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The European Union, in pursuit of the goal of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050, is deploying different actions, with industry decarbonization as a key strategy. However, increasing electricity demand requires an intensification of energy generation from clean technologies, and the energy system's expansion is hindered by renewable generation's climatic dependencies and the imperative for substantial electrical infrastructure investments. Although the transmission grid is expected to grow, flexibility mechanisms and innovative technologies need to be applied to avoid an overwhelming growth. In this context, this paper presents a thorough assessment, conducted within the FLEXINDUSTRIES project, of the flexibility potential across seven energy-intensive industries (automotive industry, biofuel production, polymer manufacturing, steel manufacturing, paper mills, pharmaceutical industry, and cement production). The methodology followed during the analysis entails reviewing the state-of-the-art existing flexibility mechanisms, industries' energy markets engagement, and technical/operational readiness. The results highlight the feasibility of the proposed actions for enabling energy market flexibility through demand-response programs, quantifying energy opportunities, and pinpointing regulatory and technical barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU has set the ambitious target of raising the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 32% by 2030, with a target of climate neutrality by 2050. The aim of this paper is to assess the role of biomass usage in the context of these targets. The paper identifies the progress made between 2013 and 2022 by focusing on a selection of EU countries. The largest bioenergy increments of 130, 77, and 60 PJ were reported for Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. This study evaluates the crucial role of co-generation and heat in EU regions, with biomass usage between 55 and 80% of the combined heat and power (CHP) energy in Nordic countries. The future perspectives for bioenergy based on EU policies, biomass resources, and technical issues were addressed. The EU possesses around 9% of the global biomass supply, ensuring a certain level of biomass resource dependence. Thus, the biomass usage demand in energy production, non-energy sectors, and transport is expected to rise, leading to increments of 13–76% on biomass imports. It appears that bioenergy development is mostly limited by economic issues and uneven support for bioenergy in different EU countries as well as environmental issues. The study shows a promising and sustainable potential of bioenergy in the EU as a renewable energy source while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and the economy. By 2050, liquid biofuels are likely to be increasingly used in the transport sector. Non-energy sector usage of biomass is still in an early stage of development, except for the pulp and paper industry, and significant use of biomass in non-energy sectors seems unlikely in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, increasing attention is already being paid not only to the development of renewable energy sources, but also to the establishment of solutions to achieve local energy self-sufficiency while increasing the role of citizens in managing the energy they generate. This approach is expected both to have a positive impact on the environment and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and to enhance energy security—both in economic and civic terms by, i.a., combating energy poverty. The development of local energy communities promoted in the EU is supported i.a. by energy cooperatives. These contribute to the efficient harnessing of renewable energy potential in rural and urban-rural areas, and have been developing in Poland for several years now. In their previous studies, the authors of this research paper attempted to verify the generation (number, type and capacity of installed sources) and consumption (energy demand) configurations in which an energy cooperative would be a viable solution for prosumers who might establish it. However, over the past few years, the conditions for prosumers and the method of their accounting with the electricity seller have changed radically in Poland (shift from net metering to net billing). This situation has opened up space for further research and encouraged the authors to revisit the problem of analyzing the viability of establishing energy cooperatives in relation to the rules of operation of individual prosumers. This research was carried out for three scenarios, and the horizon of the analyses conducted and described extends to 2045. The comparative analysis included energy consumers without their own generation sources, prosumers with a photovoltaic generation installation covered by the net billing model, as well as a scenario involving prosumers' cooperation within an energy cooperative, which by law is settled in the net metering model. Conclusions from the research and simulations made it possible to confirm the claim that, despite changes in the rules of prosumer billing, developing energy independence in the energy community formula results in a significant reduction in the cost of purchasing electricity (even several times lower purchase costs in the timeframe analyzed) and can lead to a reduction in the payback time of investments in generation sources even by a factor of two. The results presented in this research paper open up space for further research. The outcomes allow us to assume that energy cooperatives—in the organizational and institutional model in Poland—are a good tool for reducing the phenomenon of energy poverty on a local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is the relationship between sustainable energy sources and financial development. The main research hypothesis assumes a positive link between these areas, with inevitable differences across countries and business sectors. The following research questions were asked: Is the impact of financial development on sustainable energy resources the same in different EU countries advanced in green transition processes? How is transition towards renewable energy sources progressing in different economic sectors? Does financial development influence sectoral transition in particular countries? This study uses the TOPSIS method and 25 variables for EU countries from 2013 to 2021. Key findings reveal that the link between sustainable energy sources and financial development varies across EU countries, country size affects energy autonomy, and the transition also differs by business sector. Surprisingly, higher financial development correlates with less progress in sustainable energy initiatives. The results of our research may be useful for government decision-makers in the process of designing and controlling the country's transition to sustainable energy. The original contribution of the study is expressed in its the diagnosis of the relationship between financial development and sustainable energy sources, while most studies have focused on the relationship between the energy market and financial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance, a cornerstone of environmental health for thriving biodiversity and undisturbed natural processes. This balance is crucial for the sustainability of ecosystems, directly influencing human health, biodiversity, and the overall quality of our natural environment. WWTPs contribute to this equilibrium by efficiently removing pollutants and harmful substances from wastewater, thus averting the degradation of water bodies that are essential for numerous ecological processes. WWTPs encompass multiple stages of wastewater and sludge treatment and are significant energy consumers globally, especially in secondary treatment, particularly the activated sludge method which is the most common method. With an upcoming directive from the European Union aiming to reduce energy consumption in WWTPs, this paper focuses on a literature review examining global practices implemented across all stages of WWTP treatment processes. It summarizes the key points of each study, focusing primarily on the outcomes of each application. This document concludes with an in-depth review of each study and provides general conclusions for each group of studies. The objective is to identify methods that have effectively reduced energy consumption and enhanced the overall energy efficiency of WWTPs. The main conclusions indicate that the studies encompass a wide range of applications that achieve significant reductions in energy consumption. However, additional testing of these applications in more diverse operating environments through trials could further enhance their reliability and increase acceptance among WWTP operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability of the transport sector is targeted by various policies adopted by the European Union, and their impact must be constantly monitored in order to maximize the desired objective. This paper, through a two-stage investigation, aims to present a systemic approach of the sustainability dimensions in transport and to introduce an innovative technique to analyze the interdependencies between them. In the first stage, relevant indicators were selected from the Eurostat database for the content of four dimensions: economic, environmental, social and technological. The robustness of the developed dimensions was assessed and validated through a confirmatory factor analysis. In the second stage, a Gaussian graphical model was estimated as a technique integrating graphical and statistical modeling to identify complex structures of linkages between variables (as components of each dimension of sustainability). The structure of the network clearly highlights the dependence of transport on fossil fuel consumption as the main