Sustainable energy targets and the energy transition, To achieve goal 7 of SDGs, that is, for ensuring access to clean and affordable energy, it is required energy transition from non-renewable to renewable sectors through transformation of global energy sector from fossil-fuel based to zero carbon sources. Primary energy are that energy which we find in nature, such as crude oil, gas, coal, uranium, and renewable energy sources (not the electricity they produce) whereas secondary are that energy which is transformed in some different form (after we’ve converted it), such as electricity; refined petroleum products. That is, when we process the primary sources of energy for another form of products, we call it secondary energy.
There are some specific efficiency factors or effectiveness in practice for energy transition. Efficiency factor can be defined as energy output of a system divided by primary energy input in that system, for example electricity produced / energy of coal used. It makes less sense for renewable energy sources since the primary energy source is endless (not finite). However, it informs us about improvement potential. That is, we need an efficient system by which the energy conversion process will be less harmful for the environment.
In discussing consumption dynamics, if we compare OECD and non-OECD countries, we find some growth in OECD countries but is not significantly high whereas non-OECD countries are observing rapid growth in energy consumption. It is may be due to rapid population and economic growth in non-OECD countries. Europe and Asia are highly dependent on oil inputs where Middle East and former Soviet group of countries are exporting a lot of oil globally. An important observation is that although US including Canada and Mexico are oil hungry economies, they are producing a lot of oil and becoming net exporter of oil. But in case of Gas production and consumption, the regions all over the world are almost balanced because the gas transportation system is difficult and expensive. This is because gas is not so much mobile as oil. If we look for coal consumption and production, Asia pacific is nearly self-sufficient. Although it is not difficult to transport coal from one part to other but it is not a profitable for businesses as it has low value. But still there are a lot of trade of coal between Asia pacific countries.
Nevertheless, in case of electricity generation we observed that the share of primary energy is increasing in almost every year to produce electricity. This means that we are trying to electrifying everything. For example, transport sector, industrialization, or even household activities. That is because electricity is the only way for decarbonizing our economy. Electricity is produced by both non-renewable and renewable energy but in order to decarbonize our activities, we have to look forward for how we can generate electricity more and more from renewable sources.
The main demand sides of electricity are industrial production, public lighting, transport, commercial buildings, houses and it is mainly supplied power stations running on coal, gas, oil, nuclear fuels, wind, solar radiation, hydropower, geothermal energy and biomass. The crucial thing here is that how we manage to match demand and supply and timing of this matching is important as well. Because of the lack of storage capacity of electricity due to peculiarity of supply chain, this matching is so important. There are two things to keep in mind in case of storage, such as base load and peak load. Both base and peak load occur in demand curves on a daily, weekly, and annual basis. For example, if we observe the electricity demand curve for typical winter, we find that the curve starts decline from mid-nights and grows from the morning throughout the day until afternoon, then the curve starts a dramatic rise in afternoon till evening as people come home consume more electricity and thereby, decrease in demand. If we look the curves for other seasons, we could look a variety of falls and peaks.
Therefore, during the peak demand of electricity as it needs to match with supply to determine price, price level will bound to rise. It eventually switches our electricity generation system to renewable sources. In electricity supply chain, there are four market segments, such as generation (power stations), transmission (high voltage cables), distribution (low voltage cables) and retail. We often have power stations far from consumption, thus we need to transmit electricity from one area to another because power stations use pollutants which are not good for public health, it needs a lot of space to install, coal based power stations are installed close to coal mining area.
We also need to change the voltage to reduce the thermal losses on power cables. In trading electricity, state agencies forecast demand and ask state controlled facilities to generate electricity that will meet demand. Most often this is done in a minimum cost manner. Often prime resources for electricity generation are state controlled as well (indigenous gas, oil, coal, hydro).
Both base and peak load occur in demand curves on a daily, weekly, and annual basis. For example, we observed the electricity demand curve for typical winter, we found that the curve starts decline from mid-nights and grows from the morning throughout the day until afternoon, then the curve starts a dramatic rise in afternoon till evening as people come home consume more electricity and thereby, decrease in demand. If we look the curves for other seasons, we could look a variety of falls and peaks.
There are other segments like transmission and distribution networks are very infrastructure heavy, thus there is lot less competition. So, there are state entities or private companies who are monopolies control transmission and distribution network depending on country characters. There are also retail market segments that are not producing electricity or they have no connection with the system, such as in UK supermarkets or banks are selling electricity as they have customer facing operations, actually they are arranging contracts for you. There are also independent (state funded) authorities to regulate those market segments.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:
What is the budget allocation for education in Bangladesh?
The budget allocation for education in Bangladesh's education expenditure as a percentage of the GDP was 1.8 per cent in FY2019,the lowest among 28 LDCs and second lowest among 104 countries of the world. 3.FY2025 is 11.88 per cent of the total budget and 1.69 per cent of the GDP.
How much GDP is spent on education in Bangladesh?
In 1979-2023 the latest value 1.78% average 1.73 and min-max 0.94-022. The latest value from 2023 is 1.78 percent, an increase from 1.71 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 4.40 percent, based on data from 63 countries. Historically, the average for Bangladesh from 1979 to 2023 is 1.73 percent. The minimum value, 0.94 percent, was reached in 1980 while the maximum of 2.22 percent was recorded in 2016. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
Source: UNESCO