This research examined cooperation among core Thai government organizations involved in achieving the energy-from-waste (EFW) targets stipulated in the country’s 2015 Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP). To this end, we used the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to illuminate the intricacies of such collaboration, which reflects interactions that flow logically from the decisions and measures taken by actors as they deliberate over relevant situations. Data were obtained mainly from government documents and in-depth interviews with employees of the collaborators that are directly involved in the development and implementation of AEDP 2015. The concept of cooperation intensity was used to inquire into the cooperative interactions of the aforementioned government organizations and analyze the factors and conditions that influence these actors’ decision to work with one another. We focused on the effects of institutions on cooperation under the AEDP policy proc... [more]

The Malaysian Government has set an ambitious target to achieve a higher penetration of Renewable Energy (RE) in the Malaysian energy mix. To date, Malaysia has approximately 2% of its energy coming from RE generation sources compared to the total generation mix and targets achieving 20% penetration by 2025. The current energy mix for Malaysia power generation is mainly provided by natural gas and coal. The discussion will cover the traditional sources of generation including natural gas, coal and big hydro stations. In addition, the paper will cover in depth the potential of RE in the country, challenges, and opportunities in this sector. This study can give an initial evaluation of the Malaysian energy industry, especially for RE and can initiate further research and development in this area in order to support the Government target to achieve RE target of 20% by 2025.

Coal-fired power generation will dominate the electricity supply in China in the foreseeable future. Coal fired power units can play a crucial role in integrating intermittent wind energy and improving the overall energy efficiency of the power system. The integration benefits of wind power, along with the gains of high load rates of coal fired units, should be fully taken into account. An optimal model combining wind power and coal fired units is built to analyze the operational flexibility of coal fired units and the integration of wind power. Taking the coal fired units in North China Power Grid as an example, the dispatch costs and benefits are examined under the energy efficiency dispatch mode, in comparison with those under the fair dispatch rules and the installed capacity. The results show that increasing the flexibility of the power system under the energy efficiency dispatch mode may be the best choice for the power system with the high share of coal fired units to integrate... [more]

Overcapacity in China’s coal industry has serious negative impacts on the rational allocation of coal resources and stable operation of the national economy. Since 2016, the Chinese government has implemented a series of de-capacity policies to optimise coal production capacity. Timely policy effect assessment is of great significance to the government to guide high-quality development of the coal industry. This paper first reviews the dilemma encountered by China’s coal industry prior to 2016, and then analyses the progress and effect of coal industry de-capacity. The main results are as follows: (1) The capacity reduction is mainly distributed in the central and southwestern regions. Most of the coal mines are state-owned, and there is a prominent worker resettlement problem. (2) The capacity optimisation policy has accelerated the implementation of the overall spatial planning of China’s coal supply. China’s coal production centre has shifted from the central and eastern regions to... [more]

The smart city transport concept is viewed as a future vision aiming to undertake investigations on the urban planning process and to construct policy-pathways for achieving future targets. Therefore, this paper sets out three visions for the year 2035 which bring about a radical change in the level of green transport systems (often called walking, cycling, and public transport) in Turkish urban areas. A participatory visioning technique was structured according to a three-stage technique: (i) Extensive online comprehensive survey, in which potential transport measures were researched for their relevance in promoting smart transport systems in future Turkish urban areas; (ii) semi-structured interviews, where transport strategy suggestions were developed in the context of the possible imaginary urban areas and their associated contextual description of the imaginary urban areas for each vision; (iii) participatory workshops, where an innovative method was developed to explore various c... [more]

In emerging countries, energy service users generally pay high rates of return to transmission system operators (TSOs). One of the causes of this situation is the application of the CAPM with the comparable beta method when estimating the cost of equity in the WACC. The purpose of this article is to present a new methodology for calculating the cost of equity of TSOs in Colombia. To achieve this objective, a multifactor model has been built to explain the variation in returns on the electric utilities portfolio in Colombia between April 2008 and March 2022 and then recalculate the WACC approved by the country’s regulatory commission. It was found that, in addition to the estimated market risk in the CAPM, there is a risk due to the regulatory framework and changes in interest rates, which helps to explain 73% of the variations in the electric utilities portfolio, resulting in a lower cost of equity, and therefore a lower WACC of 5.28% compared to the WACC estimated by the regulator of... [more]

Here, we seek to review the relevant literature and published articles on the subjects of electricity markets, electricity prices and green energy transition [...]

