The municipality of Amsterdam has set stringent carbon emission reduction targets: 55% by 2030 and 95% by 2050 for the entire metropolitan area. One of the key strategies to achieve these goals entails a disconnection of all households from the natural gas supply by 2040 and connecting them to the existing city-wide heat grid. This paper aims to demonstrate the value of considering local energy potentials at the city block level by exploring the potential of a rooftop greenhouse solar collector as a renewable alternative to centralized district heating. An existing supermarket and an ATES component complete this local energy synergy. The thermal energy balance of the three urban functions were determined and integrated into hourly energy profiles to locate and quantify the simultaneous and mismatched discrepancies between energy excess and demand. The excess thermal energy extracted from one 850 m2 greenhouse can sustain up to 47 dwellings, provided it is kept under specific interior c... [more]

Roadmaps for India’s energy future foresee that coal power will continue to play a considerable role until the middle of the 21st century. Among other options, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is being considered as a potential technology for decarbonising the power sector. Consequently, it is important to quantify the relative benefits and trade-offs of coal-CCS in comparison to its competing renewable power sources from multiple sustainability perspectives. In this paper, we assess coal-CCS pathways in India up to 2050 and compare coal-CCS with conventional coal, solar PV and wind power sources through an integrated assessment approach coupled with a nexus perspective (energy-cost-climate-water nexus). Our levelized costs assessment reveals that coal-CCS is expensive and significant cost reductions would be needed for CCS to compete in the Indian power market. In addition, although carbon pricing could make coal-CCS competitive in relation to conventional coal power plants, it cannot... [more]

This article analyses actors in the storage niche during the German electricity transition. Thus, we develop a more differentiated understanding of actors and their storage activities. For that, we employ the analytical multi-level-perspective (MLP) framework to focus on interactions between old and new storage technologies. Using data from expert interviews, we investigate whether the storage pathway resembles any of the four ideal types of transition pathways for interactions between niche and regime. Through our interviews, we identify five types of actor in the storage market: Big 4 (EnBW, RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall), project developers, innovative municipal utilities, small rural municipal utilities and independent green electricity providers. For each actor, we analyse four main aspects (1) previous orientation and motivation, (2) structural strategies, (3) institutional strategies, and (4) product-related strategies. Parallel to the classification of actors, we also classify availabl... [more]

Solar photovoltaics (PV) deployment is not easy in dense urban areas because there is little space for the installation. Furthermore, tenants have few incentives to install PV panels because they frequently relocate, and most PV facilities are nonremovable. To address these factors, this study reports on an innovative model that collectively installed 260 W of mini-PV on the balconies of almost all the households in two high-rise apartment complexes in Seoul, South Korea. This project was unique in that it established energy commons in a community using private space. This study found that economic and social factors significantly influenced community-internal or micro factors, which in turn affected the success of the community energy project. Economic factors such as the expected economic benefit and residents paying no direct installation costs shaped the initial conditions for the commencement of the project. Leadership played a key role by speeding up the process, relieving reside... [more]

Carbon leakage features prominently in the climate policy debate in economies implementing climate policies, especially in the EU. The imposition of carbon pricing impacts negatively the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries, inducing their relocation to countries with weaker environmental regulation. Unilateral climate policy may complement domestic emissions pricing with border carbon adjustment to reduce leakage and protect the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing. Here, we use an enhanced version of GEM-E3-FIT model to assess the macro-economic impacts when the EU unilaterally implements the EU Green Deal goals, leading to a leakage of 25% over 2020−2050. The size and composition, in terms of GHG and energy intensities, of the countries undertaking emission reductions matter for carbon leakage, which is significantly reduced when China joins the mitigation effort, as a result of its large market size and the high carbon intensity of its production. Chemicals and metal... [more]

There are a lot of studies that show the legitimacy of subsidizing renewable energy; however, some mechanisms are defective, and there are problems with the appropriate allocation of funds. Therefore, this paper aims to look at the situation of allocating funds to photovoltaics (PV) micro-installations in Poland through the “My Electricity” program. The article presents the results of analyses aimed at identifying inequalities between provinces in the use of funds available under the “My Electricity” program and verifying whether these inequalities are getting worse and whether the intensity of support should not be territorially conditioned in terms of maximization an electricity production. As part of two editions of the “My Electricity” program (until 1 August 2020), over 64,000 PV micro-installations were created with an average power of approximately 5.7 kWp. The total installed PV capacity was 367.1 MWp (1st edition: 159.3 MWp, 2nd edition: 207.8 MWp). Financial resources (as a w... [more]

