M.Sc. (Geography) / Over the last three years, a number of environmental impact assessment reports (EIARs) pertaining to renewable energy (RE) projects have been submitted for environmental authorisation in South Africa. However, the quality of EIARs have been criticised internationally as well as in South Africa. Poor quality EIARs has the potential to negatively impact environmental decision-making processes and therefore it is vital to provide baseline data regarding the appraisal of such EIARs in South Africa. The present study has evaluated the quality of basic assessment reports (BARs) dealing with RE projects in South Africa. This is crucial in providing key insights to environmental management practice, especially if we are to determine whether or not RE projects have the potential to achieve sustainable development goals linked to clean development mechanisms (CDMs). Apart from assessing quality aspects, the goal of the study was also to analyse the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the EIARs involved. To address the research problem adequately, the Lee-Colley Review Package was utilised with minor adaptations where feasible. Based on the analyses derived from the review package selected, the overall quality of EIARs was found to be 70% satisfactory whilst 80% of the overall scores were borderline quality grades. The review areas pertaining to the description of the development and environment, together with the identification and evaluation of impacts, were better performed than the review areas concerning alternatives, mitigation measures and communication aspects of the EIARs. The strengths of the EIA processes related to the description of the project (purpose, objectives and nature) and site descriptions. Weaknesses of EIARs pertaining to RE projects were identified as insufficient non-technical summaries and poor summaries of the main issues. The review categories pertaining to waste management, mitigation measures and emphasis were not graded as weaknesses of the EIARs. Nevertheless, low numbers of satisfactory quality scores were documented for these review categories, which are particularly concerning. The fairly marginal quality of EIARs pertaining to RE projects may be attributed to lack of sufficient (human resources) capacity and transparency throughout the EIA process in South Africa. These aspects became evident through vague descriptions of impact prediction methods, insufficient elucidation of mitigation measures, a high degree of subjectivity and generally poor communication of EIA results to stakeholders involved. Apart from these findings, the study also made some recommendations for further studies such as the need to examine the following EIA aspects, namely, (1) the characterisation and reduction of elements of subjectivity within existing reports, (2) an assessment of the effectiveness of screening processes in South Africa and (3) the identification of obstacles and barriers hindering effective communication in the presentation of EIA results.

As part of the fight against global warming, the European Union has opted for increase in support for renewable energy at the cost of conventional sources. This policy was subsequently implemented into national legislation. At the same time, the Czech Republic has framed an Updated State Energy Policy, which sets out the direction for Czech energy to evolve. This thesis tries to analyze whether the Czech Republic is ready for future energy development or not. This analysis shows that the Czech Republic is not entirely ready to provide energy stability in the context of a transforming market.

South Africa generates more than 90 percent of its total energy capacity through non-renewable sources. With coal forming the predominant energy source, South Africa became the leading carbon emissive nation in Africa, emitting 450 million tonnes of CO2 in 2011. In an international effort to restrict global average temperature rise to 2° C above the average prior the industrial revolution, the Kyoto Protocol has been extended for another 8-year commitment period. This is complementary to an expected resolution of a new legally binding climate change policy in 2015. This policy will aim to introduce financial penalties for nations failing to meet ascribed GHG emission targets by 2020. In an attempt to meet these climate change resolutions South Africa will research and develop cleaner, alternative forms of energy, including hydro, wind, and biomass forms of renewable energy, in addition to designating stringent building regulations for the Incorporation of solar energy. These measures form part of an Integrated evelopment Plan that aims to generate a target of 10,000 GWh of renewable energy in 2013. South Africa is also investigating the possibilities of extracting its shale gas reserves and implementing it as a major energy source. This energy mix has given little attention to geothermal energy. The reasons for this omission appears to be the lack of active volcanism and previous research that suggests South Africa, largely underlain by the Kaapvaal Craton, has a relatively low heat Flow profile, deemed insufficient for harnessing geothermal energy.

Although renewable energy technology has received much attention over recent years the depletion of known fossil fuel reserves and the volatility of international fuel prices require that society looks beyond the current coal-dominated electricity generation methods. Investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency is important to reduce the negative economic, social and environmental impacts of energy production and consumption in South Africa. Currently, renewable energy contributes relatively little to primary energy and even less to the consumption of commercial energy. The challenge of transforming entire economies is enormous, especially if a country is as fossil-fuel-based and emission-intensive as South Africa. However, as it is already facing climate change impacts in an increasingly carbon constrained world; South Africa must drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emission intensity soon. The South African electricity sector is a vital part of the economy and at the same time contributes most to the emission problem. Transforming this sector is therefore urgently needed. First steps have been taken to enhance energy efficiency and promote renewable energy, but they have failed to have any large-scale effects. The two major barriers to investments in renewable energy technologies are based in the South African energy innovation system and its inherent power structures and in the economics of renewable energy technologies. Subsequently the private sector will have to play a significant role in closing the human resources gap by providing funds and expertise. Furthermore, the creation of employment opportunities and actively promoting structural change in the economy are seen, especially in industrialized countries, as goals that support the promotion of renewable energy. Moreover, with more support and assistance from the government and partnership with the private sector will be of immense help to achieve renewable energy goals.