The contemporary world is uneven not only in terms of the quality of life and economic development, but also in cultural issues that define awareness of global development processes. Geographies of energy co-create various energy paradigms and territorial development scenarios. This paper has two general aims. First, we want to identify the main fields of study within the geographies of energy. We try to define a general model of geographic analysis in terms of key concepts. The second aim concerns the definition of perspectives of geography of energy as a growing field of interest for researchers. We believe that geographies of energy should undertake a contemporary transition in this area from the point of view of scale and relativity resulting from the presented dimensions of spatiality and locality, i.e., differential, vertical, horizontal and transversal approaches.

EU countries declared the strategic goal to achieve energy independence and increase energy efficiency. In this case, EU countries have provided a vast range of incentives, mechanisms, and directives to promote energy efficiency. Ukraine as a potential candidate should provide a convergent policy with EU countries to increase energy efficiency. The paper aims to estimate energy efficiency based on the revealed convergent and divergent determinants of energy policies among the EU and Ukraine. The data are compiled from the World Energy Statistics Yearbook, the European Statistical Office, the International Energy Agency, SolAbility agencies, and State Statistics Service of Ukraine. The study applies σ- i β-convergence theory to determine the convergent and divergent determinants of the country’s energy efficiency. The empirical results allow concluding that Ukraine has an average level in the integrated energy efficiency index of the national economy, and the highest value of this index... [more]

The purpose of this article is to answer the question of whether it is economically justified to use natural gas as an interim fuel on the way to creating a low-emission energy sector from the perspective of Poland in comparison to other countries in the European Community. Despite the existence of numerous scientific studies concerning natural gas as a ‘bridge’ fuel, there is a lack of precise references to the situation of Poland in this respect, especially considering its specific situation in the historical development of energy, as well as the ongoing energy crisis caused by the Russia−Ukraine war. The study suggests that from Poland’s point of view, given the changes in natural gas prices resulting from a series of events of an international nature, gas investments are not economically justified in the economic climate (NPV of −891 million EUR) at present and will not be justified in the event of their anticipated changes (NPV of −691 million EUR), having its justification only i... [more]

With climate change advancing, the world’s target of zero deforestation by 2030 seems like a dream in Africa’s developing nations. This is because over 90% of households depend on wood fuels for their energy needs. Over the years, the decrease in natural rainforest area has been attributed to deforestation and forest degradation due to human activities, including the huge dependence on wood fuel for energy. Policies on clean energy production and imports to adapt to environmental and climatic implications are long overdue. This study hypothesized that Ugandans are willing to pay for alternative energies to conserve natural forests. The study aimed to examine the energy situation in Uganda and the willingness to pay for alternative energies (WTPEA) to reduce deforestation. This study conducted a dichotomous choice (DC) questionnaire for the willingness to pay for energy alternatives (WTPEA). This research used the questionnaire to collect the data, and a total of 1200 responses were col... [more]

This article evaluated bioelectricity’s evolving competitiveness and systemic complementarity benefits, both in comparison with other renewable sources. To do so, the results of several energy auctions were analysed, and a modelling exercise was developed using an optimisation model based on stochastic dual dynamic programming. The results indicate that wind and solar energies became the least cost expansions, and sugarcane bioelectricity lost significance and competitiveness in this environment. At the same time, the study shows that wind power’s potential to be complementary to hydropower generation is greater than bioenergy in Brazil. These findings have relevant policy implications regarding the power sector and whether bioelectricity from sugarcane should still be incentivised along with wind power sources. It is worthwhile to point out that although the Brazilian case is explored in the article, it can be used as an example by other countries, especially developing ones, that can... [more]

Energy efficiency plays an important role in energy systems all over the world, representing the most available and cheapest source of energy. Progress in energy efficiency translates into reduced consumption, reduced dependency on external suppliers of fossil fuels, mitigation of climate change, and improvement of quality of life. Given its tremendous importance for energy systems and national economies, this paper aims to offer salient insights on the performance of the countries of the European Union (EU-27) towards an energy-efficient future, bearing in mind the quantitative milestones of sustainable development goal 7 (SDG7) of the Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations. The current research offers a new perspective and delivers a comprehensive, robust, and succinct model which provides insights on the performance of EU-27 member states based on appropriate quantitative key performance indicators related to energy efficiency. The results show that about 19% of EU... [more]