Energy portfolios are overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuel resources that perpetuate the consequences associated with climate change. Therefore, it is imperative to transition to more renewable alternatives to limit further harm to the environment. This study presents a univariate time series prediction model that evaluates sustainability outcomes of partial energy transitions. Future electricity generation at the state-level is predicted using exponential smoothing and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA). The best prediction results are then used as an input for a sustainability assessment of a proposed transition by calculating carbon, water, land, and cost footprints. Missouri, USA was selected as a model testbed due to its dependence on coal. Of the time series methods, ARIMA exhibited the best performance and was used to predict annual electricity generation over a 10-year period. The proposed transition consisted of a one-percent annual decrease of coal’s portfoli... [more]

This study presents an analytical framework supporting coal regions in a strategy toward the clean energy transition. The proposed approach uses a combination of value chain analysis and energy sector analysis that enables a comprehensive assessment considering local specificities. Its application to a case study of the Slovakian region Upper Nitra demonstrates practical examples of opportunities and challenges. The value chain analysis evaluates the coal mining industry, from coal extraction to electricity generation, in terms of jobs and business that are at risk by the closure of the coal mines. The complementary energy system analysis focuses on diversification of the energy mix, environmental impacts, and feasibility assessment of alternative energy technologies to the coal combusting sources. The results show a net positive cost benefit for all developed scenarios of replacing the local existing coal power plant. Although the installation of a new geothermal plant is estimated to... [more]

Energy poverty is high up on national and European Union policy agendas. A number of possible indicators to measure the issue have been identified in the literature, but comparable data with European coverage is scarce. The EU Commission thus proposes four independent indicators on the “EU Energy Poverty Observatory” based on self-reported items from the pan-European surveys on income and living conditions (SILC) and household budgets (HBS). It is of increasing public interest to analyse social impacts of energy policies, and quantify energy poverty indicators also from modelling. This paper first shortly outlines how the expenditure-based indicators using HBS micro data may be directly linked to existing macroeconomic models through their defining variables (energy expenditure and income). As endogenous modelling based on micro data is difficult, the link may be country-specific elasticities. The main contribution of the paper is a systematic in-depth sensitivity analysis of the two i... [more]

Decentralised energy storage is increasingly seen as being important for decarbonising local energy systems and the global market for such systems is expected to grow significantly. Several studies have looked into the technical development of decentralised energy storage systems, as well as examining how different business models can enable them to capture a variety of value streams. Recent work has also explored public perceptions of energy storage, yet so far there has been little focus on how the different dimensions affecting deployment interact together. Here, we present the result of a deliberative workshop which gathers stakeholders’ views and addresses how the interplay between these three dimensions affects successful deployment. Our approach is holistic and integrative and utilises a participatory decision-making methodology. The findings of the research add substantially to the understanding of how decentralised energy storage schemes should be implemented. The research rev... [more]

This paper presents the results of measuring the final energy consumption for heating and domestic hot water (DHW) preparation and indoor conditions in 15 apartments located in pre-war tenement houses. The measurements were compared to the computed energy consumption. The calculations ware made based on the model calibrated by field measurements. The discrepancies between measurements and calculations were assessed using the energy performance gap (EPG). Calculations were made separately for energy for heating and for DHW preparation. Additionally, the results of EPG calculations for different levels of analysis are presented aiming at assessing the impact of weather, temperature in the surrounding zones and users’ behavior. Users’ behaviors influencing the size of the EPG were divided into typical (energy saving or excessive energy consumption) and forced (energy poverty, response to the apartment’s surroundings, technical limitations. The connection between the heating sources and th... [more]

Ongoing reductions in the costs of solar PV and battery technologies have contributed to an increased use of home energy systems in Sub-Saharan African regions without grid access. However, such systems can normally support only low-power end uses, and there has been little research regarding the impact on households unable to transition to higher-wattage energy services in the continued absence of the grid. This paper examines the challenges facing rural energy transitions and whether households feel they are energy ‘locked in’. A mixed-methods approach using questionnaire-based household energy surveys of rural solar home system (SHS) users was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Thematic analysis and a mixture of descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were applied. The results showed that a significant number of households possessed appliances that could not be powered by their SHS and were willing to spend large sums to connect were a higher-capacity option... [more]

Technological Innovation Systems theory, and its “functions” framework, have demonstrated their value as tools for exploring socio-technological transitions. Although the “seven functions” model has demonstrated its academic value across a vast literature, there have been few attempts to explore the model through the lens of industry stakeholder opinion. We believe that involving a relevant stakeholder group offers the potential for validating this approach, and even potentially enriching it. This research aims to address that shortfall. In 32 interviews with senior participants in the UK offshore wind, tidal stream and wave sectors and associated supply chain, policy makers, support organisations and other stakeholders, the validity of the seven well-established “Hekkert” functions was tested. The research found that the interviewees confirmed that all seven functions were necessary in characterising the emergence of the focal technologies, and analysis of the interviews allowed the d... [more]

