Poland’s rural areas are characterised by a significant degree of development diversity, especially in the case of communes—the smallest territorial units. For development to take place, the entity responsible for its creation must incur the necessary investment expenditures. By implementing the public tasks assigned to them, communes are responsible for ensuring sustainable local development, which indirectly affects regional development and shapes the development of the entire country. Therefore, this article aims to assess the level and diversity of rural commune investment activities and their impact on the development of Poland’s rural areas. The empirical research conducted was aimed at verifying the following hypothesis: “The highest investment activity can be observed primarily in rural communes located in Eastern Poland”. The Regions of Eastern Poland are characterised by their peripheral location, both in the country and all of the EU. The research covered the 2007−2018 perio... [more]

This study has compared Japan’s major electricity and gas companies in terms of their corporate performance measures from 2002 to 2018 using three types of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approaches. We develop a new type of efficiency measures and indexes for DEA and then compare the performance of major electric power companies and city gas companies by examining a recent data set that include years after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. The data set incorporates the number of patents as an output that represents companies’ capability for technology innovation to investigate intertemporal changes of efficiency through index measures. The results provide us with two important findings. First, the electricity industry has experienced long-term difficulty due to the nuclear plant disaster; while the gas industry experienced less difficulty from the accident. Second, both industries have been gradually improving performance measures in recent years. However, the gas in... [more]

Energy poverty is a multidimensional and continuously growing societal problem, with political roots. In pursuit of mitigating the problem, the European Commission has adopted a bundle of policies, such as consumer protection measures, short-term financial interventions, motivations for energy efficiency (e.g., energy retrofits and replacement of old household appliance) and information campaigns, among others. There is no doubt, however, that increasing the income of vulnerable households would be the most preferred and effective option. Focusing on energy efficiency, a measure typically incorporated in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of many Member States as a means to fight energy poverty, this paper aims to shed light on the need to gradually move towards more localized—not to say personalized—actions. In this direction, a labeled choice-based experiment is used, which involves a hypothetical selection between three alternative energy interventions, i.e., house retrof... [more]

Soon after the UK’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme providing incentive prices for renewable energy was introduced in 2010, adjustments and modifications were made to eligibility criteria and incentive prices. Prices paid for renewable energy (RE) under the scheme were cut, deployment caps were introduced, and preliminary accreditation and efficiency standards were imposed. Controversy ensued as supporters sought help for the nascent RE technologies, while detractors claimed that the scheme was a wasteful means of reducing greenhouse gases. In this research, we examine how RE was incentivized under the FiT Scheme and its wider impact upon various stakeholders to assess its compatibility with liberalized electricity markets of the UK. We employ a financial performance metric to measure the direct costs of RE in compensation to investors and financial option theory to analyze the externalities of RE generation. As a means of reducing atmospheric CO2, the FiT Scheme was expensive, and the ext... [more]

The research reported here aims to investigate the pro-environmental behavior of respondents in the context of the concept of homo socio-oeconomicus. The main research question addressed in this paper considers the pro-environmental behavior of Generation Z representatives, due to the fact that this age group is believed to display different behavior patterns. In order to identify the differences in the pro-environmental behaviors of Generation Z, the results obtained from this group have been confronted with declarations of respondents from an older group (aged 25 to 65). It is worth noting that in the research on pro-environmental behavior of households in Poland conducted so far, Generation Z has not been taken into consideration as a separate demographic, so this study aims to make a contribution to the existing research gap. The data on the surveyed population were obtained through a standardized research questionnaire. The survey was carried out using the internet surveying techn... [more]

Supply chain management aims to integrate environmental thinking with efficient energy consumption into supply chain management. It includes a flexible manufacturing process, more product delivery to customers, optimum energy consumption, and reduced waste. The manufacturing process can be made more flexible through volume agility. In this scenario, production cannot be constant, and with the concept of volume agility, production is taken as a decision variable under the effect of optimum energy consumption. Considering a two-echelon supply chain, we consider a producer and supplier with two-level-trade-credit policies (TLTCP) with the optimum consumption. To reduce the integrated total inventory cost, we believe that demand is a function of the credit period and selling price. The cost function is analyzed, either with the credit period dependent demand rate or with the selling price dependent demand rate through the numerical examples under energy costs. Energy and carbon emission co... [more]

