The Brazilian government aims at universal electricity access. The national rural electrification initiative has provided electricity services to more than 14 million people since 2003, mainly through grid extension. However, the initiative has not been able to reach remote areas in the Amazon, thus requiring a review of conditions for small scale off-grid power generation projects. As a result, new rules established under the national rural electrification program address the design and implementation of off-grid power generation projects with an installed capacity up to 100kW. The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of the new set of rules on the levelized cost of electricity for different power generation solutions in the Amazon. Our study shows that the new rules may be beneficial to isolated communities, as they reduce the levelized cost of electricity, favor renewable energy technologies and may contribute to reduce CO2 emissions. In addition, the new rules may help engage new actors to provide rural electrification of the Amazon region. To fully take advantage of the current scheme, action at local level is required to define the most appropriate model for small-scale power generation projects and establish synergies between concessionaires and local energy providers.

The objective of this study is to verify whether natural gas is only a backup fuel against shortages of upgraded biogas or a threat to the Swedish vision of pursuing a vehicle fleet independent of fossil fuels. The paper uses Stockholm County as a case study to guide our analysis. The region not only concentrates the largest number of inhabitants in Sweden but also holds alone around 35% of the Swedish fleet of passenger cars using gas as fuel. The region's potential vehicle gas demands are 460 GWh by 2020 and 1202 GWh by 2030. The methodological approach relies on Network Theory to guide the numerical analysis of the vehicle gas supply chain in the region. Our results show that natural gas will keep on being an important resource and playing a vital role within the local vehicle gas supply chain but no longer as a backup fuel against upgraded biogas shortages. In fact, natural gas has become a price regulator responsible for vehicle gas attractiveness, especially for passenger cars in the region. As a result, phasing out natural gas could hamper future developments of biogas supply chain in the country, hindering the achievement of a green fleet.

The Brazilian rural electrification initiative Luz Para Todos - LPT (Light for All) has attracted attention internationally due to its ambitious targets and significant achievements in the last decade. The initiative has proved effective in its first phase, which has been developed through the extension of the grid. Yet, there are still important challenges to provide the service to inhabitants of remote areas in the Brazilian Amazon. We identify these challenges within institutional, technology, and funding structures operating within LPT. In line with these challenges, we propose a pathway to facilitate the achievement of universal electricity access in remote areas of the region. The proposed pathway is based on three key leverage points: (i) rules guiding the relationship among new agents and communities; (ii) the implementation of small-scale power generation technologies based on local resources; and (iii) optimized subsidies. It has the potential to allow (i) a better dimensioning of off-grid solutions considering local resources and realities, (ii) the creation of adapted institutions capable of implementing and operating the required systems and, (iii) an effective operation of off-grid solutions.

Worldwide, approximately 1.2 billion people still lack access to electricity. Recognized by the Brazilian Government as a citizen's right, access to electricity was extended to almost 15 million people since 2003 as a result of the "Luz Para Todos" (Light for all - LPT) program. However, considerable parts of the Amazon region still lack access to electricity services, largely due to the long distances that need to be covered and to challenging topography. This paper explores electrification using selected renewable sources, both for new installations and for hybridization of existing diesel generators. We present results from a multi-criteria analysis that explores trade-offs associated with electrification options. Techno-economic, environmental, social and institutional criteria and attributes are explored. We find that renewable and hybrid systems present a number of advantages for application in isolated areas of the region.

The objective of this study is to present an analytical framework monitoring the development of the Swedish biofuels system, to evaluate its impacts on the achievement of 10% of renewable fuels by 2020, and to identify development patterns in order to establish a vehicle fleet independent of fossil fuels by 2030. The methodological approach relies on systems thinking approach and uses causal loops diagram as a guide to our analysis. The results show that policymakers have to decide among different pathways of growth based on internal- and external-resources of the Swedish biofuel system as well as to apply either supply or demand pressures onto the system in order to accomplish a vehicle fleet independent of fossil fuels by 2030.

This paper aims at evaluating the possible upgrading of an existing district heating plant for production of electricity and pellets. The evaluation is carried out by optimizing the alternatives from the economic, thermodynamic and environmental point of view. In order to examine how the design can be optimized, a detailed model of the process has been elaborated using ASPEN Utilities and Matlab optimization toolbox. The parameters of the polygeneration plant have then been varied in order to examine how optimal economic benefit can be extracted from the biomass streams whilst still meeting the fundamental process demands of the industries and heat demand of the community. A multi-objective optimization has been used to investigate the Pareto-optimal trade-offs that exist between low electricity costs and investment cost. The resulting polygeneration plant designs conclude that it is feasible toproduce 18 and 25 MW of power while at the same time supplying the process steam required by the nearby industries and district heating for the community. The results also shown that it is feasible to operate the plant more hours per year by producing pellets and it could be possible to generate additional district heating (up to 25 ton/h of hot water) to cover the demands of a growing community.

