Search

The rising energy demand has started to overwhelm the existing power generating plants in South Africa. Also, the conventional electricity generating plants are largely responsible for the high greenhouse gas emissions recorded in the country. In an attempt to mitigate CO2 emissions and provide reliable electricity for its people, South Africa is gradually developing its renewable energy sector. This review chronicles electricity generation in South Africa from inception to date. It examines the current state of electricity generation and the development of the biomass, wind and solar energy industry in South Africa. Additionally, the growth of renewable energy technologies is discussed and recommendations are suggested on the steps that can further drive the integration of renewable energy technologies into the present energy mix of the country.

Over the last two decades, the phenomenon of green growth has gained much attention from academics and policymakers striving to find a sustainable solution to environmental problems worldwide. Technological innovation serves as a tool to abate the acute environmental crisis and continuously promote sustainable development by converting traditional economies into green economies. Pakistan is among the developing countries relying on conventional technology and energy resources to meet population and economy demands, which has led to a surge in greenhouse gases and other hazardous air pollutants. The literature exploring green growth in the Pakistani context is scant; the present study will therefore fill this gap and explore the dynamic linkage between technological innovation and ISO 14001 with green growth in Pakistan in the presence of environmental challenges such as energy consumption and population growth. A novel grey relational analysis model approach is employed to examine the interrelationship between the study parameters. Results indicate that technological innovation is significantly correlated with green growth, and ISO 14001 also shows a substantial relationship with green growth. However, among the environmental challenges, energy consumption poses a barrier to green growth development as the country's energy mix is dominated by fossil fuels as compared to renewables. The research findings produce a much-needed policy suggestion to address the environmental challenges by promoting green growth development in Pakistan.

Decisions made in the design of urban developments at the neighbourhood scale influence damages on human health, which depend on location. So far, no standard has proposed the range of health damage coming from neighborhoods located in any region, due to the different morphologies of neighborhoods, and limited study numbers. Aware of this fact, this study was conducted with the aim to evaluate and to compare the effect of health damage produced by a sustainable neighborhood in which the same morphology was designed in several regions. To perform this comparison, the same neighborhood design is applied to 150 countries, but four parameters are adapted to each country: energy mix, local climate, building materials, and occupants ‘mobility. In addition, this study analysis the induced health impact of the neighborhood over a life cycle of 100 years and examines the impact of mobility and renewable energy on the health, which was evaluated by Pleiades ACV software. Among the four local parameters (energy mix, local materials, climate, and transport), the energy mix has the most significant effect on the health damage. The results show that the countries having a lower concentration of renewable energy sources have higher health damage than others. Africa is the continent that most affected by health damage due to lack of having an eco-neighborhood. The building materials and electricity use are the main sources of health damage in a neighborhood. The implementation of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of an eco-neighborhood has a significant impact on the potential health damages. Among the different stages of the neighborhood life cycle, the operation stage is the most significant which is responsible over 50% of total health damage. It is important to multiply ecological neighborhoods around the world, because health damage is estimated to be 20% lower in sustainable neighborhoods than more conventional neighborhoods.

In recent years, there is concerted efforts to boost the tourism industry in Nigeria, and regulatory bodies were created for the tourism industry. This study is contributing to the ongoing debate on the tourism-energy-environment literature. Thus, we explore the linkage between tourism development, energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, and renewable energy consumption in Nigeria for the period of 1995–2016. The present study leverages on Bounds testing to cointegration in a carbon-income function environment while incorporating renewable energy consumption to the econometric framework. Subsequently, autoregressive distributed lag methodology alongside dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) is utilized for robustness of estimations. Empirical results give credence to the energy-induced emission hypothesis in Nigeria. This outcome is suggestive to policymakers as fossil fuel-based energy consumption deplete the quality of the environment. Similarly, the study also affirms the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) phenomenon. The emphasis on Nigerian growth trajectory (real income level) relative to her quality of environment via the channel of economic development and energy consumption from fossil-fuel source is indicated. On the other hand, renewable energy consumption in Nigeria shows significant ability to reduce emission level in Nigeria. This result is insightful, which implies that environmental quality is not threatened with an increase in tourist arrivals, hence tourism does not degrade the environment but is sustainable to the environment. Interesting and laudable for stakeholders’ international tourism arrival did not deplete the quality of the environment. The plausible explanation is attributed to the scale of tourism in Nigeria which at the moment is still low or much more there is caution/awareness on ecotourism for sustainable environment.