The transformation of the European electricity system could generate unintended environment-related trade-offs, e.g., between greenhouse gas emissions and metal depletion. The question thus emerges, how to shape policy packages considering climate change, but without neglecting other environmental and resource-related impacts. In this context, this study analyzes the impacts of different settings of potential policy targets using a multi-criteria analysis in the frame of a coupled energy system and life cycle assessment model. The focus is on the interrelationship between climate change and metal depletion in the future European decarbonized electricity system in 2050, also taking into account total system expenditures of transforming the energy system. The study shows, firstly, that highly ambitious climate policy targets will not allow for any specific resource policy targets. Secondly, smoothing the trade-off is only possible to the extent of one of the policy targets, whereas, thir... [more]

Clean energy for all, as listed in the United Nation’s SDG7, is a key component for sustainable environmental development. Therefore, it is imperative to uncover the environmental implications of alternative energy technologies. SustainableGAS project simulates different process chains for the substitution of natural gas with renewable energies in the German gas market. The project follows an interdisciplinary approach, taking into account techno-social and environmental variabilities. However, this research highlights the project results from the environmental perspective. So far, a detailed assessment of the environmental costs of alternative gas technologies with a focus on the process of energy transition has remained rare. Although such data constitute key inputs for decision-making, this study helps to bridge a substantial knowledge gap. Competing land-use systems are examined to secure central ecosystem services. To fulfill this obligation, an Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem S... [more]

The experience of operating an energy-related Living Lab (LL) in mountainous Greece is presented in this paper in an attempt to explore the dynamics of such initiatives to address energy vulnerability. The LL is situated in Metsovo, which is a typical mountainous town of Greece with increased vulnerability issues identified in previous studies. Since Greek mountainous societies have proved to be particularly exposed to energy poverty, the LL aimed to function as an exemplary case on how to tackle energy poverty issues in mountainous regions, mainly through reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency. The methodological context was based on a holistic LL approach consisting of various activities, such as conduction of energy cafés, questionnaire surveys, home visits from Energy Advisors, installation of monitoring equipment, ICT tools and processing, etc. In particular, the LL consisted of three independent rounds, each of which involved 50 households, with 30 of them be... [more]

The process of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and cutting CO2 emissions by 2030 by 55% compared to 1990 as per the EU Green Deal is highly complex. The energy mix must be changed to ensure long-term environmental sustainability, mainly by closing down coal sites, while preserving the energy-intensive short-term economic growth, ensuring social equity, and opening opportunities for regions diminishing in population and potential. Romania is currently in the position of deciding the optimal way forward in this challenging societal shift while morphing to evidence-based policy-making and anticipatory governance, mainly in its two coal-mining regions. This article provides possible future scenarios for tackling this complex issue in Romania through a three-pronged, staggered, methodology: (1) clustering Romania with other similar countries from the point of view of the Just Transition efforts (i.e., the energy mix and the socio-economic parameters), (2) analyzing Romania’s potential ev... [more]

The increased use of renewable energy is imperative as a countermeasure to climate change. As with conventional electricity generation technologies, public acceptance of renewables is an important issue, and willingness to pay (WTP) is a widely used indicator to assess such public attitudes. Unfortunately, the literature to date mostly covers developed countries, with few WTP surveys in developing countries. Tackling climate change is an urgent issue for these developing countries; therefore, understanding of public attitudes toward renewables in developing countries is crucial. This study conducted the first survey on WTP for introducing renewable energy in Myanmar. Although Myanmar boasts abundant renewable energy resources, including solar power and biomass in addition to large-scale hydro plants, its resources are not being properly utilized to generate electricity. This study surveyed WTP for power generation by solar photovoltaics, small hydropower, and biomass facilities. The re... [more]

The demand for clean energy is a key global issue requiring global ideas to be implemented through local action. This is particularly important in Poland’s energy transition, since the country produces energy mainly from conventional sources, i.e., coal, gas, and crude oil. Adverse climate change caused by high emissions of the economy based on the combustion of hydrocarbons as well as the growing public awareness have made it necessary to look for new environmentally friendly energy sources. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that the use of alternative energy sources, biomass in particular, is compatible with sustainable development policy. Eight indicators for the EU-28 and for Poland were analysed in order to verify the progress in modifying the energy mix between 2010 and 2018 in the context of implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The analysis showed that both in the EU-28 and in Poland, the aggregated indicator taking into account the positive and negative chang... [more]