Renewable energy is increasingly mobilizing more investment around the globe. However, there has been little attention to evaluating economic and regulatory (E&R) uncertainties, despite their enormous impact on the project cashflows. Consequently, this review analyzes, classifies, and discusses 130 articles dealing with the design of renewable energy projects under E&R uncertainties. After performing a survey and identifying the selected manuscripts, and the few previous reviews on the matter, the following innovative categorization is designed: sources of uncertainty, uncertainty characterization methods, problem formulations, solution methods, and regulatory frameworks. The classification reveals that electricity price is the most considered source of uncertainty, often alone, despite the existence of six other equally influential groups of E&R uncertainties. In addition, real options and optimization arise as the two main approaches researchers use to solve problems in energy system... [more]

The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of carbon allowances on the financial performance and strategic behavior of Polish energy companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with a particular focus on the period when the price of these allowances increased. The eight largest Polish energy companies were surveyed, and the research period covered the period of 2010−2021. The research process used an analysis of financial condition and its determinants in the current and long-term perspective. In the current approach, the following were used: sales margin, operating margin, and cost and revenue structure. In the long-term approach, an assessment of the regularity of the capital structure and debt ratios was used. In both research perspectives, the results were confronted with the structure of power generation sources and the segmentation of the core business, including production, distribution, and trading. The results allow us to conclude that the increase in the price of... [more]

China has adopted a gradualism principle in establishing its carbon emission trading system from the regional pilot markets to a national one. In view of the huge market potential and large differences across China, this paper applies the cointegration test and VECM (Vector Error Correction Model) to investigate the long-run trends and the price dynamics of regional pilot markets. The results show that the prices of the regional pilot markets form three long-run trends exhibit mean-reversion patterns. The launch of the national market marks the different performance of regional pilot markets. After the launch of the national market, the number of long-run trends reduces from three to one and the severity of the mean-reversion patterns is eased, indicating the efficiency improvement in China’s carbon market from a fragmented toward a unified market. The policy implication is that China should further develop its national market by incorporating the regional markets into the national one... [more]

A large part of the European building stock was built before implementing the recent energy and structural codes, resulting in buildings characterized by deficiencies in terms of comfort, energy savings and structural safety. The retrofitting and rehabilitation of the existing building stock need to be adequately performed, aiming to improve the seismic and energy performance simultaneously. The work summarized here is dedicated to defining priority scenarios for buildings’ retrofitting to improve the seismic safety and energy efficiency of the European Union (EU) building stock. First, the state of the EU building stock is analysed in terms of buildings’ age, types of structures, energy efficiency, energy consumption and energy poverty. Then, the EU climate demands are presented, namely the regions with higher temperature variations, i.e., heating or cooling degree days. The EU seismic risk is also presented and discussed in terms of average annual losses, average annual economic loss... [more]

In this paper, we analyze the role of economic policy in prompting energy efficiency. This study reviews three aspects, theoretical, empirical, and existing policies to evaluate the relationship of energy efficiency and economic policy. This study furthermore identifies the existing issues from a policy perspective in energy efficiency. Although not all public policies may be justified, it suggests that these types of financial incentives, particularly those based on economic instruments, can play a crucial role in advancing energy efficiency. Additionally, this study identifies existing issues in energy efficiency target achievement and proposes solutions based on the literature review. Finally, it provides possible future research pathways from the aspect of economic policy tools in energy efficiency.

A study linking the two economic and social phenomena of rural labor force migration and energy transition can help analyze the underlying causes of rural “Energy Poverty”. However, how off-farm employment affects household low-carbon energy consumption and its potential mechanisms requires further research. Using 1351 sampled rural households from the “Rural Energy, Population Transfer and Well-being” survey in 2018 and 2021 to explore response mechanisms through which off-farm employment can influence low-carbon energy intensity. Utilizing the multivariate regression, Sobel test, and moderating effect test, the results demonstrate that off-farm employment, including short-term and long-term off-farm employment, significantly increases the intensity of low-carbon energy use among rural households. Specifically, long-term off-farm employment tends to have a greater positive contribution to the low-carbon energy intensity than short-term off-farm employment. Furthermore, off-farm employ... [more]

