Policies & Measures for Renewable Energy

Energy Efficiency in Sudan &

The last ten years have seen a change in government policy across all sectors
in Sudan, with new principles of reconstruction and development. There has
been a shift in policy to address issues of economic efficiency access to
affordable energy for all and environmental sustainability. As with all
government policy, however, the challenge lies in implementation – and
how to meet economic, social and environmental objectives at the same time
and to achieve sustainable development

In light of the twin challenges of sustainable development and addressing

climate change: the researcher intended to undertake this study to achieve
:three main objectives

to present a portfolio of policies and measures (PAMs) for realizing the ·

potential for
.renewable energy and energy efficiency in Sudan
to investigate how these PAMs can form part of an effective climate ·
change response by
estimating the potential GHG reductions
to identify and make projections of sustainable development impacts ·
.related to realising the RE and EE potential
It is hoped that the outcome of this study will be useful to demonstrate how
existing policy on renewable energy and energy efficiency can be met
.through specific RE and EE potential PAMs

Energy efficiency
As stated by the first law of thermodynamics, energy is conserved, neither
created nor destroyed, but can be converted from one form to another.
Conversion processes, however, involve losses for various reasons, so that
although the energy leaving a process or activity equals that entering it, but
the usable energy is always lower. The ratio of the usable energy, the energy
output to the energy input, is termed energy efficiency. This concept
therefore concerns the possible reduction of energy input to a process or
activity, increasing the energy output from the process or activity, increasing
the economic output and, significantly here, reducing adverse environmental
impacts. In general, energy efficiency can be one of the parameters to define
the technical, or economic performance of a system and also link with the
environmental performance Several factors affect energy efficiency,
depending on the perspective taken. The efficiency of a piece of equipment
 is different from the efficiency of a system or of the entire energy economy.
While the technical parameters, such as energy input and output, are crucial
in dealing with efficiency of equipment, other factors – such as resources
endowments, conversion technologies, location, information access, prices,
availability of investment fina nce, operation costs, age of energy
infrastructures and technological capacity – are considered in the discussion
of an energy economy. These factors accentuate the need for considering
national circumstances when dealing with energy efficiency of the energy
system. Further, technically, the overall energy efficiency of a system is the
combination of several component efficiencies and so will depend on
individual efficiencies. It will also depend on the structure of energy supply,
and conversion and energy use patterns. The theoretical potential for energy
efficiency improvements are large. The current efficiency of the global
energy system is about 37% (UNDP et al. 2000). Both the first and second
laws of thermodynamics will prevent the realisation of total system
efficiency – given the many irreversibilities such as friction and resistance –
so most energy efficiency activities concentrate on reducing certain losses
.from the system

:The Significance Of The Research

Energy has been the pivot for all aspects of human development in the past
and all signs indicate that this trend will continue. Demand for it has grown
throughout human history, but with increasing speed since the industrial
revolution and, more recently, since the 1950s. The use of different energy
sources and different ways of producing the energy to satisfy demand have
evolved into a global energy system that involves activities connecting
virtually every region and virtually every country, with resulting complex
political, technological, economic and social interrelationships between
nations and regions worldwide. Despite the major achievements in using
energy to satisfy developmental needs, the kinds of energy we use and the
way we produce them has resulted in serious local, regional and global
environmental problems. The response, especially to global is one of the
problems, that require global solutions in addition to regional and local ones.
This study is one of the many efforts to address the global problems using
.national solutions

The Need For More Energy Efficiency

 There is great potential for EE in Sudan as in most energy economies
worldwide in the
residential and commercial buildings, industry and transport sectors. The
residential sector is characterised by a wide variety of end-uses, from fridges
to cooking stoves to water heating and has a lot of room for improvement
despite substantial gains that have been achieved. These gains have
contributed significantly to the developmental impact of individuals –
improved quality of life at reduced cost – than the absolute energy savings,
but the ‘big hits’ of energy savings are found in the absolute terms.
Currently, there are a few dedicated energy efficiency interventions in
Sudan, especially on improving energy efficiency in housing, while
.improving quality of life proving quality of life

Controlling the climate change threat

Several suggestions have been put forward about how to adjust the global
energy system as a means of combating climate change (IPCC 2001), but the
feasibility of the various options has always been debated – for technical,
economic, social and political reasons, along with the presence of
:entrenched interests. Options suggested so far include the following