determinant of pollution in the sector (CO2 emissions). In addition, the central role of railways in decarbonizing transport is highlighted, in contrast to the limited, and isolated at one end of the network, role of electric vehicles. The findings support that affordability of this new technology plays an important role in its impact on zero-emission transition. Concentrating on the period 2013–2022, at EU27 level, the results are relevant in the context of decarbonization policies, offering useful insights both for future research and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic objective of world climate policy is the decarbonization of industries, aiming to achieve "net-zero" emissions by 2050, as outlined in the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. This transition entails increasing the utilization of renewable energy sources (RES) in industrial energy consumption, thereby transforming economies from reliance on fossil fuels to sustainable alternatives. However, this shift poses a significant challenge for many EU countries, with varying degrees of success in adaptation. This paper investigates the process of decarbonizing industries by analyzing trends in the adoption of RES in EU countries and evaluating their progress toward climate targets. Utilizing time series analysis of production, total energy usage, and the proportion of renewables in industrial energy consumption, the study compares two groups of countries: longstanding EU members and newer additions. The aim is to forecast the trajectory of RES integration in industry and assess the feasibility of meeting the targets outlined in the European Green Deal. The findings reveal a considerable gap between the set targets and projected outcomes, with only a few countries expected to meet the EU's 2030 goals. This is highlighted by disparities in RES shares across member states, ranging from 0.0% to 53.8% in 2022. Despite notable increases in the absolute use of renewable energy, particularly in central and eastern European nations, substantial challenges persist in aligning industrial sectors with EU decarbonization objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green transition is a challenge for the Polish economy and energy sector. In this paper, the expert method of analysis was applied and findings revealed that the challenges and prerequisites for an effective transformation of the power sector mainly include technical, technological and organizational issues of energy production and use. The provision of electricity at competitive prices and with a low carbon footprint, for individual consumers and industry, is a prerequisite for maintaining the well-being of the population and ensuring the competitiveness of domestically produced goods. The ambitious climate policy goals of the European Union require immediate action and call for radical changes in the Polish energy sector; in the coming years, it must drastically reduce the amount of energy produced from fossil fuels and replace it with so-called green energy from renewable sources. The main purpose of this article was to highlight the need to modify Poland's energy policy until 2040 in order to make it more consistent with the ambitious climate goals of the European Union. This article also shows that Poland's energy transition must include a shift from fossil fuels to renewables, while ensuring that energy security is stabilized by the current energy and generation resources. To this end, we discuss the issues of creating reserves in the national energy system for the entire period of Poland's energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water and sewage sector is responsible for approximately 3.5% of energy consumption in the European Union (EU). Leaks causing water losses in water distribution systems (WDSs) are responsible for approximately 24% of water consumption in the EU, which contributes to additional energy losses and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The implementation of the Directive of the European Parliament and the EU Council on the quality of drinking water (Directive (EU) 2020/2184) introduces the obligation to report water losses by large water utilities in EU Member States. The reported indicator will be the infrastructure leakage index (ILI) which is the ratio between current annual real loss (CARL) and unavoidable annual real loss (UARL). The paper presents a comparative analysis of selected water loss performance indicators calculated for 12 Polish WDSs. Results show that values of calculated indicators were diverse. The overestimation of both the reported value of operating pressure and total length of service connections may lead to the overestimation of UARL and thus to the underestimation of ILI. Obtaining a satisfactory, but incorrect, value of ILI may result in the abandonment of activities aimed at water loss reduction. Water losses in water distribution systems (WDSs) contribute to a significant increase in both energy consumption and GHG emissions. Total approximated electrical energy related to CARL consumed in 2021 by eleven utilities (except for one company) amounted to 3.276 GWh and total approximated carbon emissions amounted to 2807.84 MgCO2eq. In the case of four WDSs, reduction of ILI to the value of 1.5 may reduce GHG emissions by 31–54%. It can be concluded that the implementation of Directive (EU) 2020/2184 will require unification of methodology for calculation of parameters used in ILI evaluation in all EU Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) has been identified by the EU as a powerful resource capable of making substantial contributions to energy savings and reducing GHG emissions. Spain's effort to promote CHP has been prolific since the 1980s. In this regard, there have been various Laws, Royal Decrees (RDs) and European Union (EU) Directives addressed to reach the national objectives set for the CHP sector. Despite these attempts, the evolution and growth of installed CHP capacity has been irregular, compared to other technologies. Likewise, the academic treatment of the Spanish CHP evolution has not deserved the same attention as other technologies such as wind, photovoltaic and thermal solar systems. As a result, this article is aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the regulatory frameworks applied to the Spanish CHP sector and analysing the reasons behind the variable evolution of the installed CHP capacity. The study covers the legislative context from 1980 to 2020, describing the evolution during both the pre-liberalization and liberalization periods, highlighting the modifications in economic policies that affected self-producers and the so-called Special Regime (SR) for CHP, and examining the challenges faced during the cost containment measures that followed. The manuscript finds and explains the connection between the regulatory framework and the evolution of installed CHP capacity in Spain. Likewise, the connection between the industrial situation and the promotion of CHP, as well as the influence of the Spanish Electricity Sector (SES)'s liberalization on the CHP sector are also pointed out. The paper intends to provide valuable insights for CHP experts and policymakers by showcasing the importance of aligning regulatory measures with the objectives of energy efficiency. It also serves as a reference for countries in various stages of promoting CHP, and provides evidence for the importance of stable energy-policy control mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing heat losses through the building envelope is one of the most important aspects to be met if the targets set by the European Union are to be achieved. In order to obtain a more realistic energy demand, dynamic heat transfer simulations are used to calculate the energy consumption of buildings, since steady-state calculations do not take into account the thermal mass in buildings. These dynamic simulations employ methods based on analytical models since numerical models are unsuitable for longer time periods. The analytical models used herein fall into the category of conduction transfer functions (CTFs). Two methods for computing CTFs that are addressed in this research are the Laplace method and the State-Space method. The objective of this paper is to verify the efficiency of the Laplace and State-Space methods for calculating the energy demand of a building in the case of heavyweight building elements and shorter sampling times, and to provide a means for improving the algorithms used by these methods. The Laplace and State-Space method algorithms were implemented in Mathematica, and the results were compared to EnergyPlus and TRNSYS, which use similar algorithms to calculate energy demand. It was shown in this paper that for the heavyweight wall element and a time step of 0.25 h, the difference between the total energy transferred through the inner surface was about 31% for EnergyPlus and 78% for TRNSYS compared to the reference solution. For the lightweight wall element, the results were stable for the time step of 0.25 h, but for the time step of 0.1 h, the differences were 45.64% and 303% between EnergyPlus, TRNSYS and the reference solution, respectively, compared to the State-Space and Laplace methods for which the maximum difference was 12.03% with a time step of 0.1 h. While dynamic heat transfer simulations are better than calculations based on steady-state boundary conditions, they also have their limitations and could lead to unsatisfactory results for short sampling times and if not applied properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applied the advocacy coalition framework to explore and explain the political processes creating policies to enhance energy efficiency of European Union (EU) industry. The paper used legislation on energy audits and energy management systems as a proxy for EU policy on energy efficiency in industry. Based on qualitative text analysis of EU policy documents, including a proposal to recast the energy efficiency directive, amendments to the proposal suggested by Member States, the Council and the European Parliament, and reports from negotiations, the paper identified four advocacy coalitions with different core beliefs, spanning from those that want few companies to implement energy audits or energy management systems, and that recommendations from audits should not be mandatory to implement, to those that advocate that many companies implement energy audits and management systems and that it should be mandatory to implement measures recommended in audits. It was further found that policy change followed an external shock, deliberative negotiations, and policy-oriented learning. The identification of core beliefs and advocacy coalitions will help policymakers and other stakeholders become more aware of their own and others' values on energy efficiency and how these could be changed. As important was the differentiation of deep core beliefs, policy core beliefs and secondary beliefs. Which beliefs can be easily changed, which cannot? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to simulate the European natural gas system in extreme situations and to determine its weaknesses in terms of demand coverage. An assessment has also been made of the targets set for existing energy efficiency regulations and their effects on the coverage of future natural gas demand. This document assesses the potential for energy efficiency improvements associated with European countries and the effect of such improvements on the lessening of the natural gas demand. Once the efficiency improvement potential has been identified, the results of demand coverage in various scenarios of natural gas supply cut-off via pipelines were studied. The expected result reflects the study of the effect of the presumed demand reduction, due to the improvement of energy efficiency, on the self-sufficiency of the natural gas network and the improvement of energy coverage for EU countries. To carry out this study, an evaluation of the current infrastructures was developed, the existing resources were optimized, and the independence of the system was quantified in relation to the current situation of natural gas consumption at the European level. The proposed model has resulted in improvements in the coverage of the demand of certain countries and has detected those with systems that are not robust enough to face extreme crisis situations. The main conclusions are that the natural gas system has improved considerably from 2009 to the present, and that, in the event of massive gas cuts, there is a real risk of being unable to cover the natural gas demand of several countries with a very high dependence on gas from Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is one of the most powerful strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change by reducing energy demand, which in turn reduces the emissions of Green House Gases (GHG), as well as reducing the burden on the supply side renewable generation expansion. Because electric motors systems represent such a large share of the overall electricity consumption (over 50%), large savings potential could be made available by the use of energy-efficient motor systems both in new installations and by accelerating the replacement of old inefficient motors. Since electric motors are very reliable, their lifetime is long (according to recent studies it may exceed 20 years) which translates into a very inefficient existing stock despite worldwide policy efforts. This paper analyzes the current efficiency of the installed stock and the causes for its low efficiency, possible policy options to increase its the efficiency, the role of new technologies and improvements possible by targeting the entire motor system at the time of motor replacement. The paper presents an innovative analysis of the estimated impact of increasing the uptake of high-efficiency motors and motor systems; effective policies could translate into 100 TWh/year in the European Union if additional measures, such as addressing oversizing, proper controls (VSDs) and digitisation, are also implemented. If similar measures were adopted globally, the savings triggered could be at least tenfold reaching over 1000 TWh/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of ongoing climate changes and the current geopolitical situation, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are continuously gaining popularity in many countries. Objectives related to environmental protection and the use of RES set by different countries all over the world, as well as by the European Union (EU), are becoming priorities for many. The increase in the installed capacity of photovoltaic systems has been growing steadily for several years, leading to the creation of new systems accompanying PV installations; this phenomenon has also been observed in Poland. This paper presents a photovoltaic system in the form of a bicycle shed next to a school building as an example of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) without connection to the power grid. It was shown that the energy consumption profile should be properly correlated with the production profile, otherwise significant losses occur. Alternative methods to improve the correlation of production and energy consumption by using SCADA systems or building automation to properly manage the electricity generation and consumption installation were also proposed. Furthermore, it was shown that adopting a fixed discount rate in financial analyses can distort the picture of real profits. An analysis of the changes in the NPV ratio using variable discount rates was carried out when analyzing the entire life of the solar plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is a key driver of all modern economies. Sustainable development is playing an increasingly important role both at regional and local levels. It is a compromise between social and economic needs and the preservation of nature. In the policy of the European Union, the idea of sustainable development and environmental protection is of decisive importance for the implemented programs and economic activities. Contemporary challenges require the transformation of the energy market towards greater use of renewable sources. According to Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and European Council on promoting energy from renewable sources, Poland has committed itself to achieving a 23% share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2030. This goal considers total energy consumption in terms of power, engineering, heating, refrigeration, and transport. The aim of this paper was, firstly, an analysis of the share of renewable energy in the European Union over an 18-year period (2004–2021), with particular emphasis on the position of Poland. The second objective was the analysis of renewable energy at the local level in Poland, i.e., at the local government unit (LAU) level. Changes in the share of renewable energy in Poland compared to other European countries were also examined. The study utilized functional analysis of principal components and cluster analysis based on the data from the Central Statistical Office and EUROSTAT. The study found that while Poland does not differ significantly from other countries in using renewable energy, it does fall below the European average. Principal component analysis suggests that Poland responds adequately to European changes in the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption. This dynamic is stable (over 95% explained by the first component) and applies to most countries surveyed. In addition, the authors sought to answer questions relating to the current status of renewable energy sources in Poland, the barriers and challenges facing the introduction of renewable energy in the country, a comparative analysis of Poland's progress in renewable energy with other global counterparts, and an exploration of the future prospects and potential for the development of renewable energy in Poland. The study found that the potential for renewable energy is greatest in the northern areas of Poland, with photovoltaics and wind power plants providing the greatest capacity. Poland's renewable energy potential is very high and will be determined by technological development, political, economic, and social issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the following article is to present the situation of the energy market from a household perspective between 2010 and 2020 in selected EU countries (the group of member states which joined EU after 2004). The selected countries when joining the EU had similar economic indicators and to some extent were similar in other macro-economic situations (personal income, unemployment rate, GDP level and annual growth). This article analyzes the past and current situation of the household ability expenditure on electricity and energy resources (petrol—eurosuper 95 and diesel and natural gas), taking into account price, tax conditions and the real possibility to purchase the analyzed energy sources (based on annual net salaries). The paper includes the conclusions and prospects for the future. The main objective of the study is to determine the ability amount of expenditure on electricity, natural gas and liquid fuels by household in the countries that joined the European Union after 2004. The specific objectives of the work include: the evolution of retail prices of energy sources in those countries and prices of electricity, natural gas and liquid fuels—petrol and diesel oil—in the research period from 2010 to 2020. The element that influences the final price, as assessed in this paper, is the share of taxes and compulsory charges imposed by the EU countries covered in this study. The result of the study presented inter alia that energy consumption structure did not change significantly, electricity prices were