Search

Given the dire state of climate change, investigating key elements that impact the energy transition process and help monitor progress in greenhouse gas emissions to achieve environmental sustainability is of critical importance. The current study explores the association between energy transition, compliance with environmental agreements, fossil fuels costs, environmental technologies, economic growth, and environmental degradation in G20 economies from 1995 to 2019. Our findings from extensive econometric analysis reveal that economic growth, environmental innovation, renewable energy, and environmental compliance facilitate while fossil fuels and environmental degradation hinder the energy transition process. Our findings conclude that developed countries must focus on alternate energy resources to overcome environmental challenges and subsidize renewable energy and environmental technologies to replace fossil fuels with green energy resources methodologically. Further, policy measures have been discussed in detail in the study., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Net zero emission scenarios are aligned with the criteria for the Paris Agreement to keep global warming below 1.5 °C. By soft-linking an energy model with a macroeconomic model, we create a similar pathway to the net zero emission scenario from the International Energy Agency (IEA) to 2050 both of demand for fossil fuels and total CO 2 emissions. Soft-linking entails that we insert endogenous variables from one model into the other model. We implement measures such as CO 2 taxes, improved energy efficiency, more renewables in electricity production and other sectors, easier substitution between electricity and fossil fuels for final users, and drastically limiting future production of oil, gas and coal. Our conclusion is that net zero is possible by introducing very strict measures, e.g., a high rate of energy efficiency improvement, far above what has been achieved in the past. While our partial equilibrium energy model, similar to the IEA model, overlooks the potential rebound effects, i.e., more energy used by consumers due to lower prices caused by energy efficiency improvement, our macroeconomic model does capture the rebound effects and has to implement stricter supply-side measures to reduce fossil fuel use to achieve the 1.5 °C scenario.

Energy transformation and sustainability have become a challenge, especially for developing countries, which face broad energy-related issues such as a wide demand-supply gap, extensive fossil fuel dependency, and low accessibility to clean energy. Globally, smart grid technology has been identified to address these affairs and enable a smooth transition from traditional to smart energy systems, ensuring energy security. This paper studies the critical role in strengthening the power system, integrating renewable sources, electrifying the transport sector, and harnessing bioenergy. Evaluating the current energy scenario in Nepal, this article presents the smart grid as a solution to existing and future energy issues and the associated challenges during its implementation, urging concerned authorities to launch initiatives to promote it. Moreover, this study also lays the foundation for future research into the smart grid's potential to reform the power sector in other developing nations with abundant renewable energy sources and similar energy-related barriers., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigates the extent and efficiency of global energy transition by examining the impact of renewable electricity generation on non-renewable electricity generation in 73 economies from 1990 to 2020. This is done to empirically scrutinise the assumption of perfect displacement as adopted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other environmental and economic analysts. The estimated models also control for the effects of globalisation, economic growth, and international crude oil prices. The PMG-ARDL estimation demonstrates that renewable energy is able to partly displace the non-renewable energy and that the global energy transition is far from perfect displacement. More specifically, the coefficient of renewable energy generation is − 0.157, indicating that more than 6 units of alternative energy are necessary for displacing one unit of fossil fuel energy at the global level. However, the findings reveal that globalisation, economic growth, and crude oil prices negatively influence the energy transition by pushing up the non-renewable energy generation. To delve into finer details, the ARDL findings uncover that 1% increase in globalisation, economic growth, and crude oil prices increases the non-renewable energy generation by 0.88%, 0.75%, and 0.03%, respectively. The Driscoll–Kraay and feasible generalised least squares estimation techniques also confirm these baseline findings. Potential policy implications for enhancing the efficiency of global energy transition are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deployment of wind and solar electricity technologies is crucial for the energy transition, yet anticipated deployment rates differ widely often underestimating actual deployments. This issue is significant for countries like Aotearoa New Zealand, leading the way in major energy transitions. This study addresses two main issues: the historical underestimation of deployment rates and the need to synthesise various future scenarios to assess their potential impacts on the energy system. To address these problems, an empirical modelling approach based on logistic growth is adopted to create and analyse scenarios for the deployment of solar and wind technologies in New Zealand. We propose two scenarios: a reference growth scenario, which represents prevailing estimations for the deployment of solar and wind from previous forecasts; and a disruptive scenario, which anticipates a more rapid deployment pace. Both