Recent events within the Australian National Electricity Market have demonstrated that the system of an energy-only market (a market that only compensates power that has been produced) is no longer fit for purpose. The rate of change in installed capacity and generation requires better planning to ensure reliability is maintained at the lowest total system cost during the transition to net zero. Australian National Electricity Market participants will need sufficient incentives and confidence to invest in new capacity. This paper assesses a “no constraints” scenario and recommends a range of policy and market mechanisms that could be utilized to achieve a net zero National Electricity Market in Australia by 2050. This paper adopts the perspective of total system cost, which allows multiple factors relating to decision-making to be incorporated. In the absence of a carbon price, this paper seeks to put forward technology-based policy and market mechanisms to incentivise the changes requ... [more]

Industry is widely valued as an important contributor to carbon emissions. Therefore, it is of great significance to analyze the industrial carbon emissions (ICE) in Guangdong, the strongest industrial province in China. We have adopted the carbon emission accounting model and standard deviational ellipse analysis model to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics and evolution trends of the industry carbon emission amount and intensity in Guangdong from 1998 to 2013. The study results include: (1) Due to the rapid development of industry, Guangdong’s ICE showed a steady growth trend; (2) The distribution characteristics of ICE were characterized by the trend of taking the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region as the center and gradually spreading to the surrounding areas. From the perspective of industrial sectors, it can be divided into steady growth type, fluctuant growth type, basically stable type, and decrease type; (3) The spatial pattern of the ICE in Guangdong is basically the... [more]

Fiscal policy is an essential tool that policymakers use for guiding the economy. Thus, the effects of fiscal policy may affect many aspects of our lives, including the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This article investigates the role of fiscal policy, in addition to gross domestic product (GDP), innovation, and financial development, in mitigating CO2 emissions in the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve theory in the Group of Twenty (G20) countries from 1995 to 2019. The study implied the autoregressive distributed lag of pooled mean group (ARDL-PMG) approach to analyze the suggested model. The results revealed the validity of the model for the G20 countries, as well as a long-run cointegration between the study variables. The results also showed that fiscal policy is associated positively with CO2 emissions. Hence, we recommend reconsidering the applied financial policy, redirecting it to support clean energy projects, provide incentives for projects combating envir... [more]

In Africa, switching to renewable energy sources with low carbon emissions is becoming more popular. In the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), the low-carbon energy transition must overcome significant obstacles, including those posed by policies put in place and their implementation. In order to replace the current fossil fuel-driven economy with low-carbon development that also advances the regional aims and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this paper analyzes the current policy landscape in the region. A total of 75 policies from four categories (energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change) were chosen for the policy review. Multicriteria decision analysis and a thorough review of the literature have shed light on how well the policies of the ECOWAS countries could promote low-carbon development and what the main challenges to overcome are. The last step was the comparison of the progress of the two key policies in the region: the Nationa... [more]

Energy efficiency programs funded by utility customers provide an electricity resource in most U.S. states, but their scale and cost of saving electricity varies significantly by state. In this paper, we explore the drivers of the cost of saved electricity in these programs with an econometric model and nearly a decade of data reported by efficiency program administrators. We found strong evidence for economies of scale and weak evidence for diseconomies of scale, which suggests that states with low levels of efficiency savings relative to retail sales can increase the size of their efficiency programs without large increases to the cost of saved electricity. We discuss examples of energy efficiency forecasting and potential modeling in light our econometric analysis and identify methodological improvements relevant to utilities and grid operators. This paper provides insights into the economics of customer-funded efficiency programs that will support regulators, utilities, and policym... [more]

The social acceptance of energy policies and renewable energy technologies is crucial in the era of the renewable energy transition. Yet, little is known about Israel’s transition in this regard. One thousand five hundred Israeli citizens were engaged through a survey to examine their perceptions of climate change and awareness regarding renewable energy technologies and national energy policy. Individual-level factors such as gender, age, and education were included in the survey to assess their possible influence on replies. The main findings were the following: (i) climate change impact is not felt as an immediate threat by the majority, and there is (ii) a lack of accurate knowledge about renewable energies; (iii) a lack of awareness regarding national energy and climate policy; and (iv) a lack of trust in citizens’ role in energy decision making. These findings are evaluated as a barrier to public engagement within the renewable energy development process in Israel.