steadily growing in the countries under assessment, the use of liquid fuels—petrol and diesel oil—in the countries under study, grew over the study period. Furthermore, prices of fuel fluctuated over the period from 2010 to 2020 and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which broke out in March 2020, but did not cause any significant changes in the prices of energy carriers in the analyzed period, apart from the declines in the prices of eurosuper 95 and diesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the challenges of increasing the energy efficiency investments in European Union (EU) residential buildings in the context of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The paper presents the results of the PRIMES buildings model in key energy policy applications to support cost-effective and fair policy making in buildings across Europe. The model covers, in detail, the building sector for all the EU Member States (MS), segmenting the buildings into many categories. The approach proposed includes non-market barriers in conventional microeconomic modelling, which combined with idiosyncratic preferences can capture poor energy efficiency choices and still represent rational behaviours. The model includes a detailed portrayal of policies specific to the sector, comprising economic and regulatory policies as well as institutional measures. The results of the model show that the removal of non-market barriers is of great importance in reducing energy consumption and increasing both the pace and the depth of renovation investment. However, the institutional measures alone are not enough to induce energy efficiency improvement to the scale required to achieve the climate neutrality objectives. Economic (i.e., subsidies) or regulatory measures (i.e., energy performance standards) are also required to decrease emissions and energy consumption in buildings and the paper compares different configurations thereof. The optimum policy mix obviously derives from a compromise among various aims including the cost-effectiveness of the policy budget and the distributional impacts across building and consumer types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambitious goal of the European Union (EU) countries is to achieve carbon neutrality by providing inclusive economic growth, which requires the development of relevant incentives and initiatives. Furthermore, such incentives and initiatives should guarantee the achievement of the declared goals. Energy sectors are the core determinant of inclusive economic growth. Traditional energy resources (coal oriented) have a higher negative impact on nature and people's well-being than on economic and social benefits. However, the transition to renewable energy raises new issues in achieving goals of inclusive economic growth: affordable and clean energy, responsible energy consumption, and energy infrastructure. The analysis of the theoretical framework found that the digitalization of government could be a core instrument for handling the abovementioned issues. The paper aims to justify the role of green energy in achieving inclusive economic growth empirically. The study applies the following methods: fully modified Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and canonical cointegrating regression. The findings allow concluding that institutional quality passively affects inclusive economic growth and that the digitalization of government has a U-shaped impact on inclusive economic growth. In this case, countries should boost the digital transformation of public services and continuously increase the quality of institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change consequences, all Member States of the European Union signed an agreement with the goal of becoming the first society and economy with a neutral impact on the planet by 2050. The building sector is one of the highest energy consumers, using 33% of global energy production. Given the global increase for energy demand, implementing energy flexibility strategies is crucial for a better integration of renewable energy sources and a reduction of consumption peaks arising from the electrification of energy demand. The work described in this paper aims to develop an optimization algorithm to use the existing aggregated energy flexibility in office buildings to reduce both the electric energy costs of each office, considering the tariffs applied at each moment and the total power peak, aiming to reduce the entire building's cost of the contracted power, considering the Portuguese context. The obtained results conclude that it is possible to reduce both the costs associated with electric energy consumption and contracted power. Nevertheless, since the cost of contracted power has a lower impact on the overall energy bill, it is more beneficial to focus only on the reduction of costs associated with electric energy consumption in the considered case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to identify the state of residential buildings in terms of energy consumption and modernisation in Poland against the background of the EU, and to determine factors and activities increasing households′ interest in net-zero energy buildings. In the European Union, we are observing a tendency to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, including residential, and decarbonise building stock by 2050. The objective of the undertaken activities is to reduce energy use and the negative impacts of the use of buildings on the environment. Attaining this objective requires modernising many buildings. This dissertation includes an investigation into the condition of buildings in Poland from the aspect of energy use and the kind of carriers of this energy, and also into another issue: what factors and activities may increase society′s interest in net-zero energy buildings, and in the use of energy from renewable sources in residential buildings. The studies were conducted with the use of the data provided by the Central Statistical Office and EUROSTAT, and also of the reports of the European Commission, the data of the Central Emission Register of Buildings (CERB) and the Odysse–Mure database. An important source of information was also surveys conducted with the application of CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview), and also of PAPI (Paper and Pencil Interview), among 387 households in Poland. For the purpose of analysing the results of the studies, the methods of descriptive statistics, the chi-square test of independence, the ANOVA test of Kruskal–Wallis and the Mann–Whitney U-test were used. The analysis gives rise to the conclusion that, in residential buildings, household′s annual primary energy demand is dependent on the year in which a building was commissioned. Newer buildings can boast smaller heat energy use. Simultaneously, ever more households are undertaking activities that will result in the thermal modernisation of residential buildings. The studies have shown that the development of net-zero energy buildings requires undertaking activities in the scope of introducing allowances and subsidies, and also increasing social awareness in the scope of this kind of building. Interest in buildings using solely renewable energy sources is contributed to by raising energy prices, and also the falling prices of required installations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources (RES) are currently the main alternative to fossil fuels and are also seen as an important contributor to slowing down the dangerous climate change on our planet. Energy supplied from renewable sources can reduce the consumption of primary raw materials and reduce emissions of harmful substances that enter the atmosphere in the process of producing electricity and heat, having a negative impact on the environment. This paper provides a multivariate comparative analysis of EU countries in terms of the use of renewable energy. The empirical research used seven variables defining the complex phenomenon under study, collected for 27 EU countries between 2011 and 2020. The research method used was the dynamic version of the non-model method, with a normalisation method based on zero unitarisation. The results of the study confirm that there was a positive change in the use of renewable energy in most EU countries between 2011 and 2020. High levels of renewable energy use were displayed by the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. In contrast, the least renewable energy use was seen in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate and energy policies are the key areas of the European Union's development aspirations in the international arena. The European Green Deal sets ambitious new goals in this respect, emphasizing clean energy. The development of the energy sector, relying chiefly on renewable sources, is one of the conditions for the EU to transition to energies that do not produce waste that pollutes or is otherwise harmful to the Earth and human health. This paper assesses the development of renewable sources of energy in the EU and identifies challenges to the realization of the EU's energy priorities. An analysis of renewable sources of energy in the EU in 2012 and 2020 is the prime method. The generation of primary energy from renewable sources, the share of energy from renewable sources in the final energy consumption, the structure of energy generation from renewable sources, and the share of energy from renewable sources in the energy used by the transport sector are discussed. Secondary data are employed, made available by Eurostat and Statistics Poland. To reach the objective of the study, Z. Hellwig's taxonomic method is applied to assess the development of renewable energy sources (RES). Cluster analysis (Ward's agglomerative clustering method) is additionally used for separation of objects and member states that are similar with regard to the phenomenon reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the challenges that societies and economies face in view of the assumptions of the EU's new Green Deal, which envisages a balancing of CO2 emissions and absorption. This analysis discovers varied progress on the development of RES in the member states, posing a threat to the European community's aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a necessity to combine the development of the European Union with a model of a sustainable economy, which is important to stimulate eco-innovation. The government of each member state is obliged to create support mechanisms that will encourage entrepreneurs to implement pro-environmental solutions. This requires the identification of determinants for eco-innovation. This paper identifies and compares conditions of eco-innovation in two sectors in Poland: ICT (information and communication technologies) and industry. Putting together many different types of conditions into one model (including government, science, industry, and ICT) allows us to explain what is more important when making a decision about implementing new eco-solutions. The study covered over 3000 enterprises. Stepwise logit regression was used to examine all relationships of interest. We discovered two separate (independent) paths of approach to eco-innovation for ICT and industry. This means that another condition should be fulfilled to reach any eco-innovation in each of the sectors. There are just a few factors supporting new environmental solutions in ICT with strong impact—cooperation with suppliers, journals as a source of new knowledge, or financial support by credit institutions with high materials and energy efficiency at the end of the process. Industry could be described more like a horizontal approach—a wide number of conditions with low impact on eco-innovation. Therefore, innovation policies in the catching-up country should be more sophisticated and take care of more relevant tools for both sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofuels are becoming more important in the renewable energy sources mix. Liquid biofuels are products of agriculture. Bioethanol can be prepared from corn, beetroot and other plants. Biodiesel is mainly made from rapeseed. This paper presents information about biodiesel development in Poland, as well as some background information about its development in the European Union (EU). We analyzed the data about biofuels in the literature, and provide statistical data about liquid biofuel in Poland and other countries of the EU. The aim of the study is to assess the viability of liquid biofuel development in Poland. The base for biodiesel production in Poland and the EU is rapeseed. The production yields and sown area of rapeseed increased in Poland from 2005–2020. This was due to integration and European Union policies which aim to supply clean energy. The energy mix in Poland differs from that of the EU. Solid biofuels have made up the biggest share of renewable energy sources in Poland (73.4%) and the EU (40.1%). Poland has smaller share of wind energy, biogas, heat pump, water energy, solar anergy, municipal waste and geothermal energy in its renewable energy sources compared to the rest of the EU. Only with solid and liquid biofuels is the share of renewable energy sources larger in Poland compared to the EU averages. Poland has decreased its share of solid biofuels and water energy among its renewable energy sources, while other sources have increased. Poland is investing to increase its renewable energy sources. To analyze the opportunities for biodiesel production in Poland, we used the scenario method of analysis. We outlined three scenarios. The first is increasing the production of biodiesel by 3% each year for the next three years. The second is production remains unchanged, i.e., at the 2020 level. The last scenario is decreasing production by 3% each year. According to the first scenario, the total demand for rapeseed for energy and food purposes will be 375 thousand tons in 2025. Such a scenario is very likely to occur because of the growing demand for biodiesel and edible oil. The current situation with Ukraine and the Russian Federation will create an increase in demand for rapeseed, leading to higher prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Clean Energy for all Europeans" package highlights the need to create a resilient critical energy infrastructure in the European Union. Resilience is an emerging term to describe the energy system's ability to withstand shocks caused by natural hazards, technical accidents, or intentional threats. In this paper, a framework to assess the resilience of energy systems using quantitative indicators is presented. Two main groups of resilience indicators are proposed that depend on what is being measured within the energy system: capacity (attribute-based) indicators or performance in the presence of disruption (performance-based) indicators. This study concentrates on the first resilience phase, when the energy system has to absorb the impact of the shock. The approach considers various disruptions (both internal and external) as triggering events. There is a particular focus on future shocks affecting the prospective energy system, which will have changed with respect to the current one. The future foresight capabilities and potential of the selected resilience indicators are demonstrated using calculations for the Lithuanian energy system. The results revealed that the most important factors that impact energy system resilience are a rich electricity production mix and the diversification of both supply and production in the prospective energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union and the Austrian government have set ambitious plans to expand renewable energy sources and lower carbon dioxide emissions. However, the expansion of volatile renewable energy sources may affect today's energy system. To investigate future challenges in Austria's energy system, a suitable simulation methodology, temporal and spatially resolved generation and consumption data and energy grid depiction, is necessary. In this paper, we introduce a flexible multi-energy simulation framework with optimization capabilities that can be applied to a broad range of use cases. Furthermore, it is shown how a spatially and temporally resolved multi-energy system model can be set up on a national scale. To consider actual infrastructure properties, a detailed energy grid depiction is considered. Three scenarios assess the potential future energy system of Austria, focusing on the power grid, based on the government's renewable energy sources expansion targets in the year 2030. Results show that the overwhelming majority of line overloads accrue in Austria's power distribution grid. Furthermore, the mode of operation of flexible consumer and generation also affects the number of line overloads as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the recent European directives highlighting the need to increase energy efficiency in the European Union, this work aims to show the possibility of using Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) techniques to improve energy audits by estimating the compressed air leakage from a dataset of a tertiary building. The first step towards the reduction of energy consumption is performing an energy audit, in which a detailed analysis of the energy performance is executed. This analysis usually uses on-site measured data by the auditors. However, the time available for these measurements is limited and may not include some modes of operation. One example of that is the quantification of compressed air leaks. This task can be performed by estimating the flow rate during a no compressed air consumption period. However, these periods may not coincide with the auditors' original schedule. This problem could be addressed by using historical data. Nevertheless, historical data from energy management systems usually are only available for global consumption, and rarely for individual appliances. In this context, a NILM approach would be helpful to enhance energy audits carrying analysis of modes of operation not included in the on-site measurements. In this paper, the leaks are firstly quantified using measurements mostly for benchmarking purposes. The results suggested 62% of leaks in the study case. In a second step, the Factorial Hidden Markov Model (FHMM) was applied to the data. Five typical working days, simulating the context of an energy audit, were used as training data, while one week during vacation time, with no compressed air consumption, was used to quantify the leaks. The results show that it was possible, in the context of an energy audit, to estimate the compressed air leakage using NILM techniques in this dataset with less than a 1% difference when compared to the estimation made with actual measurement. Finally, savings estimations considering the elimination of the leaks were performed, varying between 10% and 100% of the leakage repair. Considering the ideal scenario of complete leaks elimination, the savings would represent around 44% in the compressed air system and 4.75% of the current annual global consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encouraged by the European Union, all European countries need to enforce solutions to reduce non-renewable energy consumption in buildings. The reduction of energy (heating, domestic hot water, and appliances consumption) aims for the vision of near-zero energy consumption as a requirement goal for constructing buildings. In this paper, we review the available standards, tools and frameworks on the energy performance of buildings. Additionally, this work investigates if energy performance ratings can be obtained with energy consumption data from IoT devices and if the floor size and energy consumption values are enough to determine a dwellings' energy performance rating. The essential outcome of this