Towards a Common Methodology and Modelling Tool for 100% Renewable Energy Analysis: A Review

Joseph Akpan () and Oludolapo Olanrewaju
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Joseph Akpan: Industrial Engineering Department, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa
Oludolapo Olanrewaju: Industrial Engineering Department, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-42

Abstract: Some advanced countries’ rapid population, economic growth, and energy consumption expansion contribute significantly to global CO 2 emissions. And while developed countries have achieved 100% universal access to electricity, mainly from non-renewable sources, many developing countries still lack it. This presents challenges and opportunities for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13 of generating all energy from cleaner or low-carbon sources to reduce CO 2 emissions in all countries and combating climate change consequences. Renewable energies have been widely acknowledged to greatly advance this endeavour, resulting in many studies and about 30 countries already with over 70% of their national electricity mix from RE. It has birthed a new paradigm and an emerging field of 100% RE for all purposes, recently receiving much attention from academia and in public discourse. The major challenge with this idea is that achieving such a feat requires a more diverse approach. This study emphasises the need to meet technical and non-technical requirements for working towards a 100% RE for all purposes. Therefore, our work introduces six methodological or evaluation mechanisms (herein, identified as 100% RE evaluation metrics) suitable for existing and future 100% renewable energy analysis. It then reviews energy modelling tools to identify their applicability to 100% RE analysis. The review and perspectives presented in this study will be valuable in developing a common integrated methodology and modelling tool for analysing full renewable energy adoption in countries or regions with best trade-offs, using performance indices that have not been previously used. It will also help with proper national and regional energy resources and system planning for new energy projects and installations, contributing to sustainable development.

Keywords: 100% renewable energy; climate change; evaluation approaches; evaluation metrics; energy modelling tools; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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