• Energy Research

The energy transition is a complex concept that requires progressively addressing various technical, environmental, social, and political issues. Green hydrogen is recognized as a clean fuel to support the energy transition worldwide. This study presents a modeling framework for green hydrogen deployment strategies in the transport and fertilizer sectors on a long-term basis. The mathematical model includes decision variables to account for the amount of hydrogen produced from different energy sources and the importation of fossil-based commodities. Additionally, it incorporates demand-supply and production capacity restrictions in 5-year intervals from the year 2020 to 2050. The case study focuses on the Ecuadorian context, and two deployment strategies are proposed: (i) utilizing surplus renewable energy and (ii) developing local PV capacity. Both strategies positively contributed to adopting more sustainable alternatives; however, Strategy II exhibited superior performance in terms of costs and GHG emissions. Thus, this work provides a framework for designing energy transition strategies and their evaluation to achieve specific renewable and green hydrogen adoption targets over time.

Access to reliable and affordable energy is vital for sustainable development. In the off-grid areas of developing countries, decentralized energy solutions have received increasing attention due to their contributions to reducing poverty. However, most of the rural population in many developing countries still has little or no access to modern energy technologies. This paper assesses the factors that determine the successes and failures of decentralized energy solutions based on local harmonized case studies from heterogeneous contexts from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. The case studies were analyzed through the coupled lenses of energy transition and the Water–Energy–Food Security (WEF) Nexus. The findings indicate that access to modern decentralized energy solutions has not resulted in complete energy transitions due to various tradeoffs with the other domains of the WEF Nexus. On the other hand, the case studies point at the potential for improvements in food security, incomes, health, the empowerment of women, and resource conservation when synergies between decentralized energy solutions and other components of the WEF Nexus are present.

High dependency on fossil fuels, low energy efficiency, poor diversification of energy sources, and a low rate of access to electricity are challenges that need to be solved in many developing countries to make their energy systems more sustainable. Cogeneration has been identified as a key strategy for increasing energy generation capacity, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and improving energy efficiency in industry, one of the most energy-demanding sectors worldwide. However, more studies are necessary to define approaches for implementing cogeneration, particularly in countries with tropical climates (such as Ecuador). In Ecuador, the National Plan of Energy Efficiency includes cogeneration as one of the four routes for making energy use more sustainable in the industrial sector. The objective of this paper is two-fold: (1) to identify the potential of cogeneration in the Ecuadorian industry, and (2) to show the positive impacts of cogeneration on power generation capacity, GHG emissions reduction, energy efficiency, and the economy of the country. The study uses methodologies from works in specific types of industrial processes and puts them together to evaluate the potential and analyze the impacts of cogeneration at national level. The potential of cogeneration in Ecuador is ~600 MWel, which is 12% of Ecuador’s electricity generation capacity. This potential could save ~18.6 × 106 L/month of oil-derived fuels, avoiding up to 576,800 tCO2/year, and creating around 2600 direct jobs. Cogeneration could increase energy efficiency in the Ecuadorian industry by up to 40%.

Indigenous communities in the Amazon suffer from lack of access to basic services, such as electricity. Due to their isolation and difficult access it is challenging to acquire data on their location, numbers and needs, which would enable adequate development plans. Earth observation (EO), in combination with participatory mapping can support the creation of settlement maps as a basis for creating spatially explicit models of needs of basic services. Combining Landsat time series with SkySat and PlanetScope imagery, we have mapped the location and size of these settlements and modelled the number and densities of their houses. Additionally, we have projected settlement growth by 2030 in order to assess a demand of services that will be valid in the near future. We conducted surveys in 49 communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon to acquire information on the peoples’ living conditions and needs, and validated our model based on the findings. The number of buildings per cleared land had a strong linear relationship with the communities surveyed (adjusted R2 0.8). We used this linear relationship to model the number of buildings for the complete study area as well as for the 2030 settlement projection. Combining this information with data on the living conditions of indigenous communities, we can efficiently estimate the needs of basic services for larger territories and prompt development plans according to indigenous peoples’ needs and wishes.

The Amazon is a fragile ecosystem with high biodiversity. However, urbanization of the region is creating pressure to provide electricity to its scattered population. Since 2010, Ecuador has been promoting rural electrification based on renewable energies through state policies in order to meet the demand for energy in isolated and fragile areas such as Galapagos Islands and the Amazonian region. EERCS C.A. (“Centrosur”) is one of the several public utility companies in Ecuador. In 2010 it launched the Yantsa Ii Etsari project that translates as “light from our sun” in the Shuar language. The objective of this project was to install 3000 solar home systems (SHS) to provide electricity to families from several native communities living on the land in Morona Santiago province. SHS are not new to off-grid communities in rural and remote areas of Ecuador as some thousands of units were installed in the Amazonian region over the last 15 years. However, most of these systems have failed or been abandoned. This has prevented the scaling up of decentralized rural electrification programs in the country. Given this history, Centrosur is investigating alternative mechanisms for avoiding the same problems and guaranteeing the sustainability of the Yantsa Ii Etsari project. The company has established strategic alliances with key actors in the region including the University of Cuenca, which is collaborating through focusing undergraduate and graduate thesis research in thematic areas including “mobility,” “operations and maintenance,” “environmental impact assessment,” and “policies and procedures.” An example of research projects in each thematic area are provided and include: a solar boat prototype, design of an automatic maintenance model (RCM), SHS integrated waste management, and sustainability assessment protocols. The current status of each of these projects is described in this chapter along with their operational impacts.