scenarios envision phasing out fossil fuels by 2030 but differ in the remaining electricity supply. In the disruptive scenario, the installed electricity generation broadens, in which solar and wind generation could represent 72% of the electricity generation capacity by 2050. Our findings emphasise the transformative potential of rapid wind and solar technologies deployment and highlight the importance of preparing for a disruptive future that challenges conventional expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy transitions are reshaping hydrosocial relations. How they will be reshaped, however, depends on location and water's material relationship to other resources and industrial activities embedded within energy transitions. To highlight this, we focus on three different resources—coal, natural gas, and lithium—to signal how the water–energy nexus will be reworked in a transition away from fossil fuels. We examine the water–coal nexus as an example of a resource relationship that is transitioning out, or that is being moved away from in the green energy transition. Natural gas represents the “bridge fuel” used through the transition. Lithium illustrates a resource inside the green transition, as it is a fundamental material for green technologies in the transition to a low‐carbon future. Coal, natural gas, and lithium each have their own material impacts to water resources that stem from their industrial lifecycle and different implications for communities shaped by coal, natural gas, and lithium activities. To explore this, we review each of these resources' connection to water, their legal and regulatory dimensions, and their impact on communities and water justice. We argue that the energy transition is also a hydrosocial transition that will create uneven water‐related benefits and burdens. To maximize sustainability and equity, efforts to decarbonize energy systems must examine the localized, place‐based hydrosocial relations that differentially affect communities.This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Water Governance Human Water > Rights to Water [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate policy will inevitably lead to the stranding of fossil energy assets such as production and transport assets for coal, oil, and natural gas. Resource- rich developing countries are particularly affected, as they have a higher risk of asset stranding due to strong fossil dependencies and wider societal consequences beyond revenue disruption. However, there is only little academic and political awareness of the challenge to manage the asset stranding in these countries, as research on transition risk like asset stranding is still in its infancy. We provide a research framework to identify wider societal consequences of fossil asset stranding. We apply it to a case study of Nigeria. Analyzing different policy measures, we argue that compensation payments come with implementation challenges. Instead of one policy alone to address asset stranding, a problem-oriented mix of policies is needed. Renewable hydrogen and just energy transition partnerships can be a contribution to economic development and SDGs. However, they can only unfold their potential if fair benefit sharing and an improvement to the typical institutional problems in resource-rich countries, such as the lack of rule of law, are achieved. We conclude with presenting a future research agenda for the global community and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate change worsens and the importance of energy security grows, numerous countries have adopted energy transition as a key policy objective. Electric vehicles (EVs) play a pivotal role in this transition by diminishing reliance on fossil fuels and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases. While EVs are poised to be a crucial technology for achieving energy transition, substantial advancements in technology, infrastructure development, and policy support are essential for their full potential to be realized. This review examines the latest advancements in EV technology and market trends, and also addresses the challenges facing EVs and the potential opportunities for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As civilization and technology have developed, there have been multiple energy transitions that have pushed various resources like coal, wood, oil, and gas to the forefront of the energy mix. Due to a variety of geopolitical initiatives, there have been progressively more restrictions on the energy sector in recent years. One of the main concerns of researchers is the widespread use of renewable energy and the replacement of fossil resources. The utilization of non-renewable energy sources results in a detrimental increase in greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most crucial strategies for lowering energy consumption and enhancing the energy system's sustainability is to increase energy efficiency. Numerous studies note that energy transition has become necessary in the modern day. Using the analysis of the main components as an extraction method, hierarchical cluster analysis, this study focuses on the situation of the states of the European Union in their race for energy transition, taking into account the main challenges generated by geopolitical tensions and the energy poverty spectrum for the population. The conclusions of the study call for a reconfiguration of the energy mix based on renewable energy. Increasing the share of renewable energy is a goal pursued by EU countries, but energy policies must be considered in a broader context that includes the social aspects of the energy transition. So, just transition is a new concept that reshapes the actions of public authorities on the path to a low-carbon economy. Just transition is a necessity that puts the consumer at the center of attention so that the negative externalities generated by the move away from