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This paper presents an in-depth analysis of decarbonizing the electricity sector in the Dominican Republic, pivotal for addressing climate change and fostering economic growth. Employing the robust-decision making methodology, we studied multiple scenarios via computational models, capturing inputs from stakeholders and evaluating each scenario across 1,000 futures to capture deep uncertainty. Four scenarios were examined: baseline, reference, natural gas, and renewable. The renewable scenario emerged as the most advantageous, proposing the replacement of coal-fired power generation with renewable sources, primarily solar and wind, coupled with batteries. A significant investment, averaging US$3.3 billion, is necessary for this shift toward renewable energy; however, these investments are overcompensated by savings in operational costs. Crucially, this transition promises substantial benefits by 2050: an estimated cumulative average net economic gain of US$2.7 billion, an 8% reduction in average generation costs in 2050, the creation of 160,000 direct jobs, and the avoidance of circa 140 million tons of C02. The findings underscore the feasibility and economic viability of transitioning to a 55% renewable energy generation by 2050. The study offers a critical roadmap for policymakers, highlighting renewable energy expansion, transmission grid strengthening, and strategic coal generation replacement, thus offering a comprehensive blueprint for the nation's energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy has emerged as a crucial solution to address the challenges posed by climate change and the increasing demand for energy. This paper aims to explore the challenges and opportunities associated with the adoption of renewable energy for achieving competitive growth. The study examines the current state of renewable energy technologies, identifies the barriers to their widespread implementation, and highlights the potential benefits and opportunities for economic growth. The findings suggest that while there are challenges to overcome, renewable energy presents significant opportunities for sustainable development and a competitive advantage in the global market. The literature review was supplemented by an additional review on the criteria used by different policymakers and case studies. The final presentation of the results creates a taxonomy landscape of criteria for the social and political perspectives as well as success story in terms of CSR. The strategical importance in this regard is related to the perspective in the decision-making by policy makers in different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to identify how energy cooperatives and energy communities could affect the social innovation within the European Union as a whole and specifically in Bulgaria. It begins with an applicable legislation and energy policy analysis and provides a helicopter view of the regulatory framework connected with the energy communities and copperatives on both European and national level, as well as the opportunities for their future development. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify the gaps, which consists of a bibliometric and a content analysis and outlines a growing interest in those relatively new energy formations that promote renewable energy sources, enhance energy security and empower local communities. It highlights the current research gap and endorses the need for the conduction of some additional deeper researches and empirical studies. The SWOT analysis provides an in-depth assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threads of those energy formations in Bulgaria, with an emphasis on their advantages and the challenges in front of them. The results provide a clear understanding of the factors that can help the growth and sustainability of those energy organizations and how they can endorse the energy transition in the country and in the European Union as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Danish renewable energy policy and policymaking, focusing on the development of nearshore wind energy and the role played by various actors, their competing ideas, the discursive processes in which they participate, and the institutional settings where exchanges occur. The research employs a case study design, concentrating on the Vesterhav Syd nearshore windfarm project. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews, the paper exploits Discursive Institutionalism and one of its recent refinements, labelled Ideational Power that highlights power over, through and in ideas. The data gathered provides compelling evidence of the ways in which actors struggle for dominance, each seeking to persuade others of their preferred policy problem definition and solutions: a process that oscillates between highly technical coordinative discourses among government agencies and business organisations and more politicised communicative discourses among a wider set of actors that includes community groups. Significantly, this case reveals the power of various policy stakeholders in Danish energy policy, suggesting that once decisions are taken at the national level of governance to construct a windfarm, only limited influence can be exerted by local groups on the outcomes. Our findings raise wider questions about such processes beyond the Danish case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful and just energy transition is subject to policies that adhere to a multi-dimensional approach to renewable energy development. To achieve success in renewable energy development, well-thought-out and efficient policies must be implemented. This paper