Showing papers on "Energy policy published in 2021"
Abstract: The present study aims to explore the long‐run and causal effect of financial development and renewable energy consumption on environmental sustainability while controlling technological innovation and economic growth within the global framework. In line with the aim of the study, the fully modified OLS (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), canonical cointegrating regression (CCR), Bayer and Hanck cointegration, and frequency‐domain causality tests are employed. Empirical evidence confirms the existence of a long‐run linkage among the variables. The present study also finds that in the long run, global financial development and global renewable energy consumption have a long‐run significant positive effect on environmental sustainability, while economic growth increases carbon emission flaring around the world. Within the global framework, the study, therefore, recommends that in order to increase environmental quality, global policy‐makers should further consider the roles of renewable energy and financial development by implementing reform energy policies in both developed and developing countries.
246 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the role of long-duration energy storage in decarbonized electricity systems and identified the cost and efficiency performance necessary for LDES to substantially reduce electricity costs and displace firm low-carbon generation.
Abstract: Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is a potential solution to intermittency in renewable energy generation. In this study we have evaluated the role of LDES in decarbonized electricity systems and identified the cost and efficiency performance necessary for LDES to substantially reduce electricity costs and displace firm low-carbon generation. Our findings show that energy storage capacity cost and discharge efficiency are the most important performance parameters. Charge/discharge capacity cost and charge efficiency play secondary roles. Energy capacity costs must be ≤US$20 kWh–1 to reduce electricity costs by ≥10%. With current electricity demand profiles, energy capacity costs must be ≤US$1 kWh–1 to fully displace all modelled firm low-carbon generation technologies. Electrification of end uses in a northern latitude context makes full displacement of firm generation more challenging and requires performance combinations unlikely to be feasible with known LDES technologies. Finally, LDES systems with the greatest impact on electricity cost and firm generation have storage durations exceeding 100 h. Wind and solar energy must be complemented by a combination of energy storage and firm generating capacity. Here, Sepulveda et al. assess the economic value and system impact of a wide range of possible long-duration energy storage technologies, providing insights to guide innovation and policy.
196 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employed panel spatial simultaneous equations models with a generalized spatial two-stage least squares (GS2SLS) method to explore the three-way linkages among economic growth, carbon emissions, and renewable energy consumption for European Union (EU) countries from 1995 to 2014.
190 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of economic policy uncertainty in the energy-growth-emissions nexus for 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa over the period from 1996 to 2014 was investigated.
119 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) method to study the driving factors in wind energy consumption for a group of 17 countries (Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States) that are major consumers of wind energy.
118 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the effects of household consumption on carbon emissions using the Chinese provincial data from 1995 to 2017, and simultaneously accounting for cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity concerns, the short-and long-run elasticities of carbon emissions were predicted using the pooled mean group, the common correlated effects mean group and the recently developed crosssectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag estimators.
107 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative analysis is performed in a parallel approach from the key viewpoint of the renewable and sustainable energy transition, digital transformation of the energy sector and energy affordability in the post-COVID world.
107 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) methods were used to determine the direction of the causality.
Abstract: Following the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs), which place emphasis on relevant concerns that encompass access to energy (SDG-7) and sustainable development (SDG-8), this research intends to re-examine the relationship between urbanization, CO2 emissions, gross capital formation, energy use, and economic growth in South Korea, which has not yet been assessed using recent econometric techniques, based on data covering the period between 1965 and 2019. The present study utilized the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) methods, while the gradual shift and wavelet coherence techniques are utilized to determine the direction of the causality. The ARDL bounds test reveals a long-run linkage between the variables of interest. Empirical evidence shows that CO2 emissions trigger economic growth. Thus, based on increasing environmental awareness across the globe, it is necessary to change the energy mix in South Korea to renewables to enable the use of sustainable energy sources and establish an environmentally sustainable ecosystem. Moreover, the energy-induced growth hypothesis is validated. This result is supported by the causality analysis, which shows a one-way causality running from energy consumption to GDP in South Korea. This suggests that South Korea cannot embark on conservative energy policies, as such actions will damage economic progress. Additionally, a unidirectional causality is seen from CO2 emissions and energy consumption to economic growth. These findings have far-reaching consequences for GDP growth and macroeconomic indicators in South Korea.
98 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a global inventory of commercial-, industrial and utility-scale PV installations by using a longitudinal corpus of remote sensing imagery, machine learning and a large cloud computation infrastructure.
Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generating capacity has grown by 41 per cent per year since 20091. Energy system projections that mitigate climate change and aid universal energy access show a nearly ten-fold increase in PV solar energy generating capacity by 20402,3. Geospatial data describing the energy system are required to manage generation intermittency, mitigate climate change risks, and identify trade-offs with biodiversity, conservation and land protection priorities caused by the land-use and land-cover change necessary for PV deployment. Currently available inventories of solar generating capacity cannot fully address these needs1–9. Here we provide a global inventory of commercial-, industrial- and utility-scale PV installations (that is, PV generating stations in excess of 10 kilowatts nameplate capacity) by using a longitudinal corpus of remote sensing imagery, machine learning and a large cloud computation infrastructure. We locate and verify 68,661 facilities, an increase of 432 per cent (in number of facilities) on previously available asset-level data. With the help of a hand-labelled test set, we estimate global installed generating capacity to be 423 gigawatts (−75/+77 gigawatts) at the end of 2018. Enrichment of our dataset with estimates of facility installation date, historic land-cover classification and proximity to vulnerable areas allows us to show that most of the PV solar energy facilities are sited on cropland, followed by aridlands and grassland. Our inventory could aid PV delivery aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. A global inventory of utility-scale solar photovoltaic generating units, produced by combining remote sensing imagery with machine learning, has identified 68,661 facilities — an increase of over 400% on previously available asset-level data — the majority of which were sited on cropland.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a comprehensive view of the prevailing and emergent energy communities business models, focusing on the value proposition offered by these initiatives, and identify eight community business model archetypes having the current European regulatory framework as background.
Abstract: The ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ legislative package places citizens and communities at the heart of the European energy policy by promoting local energy generation, consumption and trading. As only recently energy communities were formally defined in the European regulatory framework, the literature on energy community business models is still scattered and a clear systematization of community arrangements is missing. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the prevailing and emergent energy communities business models, focusing on the value proposition offered by these initiatives. Community projects across Europe are analyzed and eight community business model archetypes are identified having the current European regulatory framework as background. The Business Model Canvas and the Lean Canvas frameworks are used to characterize and compare these archetypes. The main differences between business models are examined to highlight the most relevant strengths and barriers for energy community development. This analysis revealed the dominance of traditional self-consumption place-based communities, while business models involving differentiated services as demand flexibility, aggregation, energy efficiency and electric mobility are still scarce. However, the research around novel business models must be strengthened as they are expected to become crucial in upholding energy communities as key players in the energy transition and foster the regulatory framework evolution.
83 citations
TL;DR: Investigation of the long-run relationship between energy consumption, tourists’ arrivals, economic policy uncertainty, and ecological footprint in the top ten earners from international tourism over the period 1995 to 2015 suggests that policy uncertainties matter a great deal for energy and environmental policies.
Abstract: Global warming has been a pressing issue for the past decade as various economic activities have been flagged and are expected to reduce emissions. While previous studies have examined the energy consumption-emissions-economic growth nexus in significant detail, attention is yet to be given to the role of economic policy uncertainties and human activities such as tourism in a carbon function. Thus, this study aims to investigate the long-run relationship between energy consumption, tourists’ arrivals, economic policy uncertainty, and ecological footprint in the top ten earners from international tourism over the period 1995 to 2015. The fully modified ordinary least square and dynamic ordinary least square estimation techniques and the Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality tests were used in the study. Empirical results suggest that economic policy uncertainties in addition to tourism and energy consumption are drivers of environmental degradation. However, the contribution of energy consumption to ecological footprint is significantly moderated by economic policy uncertainties such that a 1% increase in the latter reduces environmental damage by 0.71%. This study suggests that policy uncertainties matter a great deal for energy and environmental policies. Also, green economic growth is possible if the proper implementation of environmental protection policies can restrict the harmful impact of economic activities on the quality of the environment. Based on the empirical findings, vital energy policy recommendations are suggested.
TL;DR: In this article, the potential of investments in the energy sector in Italy through the application of the Input-Output analysis was investigated, focusing on wind, photovoltaic, hydroelectric and geothermal infrastructures.
TL;DR: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strongly affect global energy systems as mentioned in this paper and the societal response to the pandemic has reduced global power demand, disproportionally affecting coal power generation and thus leading to a strong CO2 emissions decline.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strongly affect global energy systems. Global power sector CO2 emissions have shown a substantial decline, thanks to (a) the COVID-19-induced economic downturn and resulting reduction of electricity demand and (b) a decrease of carbon intensity of power generation as coal generation is decreased most strongly. These effects illustrate the opportunity for different policies to support a structural and accelerating decline of power sector emissions. The societal response to the pandemic has reduced global power demand, disproportionally affecting coal power generation and thus leading to a strong CO2 emissions decline. Policy should apply 2020’s lessons to ensure that power sector emissions have peaked in 2018 and go into structural decline.