Energy poverty is a concept that has gained significance quite recently. Its significance has been prompted by the realization that without sustainable modern energy alternatives for the rural poor, prospects for rural transformation remains low. The recognition of modern energy as one of the missing link in rural transformation comes amid the growing concern about the negative effects of relying on traditional energy services and the increasing forecasts that most developing countries are likely to miss their MDG targets by 2015. Drawing on the Modernization and the Sustainable Development Approach, this study concluded that improving the quantity and quality of energy services consumed by the rural poor can counteract rural underdevelopment and enhance rural social and economic transformation in Dewedzo. The study confirmed that energy poor households are prone to various social, economic and environmental detriments such as poor health, hunger, malnutrition, poor education and missed socio economic opportunities. By addressing rural people‟s energy needs, more nexus can be injected into rural productivity and the economic social outputs of this process can in turn increase the pace at which MDGs can be achieved.

With the increase of world population and industrial growth of developing countries, demand for energy, in particular electric power, has gone up at an unprecedented rate over the last decades. To meet the demand, electric power generation by use of fossil fuel has increased enormously thereby producing increased quantity of greenhouse gases. This contributes more and more to atmospheric pollution, which climate scientists believe can adversly affect the global climate, as well as health and the welfare of the world population. In view of these issues, there is global awareness to look for alternate sources of energy such as natural gas, hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. It is recognized that this requires replacement of existing infrastructure with new systems, which cannot be achieved overnight. Optimal control theory has been widely used in diverse areas of physical sciences, medicine, engineering and economics. The main motivation of this thesis is to use this theory to find the optimum strategy for integration of all currently available renewable energy sources with the existing electric power generating systems. The ultimate goal is to eliminate fossil fuels. Eight main energy sources namely, Coal, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Conventional Hydro, Wind, Solar, Geothermal and Biomass are considered in a dynamic model. The state of the dynamic model represents the level of energy generation from each of the sources. Different objective functions are proposed in this thesis. These range from meeting the desired target level of power generation from each of the available sources at the end of a given plan period, to reducing the implementation and investment costs; from minimizing the production from polluted energy sources to meeting the electricity demand during a whole plan period. Official released data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration have been used as a case study. Based on real life data and the mathematics of optimal control theory, we present an optimal policy for integration of renewable energy sources to the national power grid.

Support for photovoltaic plants that originated before 2014, as well as support for renewable energy in general, artificially increases the price of energy and this measure has secondary effects in the form of rising prices of farmland and thus food. The regulation also creates distortions, for example on coal markets, which reduces the demand for this commodity. This thesis deals with the introduction of regulation and analysis of the motivation for the introduction of quotas in the energy policy of the European Union. Subsequent analysis evaluates the intended and unintended effects of regulation, which are not visible at first sight on this issue. The European Commission has so far not planned reassessment of policy support for renewable energy sources.

Present energy situation of the European Union is becoming to be more problematic. At the time when worldwide reserves of primary energy sources -- oil and natural gas -- continue to decrease, most of the EU member states are getting dependent on the imports of energy from foreign sources. One of the main impulses to discussion about new Energy policy of the EU in terms of security of energy supplies was a natural gas crisis between Russia and the Ukraine from January 2009. Russia represents one of the main energy partner of the EU -- it imports majority of oil and natural gas to the european countries. However, energy dependency rate of some of the central and eastern european states on imports of energy sources from Russia arouses concerns. The solution for the European Union proposes diversification of the suppliers aimed to increase energy independence on Russia. Also alternative energy sources or rebirth of nuclear energy can lead to the one-way dependence of the EU on imports of fossil fuels from Russia.

The aim of the thesis is to explain both the practical and theoretical aspects of the current trends in the development of sustainable communities. On the one hand, saving electricity and heat energy standards implementations - passive house, energy+, etc.; on the other hand, the possibilities of local communities supplying renewable electricity and heat in order to reach the highest share of renewable energy. In the practical part I will focus on the implementation of saving measures and the installation of renewable energy sources to a specific community. I will draw from the current architectural trends and the latest technologies for renewable energy sources.

The main goal of this thesis is to evaluate current status of renewable energy sources in China and to reveal current problems of this sector. In the first chapter, renewable energy sources are theoretically defined. In the second chapter, the whole energy sector of China is analysed with emphasis on the role of renewable energy sources, their share on primary energy consumption and their share in electricity production. The last chapter covers sector of wind energy in a detail. It analyses feed in tariffs or issues of energy grid. It also discusses economic profitability of wind power plants, their manufacture industry and overall future potential.