the contribution of emissions in all subprocess chains has to be considered. In embedded energy analysis, the higher order production processes are usually truncated due to a lack of data. To fill the truncated subprocesses up to infinite process chains, energy intensities and GHG emission factors of various final consumptions in the economy evaluated by the Input–Output Analysis (IOA) must be applied. The direct GHG emissions in final consumptions in Thailand are evaluated by imitating the approach in the energy sector of the revised 1996 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national GHG inventories. The indirect energy and indirect emissions are evaluated by using the 1998 Input–Output (I–O) table. Results are presented of emissions in the main process, indirect processes, and on each subprocess chain order. The trend of energy intensity and emission factors of all final consumptions for 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2006 are also presented. Results show that the highest energy intensive sector is the electricity sector where fossil fuel is primarily used, but the highest total GHG emitter is the cement industry where the major sources of the emissions are industrial processes and the combustion of fossil fuels. Implication of the emission factors on electricity generating technologies shows that various cleaner electricity generating technologies, including renewable energy technology, could help in global GHG mitigation.

This study assesses Thailand’s energy policies on renewable electricity generation and energy efficiency in industries and buildings. The CO2 emissions from power generation expansion plans (PGEPs) are also evaluated. The PGEPs of CO2 reduction targets of 20% and 40% emissions are also evaluated. Since 2008 Thai government has proposed the Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP) for renewable energy utilization. Results from energy efficiency measures indicate total cost saving of 1.34% and cumulative CO2 emission reduction of 59 Mt-CO2 in 2030 when compared to the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. It was found that subsidies in the AEDP will promote renewable energy utilization and provide substantial CO2 mitigation. As a co-benefit, fuel import vulnerability can be improved by 27.31% and 14.27% for CO2 reduction targets of 20% and 40%, respectively.