fossil fuels are minimized in terms of social impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the disproportionate power of corporate and state fossil fuel interests to influence energy and climate policy is now well known, questions remain about the groups that enthusiastically consume such narratives, with far-reaching political consequences. Fossil fuel workers are one such group. Their positions within these debates are highly relevant to policy outcomes, yet their political positions are often assumed to oppose decarbonizing the economy to the detriment of otherwise well-intended interventions. We offer a more nuanced understanding of the sentiments of fossil fuel workers invoked through their public and political engagements. We use the Twitter profiles of 160 self-identified oil and gas workers to explore the nature of oil workers' masculinity and its implication in climate obstruction and far-right politics. We advocate for engaging workers in the energy transition through meaningful collaboration with workers to build trust and investment in a shared future narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Exploring causes driving interest in SDGs 7 & 13 in the US. • Links among energy transition, fossil fuels, green innovation, economic complexity. • Using dynamic ARDL and FDC for long-medium and short-run causality. • Results revealed energy transition, fossil fuels, economic complexity boost CO 2 emissions. • Green innovation cuts CO 2 emissions, ecological impact in the long term. The United States, as the world's second-largest polluter, emitted a staggering 4.7 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2020. During the Leaders' Climate Summit, the US president articulated precise targets for combating climate change, notably a 50 to 52 percent reduction in net CO 2 emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Consequently, it becomes imperative to identify the pivotal factors that are driving this intensified dedication to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, it is vibrant to determine the basic causes propelling the intensified interest in meeting SDGs 7 and 13. From this perspective, this study explores the dynamic link between energy transition, fossil fuel energy, green innovation, and economic complexity index on CO 2 emissions and ecological footprint in the United States from 1980 to 2020. The dynamic Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) simulations and Frequency Domain Causality (FDC) techniques are applied for long-medium and short-run causal association among the variables. Our empirical evidence shows that energy transition, fossil fuel energy, and economic complexity increase CO 2 emissions and ecological footprint. On the other hand, green innovation reduces CO 2 emissions and ecological impact only in the long term. The pragmatic outcomes suggest that authorities should inhibit Fossil Fuel Energy, concentrate on energy transitions, and include more renewable sources in the US energy mix. The findings would assist the United States in meeting SDGs 7 and 13. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates on technologies for harnessing renewable energies tend to generate a polarized arena in which critical voices are automatically denounced as defenders of fossil energy. This has created a difficult situation for activists and scholars voicing concerns about the comparatively low power density, low net energy, and environmental justice concerns of such technologies. In this paper, we highlight the contradictions and ambivalences underlying Promethean arguments for solar power, which are currently dividing the political left. Through a critical reading of three proponents of classical Marxism, we address the structural coherence and paradoxes of the discourses within which the faith in such "green" technology is mobilized. We illustrate how Promethean visions of solar power tend to suffer from a pervasive ontological separation of human ingenuity and global social metabolism. This raises important questions about the ambiguous and theoretically underdeveloped role of technology in historical materialism, and about how capital, once converted into the material form of technology, becomes exempt from political critique. Rather than accepting such an immaterial and ultimately depoliticized position on technology, we argue that Marxist scholarship should concede that Promethean approaches must be abandoned if we are to effectively address climate change and other challenges of the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), artisanal fishing involves the use of small fishing vessels for short fishing trips aimed at capturing fish for consumption and local marketing. This process requires energy at various stages, from boat navigation to refrigeration for storage. The energy used in this process typically comes from fossil fuels, which has environmental impacts due to the carbon footprint of the boats. Additionally, the lack of economic resources to purchase the necessary fuel for the engines hampers the daily work of fishermen. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) defines energy transition as the pathway towards transforming the global energy sector from fossil-based to zerocarbon by the second half of this century. The energy transition aims to decarbonize the economy and offers opportunities to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This paper reviews essential concepts for understanding the process of reducing fossil fuel consumption in fishing operations from the perspective of energy transition. Technological, environmental, and socio-economic factors are considered to promote responsible fishing in rural coastal areas of Colombia. A case study in the municipality of Guapi (province of Cauca, Colombia) is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While fossil fuels are a well‐researched element of nationalist discourse, the relationship between nationalism and renewable energy has not yet been adequately explored. We address this gap by investigating the impact of the energy transition on the Scottish National Party's (SNP) discourse between 1983 and 2021. Through an analysis of SNP manifestos and speeches, we discursively trace the evolution of three pertinent amalgams of nationalism—green nationalism, resource nationalism and techno‐nationalism—revealing renewable energy to have been co‐opted and deployed in all three. Rather than the energy transition intuitively resulting in the decline of fossil fuel‐based nationalisms in favour of those rooted in an emergent renewable energy paradigm, we find that adaptations in the SNP's discursive strategies allowed the former to co‐exist with the latter, enhancing complementarity and mitigating goal conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technique of producing hydrogen by utilizing green and renewable energy sources is called green hydrogen production. Therefore, by implementing this technique, hydrogen will become a sustainable and clean energy source by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. The key benefit of producing green hydrogen by utilizing green energy is that no harmful pollutants or greenhouse gases are directly released throughout the process. Hence, to guarantee all of the environmental advantages, it is crucial to consider the entire hydrogen supply chain, involving storage, transportation and end users. Hydrogen is a promising clean energy source and targets plan pathways towards decarbonization and net-zero emissions by 2050. This paper has highlighted the techniques for generating green hydrogen that are needed for a clean environment and sustainable energy solutions. Moreover, it summarizes an overview, outlook and energy transient of green hydrogen production. Consequently, its perspective provides new insights and research directions in order to accelerate the development and identify the potential of green hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Informacion Comercial Espanola Revista de Economia is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article offers the first comprehensive analysis of the emergent modes for greening electricity governance through agencification in the Global South by examining the drivers and role of renewable energy agencies (REAs) in various countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Furthermore, the article illustrates the impact of this form of agencification on the deployment of renewables and the "democratization" of energy governance. We found that the diffusion of REAs is facilitated by the intermediation of international and transnational actors, whereas their role in national energy governance is constrained by the fossil fuels rentier political economy. As an institutional strategy for greening energy governance, agencification has the potential to foster the deployment of renewables: agencies can catalyze external funding overcoming regulatory and policy barriers. However, this strategy can reproduce top‐down approaches to policymaking, hindering the "democratic" potentials of the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen plays an essential role in the energy‐transition process. Even though currently almost 80–96% of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuel sources in the world, the exciting feature of hydrogen is that it can be produced from renewable sources by splitting water molecules through electrolyzing, and then it can be re‐electrified without any emissions by‐products. Hydrogen is the secondary source of energy as well as an energy carrier that stores and transports the energy produced from other sources such as water, biomass, and fossil fuels. It is a clean‐burning fuel; when oxidized in a fuel cell, it produces heat, electricity, and water vapor as a by‐product, without any carbon emissions. Despite these exciting characteristics of hydrogen, there are still a variety of challenges, such as cost‐effective hydrogen production and its technological challenges, storage, safety, transportation, and cost issues. This article aims to overview the challenges and opportunities in hydrogen production, storage, and transportation along with some future perspectives on hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial discusses the dynamics and prospects of the energy market and energy transition. It emphasizes the global shift towards renewable energy due to government initiatives and technological advancements. However, challenges to the transition process exist, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global energy demand and fossil fuel prices. The editorial highlights the varying dynamics of the energy market and transition process at the national and firm levels. The collection of research papers covers topics such as renewable energy subsidies in China, efficiency of hydropower electricity generation, and the impact of oil prices on consumer and producer prices. It also explores behavioral economics and the role of natural gas in achieving urban ecological civilization. The editorial acknowledges the contributions of the authors, reviewers, and journal editors in making this collection possible. [Extracted from the article]