aims to address a major shortcoming in renewable energy development in terms of understanding and recognising the policy space that promotes or hampers renewable energy growth. The paper examines the relevant literature to identify major themes and factors in renewable energy development. A thematic analysis was conducted using a hybrid inductive and deductive approach and resulted in the identification of 5 major themes namely Institutional, Environmental, Financial, Socio-cultural, Technical and 144 factors. The identified themes and factors will assist to make a policy action decisive, just, and sustainable. Recommendations including comprehensive incentivisation, regulatory support for renewable energy technologies in developing nations, environment impact assessment programs, promotion of financial transparency and opting for a just transition to benefit local and vulnerable communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyzes South Asia's energy trilemma balancing energy access, security and sustainability. • Focuses on four major regional countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. • Identifies major challenges as lack of energy access, unreliable gird, and unaffordable prices. • Explores the prospects of renewable energy as the key toward a sustainable energy transition. • Presents stakeholder perspectives on crucial dynamics of energy transition. To address the faced challenges – i.e. rapidly growing energy needs, depleting fossil fuel reserves, surging energy prices, risks to security of supplies, and climate change – the World is targeting a sustainable energy transition. This energy transition is primarily propelled by a global decarbonization drive. South Asia, a developing region housing over 23% of the global population, faces the additional challenge of serious energy deprivation. The subject of energy transition has not been explored in the South Asian context in terms of drivers, challenges, and prospects. This paper investigates the prospects of sustainable energy transition in South Asia in terms of resources, consumption trends, and challenges encountered by countries in the region, particularly India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It also examines the sustainable and renewable energy options for the region. An original stakeholder survey provides salient behavioral insights into awareness, attitudes and opinions shaping societal response to energy transition. The findings of the study highlight the serious energy security issues faced by the region in terms of lack of access, inconsistent supplies, unreliable grids, and high energy prices. Renewables like solar energy, wind power, and hydropower have the potential to propel regional countries to energy and environmental sustainability. "Lack of consistent policies and regulations", "lack of political will" and "lack of investment" are found to be the three most important challenges to the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of global geopolitical changes on new/renewable energy (NRE) policies and their roles in enhancing national energy security, elevating international stature, and influencing the global energy market. Using game theory, it reveals how NRE policies promote technological innovation, diversify energy supply, and strengthen international collaboration, thus advancing the global energy system towards a low-carbon transition and improving international energy governance. NRE policies significantly enhance national energy security by reducing dependency on single energy sources, facilitate the global shift to low-carbon energy, and intensify international cooperation. The effectiveness of these policies in driving energy transformation is notable, and they are expected to remain crucial for global energy security and sustainable transition. Recommendations include strengthening the stability and security of energy supply chains through enhanced oversight, increasing investment in R&D and innovation to reduce costs, fostering international cooperation for better policy coordination, and implementing diversified energy policies to encourage the adoption of NRE. These measures will address challenges from global geopolitical dynamics and drive the global energy system towards sustainability and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, the utilization of small‐scale solar systems for houses has increased significantly around the globe. The rise of electricity prices due to elevated prices of fossil fuels coupled with the global concerns about the increased emission of greenhouse gases has fueled the increased application of renewable energy systems. However, such policies have been ineffective in particular countries where the electricity prices are kept too low to control social atmosphere and enhance the people's well‐being for political purposes—in this case, solar systems have witnessed no growth as they have rendered not economically justifiable. In this respect, the present research considers Iran as a country with very low electricity prices coupled with very large potentials for utilizing solar energy in the presence of imbalanced electricity supply and demand, with the research objective being an investigation of the required incentive policies to promote the utilization of distributed solar photovoltaic (DSPV) systems in the country. According to the results, it was figured out that, under the current conditions, escalating the price of electricity for houses (even to as high as 10 times the current prices) cannot cover the costs of the equivalent DSPV systems, indicating a need for another cluster of policies. As an option, one may consider buying the generated electricity by the customer (from renewable sources) at a higher price than that at which the electricity is offered to households via the grid (by a margin of 15 folds), which is supposed to provide the required incentive to expand the utilization of DSPV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional petrol vehicles emit a substantial quantity of greenhouse gases, leading to increasingly serious global warming problems. The expansion and development of renewable power generation technologies is conducive in promoting the use of electric vehicles, which are more environmentally friendly. This paper proposes a multi-objective power expansion model considering renewable energy policy objectives. The model regards the problem as a multi-period optimisation task, taking the newly installed capacity and the power generation capacity of each power generation technology as decision variables, and simulating the uncertain factors in the planning process using Geometric Brownian Motion and Monte Carlo approaches. The optimisation objective of the model is to minimise expected costs, reduce risk and environmental impacts, and incorporate changing policy objectives into the constraints to meet policy makers' expectations for renewable energy development. Then, a decentralised target search-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is proposed to solve the model. Its effectiveness is verified by a numerical example using real data from the Chinese power system. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm exhibits improved performance compared with benchmark algorithms and provides high quality and diverse Pareto-optimal solutions to decision makers. Finally, the optimal plans for power expansion and generation mix under different preferences and policy objectives are discussed and corresponding recommendations are made. [Display omitted] • Planning for the expansion of power generation under uncertainties is determined. • Strategies for the expansion of power generation towards renewable energy are optimised. • A novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with a constraint handling method is developed. • The impact of multiple renewable energy policies on power generation expansion planning is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of renewable energy as a pivotal green industry in decarbonizing the global economy and addressing the climate change is profound. The rise of China's regional renewable energy serves as a testament to its transition from an industrial powerhouse to a leader of sustainable growth, offering valuable insights for a sustainable future worldwide. This study analyzes renewable energy efficiency, alongside the factors that influence it, in Qinghai Province over 2000–2021. It uses a combination of the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index factor decomposition, Data Envelopment Analysis of Super-SBM models, and field research with a rounded approach. The study finds a robust increase in renewable energy capacity, particularly after 2016. Efficiency in renewable energy generally has risen, although periods of inefficiency were noted from 2014 to 2019. Despite fluctuations, the overall impact of factors such as renewable energy structure, electricity intensity, energy security, energy intensity, carbon productivity, and carbon emissions, all contribute positively to the development of renewable energy, notably in recent years. The paper concludes with a discussion of green industrial policies with wider implications for the renewable energy sector. • The rise of China's regional renewable energy offers valuable insights for sustainability. • Renewable energy capacity in Qinghai increased robustly over 2000-2021. • Renewable energy efficiency has risen but with inefficiency from 2014 to 2019. • Despite fluctuations, the overall impact of influencing factors promoted renewable energy, notably in recent years. • There is a need for stable green industrial policy, diverse energy mix, strengthening grid infrastructure, and promoting sustainable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon emissions of the power industry account for over 50% of China's total carbon emissions, so achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality in the power sector is crucial. This study aims to simulate the impacts of three energy policies—carbon constraints, the development of a high proportion of renewable energy, and carbon trading—on China's energy transition, economic development, and the power sector's energy mix. Through the construction of a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for China and its integration with the SWITCH-China electricity model, the impact of diverse energy policies on China's energy transition, economic progress, and the power mix within the electricity industry has been simulated. The integration of the SWITCH-China model can address the limitations of the CGE model in providing a detailed understanding of the specific intricacies of the electricity sector. The results indicate that increasing the stringency of carbon restrictions compels a reduction in fossil energy use, controlling the output of coal-fired power units, and thereby reducing carbon emissions. The development of a high proportion of renewable energy enhances the cleanliness of the power sector's generation structure, further promoting the national energy transition. Implementing a carbon trading policy, where the entire industry shares the burden of carbon reduction costs, can effectively mitigate the economic losses of the power sector. Finally, the policies to further enhance the implementation of carbon trading policies, strengthen effective governmental regulation, and escalate the deployment