TL;DR: This study presents a prediction strategy of building energy consumption based on ensemble learning and energy consumption patterns classification and illustrates that the proposed strategy is reliable and effective and can obtain acceptable performance with less training data, which is helpful to the application of energy consumption prediction.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of a systematic and comprehensive review of 155 peer-reviewed articles published across eight databases between January 2008 and December 2019 and present findings that support novel recommendations with the potential to enhance the impact of energy justice research, including applications in the economic and planning policy sectors.
Abstract: The energy justice literature has seen a rapid surge in both academic and practical popularity. However, there has been less systematic reflection on the research conducted so far, its scope or contribution, nor what it might mean for the future of the concept. To provide insights, this paper presents the results of a systematic and comprehensive review of 155 peer-reviewed articles published across eight databases between January 2008 and December 2019. The aim is firstly to review the current state of the art in the energy justice literature and, secondly, to present findings that support novel recommendations with the potential to enhance the impact of energy justice research, including applications in the economic and planning policy sectors. Critically, our study demonstrates that the literature lacks diversity in its author basis and research design. By contrast, conceptual frameworks and the geographies and technologies of global energy injustice are proliferating. These results illustrate that energy justice has power and agency as a tool. It can act as a protagonist in energy research, provoking researchers to remain reflexively normative and active in identifying injustices and vulnerabilities, and it can act as a promising progenitor, creating new research methods and themes.
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison of top-down computable general equilibrium (CGE) models has been conducted on climate or other environmental/energy policies to assess emission reduction, energy use and economy-wide general equilibrium outcomes in China, the results often vary greatly across models, making it challenging to derive policies.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employ the symmetric and asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation methods, and find that monetary policy uncertainty has short-and long-run negative effects on renewable energy consumption in the linear model, while decreased monetary policy uncertainties has a significant negative influence on the nonlinear model.
Abstract: Previous infant literature has assessed the symmetric impact of monetary policy uncertainty on a few macro variables. Our study has considered asymmetric monetary policy uncertainty impacts on energy consumption. Our key concern in this study is to regulate whether US monetary policy uncertainty has an asymmetric impact on energy consumption. We employ the symmetric and asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation methods, and we found that monetary policy uncertainty has short- and long-run negative effects on renewable energy consumption in the linear model, while decreased monetary policy uncertainty has a significant negative influence on renewable energy consumption in the USA in the non-linear model. However, in the short and long run, the measure of monetary policy uncertainty has an insignificant impact on non-renewable energy consumption, while increased monetary policy uncertainty in the USA has negative effects and decreased monetary policy uncertainty has positive effects on non-renewable energy consumption in the short and long run in the non-linear model. The effects are asymmetric in direction and magnitude. The study results call for vital changes in renewable and non-renewable energy policies to accommodate monetary policy uncertainties.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the implications of CO2 emissions on Indian economic growth with a focus on the energy intensity in the country's economy and found a statistically significant negative relationship between C O 2 emissions and trade openness and economic growth.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper analyzed 815 green finance and energy policy literatures retrieved from the Web of Science database and carried out descriptive statistical analysis, including the overall growth, publication sources, research regions and high-level scientific research institutions.
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive survey on the potential of district heating systems in accommodating fluctuating heat supply and demand is proposed, and future directions for deploying the flexibility of district heat systems in northern China, including new heat sources, digitalization, demand side management, heat market deregulation, and energy policy reform.
TL;DR: In this paper, a novel integration process of blockchain with the renewable energy systems under the circular economy perspective is developed to ensure the sustainability of energy grid management systems, followed by discussions on the advantages of the proposed integration process for energy policy makers.
TL;DR: In this article, investment risk factors of renewable energies in these countries are identified and categorized into five groups as economic, technical, environmental, social, and political using TODIM (Portuguese acronym for Interactive Multi-Criteria Decision Making) method.
TL;DR: In this paper, the Icelandic National Power Company of Iceland, the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, the Eimskip University Fund, and the Icelandic national federation of Graduate Women International (GWI) have been supported by Rannis.
Abstract: This research was financially supported by Rannis – The Icelandic Centre for Research [grant number: 163464–051], the National Power Company of Iceland, the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, the Eimskip University Fund, and the Icelandic national federation of Graduate Women International.