This study examines the impact of the energy transition on the energy security of six ASEAN countries. The quantitative PLS-SEM method is applied in this study to investigate the relationships among energy democracy, energy citizenship, energy transition, and energy security. The energy transition model investigates the secondary panel data from 2000 to 2020 for six major oil consumption countries to find crucial factors. These six ASEAN countries primarily consume 80% of their energy from fossil fuels, contributing to 4.45% of global CO2 emissions. This study empirically found that energy citizenship significantly impacts the energy transition by 38.3% and energy security by 22.6% through the energy transition. Energy democracy negatively impacts the energy transition at 56.3% and energy security at 64.7%. The energy transition impacts 59.1% of energy security. Encouraging energy citizenship to consume renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions from 1,468 MtCO2 to 906 MtCO2. Promoting energy democracy reduces CO2 emissions from 1,468 MtCO2 to 518 MtCO2. The energy transition of six ASEAN countries is encouraged through energy citizenship and democracy to strengthen energy security by enhancing renewable energy and decreasing the dominance of fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the contribution of the Structural Topic Model (STM) to study the intertwining of social representations, attitudes, and identities. We examine newspapers' discourse on energy transition in a coal‐dependent region (Sulcis, Italy), whose identity and economy are built around mining and carbon‐intensive industry. Drawing upon Social Representations Theory, we combined STM and qualitative content analysis to examine how newspapers represented the energy issue in Sulcis, and how these representations (including denotative and connotative facets) differed according to the social identities' salience. Results show that coal is legitimated by discourses making salient local identities and providing continuity in the place–identity link, with no alternative to extractivism. When the Sardinian superordinate identity becomes salient, new themes emerge (e.g., renewables) but energy transition retains ambivalent or negative connotations. Overall representations seem to replicate and reflect processes of domination and injustice hindering a just transition, potentially explaining negative attitudes and collective resistance to decarbonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the escalating urgency of addressing climate change and the surge of a pro-environmental discourse during the last three to four decades, the international imperative of low-carbon societies voiced in the Paris Agreement and reiterated in the parties' conferences call for 'transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems' has gained traction. However, it remains unclear to what extent this imperative addresses the entrenched extractivist and rentier practices that underpin today's carbon-intensive economy. This article turns the case of green hydrogen, often hailed as the fuel of the future, to discern whether current actions are enabling a 'just transition' towards the same mode of natural resource exploitation, or one that seeks to overcome the extractivist and rentier dynamics. Taking a case study of Colombia, where debates surrounding hydrogen development swirl around what could be seen as a continuity of extractivism and a more reindustrialization-oriented trajectory, this study examines some of the possible conditions that just transitions would have to comply with if they are to overcome both fossil fuel dependence and the politico-economic behaviours that have turned swathes of Global South countries into natural resource repositories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As energy system research into high shares of renewables has developed, so have the perspectives of the fundamental nature of a highly renewable economy. Early energy system transition research suggested that current fossil fuel energy systems would transition to a 'Hydrogen Economy', whereas more recent insights suggest that a 'Power-to-X Economy' may be a more appropriate term, as renewable electricity will become both the most important primary and final energy carrier through various Power-to-X conversion routes across the energy system. This paper provides a detailed overview on research insights of recent years on the core elements of the Power-to-X Economy and the role of hydrogen based on latest research results. These results suggest that, by 2050, upwards of 61,737 TWh LHV of hydrogen will be required to fully defossilise the global energy-industry system. Hydrogen, therefore, emerges as a central intermediate energy carrier and its relevance is driven by significant cost reductions in renewable electricity, especially of solar photovoltaics and wind power. Efficiency and cost drivers position direct electrification as the primary solution for defossilisation of the global energy-industry system; however, electron-to-molecule routes are essential for the large subset of remaining energy-related demands including chemical production, marine and aviation fuels, and steelmaking. [Display omitted] • The term 'Hydrogen Economy' insufficiently describes future energy systems. • 'Power-to-X Economy' better highlights the essential role of renewable electricity. • The highest reported demand for e-hydrogen is presented at over 60 PWh H2,LHV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contribution from power generation in Indonesia reaches 40% of the total GHG emissions in the energy sector because of the use of fossil fuels. The government aims to minimize GHG emissions in the power generation sector, one of which is the phase-out of coal power plants and replacing them with integrated photovoltaic (PV) power plants with battery energy storage systems (BESS). A cost-benefit analysis compared two development scenarios for 2023-2060. The base scenario continues developing coal power plants, and the phase-out scenario replaces coal power plants with integrated PV power plants and BESS. The analysis is solely focused on the financial costs and benefits for power plant investors. The results indicate that the present value of costs for the base scenario from 2023-2036 is initially lower compared to the phase-out scenario. However, in the long term, the costs of the phase-out scenario will gradually decrease and become more affordable. The benefit-cost ratio for the phase-out scenario is 2.36, while the base scenario is 2.12, indicating