work is a data-driven prediction tool for energy performance labels that can run automatically. The tool is based on the cutting edge kNN classification algorithm and trained on open datasets with actual building data such as those coming from the IoT paradigm. Additionally, it assesses the results of the prediction by analysing its accuracy values. Furthermore, an approach to semantic annotations for energy performance certification data with currently available ontologies is presented. Use cases for an extension of this work are also discussed in the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the paper is to identify firm,- industry- and country-specific determinants of working capital management (WCM) in energy industry. The empirical research is based on 6122 EU companies operating in the years 2011–2018. The influence of internal factors on variables describing WCM (cash conversion cycle—CCC, financial liquidity—LIQ and level of working capital—WC) were identified. The factors included: size of the company (positive effect), its growth, tangibility and indebtedness (negative effect). Cash flow had a positive effect on CCC and a negative effect on LIQ and WC. The influence of industry-specific factors were also found. Companies applied similar strategies in CCC and LIQ management, following their industry averages. Measures of WCM decreased under the influence of an increase in average trade payables in the industry. Following country-specific factors were found to be significant: (i) growth of GDP and strength of legal rights had negative influence on all measures of WCM, (ii) unemployment positively affects LIQ and WC and negatively CCC, (iii) an increase in the share of renewable energy sources caused a decrease in all WCM measures, while (iv) with an increase in energy consumption, CCC and WC increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of nearly zero-energy buildings (n-ZEB), introduced by the Directive 2010/31/EU will direct the building market toward ever greater energy efficiency of new buildings. In some contexts, however, the building market for high-efficiency buildings has evolved, in recent years, on the basis of national and regional laws that have contributed to the acceleration of the process. This paper analyses the case study of the Lombardy Region (Italy), which transposed and assimilated the Directive 91/2002 (Energy Performance Building Directive), as of 2006, with regional legislation for energy efficiency of buildings. Within a few years the market for high energy-performance of buildings in the Lombardy Region had grown substantially: to date nearly 7500 energy performance certificates for buildings of Class A and Class A+ have been issued. The paper therefore analyses a success story in what is a field of great current interest, namely n-ZEB buildings. In the first part of the work, the evolution in terms of energy efficiency of the housing market in the Lombardy Region has been analyzed, with particular reference to the high energy-performance of buildings. The second part focuses on a sample of 20 n-ZEB buildings in order to highlight the design choices applied to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The achievement of the so-called 2020 targets requested by the European Union (EU) has determined a significant growth of proposals of solutions and of technical projects aiming at reducing the CO2 emissions and increasing the energy efficiency, as well as the penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the electric network. As many of them ask for funding from the EU itself, there is the necessity to define a methodology to rank them and decide which projects should be sponsored to obtain the maximum effect on the EU 2020 targets. The present paper aims at (i) defining a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to compare different proposals, (ii) proposing an analytical methodology to evaluate the defined KPIs and (iii) evaluating the maximum impact that the considered action is capable of producing. The proposed methodology is applied to a set of possible interventions performed on a benchmark transmission network test case, in order to show that the defined indicators can be either calculated or measured and that they are useful to rank different “smarting actions”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a Belgian tax reform plan is elaborated to respond to the EU proposal that requires member states to restructure passenger car taxation systems, preferentially based on the CO2 emissions of the car. A tax orientation on CO2 emissions alone might however favour diesel vehicles, characterised by a higher fuel efficiency, whereas they release more polluting emissions (PM and NOx) than comparable gasoline vehicles. This paper introduces a methodology, the Ecoscore, as a potential tax assessment basis. The Ecoscore is based on a well-to-wheel framework and enables a comparison of the environmental burden caused by vehicles with different drive trains and using different fuels. A new proposal for a fixed vehicle taxation system, based on the Ecoscore, is launched. In addition, its impact on the life cycle cost of conventional as well as alternative fuelled cars is measured in order to examine its steering effect towards a cleaner vehicle choice. The overall result is that current tax distortions can be corrected by restructuring the vehicle registration tax and annual circulation tax, based on the Ecoscore. To stimulate behavioural changes, such a fiscal policy should however be paired with additional policies that act on the other important aspects that determine the car purchase decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides the analysis of fuel and energy transition in households sector and its sustainable development in the period 2004–2019. The main purpose of the paper is to determine the development trends in the use of renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU countries household sector in 2004–2019, to recognize the state of development and functioning of the studied area as well as to indicate their successes and shortcomings in observed reality. The article employs the results of Energy balance sheets from Eurostat. The research entity were households from 28 European Union countries, with particular emphasis on households from Poland and selected neighboring countries. The research subjects there were different sources of renewable energy used by households, i.e., solar thermal system, geothermal technologies, primary solid biofuels, charcoal, biogases, blended biogasoline, blended biodiesels, ambient heat (heat pumps). To achieve the research objective a number of statistical measures ands methods, including cluster analysis and linear trend indicator applied. In the analyzed 16 years, an absolute and relative increase in the use of RES in the household sector was noticed. Taking into account the specificity of using RES in households, 6 clusters of countries were distinguished. In Poland, it was noted that there was a significant increase in the use of RES in households, with stagnation in the use of non-renewable energy sources, such as, for example, hard coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the paper is to present a proposal to measure the relationships between Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and one of the areas considered in the green growth concept: environmental production efficiency. Both of these areas illustrate the relationship between the natural environment and the economy, emphasizing transformations in the field of energy use. Selected taxonomic methods, TOPSIS, and multicriteria taxonomy, were applied to study the relationships between the two areas. The results of the EU countries classification showed a variety of countries' development pathways within a single economic community. Despite continued attempts to equalize the development levels between European Union countries in many strategic areas, they remain highly diversified. That is also true for the areas analyzed in the paper, which is a disturbing situation, indicating that both strategies might not correlate in all respects. Further research into the relationships linking the remaining dimensions of both strategies is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have scarcely been considered in studies on green consumption. Likewise, little attention has been paid to the effects of informational feedback on household energy ICT-related consumption. This paper aims to fill these gaps in the literature. Using microdata from a representative sample of the European Union population, this paper analyzes, in a novel way, whether the provision of information about the energy consumed by online services would make internet users change to a greener ICT consumption behavior. To assess this issue, Heckman type selection models are estimated. The results show that people's concerns about environmental problems, their environmental activism and self-perceived efficacy as consumers are directly related to the influence that information provision exerts. We also find that frequent internet users and those with better digital skills are more willing to change their online behavior if given information on energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present the state of development of renewable energy sources (RES) in Poland in accordance with the obligations of European Union energy policy. The EU Member States are obliged to adopt different support mechanisms for the development of renewable energy sources, and in consequence to achieve their Directive's targets. Poland, being a Member State of the EU since 2004, has accepted a target of a 15% share of energy generated from renewable energy sources in final energy consumption, including 19.3% from renewable electricity until 2020. Due to the difficulties with target achievement, the authors found it reasonable to analyze the challenge of RES