;substituting carbon-intensive fuels with low-carbon fuel ·

;use of non-fossil fuels – renewable energy sources ·
;carbon dioxide removal and storage underground or in the ocean ·
;increasing the efficiency of the supply and use of energy ·
.creating carbon sinks through reforestation ·
Intense R&D and demonstration activities are being carried out for all these
options, and some are even commercialised, depending on their stage of
development. They all have major technological, financial and socio
-cultural implications and implementing any will require significant prior
study, because of the different and changing circumstances of regions and
nations. The present project because of the different and changing
circumstances of regions and nations. The present project concerns only two
of these options – improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy
sources – and , given the enoromous scope in terms of source,
technologies,etc, only policies and measures relating to these two options
.will be discussed in this study

Renewable energy
Renewable energy, as opposed to fossil fuels whose sources are finite, has
always been abundant and inexhaustible, and accounts for around 14% of
total primary energy consumption and almost a quarter of electricity supplies
– the latter mainly due to hydro resources (UNDP et al. 2000). In general,
renewable energy comes mainly in the form of direct and indirect solar
energy. Thesenclude direct solar radiation as solar energy, which also leads
to photosynthesis; biomass energy the heat of the earth known as
geothermal energy; wind and ocean tides as wind energy, wave an tidal
energy; and energy from falling water, hydropower. All these sources are
significant in the climate change debate because of their low levels of
adverse environmental problem-causing comparison to fossil fuels –
especially their low or non-existent carbon emissions. Renewable energy can
provide some advantages for energy security because it will assist in
diversifying energy supply, especially in satisfying decentralized systems,
and in some
circumstances can also aid economic and environmental security. Certain
factors have limited their use, however, including its relatively diffuse nature
and wide, low-density distribution which make them expensive to develop.
Further, it depends largely on natural, intermittent flows that require storage
.facilities to improve reliability of supply
Development of renewable energy has been significant recently, however,
especially in the direct solar, wind and biomass industries; this is reflected in
its contribution to total energy consumption in some countries. The growth
in wind energy applications is a salient example: in 20 years it has moved
from small machines producing power for remote villages to large machines
.supplying bulk grid-connected electricity

:Research Methodology

The aim of the study is to show the impact of renewable energy and energy
:efficiency policies and measures (PAMs) in two major dimensions

sustainable development (e.g. jobs, growth, access to energy services, local ·

;environment and health

climate change (i.e. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduced from ·

.(business as usual

:The study has six main components

An overview of the of the overall potential for renewable energy (RE) and .1
.energy efficiency (EE)at international and national level

An overview of existing policies and measures pertaining to energy .2

.globally and in Sudan

A portfolio of policies and measures for realizing the potential for .3

.renewable energy and energy efficiency in Sudan

Modeling of three scenarios: Economic instruments, Policy reform, .4

.Intensive policy
Each scenario consists of a basket of PAMs. The modeling exercise aims to
show the impacts of different approaches to promoting RE and EE against
the Base Case on the major dimensions of sustainability – social (e.g. jobs),
.economic (cost), and environmental (pollution

An analysis of the effects and benefits of implementing these scenarios in .5

terms of energy and sustainable development policy objectives (including
external costs). The analysis was conducted using the following criteria:
energy use and supply, diversity in supply, total electricity generation, local
environmental impacts, greenhouse gas emissions and socio-economic
.aspects

The study will conclude with recommendations of particular interventions .6

and PAMs that stand out as contributing significantly to sustainable
development and climate change. The researcher suggest that a useful
approach to answering some of the key questions is to base the work on
existing energy models for Sudan. In order to develop alternative scenarios
of the future development of Sudan’s energy system, LEAP (Long-range
Energy Alternative Planning) will be used for scenario modeling and the
MARKAL model will be used for optimizing the cost – effectiveness of
policies and measures Although the scenarios in this study will extend
beyond those of IEP, due to the aims of the study the. Although the
scenarios in this study will extend beyond those of IEP, due to the aims of
the study, the same basic information about the energy system will be used.
Energy models have increasingly incorporated the ability to analyze the
environmental implications of energy supply and consumption. Some
economic analysis is also possible, but the study approach is to conduct the
.bulk of the economic and legal analysis separately to the modeling process