Renewable Energy Technologies for the Developing and Developed Countries Power Sector and Assessment of CO2 Mitigation Potential

Increasing negative effects of fossil fuel combustion on the environment in addition to limited stock have forced many countries to explore and change to environmentally friendly alternatives that are renewable to sustain the increasing energy demand. Two countries have been taken in this study, one developing and other developed. China has abundant sources of renewable energy and is exploiting them for meeting the needs of future energy demand and for creating a sustainable energy structure. As the bulk of population living in the rural areas (over 900 million people), energy development in the countryside is the most important in China. In Germany, the installed capacity of renewable power stations has increased significantly during the last years. The total installed capacity of power stations in Germany has risen due to the newly installed renewable power stations whereas the capacity of conventional power station has decreased since beginning of the 1990s. This paper discusses the renewable energy sources for Chinese and German power sectors and assesses CO₂ mitigation potential of renewable energy technologies. Emissions in kg/KWH and kg/year from coal-fired thermal power plants have been calculated for China and Germany. The CO₂ mitigation of emissions through renewable energy generation has also been estimated.