Energy security is a multi-dimensional concept that is gaining a growing interest worldwide for studying the sustainability of a given energy sector. The level of energy security has been always quantified and evaluated by focusing on economic and technical dimensions, and modest importance was attributed to social and environmental aspects. Moreover, countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were always under-reported in the literature pertaining to energy security issues. This study strives to evaluate energy security in this region through the establishment of an original Environmental Energy Security Index (EESI) in order to cover different dimensions of security of energy supply within these counties. A total of nine sub-indicators were selected based on the current policies and orientations in the region. These indicators were normalized, weighted, and aggregated for each country of the MENA region between 2008 and 2017. According to the assessment objectives, results showed that on average Yemen holds the highest EESI score of 5.319 followed by Morocco 4.304 and Algeria 4.087. On the other hands, Bahrain is ranked last 1.610 preceded by UAE 2.249 and Qatar 2.461. Some key proposals were suggested including investment in local resources, diversification of the energy mix, reduction of energy imports, and use of energy-efficient technologies.

The industrial development alongside inadequate planning in the energy sector put demand-side pressure on Pakistan's energy demand. Similarly, the excessive dependency on fossil fuels has an ecological footprint. Moreover, the abuse of energy tariff subsidies and deficits had a detrimental effect on department earnings, limiting the sector's emergence and intensifying its crisis. This research examines the electric demand and supply imbalance in the context of the China–Pakistan economic corridor investments using the system dynamics modeling approach, highlights the renewable resources, and discusses the hurdles in the way of green conversion. Moreover, the study forecasts the production capacity, electric demand, and supply up to 2040. The results show that China–Pakistan economic corridor investments will uplift the production capacity up to 12.9%, whereas the average production will reach 15.8%, variables that were 5% and 4.8% before China–Pakistan economic corridor. As a result, the energy sector will be able to meet the energy demand after 2021. However, the current investment in the renewable industry will not help in achieving policy targets. The study provides targeted implications to overcome potential barriers to the green path.

Wind energy is one of the renewable energy sources that has been touted to address the challenges of energy security and environmental degradation. This is only attainable if countries with substantial wind energy potential use it in significant proportion to satisfy their energy needs. One promising sector where wind energy can be employed to actualize this potential is the electricity sector. However, the current reality is that fossil fuels still dominate the energy profiles of most economies of the world, including the advanced economies, with wind renewable energy source accounting for a very small proportion of the energy mix. Germany is one of the few countries that offers promising opportunities in deploying wind energy to its full potentials. This study therefore explores the feasibility of substituting wind energy for nuclear energy and other fossil fuels using Germany as a country of focus. We use the ridge regression procedure to analyse yearly time series data for the German power sector that spans the period 1986 to 2018. With respect to output elasticities of the energy inputs, the results reveal that wind and natural gas have positive output elasticity estimates while the estimates for nuclear and coal are negative. We also found that all the inputs pairs have positive substitution elasticity estimates between them. With respect to wind energy, the highest substitutability estimate occurred with nuclear power which is followed by natural gas and then coal. The study recommended that policies such as granting of tax credit for wind energy technology, reduction in property taxes for wind power facilities, and allocation of fund for research and development (R&D) in wind energy technology are recommended to promote the use of wind energy in the economy.