As new grid edge technologies emerge—such as rooftop solar panels, battery storage, and controllable water heaters—quantifying the uncertainties of building load forecasts is becoming more critical. The recent adoption of smart meter infrastructures provided new granular data streams, largely unavailable just ten years ago, that can be utilized to better forecast building-level demand. This paper uses Bayesian Structural Time Series for probabilistic load forecasting at the residential building level to capture uncertainties in forecasting. We use sub-hourly electrical submeter data from 120 residential apartments in Singapore that were part of a behavioral intervention study. The proposed model addresses several fundamental limitations through its flexibility to handle univariate and multivariate scenarios, perform feature selection, and include either static or dynamic effects, as well as its inherent applicability for measurement and verification. We highlight the benefits of this p... [more]

To improve access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in rural areas of the global south, off-grid systems using renewable generation and energy storage are often proposed. However, solution design is often technology-driven, with insufficient consideration of social and cultural contexts. This leads to a risk of unintended consequences and inappropriate systems that do not meet local needs. To address this problem, this paper describes the application of a capabilities-led approach to understanding a community’s multi-dimensional energy poverty and assessing their needs as they see them, in order to better design suitable technological interventions. Data were collected in Tlamacazapa, Mexico, through site visits and focus groups with men and women. These revealed the ways in which constrained energy services undermined essential capabilities, including relating to health, safety, relationships and earning a living, and highlighted the specific ways in which improved energy... [more]

The paper analyzes the impact of energy consumption on the three pillars of sustainable development in 74 countries. The main methodological challenge in this research is the choice of a single integral indicator for assessing the social component of sustainable development. Disability-adjusted life year (DALY), ecological footprint, and GDP (Gross domestic product) are used to characterize the social, ecological, and economical pillars. The concept of physics, namely the concept of density (specific gravity), is used. It characterizes the ratio of the mass of a substance to its volume, i.e., reflects the saturation of a certain volume with this substance. Thus, to assess the relationship between energy consumption and the three foundations of sustainable development, it is proposed to determine the energy density of the indicators DALY, the ecological footprint, and GDP. The reaction to changes in energy consumption is described by the elasticity of energy density functions, calculate... [more]

This article substantiates the need to find and implement innovative tools to improve the efficiency of the domestic system for energy sector control. The authors determined that energy policy renewal should consider Ukraine’s commitments to transition to a carbon-neutral economy. The systematization of scientific achievements shows that one of the priority tasks is to minimize the gaps in the energy efficiency of the national economy. It is established that, despite the significant scientific achievements in this area, the scientific community has not adopted a single approach to assessing energy efficiency yet. The purpose of this article is to assess the energy efficiency gaps in the national economy, in order to identify their peak values and the factors causing them, and appropriate mechanisms to minimize them. The energy efficiency gaps are assessed using frontal analysis and Shepard’s energy distance function. Analytical data from the World Bank, the Swiss Institute of Economics... [more]

Web portals have the potential to promote sustainable environmental ideas due to the capacity of digital media, such as easy accessibility, openness, and networking. Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for activating carbon savings in homes, and they are key actors when it comes to providing neutral information to their citizens. Local authority web portals may thus create environmental awareness, particularly regarding owner-occupied single-family home renovation. Nevertheless, the experiences of LAs developing web portals have rarely been studied. Therefore, this paper analyses the development process of various LA web modules and investigates how LAs foster modular web portals to stimulate the adoption of home renovation with parameters to assess LAs’ actions in terms of the management of web-modules development. A homeowner renovation journey model is applied to map current local authority developments. Case study research and interviews were done to analyse and evaluate the ad... [more]

The United Kingdom has declared a climate change policy of 100% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Efforts thus far have been limited solely to electricity generation methods. While progress has been admirable, effort now must be directed at the nation’s non-electrical energy use. Nuclear energy is an essential part of any energy future, since it is low-carbon, firm and supplies synchronous electricity; however the nation’s nuclear strategy to date has been erratic, costly and lacking in strategic oversight. A multitude of reactor designs are on offer for potential uptake, and decision-makers must have clarity of vision on what these systems must deliver before forming a strategy. Choosing between these systems, given the uncharted energy future faced by the UK is a daunting prospect. Generic feasibility assessment offers a tool for decision-makers to assist them in selecting the most suitable nuclear system for chosen future conditions. Generic feasibility assessment offer... [more]

This paper aims to identify the determinants of the decarbonisation processes in Poland within the scope of energy transformation. The purpose of the study is to identify how the public perceives decarbonisation determinants in order to develop a sustainable energy strategy for Poland. The transition of the energy market to low-carbon technology is a policy challenge. Governments must implement policies that are environmentally friendly, cost-effective, but, most of all, socially acceptable. Social acceptance risk plays a significant role in Poland, influencing the decarbonisation process. In Poland’s case, the coal share is decreasing, but it is still the most important fuel for electricity production. This process of decarbonisation is a fundamental influence on the transformation of the energy sector in Poland. The social perception of solutions that can be applied was examined. The Polish natural environment is poisoned. Poles suffer from diseases related to the burning of coal for... [more]

