INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICIES
References13
Abstract
Energy consumption and energy production is the major industry. Energy production and exploring ways of producing energy in an efficient way is necessary. Some countries prefer conventional sources and some have more natural resources so they prefer to produce energy through renewable energy resources (RES). So here in this paper we will discuss some of the energy production sources and their impact on the economy of the state. On the other hand, merits and demerits of the selected energy resource will be discussed. At the end, it will be concluded that which energy production source is efficient more to produce more and cheaper energy.
Introduction:
Nowadays, almost in every part of the part, energy is used in different forms. It has become a need of the people. Life will be stuck if there is no more energy in the world. Energy has become an important factor and it is the requirement for the economic growth of any country. Energy is the Greek work derived from the word “en-ergon” which means “in-work” (Khan 2006, p.1).
Energy needs are fulfilled through various means. Energy resources are classified into different classes. Some of them are conventional, non-conventional, renewable and non renewable resources (Chauhan 2007, p.2). Energy is also classified as primary, secondary and intermediate classes based on the usability of sources (Khan 2006, p.3).
Findings and Analysis
Total energy produced at present is approximately estimated as 402 Exa Joules. Out of which 22% approximately is consumed by USA and only 2.6% is used by India, which is 17 % of the world’s population (Khan 2006, p.1). With the help of researches, energy consumption of primary energy resources is shown in fig 1.1 in which it is observed that energy production of coal and gas in used more than any other energy. But later on we will see that non conventional renewable energy resources provide major part of the energy.
However, this percentage is different in some research books. More percentage of desired energy is produced through nonconventional renewable energy sources and they are promoted more due some reasons. Some are that they not pollutant to the environment and hence nature is free from pollution. Second reason is, RES (renewable energy sources) are easily found in nature and are not affected by the usage so there is no need to worry about the shortage of resources.
Hence, energy resources in an important topic to study as it make economy strong and at present, cycle of life cannot run without it.
Demographic analysis:
Through different researches it was observed that Gorlice district is rich in natural resources. In Gorlice district, there are 9 active oil pools, 6 active natural gas deposits and natural springs of mineral water should also be added in natural resources although they are located in Wysowa and Wapienne (Pochitonow N.Y, p.30). Also 43% of the total area constitutes of the forests and all of the forest is supervised by inspection teams present there (Pochitonow N.Y, p.30).
Hence Gorlice district has enough natural resource, but still need of energy is fulfilled through other conventional and nonconventional resources. But there is hope that renewable energy resources will take over the production of energy and RES (renewable energy resources) will be preferred.
Renewable energy resources:
One of the categories of energy resources is renewable energy resource. Such resources are renewed by nature again and again and their usage is not affected by the rate of their consumption (Khan 2006, p.1). Some of the renewable energy resources are biomass, wind, solar, hydro-power and geo-thermal energy resources. Renewable energy resources supply fifteen % to 20 % of the world’s total energy (Herzog et.al 2001, p.9). Besides this, report shows that in Gorlice, renewable energy resources plays important role and usage of these sources is increasing. Moreover, till 2011, 11.2 % of the total primary energy production i.e. 2906.5 PJ was produced through renewable energy resources and it has increased and now it is upto13 % of the total energy (Zochowska et.al 2012, n.p). There are many forms of renewable energy resources as mentioned above. They are produced and used in different ratios. One of them used and supplied is biomass as it is more economical among all others (Zochowska et.al 2012, n.p). Statistics through research shows that as people are getting aware of the benefits of the renewable energy resources. They prefer to go for the production of energy through such sources. Also through research, it is shown that Installation of renewable energy resources is increasing. Stats from 2006-2011 is shown below
Hence with different analytical tools it will be observed in later studies that what are the impacts of the RES? And what are the impacts of the exploration of RES on the energy policy of the Gorlice district. Moreover, proceeding towards next, we will discuss that how biomass RES is produced and from what sources this energy is acquired?
How energy is produced through biomass renewable energy resources:
Complete procedure of biomass RES flow chart is shown below
As it can be seen that wood of the forest is not used in the production of energy but also used for the other tasks. As we are dealing with production and impacts of the non conventional renewable energy resources so, observing the figure shows that wood of the forest after harvesting is converted through processing into bio fuels and energy services then needs of the users are fulfilled in a very effective way. Hence as shown by the study that biomass RES is easy and straight forward and natural resources are required in it.
There are certain factors that are the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of biomass renewable energy that will be discussed in our paper to elaborate the potential and impacts of the RES. Hence selected place for the SWOT analysis is Gorlice district which is city of South Eastern Poland. It is selected because it is rich by renewable energy sources. So in our paper, we will study the potentials of renewable energy resources and their impact on the policies of Gorlice district.
SWOT analysis:
Moving towards our analysis, it is essential here to mention that Biomass energy resource is selected from the renewable energy resources for the SWOT analysis. It is selected because according to the research report, highest share constituted by any RES was by biomass renewable energy resource. Its share was about 85.57% in the year 2011 (Zochowska et.al 2012, n.p).