This paper studies the relationship between the energy mix and the environment using a theoretical framework in which two alternative energy sources are considered: fossil fuels (dirty energy) and renewable energy (clean energy). We find that a positive aggregate productivity shock increases energy consumption and emissions but reduces energy intensity and emissions per unit of output as renewable energy consumption increases, that is, carbon emissions are procyclical but emissions per unit of output are countercyclical. Second, an energy efficiency improvement provokes a “rebound effect” above 100% (the backfire effect), resulting in a rise of pollutant emissions by increasing energy use. Third, a technological improvement in emissions leads to a reduction in emissions per unit of fossil fuel, but also implies a slow-down in the adoption of renewable energy sources. Finally, we consider the case of a decentralized economy in which the government chooses an optimal specific tax on fossil fuel to maximize social welfare. We show that the “second-best” policy is highly effective in correcting the negative effects of the environmental externality and able to almost achive the centralized economy outcome.

The Ghana Nuclear Power Agenda is a program laid out by the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission in collaboration with the government of Ghana to guide and facilitate the installation of Ghana’s first ever nuclear power plant. The nuclear power plant is expected to generate between 1000 and 12,800 MW of electricity from its inception to the final installations in a span of 20 years. Ghana's Third National Communication (TNC) Report to the UNFCCC indicates 59 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO2e) emission in 2011. Between 1991 and 2011, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions grew by 20% as energy intensity of the economy rose alongside with a growing demand in industry, transport and households. If nothing is done to curtail GHG emissions from its major sources such as transport and fossil-source energy in Ghana, the looming catastrophe of the changing climate will occur faster than we imagine. Nuclear power has been cited as environmentally friendly (zero-to-low carbon emission), efficient and sustainable source of energy that works down on CO2 emission. It offers current and future energy needs without burdening future generations with a broken environment. Using Crystal Ball simulation model, the current study estimates a cumulative increase (35%) in CO2 emission in a span of ten years without nuclear power in Ghana’s energy mix. With the inclusion of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix, the model estimates CO2 emission cut by 12.5% for the same period, and 18.2% in 20 years. Thus, given the same period of time, the rate of emission of CO2 was found to be more than twice its reduction.

China has announced its goal of reaching carbon neutrality before 2060, which will be challenging because the country is still on a path towards peak carbon emissions in approximately 2030. Carbon emissions in China did decline from 2013 to 2016, following a continuous increase since the turn of the century. Here we evaluate regional efforts and motivations in promoting carbon emission reduction during this period. Based on a climate change mitigation index, we pinpoint the leading and lagging provinces in emission reduction. The results show that achievements in industrial transition and non-fossil fuel development determined the leading provinces. Thus, the recommended solution for carbon neutrality in China is to promote the transformation of industrial structure and energy mix. In addition, policymakers should be alert to the path of energy outsourcing to reduce carbon emissions. Consumption-based emissions accounting and interregional cooperation are suggested to motivate developed regions to take more responsibility for climate change mitigation. A targeted focus on a transition of industrial structure and energy mix is the most promising pathway to achieving CO2 neutrality in China by 2060, suggests an analysis at the provincial level of achievements in emission reductions during 2013–16.

In most Sub Saharan African countries renewable energy has been part of the energy mix balance-sheet for quite a long time. However, the share of total primary energy from renewable sources have declined over time despite significant investment into the sector in the last decade. This paper pierce the veil of the energy sector to unearth the underlying factors driving renewable energy output in the region using a panel data of 32 SSA countries from 1990 to 2015. The study rely on the Driscoll-Kraay estimator to correct the problem of cross sectional dependence and serial correlation in the model. Findings from the study point to the underlying factors of renewable energy output in Co2 emissions per capita, income per capita, oil prices, trade openness, natural resource rents, urbanization, population growth rate, and climatic stress. The study proposes policies that incorporates environmental awareness in the national development plans of countries; increasing renewable energy consumption among the middle class; encourage regional renewable energy grid sharing; implementing and expanding the feed-in-tariff system; and granting tax incentives to companies that seek to invest and develop the renewable energy sector in the region.