Investment is an essential engine of economic growth and a major source of China’s CO2 emission. It is therefore crucial to explore the gravity movement and decoupling state of China’s CO2 emission embodied in fixed capital formation (FCF). This study aims to estimate China’s CO2 emissions embodied in various categories of FCF by using input−output tables. The gravity model and Shapley decomposition method are used to explore the gravity movement and regional contributions for China’s CO2 emissions embodied in FCF. Then, the Tapio decoupling model and logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method are combined to uncover the decoupling relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth embodied in FCF and the corresponding driving factors. The results show that China’s CO2 emissions embodied in FCF experienced a rapid increase during 2002−2012 and remained almost stable during 2012−2017. The gravity center for CO2 emissions embodied in FCF moved toward northwest during 2002−2015, wit... [more]

In 2008, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE TM46 UC) presented an annual-fixed thermal energy benchmark of 240 kWh/m2/yr for university campus (UC) buildings as an attempt to reduce energy consumption in public buildings. However, the CIBSE TM46 UC benchmark fails to consider the difference between energy demand in warm and cold months, as the thermal performance of buildings largely depends on the ambient temperature. This paper presents a new generation of monthly thermal energy benchmarks (MTEBs) using two computational methods including mixed-use model and converter model, which consider the variations of thermal demand throughout a year. MTEBs were generated using five basic variables, including mixed activities in the typical college buildings, university campus revised benchmark (UCrb), typical operation of heating systems, activities impact, and heating degree days. The results showed that MTEBs vary from 24 kWh/m2/yr in January to one and nearly ze... [more]

This paper argues that energy systems are becoming increasingly complex, and illustrates how new types of hazards emerge from an ongoing transition towards renewable energy sources. It shows that the energy sector relies heavily on risk assessment methods that are analytic, and that systemic methods provide important additional insights. A case study of the Dutch gas sector illustrates this by comparing the hazard and operability study (HAZOP, analytic) with the system-theoretic process analysis (STPA, systemic). The contribution is twofold. This paper illustrates how system hazards will remain underestimated by sustained use of only analytic methods, and it highlights the need to study the organization of safety in energy transitions. We conclude that appropriate risk assessment for future energy systems involves both analytic and systemic risk assessments.

This paper analyzes the impact of policy changes on the Romanian renewable energy producers. Attracted by a generous subsidy scheme, foreign and domestic investors flocked to the market. Consequently, the sector witnessed remarkable progress, especially in the wind power category. Romania fast approached the national target set by the European Union concerning the share of the country’s energy consumption from renewable sources. However, frequent changes in the support scheme and in the regulations issued by public authorities led to chaos. The aim of the paper was to emphasize the evolution of renewable energy policy in Romania, to investigate the incentives and their effects, and to critically assess the impact of the changes on renewable energy producers. It highlights, by means of an exploratory study and several interviews with executives of renewable energy companies, the challenges and shortcomings of policymaking. The main finding was that the revision of the subsidy scheme and... [more]

Electric supply is listed as one of the basic amenities of sustainable development in Malaysia. Under this key contributing factor, the sustainable development goal aims to ensure universal access to an affordable, clean, and reliable energy service. To support the generation capacity in years to come, distributed generation is conceptualized through stages upon its implementation in the power system network. However, the rapid establishment growth of distributed generation technology in Malaysia will invoke power quality problems in the current power system network. In order to prevent this, the current government is committed to embark on the development of renewable technologies with the assurance of maintaining the quality of power delivered to consumers. Therefore, this research paper will focus on the review of the energy prospect of both fossil fuel and renewable energy generation in Malaysia and other countries, followed by power quality issues and compensation device under a h... [more]

As Germany struggles to meet its near-term emissions reduction targets in lagging sectors like heating or transport, the need to identify energy transition pathways beyond power generation is urgent. This paper presents an investigation of tangible and climate-friendly transformation paths to replace the existing coal-fired units used for heat and power generation in Berlin with a largely CO2-free innovative technology mix. Although the literature has extensively covered the decarbonization of the power generation sector on different geographic scales, few studies have focused on the decarbonization of the heat sector in cities with large district heating networks, like Berlin. This paper aims to fill this gap. The proposed methodology combines three key elements: (1) scenario analysis including high-fidelity models of the European power market and the heat demand in Berlin, (2) evaluation of energy potential from low-carbon alternative sources, and (3) a techno-economic portfolio opti... [more]