that the phase-out scenario is more prospective for future development. Additionally, the phase-out scenario has the advantage of achieving the net-zero emissions target by 2056 compared to the base scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of ongoing and accelerating climate change driven by human combustion of fossil fuels, researchers have found evidence that national-level inequality influences whether nations are able to replace fossil fuels with alternative energies. This paper asks whether the inequality between nations also influences the rate at which nations replace fossil fuels. I use multilevel modeling techniques, World Bank data and data aggregated by Our World in Data for 146 nations from 1960-2021 to better understand the variation in national-level displacement of fossil fuels. Findings suggest there has been only partial displacement of fossil fuels at the global level during this period. In examining whether the variation in displacement of fossil fuels with alternative fuels at the national level can be described by lasting global inequality among nations, here measured by world-systems position, I find that semiperiphery nations displace fossil fuels at a higher rate on average as compared with core nations. This is further evidence for the importance of fossil fuel infrastructure and global inequality for implementing energy transitions to address climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complying with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change requires leaving fossil fuels underground (LFFU), which raises justice issues regarding the Global South and its energy transition. The literature is scattered with no review papers on the challenges of LFFU in the Global South, hence we ask: What can be learnt from reviewing the scholarship on the Global South's energy transition, focusing on LFFU and the issue of stranded resources and assets? Our review reveals: (a) renewable investments in the Global South are relatively low for the scale of change needed, and such renewable deployment is more additive than substitutive. Nonetheless, there is potential for the Global South to leapfrog; (b) literature on LFFU in the Global South is limited, and much of it focuses on subsidies. However, developing countries might include stranded assets in their accounting, making LFFU appealing; (c) the Right to Development influences the energy transition's governance and justice issues: limited governance hampers LFFU, while understudied power dynamics shape transition's political economies. However, a global and multilevel just transition may have the potential to achieve LFFU. Thus, the literature overlooks (i) the dilemmas of stranded resources and assets from a developing country perspective and the implications in terms of equity, development, and climate change impacts; and (ii) the underlying power dynamics. Future research should investigate energy leapfrogging viability, critically assess renewables' additive rather than substitutive character in the Global South, and better identify the constraints to an inclusive energy transition, posed by North–South power dynamics and FF incumbents. This article is categorized under:Climate and Development > Social Justice and the Politics of Development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia does not have 'carbon democracy', but a 'carbon oligarchy,' in which the State defends the established and self-destructive relations of order, wealth and power built around fossil fuel energy. The article sketches interaction with carbon oligarchy in three NSW country towns of Lismore, Narrabri, and Bega, in relation to renewable energy. The aim is to uncover some problems of energy transition, and to suggest possible courses of action. In one town, a Local Council program to become self-supporting on renewables ran into problems of regulation and neoliberal economic values. In the second, transition was constrained by local fossil fuel supplies. In the third, some people embraced a form of 'climate generosity' which enabled support for transition against the requirements of carbon oligarchy. Climate generosity could usefully supplement Climate Justice, by circumventing demands for fairness and by providing an exemplar of action to help build community, support and meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Relações Internacionais is the property of Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The key to tackling climate change and other environmental concerns primarily lies in the transition away from fossil fuels. Making this transition happen in a just and timely manner requires rapid and radical changes not only to energy sources and technologies but also to the broader socioeconomic and legal assemblages that are built around energy production and consumption. International trade law is one of the critical legal assemblages that can help accelerate or hinder the energy transition. This article focuses on the multilateral trading system and examines the role of international trade law in the energy transition. It argues that existing international trade rules are more likely to impede than accelerate the energy transition and that urgent reform is necessary to ensure that international trade law plays a constructive role in the transition towards a sustainable energy future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is crucial for growth, but over-reliance on fossil energy undermines sustainability. COP27 has emphasized over transition towards clean energy. Empirical studies have pointed out that energy transition requires infrastructure development which is costly in the short run. Global and national efforts to transition to renewable energy require investigating what matters in global fossil energy demand. While empirical studies have focused on motivating renewable energy, this study explores the determinants of fossil energy in anticipation of