Potential of Wind-Solar PV Hybrid Electricity Generation and Application to Electric Vehicles

Sustainable energy supply has become the grand challenge of the twenty-first century from the political, economic and societal point of view (Zandler et al., 2016). The global energy sector (Electricity and transportation) has already caused serious environmental issues because of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions, which are emitted directly or indirectly to the atmosphere. Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions lead to global warming, climate change, environmental pollution and limitations in the conservation of natural resources (Jibran and Mudassar, 2016; Kweku et al., 2017; Gwani and Abubakar, 2016). The utilisation of fossil fuels in energy-related issues is among the biggest culprit of anthropogenic carbon emission accounting for about 70% of the global CO2 emission. Electricity as the backbone of development of any society has already contributed 37.5% of the total CO2 emission in the globe, releasing 7700 million tonnes of CO2 annually. This is an indication that serious transition is necessary for decarbonising electricity across the globe (Moutinho and Robaina, 2016; Safari, 2011; Shata, 2012). Electricity is one of the most widely used forms of energy by humans throughout the world. However, literature scouring has revealed that more than 1.64 billion people in the globe, are living completely without access to electricity, of which the significant percentage coming from rural Africa and Asia (Samsul Alam, 2018; Evangelos et al., 2016). With this significant population living without electricity, one can conclude that, in some countries of the globe, connection to electricity is rather a privilege, not a right. Astoundingly, majority of the population living without electricity across the globe, are low-income houses in the villages where renewable energy resources are readily available and cheaper to explore, when compared with grid expansion (Sampo et al., 2011; Dihrab and Sopian, 2010; Finnveden, 2009).