The increase in ambient particulate matter (PM) is affecting not only our daily life but also various industries. To cope with the issue of PM, which has been detrimental to the population of megacities, an advanced demand response (DR) program is established by Korea Power Exchange (KPX) to supplement existing policies in Korea. Ironically, however, DR programs have been launched hurriedly, creating problems for several stakeholders such as local governments, market operators, and DR customers. As an alternative, a method for predicting and categorizing the PM through deep learning and fuzzy inference is suggested in this study. The simulation results based on Seoul data show that the proposed model can overcome the problems related to current DR programs and policy loopholes and can provide improvements for some stakeholders. However, the proposed model also has some limitations, which require an in-depth policy consideration or an incentive system for power generation companies.

This paper aims to explore the evolution of bioenergy from a comprehensive and dynamic perspective and study how stakeholders in the industry exert influence during the development. Taking the development of bioenergy in the Yangtze River Delta as an example, the research builds a dynamic network of bioenergy stakeholders from a social network analysis method. This paper selects six typical cities and six stakeholder groups in the Yangtze River Delta to conduct field surveys and interviews. This study integrates social network analysis with multilevel perspective theory to analyse the evolution of bioenergy from a dynamic perspective. The results show that the relationship among the stakeholders is a network based on central stakeholders involved in the material flow and is affected by multiple peripheral stakeholders. Through the analysis of the dynamic evolution relationship between stakeholders, this paper reveals the existing problems during the development of bioenergy in the Yang... [more]

In the face of severe air pollution and implementation of energy and climate policy, it remains a challenge to develop effective strategies addressing the problem of solid fuels use in single-family houses (SFH) in rural areas in Poland. This study investigated the correlations between thermal modernization of SFH, the changes of heat sources from coal to clean energy, including heat pumps driven by prosumers’ photovoltaic (PV) installation, and the disposable income of households in Polish rural areas. It also provided an analysis of the current support mechanisms promoting energy efficiency and PV development. The application of simulation modelling of energy consumption and costs in the research has proved that comprehensive thermal modernization of rural SFH constructed in the period of 1945−1970 and investments supporting PV/heat pump systems would enable the most cost-effective way of heating to be implemented. Considering that, today, spending on energy for heat puts a burden on... [more]

Solar hybrid mini-grid systems possess the potential to substantially support electrification in sub-Saharan Africa. While their technical reliability has been proven, their financial viability is achieved only by heavy subsidization as of now. Due to the growing importance of results-based financing, we ask whether newly developed business models leveraging on the value added of electricity supply in rural areas (such as the KeyMaker Model) bare the potential to substantially reduce amount of grants required to finance the initial capital investment and thus contribute to a sustainable form of development. The principle of the KeyMaker Model is based on utilizing the locally supplied mini-grid electricity to establish a local agro-processing project, the revenues of which are an additional income stream for the mini-grid operator, while the project creates an end-market for the local farmers to sell their produce. We have developed two scenarios (without and with KeyMaker Model) for f... [more]

Energy efficiency measures and the deployment of renewable energy are commonly presented as two sides of the same coin—as necessary and synergistic measures to decarbonize energy systems and reach the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Here, we quantitatively investigate the policies and performances of the EU Member States to see whether renewables and energy efficiency policies are politically synergistic or if they rather compete for political attention and resources. We find that Member States, especially the ones perceived as climate leaders, tend to prioritize renewables over energy efficiency in target setting. Further, almost every country performs well in either renewable energy or energy efficiency, but rarely performs well in both. We find no support for the assertion that the policies are synergistic, but some evidence that they compete. However, multi-linear regression models for performance show that performance, especially in energy efficiency, is also strongly as... [more]

This study discovered market determinants of credit default swap (CDS) spreads in the North American oil and gas industry. Due to the limited theoretical background on market sources of CDS price fluctuations, we chose to alleviate model uncertainty and possible misspecification issues using Bayesian model averaging. This robust framework allowed us to aggregate results from a vast number of linear panel models estimated over the 2017−2020 period. We identified oil price volatility, major shifts in the OPEC+ supply policy, natural gas prices and industrial metal prices as the most robust determinants of CDS spreads. We show that following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, oil prices ceased to be a notably important determinant of credit risk, as factors indirectly related to oil prices, such as global and sectoral uncertainty, financial conditions and the macroeconomic stance became more influential. Additionally, we show that the CDS spreads of shale companies are determined by simi... [more]