reducing its reliance and moving towards sustainable development goals. A non-linear panel quantile ARDL regression was deployed using data from 137 countries and showed that increased forest and natural resource rents and health expenditures are already playing their role. The quadratic models highlighted the importance of optimizing resource rents to nudge the renewable resource decision. Now, policymakers need to intervene in terms of income, education, and fossil energy rents to help households and firms prefer renewable energy sources and move towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the particulates and gaseous emissions from 2005 to 2022 for power plants in South Korea (Utility scale: 125 MW (B-1) and 200 MW (B-2), respectively), which recently successfully converted from coal to wood pellets. The analysis showed that (1) NOx reduction was 78.9 to 90.0% (with outlet denitrification facility), (2) SOx reduction was 95.0 to 99.6% (without desulfurization facility condition), and (3) total suspended particles (TSP) reduction was 70.3 to 87.2% (with improved filtration and dust collection facility). This research confirmed the capabilities of wood pellets as a baseload power source and demonstrated their superior NOx reduction compared to coal. In the case of SOx, the desulfurization facility was discontinued at the stage of the fuel switch, so the value was affected by exogenous variable factors other than fuel. The TSP appears to be a combination of the 'fine dust' contained in the wood pellets and the performance of the filtration dust collector. The results suggest that fuel switching to wood pellets is a viable alternative to fossil fuels as an appropriate climate technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges faced by EU countries is the pursuit of zero-emission economies. Certainly, it is crucial to determine the role of fossil fuels in the energy transformation. In light of the European Green Deal, EU countries should cease the consumption of hydrocarbons, i.e. coal, crude oil and natural gas, by 2050. Nevertheless, there are significant differences regarding the possibility of decarbonizing the energy sectors of the different EU Member States. For many years, Romania has been successively implementing an energy transformation, the main goal of which is the significant reduction of fossil fuels in the energy mix. Just a few years ago, one of the most important energy resources was coal, which is to be eliminated within the next decade. However, a much greater challenge is the reduction and subsequent abandonment of natural gas and crude oil. The key task facing Romania is to ensure energy security, which is why decarbonization will be strongly coupled with the country's economic and political capabilities. The exclusion of fossil fuels in power engineering means that there is a need to develop alternative generation capacities, in particular in nuclear, wind and solar energy. This article presents the current condition of the energy sector in Romania, with a particular emphasis on the role of fossil fuels in its transformation. An analysis of documents and field research shows that there will be a dynamic decarbonization in the coming years, which will result in a significant reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels. The priority of Romania's energy policy is to achieve a zero-emission economy, but ensuring stability and security in the energy sector will be of key importance in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ongoing investment law reform processes take the investment treaty system as the starting point. While this can generate actionable reform options, it also entrenches 'path dependency' and forecloses space for more foundational questions. This article argues that, in the context of climate change, effective reform requires re-embedding debates within a policy space that places climate at its centre. The argument entails recognising: (i) climate change as a comprehensive ecological, economic and social challenge; (ii) the preferential nature of the protections investment treaties establish for foreign investment; and (iii) the structural misalignments that exist between this legal regime and climate action. It also involves interrogating the normative considerations invoked to justify investment protection treaties. The findings highlight the need to reorient collective reflection towards designing reforms that – rather than address narrowly defined concerns within the current system – develop a new system that can respond to 21st century challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving a successful energy transition requires society to deploy as many technologies as possible, rather than relying on one single technology to be the ‘magic bullet’. However, there are characteristics that make this transition more challenging than previous transitions in terms of its scope. These challenges include the wide range of sustainable technologies involved and the time constraints. For this research the importance of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen technologies for the decarbonization process was analysed, including the main challenges that their large-scale implementation is facing from a subsurface perspective. The ongoing role that fossil fuels play, as well as how the hydrocarbon industry can facilitate the current transition, must also be considered. The common denominator in the analysis is the critical position of Earth sciences in discovering, characterizing, and sustainably utilizing subsurface resources. Geoscientists are essential for providing communication and cooperation between scientists and stakeholders who use, manage and preserve the subsurface. The success of CO2 and hydrogen storage, as part of the climate change mitigation strategies, and the eventual phase-out of fossil fuels ultimately depends on the sustainable development of the subsurface.

