Holistic review of hybrid renewable energy in circular economy for valorization and management

The world requires genuine endeavors for gradual introduction of sustainable power sources to satisfy the future energy needs. Renewable energy (RE) of enormous capacity exists at various geological locations but suffers from intermittent nature. In such situations, one RE can complement other and improve the system's efficiency. This is an example of valorization where hybridization improves the quality of a commodity. It has been found out that hybrid of two or more technologies, alongside storage can improve framework efficiency. The hybrid energy sources follows up on the idea of circular economy where the circular progression of resource-product-recycled resources is planned for decreasing both the utilization of raw materials and waste generation. It has been found that despite the fact that such projects are expensive at the beginning; in long term they prove to be advantageous. The paper discusses about the hybrids done so far and through case studies and economic analysis. It also suggests which hybrid arrangements can assist each other. The present study examines the major problems associated with hybrid renewable energy and identifies the solutions. The paper comes up with a novel low cost hybrid solution of solar and geothermal which is implemented in the geothermal plant in Gujarat, India. It is discussed that the concept of hybrid renewable energy when put into a circular economy model, would give solutions that are affordable, practical and provides societal benefits. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.