The expansion of photovoltaics in German cities has so far fallen short of expectations. The concept of ‘tenant electricity’ (‘Mieterstrom’ in German), in which tenants of a building are supplied with solar power produced on site, offers great potential here. A study on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy estimated the number of tenant households with good conditions for solar tenant electricity at 3.8 million. At the same time, the federal tenant electricity promotion scheme has been in place since 2017, but only about 1% of the annual budget has been claimed. The aim of this study is to identify the barriers for and drivers of diffusion of the tenant electricity model. To this end, a qualitative document analysis and a range of semi-structured expert interviews have been conducted. The theoretical framework used to guide the analysis is the multi-level perspective. The main barrier found for tenant electricity diffusion is the legal framework on the... [more]

Wind power generators face risks derived from fluctuations in market prices and variability in power production, generated by their high dependence on wind speed. These risks could be hedged using weather financial instruments. In this research, we design and price an up-and-in European wind put barrier option using Monte Carlo simulation. Under the existence of a structured weather market, wind producers may purchase an up-and-in European wind barrier put option to hedge wind fluctuations, allowing them to recover their investments and maximise their profits. We use a wind speed index as the underlying index of the barrier option, which captures risk from wind power generation and the Autoregressive Fractionally Integrated Moving Average (ARFIMA) to model the wind speed. This methodology is applied in the Colombian context, an electricity market affected by the El Niño phenomenon. We find that when the El Niño phenomenon occurs, there are incentives for wind generators to sell their e... [more]

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a pandemic around the world and has huge impacts on our economic and social systems, particularly on the healthcare system and the transportation and energy sectors. To examine a relationship between healthcare and energy sectors in the COVID-19 era, we propose a holistic application of Data Envelopment Analysis for Environmental Assessment (DEA-EA) to assess the COVID-19 response performance of 33 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations and investigate whether health insurance systems contribute to the performance. We also associate the performance with mobility, which is an energy consumption measure, to test the relationship through statistical analyses. In the DEA-EA, particularly, this study incorporates undesirable outputs (i.e., the number of confirmed cases and that of deaths) as well as desirable outputs (i.e., the number of total recovered people and that of total tested people) during April 2020 as the... [more]

The development of a complete system of indicators and a composite sustainable energy index could prove useful to evaluate both the state of the art and the progress of national energy towards sustainable development. However, in the case of energy sustainability, a knowledge gap arises due to incomplete coverage and lack of systematic focus on sustainability components. The objective of our research is to obtain Sustainable Energy Development Aggregated Index to rank the EU Member States on the path to sustainable energy. We propose a set of indicators related to sustainable development in energy policy in the EU-28, grouped in three dimensions: social, economic and environmental and apply the standardized sums method in order to obtain the dimensional and aggregated indexes. The countries on the podium are Denmark, The Netherlands and Austria. The worst-performing countries (with index values below the first quartile) are Estonia, Malta, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria.... [more]

The COVID-19 pandemic represents not just a global health crisis, but may signal the beginning of a new era of economic activity, the potential consequences of which we currently do not fully understand. In this context, the mid-to-long-range impacts of the pandemic on the energy sector have been studied extensively in the last few months. Despite these efforts, the pandemic still raises many open questions concerning the long-term operation and planning of power systems. For instance, how will the pandemic affect the integration of renewable energy sources? Should current power system expansion plans change in light of the COVID-19 pandemic? What new tools should be provided to support system operators during global health crises? It is the purpose of this paper to better understand the many aspects of these open questions by reviewing the relevant recent literature and by analyzing measured data. We point out the main challenges that the pandemic introduced by presenting patterns of... [more]

The aim of this article was to identify challenges of emissions trading that the Polish and CEE Central and Eastern Europe energy industry will face, as well as to indicate key implications for the competitiveness of the companies from the energy sector resulting from that trading. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the emissions trading system, which results from the EU policy concerning climate change. It is a tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The system regulates an annual allocation of the allowances. The price of CO2 emission allowances is subject to constant fluctuations because it depends on various macroeconomic factors as well as is an effect of proprietary trading by global investment banks. Polish energy companies have an increasing share in the emission of CO2 in the European market. This is due to the fact that other European countries are rapidly moving away from fossil fuel-fired sources. The cost per MWh related to CO2 price has been growing in the... [more]