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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 tCO 2 e 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 CO 2 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 CO 2 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. • Suitable, potential renewable energy technologies in Nepal. • The relationship between energy and climate change. • Relevant data on energy and climate change in tables and figures. • Social, economic, and environmental benefits of renewable energy. • Climate change adaptation and mitigation via renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of low-carbon energy and trade on the environment has drawn several studies that have looked at issues from different perspectives, thus yielding differing conclusions. Considering the current emphasis on the COP25 conference and the commitment to cut down carbon emissions level, this study also draws strength from the United Nations Sustainable development Goals (UNSDGs) that comprises of positive strides for access to clean and responsible energy consumption (SDGs 7, 12) and climate change mitigation issues (SDG-13). To this end, this study is a timely outlook that underpins the case of the European Union (EU) countries as well as the root cause of anthropogenic activities on clean trajectory of global environment. Hence, we investigate the connection between alternative and sustainable energy source, trade, income and emissions in 27 selected European Union economies by utilizing data covering the period 1990–2017 on an annual frequency. We used second-generation panel model estimators to analyze the relationship between the variables in the long-run. Specifically, the long run results from the MG (Mean Group), AMG (Augmented Mean Group), and CCEMG (Common Correlated Effects Mean Group) estimators reveal that sustainable and alternative energy sources have a negative significant impact on pollutant emissions while trade and income have a positive impact on carbon emissions except that the impact of trade is insignificant. Although the positive impact of openness in trade on carbon emission is insignificant, the positive impact suggests that the free-trade policy that is currently in place in the EU should further incorporate sustainable development goals (SDGs) to avoid the outsourcing of carbon emissions among the member countries. Causality tests reveal a feedback hypothesis between renewable energy, income, trade, and carbon emanations. The investigation proposes expanded utilization of sustainable power source to mitigate carbon emissions in the European Union. • Outlook of EU-27 alternative energy and regional trade. • The panel techniques of common correlated effect is employed. • Alternative energy utilization in the regional bloc aids. • Regional trade policy in the EU could posit environmental hardship. • Real income growth in the region hampers environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the energy system of the Basilicata region (southern Italy) to highlight, through a scenario analysis, its possible future development in compliance with the European Commission's long-term vision. The IEA-ETSAP methodology was utilized to model and analyse the Basilicata energy system in a business- as -usual scenario, based on the assumptions of the 2010 Regional Energy and Environmental Policy Plan, and in two low-carbon scenarios, decarbonisation and high energy efficiency, which, in line with the long-term European strategy, foresee an 85% carbon dioxide emission reduction and a 20% energy efficiency increase in 2050. The results highlight that electricity production from renewable energy sources (in particular wind energy), strongly supported by the regional policy, goes beyond the Basilicata Regional Energy-Environmental Plan forecast, with a further increase in the decarbonisation scenarios. In addition, solar thermal and highly efficient technologies are adopted in commercial and residential end-use sectors. An additional 9% reduction in energy consumption is achieved in the high energy efficiency scenario by passive houses. The proposed approach shows the usefulness of a modelling framework typically used for national and supranational analyses to support regional authorities in their decision-making process to obtain results in line with the European and national strategies. Application to the Basilicata region shows the usefulness of a consolidated framework for policy assessment at a local scale to assess regional contribution to the achievement of national climate mitigation targets that tend towards climate neutrality. • The role of regional authorities is essential to reach national decarbonisation goals. • TIMES can be advantageously used for regional energy system modelling and analysis. • Scenario analysis can be a powerful tool for policy evaluation. • A cap on carbon dioxide emissions leads to a 28% increase of electricity production. • Passive houses in Residential allow a further 5% reduction of energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]