Economic growth brings fortune to a society, but it worsens the ecosystem and results in environmental pollution through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Despite extensive literature, the impact of economic growth on the environment is inconclusive, and the application of the environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in the case of South Asia is very limited. This study investigated the validity of the EKC hypothesis for South Asia, examining the influence of economic growth on CO2 emissions by incorporating industrial value added (IVA), energy consumption (ENC), and urbanization as control variables. Using annual panel data on selected South Asian economies for the period of 1971–2018, this study applied the pooled mean group and fully modified OLS estimators, and the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test to accomplish our objective. The findings revealed that economic growth, ENC, and urbanization have significant impacts on environmental pollution in South Asia. Economic growth initially adversely affects the environment, but when GDP attains a certain threshold it takes an inverse turn supported by a negative value of squared GDP, then economic growth becomes a friend of the environment. Both urbanization and ENC add to environmental pollution, and IVA is pollution-neutral. The Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality also reveals that economic growth, squared GDP, urbanization, and ENC contribute to CO2 emissions. The outcomes possess implications for policymakers to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix, and emphasize rural–urban development and pollution-neutral safe production techniques to reduce environmental pollution for the region over the long run.

The transition towards a modern cleaner energy pathway has been receiving global attention recently. Although nuclear energy has emerged as an alternative cleaner energy source and is receiving immense policy attention, however, the role of nuclear energy in the environmental degradation mitigation remains inconclusive in the extant literature. Therefore, this study examines the dynamic linkages between gross domestic product, foreign direct investment inflows, nuclear energy consumption, trade openness, and CO2 emissions for India within the environmental Kuznets curve framework over the period 1978–2019 through various robust econometric models that takes into consideration the presence of structural break in the data. The present study confirms the existence of an “inverted N shape” environmental Kuznets curve, a phenomenon rarely observed in environmental Kuznets curve literature for India. Besides, the predicted turnaround points of environmental Kuznets curve highlight that India has already reached the positive peak approximately by the year 2015. The empirical findings also confirm the existence of a J-shaped relationship between foreign direct investment inflows and CO2 emissions, which indicates that India is in the transient phase moving from pollution halo towards pollution heaven with progressive foreign direct investment development. Trade openness is also found to have a beneficial effect on environmental quality implying the trade policy of India encourages green trade activities to safeguard the environment. The empirical results also reveal the beneficial effect of nuclear energy consumption on air quality, thereby suggesting an accelerated adoption of nuclear energy in the Indian energy mix. The results also highlight that nuclear energy adoption in this booming phase can facilitate a “tunnelling effect” for sustainable economic growth for India. Hence, these findings may provide key policy recommendations regarding energy transition and environmentally sustainable economic growth.

The carbon emission rebound of the post-2008 financial crisis teaches us a lesson that avoiding a rebound in carbon intensity is key to prevent the carbon emission increase afterward. Although how carbon emission will change the world after the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown, it is urgent to learn from the past and avert or slow down the potential rebound effect. Therefore, this study aims to identify key drivers of carbon intensity changes of 55 sectors, applying the decomposition techniques and the world input-output data. Our results demonstrate that global carbon intensity fluctuates drastically when shocked by the global financial crisis, presenting an inversed-V shape for the period 2008–2011. Industrial carbon emission and gross output vary among different industries, the growth rate of industrial carbon intensity varies from -55.55% to 23.77%. The energy intensity effect and economic structure effect have opposite impacts on carbon intensity decrease, accelerating and hindering the decreasing carbon intensity, respectively. However, the energy mix effect has a minor impact on carbon intensity decrease. The industrial carbon intensity decomposition results show the impact of technological and structural factors are significantly different among industries. Moreover, the impact of energy intensity is slightly stronger than the energy mix. More measures targeting avoiding the rebound in carbon intensity should be developed.