Strength of the Biomass RES
In Gorlice district, Biomass energy resource is the major source of energy. Its strength in the district is the forestry, wood processing industry and agriculture (Amariei 2012, p.29). In research papers, quoted per year energy production through biomass renewable energy resource is 3260 TJ (Amariei 2012, p.29).
Another major potential of the biomass RES is that its efficiency is 100 % which means that it has no losses. Energy source with no loss and has vast exploration sources are the most preferable renewable energy resource in Gorlice (Pochitonow N.Y, p.64). In addition, strength of biomass RES is that all non conventional resources including biomass renewable energy resource is free from the pollution. Hence, it is environment friendly. In a nutshell, the major strength of the biomass energy resource is the wood of the forest as there are numerous in Gorlice district.
Weakness of Biomass RES
Biomass renewable energy resource is no doubt found naturally but it is one of the non conventional sources and found in dilute form so harnessing is the problem in this renewable energy resource. Hence, its availability is easy as it is naturally found but costs more than some other non conventional sources (Khan 2006, p.8).
Other than harnessing problem discussed above, there is another weakness in biomass renewable energy resource. There is uncertainty of availability i.e. the flow depends on various natural resources. As natural resources are out of reach from human control so there is always a fear of end of production of energy (Khan 2006, p.9).
Along with benefits, there are demerits of biomass RES. Other than mentioned above there is another problem as discussed by Khan (2006) is the difficulty in transporting this kind of RES. Source of biomass RES is mainly woods so transporting this form of energy also costs more from woods to the area where it is needed (p.9).
Hence all these demerits are the real weakness of biomass RES. Government of Gorlice district should overcome of these weaknesses otherwise they will be real threats for the production of the other renewable resources.
Threats of biomass RES:
There are some real threats for the production of the biomass RES. First of them is that forests are the property of the state but if forests are privatized then it will be real threat for the production unit of the biomass RES. Actually privatizing the forests will cost the makers and as a result renewable energy source will be more costly. Hence, increase in its production cost will make it worst among other RES and its production will not be preferred (Pochitonow N.Y, p.94).
Another threat for biomass renewable energy resource will be policy changes by the state. Policy changes can affect the production of the biomass energy. As policy changes can make changes in the deal with the state and hence the production cost will be affected. As mentioned before, when cheap renewable energy resource is available with increase in the production cost, then its production is affected. If its production is affected, as discussed above that biomass is the largest source of energy in Gorlice, so that will be the real threat for the Gorlice district (Pochitonow N.Y, p.95).
Hence to overcome these threats, there is need to focus on the policies and state of Gorlice should cooperate with production unit so that renewable energy resource that is beneficial for the district can produce more and more energy to fulfill the needs.
Opportunities
Besides all threats and weaknesses in the biomass energy production, still there are some benefits and opportunities. Natural resources, however, are enormous in nature but still if there is shortage of the raw material then this could be a threat for the biomass energy production. This can be changed into an opportunity, if wood is import from other countries or states. It can make availability of more raw materials and hence production unit can efficiently produce the biomass energy (Pochitonow N.Y, p.94).
As biomass involves wood combustion so there is an opportunity of supplying cheaper energy to the users. Its production has more share percentage in the supply of energy than other non conventional renewable energy sources so it could be an opportunity for the state to supply more and more energy with very cheap cost (Pochitonow N.Y, p.94).
Hence biomass RES is still economical for the district but it can be made more stable and economical source of energy production by making better and beneficial policies that will be helpful for the energy suppliers and users. These opportunities can also lead biomass energy production to be more helpful in the economic growth of the state and district.
Conclusion:
Energy is need of the today’s era so its production is important and duty of the state. As we have seen different sources of the production of the energy. We discussed procedure of some of the resources that are easy to access and are cheap in the production. We discussed in this paper, the demographic analysis of Gorlice district whose SWOT analysis was required. We showed by doing research, the resources that are present naturally and manmade. Biomass is one of the major sources of energy in Gorlice district.
Later on through research it was shown that how potentially biomass RES has impacted the district and what kind of threats district can face. With all these observations we showed some of the opportunities and steps that if taken can possibly help out in making the resources out of shortage so that the cheap energy production can be continued.
Hence, to conclude all our discussion it can be conclude that non conventional renewable energy resources are, somehow, easy to produce energy as they do not require some special setup. Moreover, natural resources are used in the production of energy and beneficial for the state and district as such resources are nature friendly.
References
Amariei, D., & Bachler, J. (2012). 3.1.10 Transnational Comparative SWOT Results. CENTRAL EUROPE Programme.
Chauhan, D. S. (2007). Non-Conventional Energy Resources. New Age International
Herzog, A. V., Lipman, T. E., & Kammen, D. M. (2001). Renewable energy sources. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Forerunner Volume-‘Perspectives and Overview of Life Support Systems and Sustainable Development.
Khan, B. H. (2006). Non-conventional energy resources. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Pochitonow, Z. D., & Szymusik, B. i. (n.d.). A SWOT Analysis for Renewable Energy Sources and Efficiency in the Administrative District of Gorlice.
Zochowska, M., Kingsbury, A., & Kobuszynska, M. (2012). Renewable Energy and Bio-fuel Situation in Poland. Poland: Global Agricultural information Network.