TL;DR: This article presented a comprehensive, critical and systematic review of more than 350,000 sources of evidence, and a short list of 701 studies, on the topic of greenhouse gas emissions from the food and beverage industry.
Abstract: From farm to fork, food and beverage consumption can have significant negative impacts on energy consumption, water consumption, climate change, and other environmental subsystems. This paper presents a comprehensive, critical and systematic review of more than 350,000 sources of evidence, and a short list of 701 studies, on the topic of greenhouse gas emissions from the food and beverage industry. Utilizing a sociotechnical lens that examines food supply and agriculture, manufacturing, retail and distribution, and consumption and use, the review identifies the most carbon-intensive processes in the industry, as well as the corresponding energy and carbon “footprints”. It discusses multiple current and emerging options and practices for decarbonization, including 78 potentially transformative technologies. It examines the benefits to sector decarbonization—including energy and carbon savings, cost savings, and other co-benefits related to sustainability or health—as well as barriers across financial and economic, institutional and managerial, and behavioral and consumer dimensions. It lastly discusses how financing, business models, and policy can be harnessed to help overcome these barriers, and identifies a set of research gaps.
TL;DR: This research work is an analysis of actions taken by governments under their jurisdictions towards building energy consumers based on the different governments responses and actions taken towards energy consumption in buildings in COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the dynamic linkages between gross domestic product, foreign direct investment inflows, nuclear energy consumption, trade openness, and CO2 emissions for India within the environmental Kuznets curve framework over the period 1978-2019 through various robust econometric models that took into consideration the presence of structural break in the data.
Abstract: The transition towards a modern cleaner energy pathway has been receiving global attention recently. Although nuclear energy has emerged as an alternative cleaner energy source and is receiving immense policy attention, however, the role of nuclear energy in the environmental degradation mitigation remains inconclusive in the extant literature. Therefore, this study examines the dynamic linkages between gross domestic product, foreign direct investment inflows, nuclear energy consumption, trade openness, and CO2 emissions for India within the environmental Kuznets curve framework over the period 1978–2019 through various robust econometric models that takes into consideration the presence of structural break in the data. The present study confirms the existence of an “inverted N shape” environmental Kuznets curve, a phenomenon rarely observed in environmental Kuznets curve literature for India. Besides, the predicted turnaround points of environmental Kuznets curve highlight that India has already reached the positive peak approximately by the year 2015. The empirical findings also confirm the existence of a J-shaped relationship between foreign direct investment inflows and CO2 emissions, which indicates that India is in the transient phase moving from pollution halo towards pollution heaven with progressive foreign direct investment development. Trade openness is also found to have a beneficial effect on environmental quality implying the trade policy of India encourages green trade activities to safeguard the environment. The empirical results also reveal the beneficial effect of nuclear energy consumption on air quality, thereby suggesting an accelerated adoption of nuclear energy in the Indian energy mix. The results also highlight that nuclear energy adoption in this booming phase can facilitate a “tunnelling effect” for sustainable economic growth for India. Hence, these findings may provide key policy recommendations regarding energy transition and environmentally sustainable economic growth.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the development of climate and energy policies from separate and narrow initiatives to coordinated policy packages to achieve increasingly ambitious climate targets, culminating with the European Green Deal, and show that EU policy mixes are not only needed to fulfil different transition functions, but also provide opportunities to combine different actor interests to raise climate ambitions.
Abstract: A growing scholarship argues that decarbonization cannot be achieved with single instruments like carbon pricing alone. A broader mix of reinforcing policies is required. This literature focuses on how policies can accelerate technological innovation, restrict polluting activities, promote green growth, and ensure social justice. Applying the policy mix literature to the European Union (EU), this article examines the development of climate and energy policies from separate and narrow initiatives to coordinated policy packages to achieve increasingly ambitious climate targets, culminating with the European Green Deal. The starting point to explain this policy development is that EU policies will reflect the positions of the ‘least ambitious’ actors when unanimity is required. Examination of different policy phases shows that EU policy mixes are not only needed to fulfil different transition functions—they also provide opportunities to combine different actor interests to raise climate ambitions. The EU institutions have been instrumental in crafting policy packages that exempt and compensate the least climate-ambitious actors. The Paris Agreement has also provided an enabling context for higher EU ambitions. Looking towards the future, the corona-induced recession has so far mainly been used by the EU as an opportunity to strengthen climate ambitions and the European Green Deal.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed various types of renewable energy technologies and their status, potential for adoption, relationship to climate change, and mitigative and adaptive roles in Nepal and recommended that the government of Nepal focus work on energy policy reviews to address local energy demand and climate change issues by utilizing renewable energy resources at the local level.