Territorial-based carbon emissions (TBEs) have been studied extensively. However, investigations of consumption-based carbon emissions (CBEs), adjusted for international trade, have been mainly centered on theoretical arguments. This research is an attempt to address the gap by using CBEs in the case of Next Eleven (N-11) countries. Given that the N-11 are tracking to overtake the G-7 by 2050, successful action to mitigate and adapt to climate change will increasingly need to consider the impact of this fast-emerging group of countries. For empirical analysis, this study employs the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) methodology to examine the long- and short-run impact of imports and exports separately, along with economic growth, industry value addition (IVA), and oil price as control variables using data from 1990 to 2017. The empirical findings reveal that imports enhance, while exports reduce CBEs both in the long- and short-run. Whereas economic growth and IVA intensify CBEs, rising oil prices decrease CBEs both in the long and short-run. The main finding of this study provide evidence of carbon leakage and N-11 countries should diversify their energy mix toward renewable energy and adopt policies related to CBEs that recognize the transfer of emissions (carbon leakage) in trade.

Geothermal energy is a constant and independent form of renewable energy and has the potential to play a key role towards the world’s future clean energy mix. Conventional and unconventional geothermal resources are largely available across all continents and can help countries to become less dependent on energy imports and build a broader base in their future energy mix (Falcone, 2019). However, despite its significant potential, the total contribution of the geothermal sector to global power generation is 0.3% and to renewable heat approximately 4% (REN 21, 2021). Besides the need to create more substantial political pull and the development of a mature geothermal market across continents, there is also a need for a collective ´technology push´ in order to make geothermal mainstream. This paper provides a stock take of geothermal energy globally and points out technology-driven activities and scientific programmes designed to build a strong subsurface energy value proposition in order to mature two scalable markets: power and heating and cooling.

This article examines for the first time the impact of disaggregated energy sources and institutional quality on the ecological footprint (EF) of 29 OECD countries, by explaining how the diversification in countries' energy mix and their institutional performance are associated with sustainable environmental performance. We use panel data from 1984 to 2016 and we apply second-generation techniques to arrange the critical issues of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity. The applied cointegration tests expose a long-run equilibrium relationship that associates renewable/non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, institutional quality, and the EF of OECD countries. The robust cross-sectional augmented distributed lag (CS-DL) estimator shows that economic growth and the adoption of non-renewable energies are detrimental to the environment, while the operational quality of institutions adds to ecological sustainability. Concurrently, the negative effect of renewables on EF does not seem to cause a significant beneficial impact on the environment. Moreover, there is evidence that non-renewable energy and institutional quality have a bidirectional causal association with EF. Also, a weak unidirectional causal effect is running from the EF to renewables consumption. The study further demonstrates the inefficient integration of renewable energy forms in OECD countries and the concomitant essential role of institutions on environmental sustainability by providing relevant policy orientations.

Considering that the rigor of economic activities has widely been linked with the turbulent nature of the increasing global atmospheric and environmental hazards thus hampering environmental sustainability, it then presented a suggestive dilemma realizing that increasing unemployment, i.e., de-economizing human activities posit a desirable environmental quality effect. Given this backdrop, and employing the more recent estimation techniques, the current study probes the validity of the novel environmental Phillips curve (i.e., negative relationship between unemployment and environmental degradation) opined by Kashem and Rahman (Environ Sci Pollut Res 1-18, 2020). In this case, the panel of BRICST (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Turkey) economies for the selected data set over the experimental period 1992-2016 is analyzed. After using related approaches that are designed to account for probable country-specific factors, i.e., the cross-sectional dependence concern, the findings from the PMG-ARDL model affirmed the validity of the environmental Phillips curve for the BRICST countries. Thus, there is a significant trade-off between unemployment and environmental degradation. Moreover, this study concludes that renewable energy consumption improves the environmental quality, while conventional energy sources remained detrimental factors to environmental quality in the panel of the examined countries. Therefore, the study identified that the share of renewable energy in the energy mix should be escalated to improve environmental quality and maintain or improve the employment level, thus advancing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the BRICST countries.

