This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España (RTI2018-093849-B-C31). The author would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to her research group GREiA (2017 SGR 1537). GREiA is a certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia. This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme.
Just as with other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, Mozambique faces severe, interrelated problems of energy and environment linked, with massive consumption of fuel wood biomass. The conventional power grid provides less than 7% of the energy needs for the country's 17 million inhabitants, and about 83% of the energy consumed in the country comes from biomass. Renewable energy resources can play an important role in the process of development of the country. From the vast renewable energy resources available in the country, solar energy represents one of those with the highest potential. Thus, the evaluation of the potential of solar energy systems in small-scale applications suitable for villages is a strategically good starting point for promotion of sustainable rural development. One of the major impediments in carrying out such studies is the fact that the exact behaviour of solar energy resources throughout the country has not been well studied. In this paper a general characterisation of the global, diffuse and direct solar radiation fields in Mozambique is presented. The study is based on experimental data measured by the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) in the period 1970- 2000. For these analyses global, diffuse and direct solar radiation data from three stations along the coast line and three stations in the interior of the country have been used. The six stations were representative of the three main regions of the country, namely south, centre and north. Furthermore, sunshine hours data of one selected station was analysed.
2018 Conference paper. Theme (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency) ; Energy efficiency awareness is one of the most important steps to achieving the final goal of having a sustainable environment in the country. Together with a good energy policy and regulations, this goal can be achieved as it will help consumers make more rational decisions when it comes to new technology. The main problem nowadays is the lack of awareness and strict energy policies which then gives a channel for the counterfeit products to be shipped in and sold out at low prices. This eventually leads to a very high demand in power and later a struggling economy. The current measures put in place are not vibrant and have not gotten to a large number of people. The government regulations on the other hand are not strict and this causes the inefficient appliances to find their way into the country. The proposed project aims to improve the current status by reaching out to as many people as possible and educate them on the importance of a high initial cost which eventually leads to more savings. It also aims at building a platform where customers can verify that their appliances are energy efficient. In order to have built this platform analysis have been done through research and meeting stakeholders who have provide first-hand information in order to formulate the platform. The information gathered have been used to design a platform that meets the challenges faced in renewable energy. ; Faculty of Information Technology, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya
Abundance, cleanliness and widespread distri bution are great incentives for the application of solar energy to man's energy requirements. Recent and impend ing fuel shortages, cost increases of energy and environ mental degradation have provided strong incentives for the development of solar energy for wide practical use. However, its low intensity and high variability impose severe econo mic problems in converting it to useful forms. Conversion of solar radiation to thermal, electrical and mechanical energy has been well demonstrated in numerous experi mental systems. Of these methods, those of greatest current interest are the production of heat for the heating and cooling of buildings and the direct, or indirect, conversion to elec tricity. In favorable locations, the costs of solar heating and cooling equipment under development appear to be nearly competitive with fuels; hence, this application is ex pected to be widespread within a very few years. Electric power from solar energy is not now competitive with conventional supply and is, therefore, a longer term possibility.
First published 1982. Twice during the 1970s--the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74 and the tight oil market of 1978-79 associated with the political upheaval in Iran--the U.S. economy experienced severe shocks as a result of massive price increases for imported oil. By 1980 the price for imported crude oil had increased to nearly twenty times the price in 1970. This book seeks to provide a basis for determining the macroeconomic effects of solar energy investments over the 1980 to 2000 time period. It structures its analysis in a multidimensional form, specifying variations in conventional energy costs; solar market penetration; solar technology costs.
Nanotechnology is a common word these days, although only 15 years ago it was a quite obscure term used almost exclusively in scientific community. It is a fact that nanotechnology is widely present today with numerous applications, especially regarding novel materials. This is a technology that draws a lot of attention not only in the scientific community but also among investors, governments and industry. There is a great deal of expectations connected with it and especially, amongst others, concerning sustainable energy production. This paper briefly explores some of possible implementations of nanotechnology for new and improved energy conversion methods, considering a need for this to be done without doing harm to our environment. Focus is placed on advanced photovoltaic and hydrogen production technology. ; Nanotechnology is a common word these days, although only 15 years ago it was a quite obscure term used almost exclusively in scientific community. It is a fact that nanotechnology is widely present today with numerous applications, especially regarding novel materials. This is a technology that draws a lot of attention not only in the scientific community but also among investors, governments and industry. There is a great deal of expectations connected with it and especially, amongst others, concerning sustainable energy production. This paper briefly explores some of possible implementations of nanotechnology for new and improved energy conversion methods, considering a need for this to be done without doing harm to our environment. Focus is placed on advanced photovoltaic and hydrogen production technology.
