A review on green energy potentials in Iran

Iran is one of the main non-renewable energy producers in the world due to its plentiful fossil fuel resources. Utilization of natural gas and petroleum in transportation and industrial sectors has been developed vastly in Iran because of their low prices. Consequently, the increasing rate of pollutant formation and depletion of non-renewable fuels have emerged as new challenges in the energy scenario of this country. Since Iran has plenty of fossil fuel resources, alternative fuel and renewable resources have not been taken into consideration seriously. This existing trend of fossil fuel utilization is not according to the sustainable development aims which have been adapted for the country. Recently, controlling the unbridled fossil fuel consumption has become one of the main targets of the Iranian Government. A variety of natural resources in different regions of Iran can be applied as the main sources of renewable and sustainable energy (RSE) and considered as the supplementary energy in the energy mix policies. Biofuel, hydropower, wind, solar and geothermal are the main RSE that can be utilized for energy supply. Moreover, regarding the increasing rate of the population, bioenergy generation from waste materials can play a crucial role in sustainability of waste management strategies. In this regard, the present study has been conducted to evaluate renewable energy potentials from various resources in Iran.