This research analyzes the influence of bioenergy use on food supply in the 28 European Union (EU) countries under the governance quality system in 1990–2018. We used the pooled ordinary least squares technique and found that bioenergy growth (under the quality governance system), fossil fuel, and gross domestic product appears to increase food supply more in 13 European Union (EU13) underdeveloped countries. On the other hands, governance quality and population density have greatly affected food supply in 15 European Union developed countries (EU15) compared with EU13 European countries. These findings imply that the number of bioenergy resources which could be used directly in agricultural food chain end-use sectors will effectively increase food supply and thus contribute to the global warming objective. The results were verified by the pooled least squares (Pooled OLS) and fixed effect methods. The study recommends that the Member States of the European Union increase bioenergy in the energy mix to improve food supply, as systematic output does not compete with food-producing resources. The authorities should illustrate organized food supply and bioenergy policy by developing alternative strategies for reducing fossil fuel power and related CO2 emissions, according to the unique characteristics of both developed and developing countries in the EU.

To meet its greenhouse gas reduction commitment to net zero by 2050, the UK will need to diversify its energy supply. A move away from fossil fuels towards other forms of energy is required. At present, around 20% of the UK’s primary energy is generated by renewable resources, with the majority of this coming from bioenergy and nuclear energy. In the residential and public sectors, the main source of emissions is from the burning of gas for heating. One possible and obvious alternative energy source is that of geothermal heat, which presently remains underutilised in the UK energy mix, with ground source heat pumps and geothermal heat combined currently accounting for just 5.2% of overall renewable energy sources. This article explores the regulatory landscape for geothermal heat in the UK, taking as its main focal point the issue of definition and ownership. It examines the implications that the lack of a clear definition of ‘heat’, as a potential resource, has for the regulatory regime in the UK. The main argument is that the failure to define ‘heat’ along the lines of other natural resources explored for energy use creates a unique regulatory dynamic. This unique dynamic has the potential to prevent the full utilisation of geothermal heat and creates the need for reform of the way in which it is regulated.

माता भूमि पुत्रोहं पृथिव्या (Mata Bhumi PutrohamPrithivyah) - The earth is my mother and I am her son. It is the well-cherished VedicSanskrit verse and is most appropriateguide for the world's struggle for energy demands. Traditionally in Vedic culture and in modern times in many countries cow-based energy sources were used to fulfill the energy demands. Since the past more than 3 centuries, human race has adopted energy sources based on fossil, which are on the edge of extinction, as well as producing consequences like global warming, irreversible damage to natural sources like sea etc. These consequences are challengingexistence of mankind. Biogas energy and biomass are the traditional and natural energy sources. The present article highlights such sustainable emerging sources. Technological advancement in biogas energy, hydrogen from biogas and other sources, geothermal energy, and biomass have made significant technological advancement and emerging as alternative energy sources to which present scientific and governmental bodies are looking into it to curb the energy challenges.

Summary Cities, contributing more than 75% of global carbon emissions, are at the heart of climate change mitigation. Given cities' heterogeneity, they need specific low-carbon roadmaps instead of one-size-fits-all approaches. Here, we present the most detailed and up-to-date accounts of CO2 emissions for 294 cities in China and examine the extent to which their economic growth was decoupled from emissions. Results show that from 2005 to 2015, only 11% of cities exhibited strong decoupling, whereas 65.6% showed weak decoupling, and 23.4% showed no decoupling. We attribute the economic-emission decoupling in cities to several socioeconomic factors (i.e., structure and size of the economy, emission intensity, and population size) and find that the decline in emission intensity via improvement in production and carbon efficiency (e.g., decarbonizing the energy mix via building a renewable energy system) is the most important one. The experience and status quo of carbon emissions and emission-GDP (gross domestic product) decoupling in Chinese cities may have implications for other developing economies to design low-carbon development pathways.