Abstract: Renewable energy plays a crucial role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation in highly climate-vulnerable nations such as Nepal. This paper reviews various types of renewable energy technologies and their status, potential for adoption, relationship to climate change, and mitigative and adaptive roles in Nepal. Nepal has installed micro-hydro projects, solar power, improved cooking stoves, biogas technology, improved water mills, and wind energy to mitigate and adapt to climate change. There is a growing potential for renewable energy development in Nepal, such as hydropower, solar, wind energy, biogas, and improved cooking stoves. Roughly 70% of Nepal's energy consumption is generated from traditional energy sources while renewable energy accounts for approximately three percent. The gradual increase in the use of renewable energy has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced carbon sequestration. By adopting renewable energy technologies, Nepal has reduced emissions by 221,129 tCO2e from 2017 to 2018. Nepal's second Nationally Determined Contribution targets a 15% increase in national energy use from renewables with a reduction of 23% of CO2 emissions by 2030 using biogas and improved cooking systems. Furthermore, a significant increase in the adoption of renewable energy has become a pivotal strategy in adaptation to climate change in social, health, and economic sectors resulting in time savings, alternative income sources, improved health and educational status, local job opportunities, and the promotion of social capital. The benefits of adapting to climate change and mitigating CO2 emissions via renewable energy are significant at the local, national, and international levels. This study recommends that the government of Nepal focus work on energy policy reviews to address local energy demand and climate change issues by utilizing renewable energy resources at the local level, which has global implications.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the structure, drivers, and challenges of renewable energy policies in Korea, and the outcome of this study would contribute to the development of improved policies to achieve the Renewable Energy 3020 Plan in Korea.
Abstract: Recently, renewable energy has dramatically grown in the power sector. In 2017, the global renewable energy capacity reached a total of 2,195 GW, and solar PV and wind power led to most global renewable energy growth. However, there are still numerous challenges to deploying renewable energy in power plants and buildings. Therefore, many countries are attempting to reform renewable energy policies to overcome drawbacks, using mandatory regulations, incentives and subsidies, and other support programs. In Korea, renewable energy policy started in the 1980s, but it has not been a high priority in national energy policies. However, in 2017, the government pledged a phase-out of nuclear plants and suggested renewable energy as alternative national energy sources for the future. Therefore, this study investigated the structure, drivers, and challenges of renewable energy policies in Korea. There have been many challenges in renewable energy policies to develop localized plans for Korea (i.e., rosy prospects of renewable energy projects, physical space restraints for renewable installations in buildings, and quantitative supply-oriented renewable policies). The outcome of this study would contribute to the development of improved policies to achieve the Renewable Energy 3020 Plan in Korea.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined trends in energy demand, policies and development of renewable energies and the causal relationship between renewable and non-renewable energies and economic growth using two methodologies.
Abstract: Iran, endowed with abundant renewable and non-renewable energy resources, particularly non-renewable resources, faces challenges such as air pollution, climate change and energy security. As a leading exporter and consumer of fossil fuels, it is also attempting to use renewable energy as part of its energy mix toward energy security and sustainability. Due to its favorable geographic characteristics, Iran has diverse and accessible renewable sources, which provide appropriate substitutes to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Therefore, this study aims to examine trends in energy demand, policies and development of renewable energies and the causal relationship between renewable and non-renewable energies and economic growth using two methodologies. This study first reviews the current state of energy and energy policies and then employs Granger causality analysis to test the relationships between the variables considered. Results showed that renewable energy technologies currently do not have a significant and adequate role in the energy supply of Iran. To encourage the use of renewable energy, especially in electricity production, fuel diversification policies and development program goals were introduced in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Diversifying energy resources is a key pillar of Iran’s new plan. In addition to solar and hydropower, biomass from the municipal waste from large cities and other agricultural products, including fruits, can be used to generate energy and renewable sources. While present policies indicate the incorporation of sustainable energy sources, further efforts are needed to offset the use of fossil fuels. Moreover, the study predicts that with the production capacity of agricultural products in 2018, approximately 4.8 billion liters of bioethanol can be obtained from crop residues and about 526 thousand tons of biodiesel from oilseeds annually. Granger’s causality analysis also shows that there is a unidirectional causal relationship between economic growth to renewable and non-renewable energy use. Labor force and gross fixed capital formation cause renewable energy consumption, and nonrenewable energy consumption causes renewable energy consumption.