Biomass-based fuels have attracted worldwide interest due to their plentiful supply and their environmentally friendly characteristics. In many cases they are still considered waste but for most industries in Sweden, biomass has changed from being simply a disposal problem to become an important part of the energy supply, thanks to the long-term efforts made by the government, researchers and industry, where energy policies have played an important role. However, the amount of power that could be generated from biomass resources is much greater than that which is currently used. To effectively capture this resource requires a new generation of biomass power plants and their effective integration into already existing industrial processes.The implementation of an integrated polygeneration scheme requires the simultaneous consideration of technical, economic and environmental factors to find optimum solutions. With this in mind, a unified modeling approach that takes into account thermodynamic as well as economic and environmental aspects was used. The analysis was done using ASPEN Utilitiesand the MATLAB optimization toolbox. A specific case of a sawmill in Sweden, with an annual capacity of 130’000 m3 of sawn wood, has been analyzed and different options for generating electricity and process heat (for the sawmill and fora district heating network) as well as densified biofuels was analyzed. Optimization was then applied for different configurations and operational parameters. The results show that the sawmill has the capability to not only supply its own energy needs, but also to export from 0.4 to 1MW of electricity to the grid, contribute 5 to 6 MWth of district heating and 20 000 ton/y of biomass pellets. The production of pellets helps to maintain the electricity production throughout the year when the district heating demand is lower. However, the levelized electricity cost is higher than the usual electricity price in the Nordic electricity market and may have difficulty to competing with low-cost electricity sources, such as nuclear energy and hydropower. Inspite of this, polygeneration remains attractive for covering the energy demands of the sawmill and pelletization plant.

Agricultural residues continue to attract interest for energy recovery purposes as a renewable, CO₂ neutral and increasingly cost-competitive alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Furthermore, some of these residues, like palm oil residues, represent a disposal problem for the processing industries, or they are not used efficiently. Several palm oil mills (POM) lack efficient energy systems and thus there is a considerable potential for improvement. These factors represent a strong driving force for the development of innovative polygeneration plants with combined electricity, heat and refined fuel production based on conversion of solid residues. This paper aims at analyzing the use of agro-industrial residues as fuel. For that, we propose different technology configurations based on the case of a small-scale palm oil mill in Colombia processing 30 tons of fresh fruit bunch per hour. The technology configurations include steam cycles using backpressure turbines, condensing-extraction turbines and also gasification-gas engine cycles in hybrid configurations. The possibilities to produce pellets from the residues from palm oil were also analyzed. The steam cycle base operational parameters were 20 bar and 350 °C. However, more advanced steam conditions (40 bar) were also considered and evaluated. All the analyses performed included a maximum of 60 % of the empty fruit bunch (EFB) produced in the POM for energy purposes due to its value as natural fertilizer in the palm oil plantations. The results show that the POM under study and other POMs that use electricity from the national grid have the capacity of being self-sufficient to cover of all their energy needs using the solid residues available. This means that POMs that currently only generate the required heat for the process can generate the electricity required and in some cases even an excess of energy that could be sold to other users with an adequate use of the residues available. Furthermore, based on the modeling done in Aspen Utilities Planner® it is shown that it is possible to cover the demand of the POM, the required energy demand for EFB preparation included possible pelletization of these residues and even generate an excess of electricity. In several of the configurations, excess electricity generation could be achieved in the range of 0.5–8 MW.

The actual Brazilian rural electrification program has benefited more than 14 million people since its inception in 2003. However, 900 thousand people are still without electricity services in the isolated areas of the Amazon region. In general, the program has used a grid-based technology to provide electricity to new users in Brazil. In the Amazon, challenges are related to the provision of services in isolated areas where grid extension is not viable. Reaching this population in their local environment and promoting their development is important. Aware of the importance of electricity services to the country’s development, the Brazilian government has recognized the need for implementing different energy technologies to generate power in isolated areas. However, there is an institutional gap that needs to be addressed.

This paper explores the Social Technology concept and analyzes how it can support the current Brazilian rural electrification initiative. This concept provides a different view on how the relationships between institutions and technology could evolve in the Amazon region. In this direction, we elaborate on twelve implications of Social Technology implementation and analyze how they can contribute to deliver electricity services and guarantee valuable social impacts for the region. Can Social Technology principles help to identify concrete tasks to overcome the actual institutional shortcoming to achieve universal access in the Amazon? How to effectively incorporate them into the current Brazilian rural electrification initiative, considering local realities of isolated communities?

The fact that achieving universal energy access has a significant impact on human development provides a starting point for our analysis. In the first section, we introduce challenges that the Brazilian government are facing in connection to universal access achievements in isolated areas, in the second section, we present the Social Technology concept and discuss its implications using the case of the isolated areas in Brazil to exemplify them. In the third section we analyze interconnections between structural components of Social Technology and the Brazilian rural electrification program and identify key actions to enhance rural electrification in isolated areas. Finally, we conclude with the identification of two concrete actions to achieve universal access in isolated areas and boost national development targets. First, local knowledge needs to be recognized, systematized and included in planning, implementation and monitoring of rural electrification projects. Second, effective communication channels need to be considered in the process. Participatory activities are crucial and transversal to possible solutions and provide the basis for a new and comprehensive institutional framework. We highlight the role of the government at central and local levels for the purpose of setting up the appropriate environment for these changes to happen.

Agricultural residues offer the possibility of reducing fossil fuel consumption, increasing energy security, and lowering  greenhouse gas emissions. However, certain residues, like palm oil residues, either represent a disposal problem for the processing industries or they are not used and thus, there is a considerable potential for improvement. These factors represent a strong driving force for the development of innovative polygeneration plants based on solid residues. This paper considers an energy analysis of a Palm Oil Mill (POM) in Colombia processing 30 ton of Fresh Fruit Bunch per hour (FFB/h).  Different heat and power generation options were considered with solid residues as feedstock. These configurations included steam cycles using backpressure or condensing-extraction turbines.  The possibilities to produce pellets from the residues and biodiesel from palm oil were also analyzed.  The steam cycle base operational parameters were 20 bar and 350 °C. More advanced steam conditions (40 bar) were also considered. The results show that it is possible to cover the demand of the POM and the required energy demand for residues preparation including possible pelletization and also biodiesel production. It is possible to obtain an excess of electricity between 0.4 and 3 MW if only residues are used.