development in Poland. The article presents energy policy in the EU, as well as the review of measures implemented for renewable energy development. The current state of and perspectives on using renewable energy sources in Poland and in the EU are also depicted. In the article, the authors analyze the relation between reference prices at dedicated RES auctions in Poland and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The paper also provides a description of the renewable energy sources' development in three areas: electricity, heat and transport biofuels. Its main content, though, refers to the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation measures linked to households' energy consumption have huge greenhouse gases (GHG) emission reduction potential and positive impact on energy poverty reduction. However, measures such as renovation of residential buildings or installation of micro generation technologies based on renewable energy sources have not realized their full energy saving and GHG emission reduction potentials, due to the energy efficiency paradox and other barriers. These climate change mitigation policies targeting the households' sector can deliver extra benefits such as energy poverty reduction and implementation of the energy justice principle; therefore, they require more attention of scholars and policy makers. The aim of this paper is to analyze the energy poverty and climate change mitigation issues in EU households based on a systematic literature review, and to provide future research paths and policy recommendations. Based on the systematic literature review, this paper develops an integrated framework for addressing energy poverty, just carbon free energy transition and climate change mitigation issues in the EU. Additionally, we argue that more targeted climate change policies and measures are necessary in the light of the shortcomings of current measures to reduce energy poverty and realize climate change mitigation potential linked to energy consumption in households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, about 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions come from buildings; therefore, the improvement of their energy performance is a strongly focused issue. In particular, the energy efficiency of the building envelope is a very important element to pay attention to. Many studies have been conducted on this field of research, and the study illustrated in this paper also belongs to this topic. In particular, this article presents a multidisciplinary method to find sustainable solutions for energy efficiency in Italian climatic contexts using the Life Cycle Cost Analysis approach. In detail, this paper defines the reference scenario and then deepens the methodology used to determine the economically optimal thickness of a specific insulating material—hemp fiber—applied to a specific type of wall—uninsulated cavity walls made of hollow bricks, which are very widespread in Italy. The analysis is developed in relation to three different regions—Piedmont, Abruzzo, and Campania. The results show that the economically optimal thickness is different for each region analyzed and demonstrates how energy efficiency strategies must be carefully weighed according to the specific conditions of the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testing the relationship between economic performance and energy consumption is of utmost importance in nearly all countries. Taking the European Union as scope, this paper analyses the impacts of energy efficiency legislation on a selection of household appliances. In particular, it analyses the employment and value added impacts of the stricter energy efficiency requirements for dishwashers, washing machines, and washer dryers. To do so, this paper combines a bottom-up stock model with a macro-econometric dynamic general equilibrium model (FIDELIO) to quantify the direct and indirect value added and employment impacts in the European Union. The analysis shows that stricter energy efficiency requirements on household dishwashers, washing machines, and washer dryers have a net negative macroeconomic impact on value added (roughly 0.01 % of the total European Union value added) and a slightly net positive impact on employment. In fact, the regulations cause a shift in the composition of the household consumption basket that seems to favor labor-intensive industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The penetration of renewable energy is one of the main challenges for sustainable energy development. Local governments across the European Union commit to development and implementation of the Sustainable Energy (and Climate) Action Plan. This paper focuses on the case of Lithuania—a Central and Eastern European country. Almost one-third of Lithuanian municipalities have joined the Covenant of Mayors and prepared the plans that include SWOT analysis. However, there is a lack of information on how those plans contribute to climate change mitigation and sustainable energy development. This study identifies the links between key policy financial instruments, increasing energy efficiency. The Strategic Action Plans aimed at reducing GHG emissions and energy consumption in Lithuanian municipalities are analyzed. The challenges in promoting the renewable energy generation in Lithuanian rural regions are discussed. Moreover, the importance of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified is elicited at the local level. The study uses a combination of methods, such as expert surveys and SWOT analysis, that complements the tools used for regional energy climate planning and allows for overarching analysis. The expert survey shows that priority is given for renovation of buildings and modernization of energy infrastructure, making them more sustainable and more energy efficient. The results also show that, in the case of Lithuania (and possibly elsewhere in the post-Soviet countries), conditions and opportunities should be created beforehand to increase energy efficiency. Once this is achieved, the policies should focus on energy transition by switching to sustainable energy resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the change in Energy Intensity (EI) of the main economic activities in the EU15 countries, which represents approximately 45% of their final energy consumption. The purpose is, first, to measure the different patterns between the countries by establishing differentiated typologies, and second, to investigate those reasons that explain the different trends by country. To attain our objective, the changes in EI are decomposed into their structural and efficiency components for EU15 countries for the period 1991-2005. Results reveal four different typologies for this set of countries, and show the importance of identifying those economic activities which, due to their special impact, are key to reducing energy consumption. The changes in the structural component are due mainly to a transformative process in which the importance of industry in the economy as a whole drops, while the opposite holds for services. However, the changes in the efficiency component do not seem to be linked to this same process. It does not appear as though the services sector resulted in a more efficient use of final energy. We have detected significant evidence of convergence for EI in the service sector that would help to understand the recent worsen evolution of EI in this sector (and in overall EI) of Southern European countries. It can also be concluded that an analysis of global EI change without distinguishing among its components can result in misleading conclusions and in improperly conceived Energy Policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Union Member States are called upon to meet internationally proposed environmental goals. This study is based, in particular, on the recommendation of the European Union (EU), which encourages Member States to pursue effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, including through appropriate changes in the behavioral habits of citizens. In this respect, among the main sectors involved, transport and mobility should certainly be mentioned. National institutions should be adequately involved in order to achieve the objectives set; in this regard, universities must certainly be considered for their educational value. These latter, for instance, could commit to improving the environmental performance of the mobility of their commuter students (to a not insignificant extent), since commuting modes are often the cause of high CO2 emissions; indeed, they still largely involve the use of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels. In this paper, the effectiveness of a smartphone-app-based method to encourage commuter students to adopt more sustainable transport modes is evaluated. In more detail, starting from a statistical analysis of the status quo of mobility habits of a sample of students at the University of Palermo (Italy), an improvement of current habits toward a more sustainable path is encouraged through a new application (specifically created for this purpose) installed on students' smartphones. Then, the daily and annual distances traveled by commuters with the new mobility modes are calculated, and the resulting savings in energy and CO2 emissions are estimated. Finally, it is proposed that the reduced emissions could be converted into energy-efficiency credits that the University could use to enter the emission trading system (ETS), here contextualized within the Italian "TEE" ("Energy Efficiency Credits") scheme, while the benefits for students participating in the program could consist of reduced fees and free access to university services. The results obtained show the feasibility of the proposal. This approach can be considered a useful model that could be adopted by any other public institutions—not only universities—to facilitate their path toward decarbonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the strategic objectives of the European Union is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and improvement of energy efficiency by at least 32.5% in different areas of the economy by 2030. However, little is known about the impact of payment in retail on energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to assess the chain of losses of time and energy, and therefore financial losses, that occur due to the imperfection of payment infrastructure and instruments using data of cashiers' working time. The research is based on a regression analysis method, where the energy cost per payment transaction is considered in this study as a function of the number of customers per hour and the energy cost. The results of the panel models highlight that the number of customers per hour has a negative impact on the cost of energy per payment transaction. Furthermore, modern means and methods of payment, including cryptocurrencies, do not solve the problem of the excessive time that it takes to service payments, which entails a waste of energy and money. The empirical results give valuable insights into how to best organise payment in retail to achieve lower energy costs and improve energy efficiency in payment infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy sources (RES) play a key role in achieving the European Union's energy and climate objectives. As a member of the European Union, Croatia has committed to adopting European Directive 2009/28/EC, a directive on promoting the use of RES. Croatia shows good potential for the use of different types of RES. In the period 2009–2019, the share of renewable energy in energy consumption increased from 23.6 to 28.5 percent. The Croatian energy strategy aims to increase the national share of renewable energy to at least 32 percent by 2030. Acceptance and public support are essential for renewable energy to be introduced into energy policy and particularly to encourage renewable energy implementation in the residential sector. The purpose of the paper is to explore the public perception of renewable energy and citizens' willingness to pay for the use of RES. Data were collected through a 2021 survey of citizens 18 years and older. The survey results show a low level of implementation of RES technology in the residential sector; more than 80 percent of respondents did not use any sources of renewable energy in their households. Results related to respondents' knowledge of different sources of renewable energy suggest they have the most knowledge of solar, wind, and hydropower energy. Respondents believe that combating climate change, reducing dependency on energy imports, reducing environmental impacts, and improving health are the most important benefits of RES implementation. The survey reveals general support for RES among respondents; almost 89 percent of them would purchase renewable energy from local suppliers. In addition, 79 percent of survey participants were willing to pay for the introduction of RES technology into their households. The research shows that environmental concerns are the primary reason for citizens' higher willingness to pay for RES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper's main purpose is to identify the differentiation and variation of electricity prices for households in EU countries. The specific objectives are to highlight the directions and differentiation of price changes in EU states, determine the degree of volatility (or stability) of electricity rates, and establish the correlation between electricity prices for household consumers and economic and energy parameters. All members of the European Union were chosen for this project as of 31 December 2019 (28 countries). The analyzed period covered the years 2008–2019. The source of collected information was the thematic literature review and the data from Eurostat. Descriptive, tabular and graphical methods, constant-based dynamics indicators, coefficient of variation, Kendall's tau correlation coefficient, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used to analyze and present the materials. It was determined that higher electricity prices for households in the EU states were associated with better economic parameters. Developed countries must have higher energy rates because they will ensure energy transformation, i.e., implementing energy-saving technologies. In the EU, electricity prices for household consumers showed little volatility, but that variability increased in line with the surge of the volume of household energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the issue of energy efficiency management in the region of Prešov self-governing region (PSR), Slovakia, as the energy market is liberalized and the behavior of electricity consumers is influenced not only by conventional but also by alternative suppliers of this type of energy. Based on the statistical evaluation of a questionnaire survey focused on the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive behavior of consumers, a model of optimization of system processes of energy efficiency management at the regional level is presented. A one-way ANOVA and t-test were used to determine statistically significant differences, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine a statistically significant relationship. Based on the obtained results, a suitable candidate for efficient electricity management is an employee aged 36 to 50 with a technical focus. The proposed model of optimizing the processes of energy management efficiency at the regional level can also be applied to the supraregional level in the understanding of the geographical division of the European Union, where the same legislative regulations are applied within the liberalized electricity market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy plays a crucial role in the modern world. The acquisition and consumption of energy is unfortunately associated not only with economic development or the facilitation of everyday life, but also with a negative impact on the environment. To prevent these, measures are being taken which are part of a broad programme referred to as sustainable energy development (SED). A special place among energy consumers is occupied by households, as access to energy is a fundamental factor affecting the quality of life. The aim of this paper is to look at and assess the current situation of the household sector in the EU energy market in the context of SED and to point out similarities and differences between EU countries. The analysis considers factors based on SED indicators: final energy consumption per capita, energy prices offered to households, and the share of renewable energy in household energy consumption. The k-means method was used as a research tool. The results obtained indicate first of all that the EU countries are highly differentiated in terms of the analysed factors. It can be said that these differences result not only from the wealth of a given country, geographical location, or natural possibilities to use renewable energy sources, but mainly from the energy policies implemented in individual countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to present the differences in the volume of energy consumption in transport in the EU (European Union) countries. The specific objectives aim to determine the directions of changes and the degree of concentration in the volume of energy utilized by the transport sector in EU states, showing various models in this area, to establish the association between energy absorption and the parameters of the economy and in the field of transport. All EU countries were selected for research by the use of the purposeful selection method as of 31 December 2018. The analyzed period covered the years 2004–2018. For the examination of data, grading data analysis was used as one of the methods of multivariate data analysis. Descriptive, tabular and graphic methods were used to present the results. Findings reveal that there is a general tendency to reduce total energy consumption in the EU countries. The same is the case of energy in transport. Only in 2016–2018 was there an increase in energy absorption in transport. The reason was the better economic situation in this period. Road conveyance is the most important factor in energy utilization (over 90%). The share of other modes of transport was very small. Economically developing countries were the fastest in increasing energy absorption in transport per capita. In turn, highly developed states recorded slight growth and were stable in this aspect. There was a close relationship between energy utilization in transport per capita and GDP per capita. The reduction of energy consumption in transport depends on changes in road haulage, e.g., the pace of introducing innovative energy-saving technologies in automotive transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global competition and climate change are changing the nature of economic activity and impose the urgent need to have environmentally sensitive productivity growth. The paper addresses both desirable and undesirable output to assess technical efficiency and productivity changes, as well as evaluate the importance of an energy input in the production function and productivity change differentials in the European Union (EU) over the period 2000–2018. To that end, it uses output-oriented data envelopment analysis and Malmquist productivity analysis. The results reveal that the EU is facing significant challenges due to a decreasing trend in technical efficiency and slow productivity growth. The absence of major improvements in human resource performance has reduced the benefits of technological innovations which are the main source of productivity growth. Additionally, the results show that energy use did not critically influence efficiency and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]