of renewable energy sources are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the integration of renewable energy expands, effective energy system management becomes increasingly crucial. Distributed renewable generation microgrids offer green energy and resilience. Combining them with energy storage and a suitable energy management system (EMS) is essential due to the variability in renewable energy generation. Reinforcement learning (RL)-based EMSs have shown promising results in handling these complexities. However, concerns about policy robustness arise with the growing number of grid intermittent disruptions or disconnections from the main utility. This study investigates the resilience of RL-based EMSs to unforeseen grid disconnections when trained in grid-connected scenarios. Specifically, we evaluate the resilience of policies derived from advantage actor–critic (A2C) and proximal policy optimization (PPO) networks trained in both grid-connected and uncertain grid-connectivity scenarios. Stochastic models, incorporating solar energy and load uncertainties and utilizing real-world data, are employed in the simulation. Our findings indicate that grid-trained PPO and A2C excel in cost coverage, with PPO performing better. However, in isolated or uncertain connectivity scenarios, the demand coverage performance hierarchy shifts. The disruption-trained A2C model achieves the best demand coverage when islanded, whereas the grid-connected A2C network performs best in an uncertain grid connectivity scenario. This study enhances the understanding of the resilience of RL-based solutions using varied training methods and provides an analysis of the EMS policies generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world today presents significant environmental concerns for humans, such as smog and warmer temperatures, but we also need to think about how to accomplish economic growth that is sustainable. Therefore, this exploration researches the asymmetric effect of renewable energy consumption, economic growth and financial development on carbon emanation in the emerging economies. For this reason, this investigation uses Panel ARDL and PMG estimator. The consequences of PMG estimator demonstrate that information and communication technologies reduce the carbon emanations in the sample region. Additionally, renewable energy consumption also impedes the carbon emanations. The results also suggest that financial development additionally builds the carbon emissions but the impact is very minor. Finally, economic growth and population are also contributing toward carbon emissions. The power effective recommendation is vital to present the ICT assistance to confine the utilization of obsolete machinery for power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing collective action problems requires individuals to engage in coordinated and cooperative behaviours. Existing research suggests that individuals' propensity to work together depends in part on their belief that others support the cause in question. People form their expectations about prevalent beliefs and behaviours from many sources. To date, most of the literature has focussed on how social norm perceptions are inferred from peers or summary statistics. We explore an understudied source of norm information: the passage of policies by democratically elected institutions. Institutional signals, such as the setting of defaults, national laws or policies, can act as coordination devices, signalling or prescribing social norms to large audiences. However, their expressive function is likely to depend on whether the institution is seen as accountable to the public. In two highly powered, pre-registered experiments (N = 11 636), we examine the role of policy signals as a source of social norm information. In Study 1, Americans randomly assigned to learn that their state passed a 100% renewable energy mandate believe that a greater percentage of their state's residents support such a mandate. In Study 2, we replicate this effect for national policy and show that the influence is moderated by information about whether the government represents the will of the people. This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambitious targets of peaking CO2 emissions before 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality before 2060 (Goal 3060) have emerged as the driving force in the development of China's low-carbon energy policy. Adopting a systematic review approach, this article provides a timely analysis of key Chinese renewable energy and energy efficiency policies under Goal 3060 across five sectors: electricity, industry, transportation, buildings, and local governments. In addition, the review identifies challenges to be addressed and offers policy recommendations. There are five main conclusions: (1) expedite the development of market-based and network-based governance systems; (2) pursue the harmonization of policies by avoiding contradiction and fragmentation; (3) develop new policies, especially in the building and transportation sectors; (4) embrace surveillance technologies to improve implementation and compliance; and (5) ensure just transition by implementing policy to reduce the negative socioeconomic impacts on fossil fuels-based communities and workers. This review serves as a useful guide for scholars interested in China's clean and low-carbon energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the research topics of China's energy transition policy and predicting future research trends are crucial for policymakers to make informed decisions and advance the energy transition. This study applied the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to extract 26 major research topics from the 13,976 abstracts of Chinese policy research papers in web of science (WOS), conceptualized the five most popular topics and used the ARIMA model to predict trends over the next 36 months. The results show that except for Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13), which will first experience unanticipated fluctuations and then show strong growth capacity, all other topics will continue to remain positive growth trend. Research and Development (Topic3) is driven by the urgency of China's energy transformation. Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13) is driven by the potential for the development of renewable energy. Economic Impact of Climate Change (Topic26) is driven by the climate change debate. Economic Growth, Urbanization, and Energy Consumption (Topic7) is driven by a discussion of their relationship and the mechanisms influencing them. Regional Efficiency and Productivity Analysis (Topic19) is driven by regional differences in China's energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy transformation in Poland, including the need to accelerate the shift away from hard coal and lignite in the power system, has been taking place in the face of the energy crisis. Ambitious climate and economic goals force the development of renewable energy sources, but they require legislative changes for the benefit of socially vulnerable consumers. This is important from the point of view of counteracting energy poverty. Energy transformation is not only a change in the fuel used, but most of all, the path and basis of low-carbon development that changes many socio-economic systems. The aim of this study is to link the development and environmental challenges in the studied subject matter with social challenges. The analyses show that it is necessary to strengthen the use of local energy potential and resources, and to activate local communities. The construction of nuclear power plants is also crucial. The results of the presented theoretical and empirical studies can be the basis for a revision of the energy policy in Poland in the area of the social dimension of the energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a meticulous examination of the solar energy potential of five selected metropolitan cities (Abakaliki, Awka, Enugu, Owerri, and Umuahia) in Eastern part of Nigeria using deep learning algorithm, specifically the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model. These cities, despite being characterized by extended rainy seasons and a high level of cloudiness, are suitable environment for solar power generation and investment opportunities. The employed methodology capitalized on the LSTM deep learning approach to analyze and predict energy generation, utilizing comprehensive hourly weather data from the National Airspace Agency (NASA). The data set comprised various parameters, such as date/time, solar azimuth angle, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, cloud cover, and power, enabling a thorough analysis of each city. To ensure accuracy, energy prediction capabilities were benchmarked against real-time datasets from a solar power plant in Ulsan, South Korea, thereby training and fine-tuning the model for precision. The LSTM model's performance metrics were maintained at a learning rate of 0.07, a batch size of 150, and a train-test split ratio of 0.8 to 0.2. Data validation exhibited a mean square error (MSE) of 0.01, demonstrating the model's reliability. Results showed Enugu as having the highest solar energy potential, averaging 6.25 kWh/day, while Awka registered the most substantial electricity demand across various sectors. These findings highlight the substantial potential for photovoltaic (PV) power systems and advocate for the immediate implementation of renewable energy policy in the selected cities. These are expected to bring about significant implications for future renewable energy environmentally friendly investments in Nigeria and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clean energy transition has entered the policy discourse and government agenda of the Caspian oil-producing countries of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Both countries have set a target to increase the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in total energy production by 2030. This article presents a comparative analysis of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in their paths to a low-carbon sources of energy covering the status of RES, renewable energy targets, and the role of government policy schemes in promoting renewable energy (RE) deployment. The study shows that despite some commonalities in the initial conditions (such as Soviet-era legacies of fossil-fuel-based infrastructure, a high degree of dependence on oil and gas rents, and dominance of state-owned enterprises), Kazakhstan adopted a more targeted regulatory framework and more elaborate policy schemes with regards to renewables than Azerbaijan did. In the latter case, the introduction of relevant renewable legislation has been significantly delayed or implemented only partially. As a result, Kazakhstan has performed relatively more successfully on advancing non-conventional renewable energy targets: non-hydro renewable sources accounted for 3% of total electricity generated in Kazakhstan and made up only 1% of electricity produced in Azerbaijan (as of 2020). This article highlights the following factors that stand out in explaining these variable outcomes: the degree of economic liberalization, quality of governance of the oil and gas sector, regulatory frameworks, and policy support schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]