As renewable energy (RE) costs decrease, private non-subsidized revenue sources, such as power purchase agreements (PPA), will increase in off-grid areas. This paper's objective is to improve policymakers' and utilities' understanding of PPA's role in mitigating private investors' risks in off-grid areas to accelerate the energy transition. The paper built a PPA dataset for the largest off-grid area in the Philippines and developed novel and efficient techniques to evaluate the risk mitigation ability of a PPA. While oil-based technologies are expensive, they are low-capital-intensive, and the fuel, the bulk of the cost, is passed through to consumers and primarily funded by subsidies. In contrast, the most affordable energy source, RE, requires higher upfront capital investments, financed primarily with equity. Investors chose low-capital-intensive technologies (oil), rehabilitated power plants, and utilized old equipment, all investment decisions to mitigate residual PPA risks, i.e., distribution utilities' low creditworthiness and capital recovery uncertainty. Presenting the investment as a PPA residual mitigation tool is one of the paper's contributions to the literature. The distribution utility needs to reduce investors' uncertainty by covering reasonable investors' costs. Policymakers need to level the playing field between fossil fuels and RE by reducing subsidies and strengthening distribution utility creditworthiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 2050, the European Commission aims to achieve a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions within the construction sector due to new targets set for greenhouse gases by the Commission. One of the most effective solutions for mitigating the environmental impact of buildings is to integrate renewable-energy systems such as air-to-water heat pumps or geothermal heat pumps. Several works in the literature investigated the advantages of heat pumps, particularly ground source heat pumps, for specific contexts. Furthermore, the evaluation can encompass not only energy considerations but also exergetic aspects, and this paper makes a significant contribution to the latter. The study presented here applies exergy analysis to a geothermal heat pump system that is interconnected with photo-voltaic and solar collector systems in a building located in Rome. Feasibility and environmental assessments were also conducted. It is evident that the exergy efficiency obtained is much lower than the energy efficiency. The heat pump demonstrates higher exergy efficiency by producing high-temperature thermal power compared to a constant dead state at relatively low temperatures. Following the heat pump, the adiabatic mixer exhibits the second highest exergy efficiency, trailed by two heat exchangers. Compared to a conventional plant case, the money saved is EUR 16,772 per year, translating to a Payback Period of 23 years. Furthermore, the average annual reduction in fossil fuel emissions is estimated at 26.2 metric tons of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homo sapiens has evolved to reproduce exponentially, expand geographically, and consume all available resources. For most of humanity's evolutionary history, such expansionist tendencies have been countered by negative feedback. However, the scientific revolution and the use of fossil fuels reduced many forms of negative feedback, enabling us to realize our full potential for exponential growth. This natural capacity is being reinforced by growth-oriented neoliberal economics—nurture complements nature. Problem: the human enterprise is a 'dissipative structure' and sub-system of the ecosphere—it can grow and maintain itself only by consuming and dissipating available energy and resources extracted from its host system, the ecosphere, and discharging waste back into its host. The population increase from one to eight billion, and >100-fold expansion of real GWP in just two centuries on a finite planet, has thus propelled modern techno-industrial society into a state of advanced overshoot. We are consuming and polluting the biophysical basis of our own existence. Climate change is the best-known symptom of overshoot, but mainstream 'solutions' will actually accelerate climate disruption and worsen overshoot. Humanity is exhibiting the characteristic dynamics of a one-off population boom–bust cycle. The global economy will inevitably contract and humanity will suffer a major population 'correction' in this century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociology & Space / Sociologija i Prostor is the property of Institut za drustvena istrazivanja u Zagrebu (Institute for Social Research of Zagreb) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we analyse two phenomena. First, the relationship between greenhouse gases emission and effectiveness of the European Union energy policies and second the transition from the fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. We run two-step data analysis concerning 25 European Union member states in the period from 1990 to 2018. We use information on greenhouse gases emission, introduction of new energy policies, source of energy supplied and merge it with macroeconomic data on the countries' structural characteristics. We assess their long-run relationship and direction of causality using panel cointegration tests and dynamic panel data models. We identify a statistically significant effect of energy supply source, energy policy introduction and greenhouse gases emission. However, we were not able to confirm that European Union energy sector is in transition. Thus, obtained results confirm that the EU energy policies are effective however not sufficient enough in decreasing use of fossil fuels to call it a transition towards renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing share of renewable sources in the energy mix, there is a need to balance energy production from weather-dependent sources, such as wind turbines and photovoltaics. This is also a current global trend associated with climate policy. In Poland, there has been a significant increase in energy production from renewable sources, leading to a duck curve phenomenon mainly in the case of photovoltaics, which requires balancing this production through various measures. One possible way to achieve this is energy storage installation. This article identifies the need for energy storage to ensure the stability of electricity production from low-flexibility sources like coal-based power plants. For this purpose, a methodology has been developed to determine the daily minimum energy storage capacities which would also allow for the integration of other stable (though less flexible) energy sources, such as nuclear power. In the case of Poland, energy storage has been estimated to require, as a median value, approximately 6 GWh of additional storage capacity, which is equivalent to twice the planned capacity of the Młoty Pumped Storage Power Plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Valori e Valutazioni is the property of Societa Italiana di Estimo e Valutazione (SIEV) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Kavilando is the property of Kavilando and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)