The fossil fuel divestment movement tries to increase awareness about the need for climate action and heralds divestment from fossil fuel producers as a means to combat climate change. Financial investors are increasingly showing interest in the non-financial impact of companies they invest in, i.e. responsible investing. However, they also want to be assured of sufficient returns and limited risks to support the living costs of their ultimate beneficiaries. In this context, we investigate the impact of divestment and the transition of the energy system on investment performance. We rely on an international sample of almost seven thousand companies and study a period of forty years. Further, we investigate scenarios with very different pathways to the transition of the energy system. We find that the investment performance of portfolios that exclude fossil fuel production companies does not significantly differ in terms of risk and return from unrestricted portfolios. This finding holds even under market conditions that would benefit the fossil fuel industry. We conclude that divesting from fossil fuel production does not result in financial harm to investors, even when fossil fuels continue to play a dominant role in the energy mix for some time. Key policy insights Financing the exploration and exploitation of fossil fuel resources is increasingly being regarded as controversial, leading to divestment from this industry. Fossil fuel divestment does not seem to significantly harm financial investors and is not at odds with the fiduciary duty of institutional investors. This paves the way for more extensive initiatives to promote fossil fuel divestment. A smooth energy transition will most likely erode the profitability of fossil fuel firms and their ability to invest. Therefore, governments cannot rely on the fossil fuel industry to finance the energy transition.

Renewable energy utilisation is presently at its infancy in Nigeria despite its nation and global relevance. This paper attempts an examination of renewable energy policies aim of finding out how relevant and effective they have been in the Nigeria energy mix. Research shows that the implementations of these renewable policies are not fully effective as a result of several constraints, such as the lack of a supporting legislation, inadequate funding, and absence of a regulatory agency to oversee the development of renewable energy sources. Presently only policies exist for renewable energy in Nigeria. The absence of an effective legislation in renewable energy may hinder the efficient and full utilization of renewable energy in Nigeria. This paper argues for the enactment of an enabling renewable energy law as well as the establishment of a renewable energy agency saddled enforcement of the law, so as to hasten the rapid development and growth of renewable energy utilisation in Nigeria.

Egyptian rapidly growing population and establishing energy-intensive industrialfacilities demanded large supply of power to maintain that growth. Egypt is a countrywell suited for alternative energy production. It has strong, steady wind, good solarenergy and the hydrothermal resources from the Nile. The government decided toimprove the diversity of energy by embracing opportunities from renewable sources assolar and wind in the energy mix, to bring the balance back to Egypt’s energy market.Environmental impact assessment (EIA) , should be considered in all stages startingfrom planning, site selection, type of technology used, and installing phase. Life cycleassessment tool is used as a method to know the average environmental impact ofdifferent renewable energy source for appropriate planning and proper decision making.This showed the importance of generating awareness towards environmental impact ofvarious renewable energy systems.

Planet Earth is simultaneously approaching a number of ecological and resource limits. The resulting uncertainties will heavily impact future energy choices, both the level of primary energy used globally and the shares of fossil, renewable and nuclear fuels in the energy mix. This paper reviews the possible futures for the various types of renewable energy. To be viable, all potential energy sources must be assessed on their energy return on energy invested (energy return). Given that renewable energy RE growth is considered important for sustainability reasons, renewable energy must be assessed on its ecologically sustainable or 'green' energy return, which includes the energy costs of ecosystem maintenance as input energy costs. The green energy return is accordingly much lower than the conventional value, so that ecologically sustainable renewable energy is unlikely to deliver anything near existing global energy use. The paper further argues that such constraints on renewable energy growth rates mean it cannot be a timely response to global climate change. The paper concludes that energy reductions will be essential, mainly in high energy use countries.

Poland is responsible for 9% of CO2 emission in the European Union (EU), making it the fifth biggest emitter in the region. The energy sector is dominated by electricity produced from coal (around 70%). The country currently uses massive subsidies to boost the coal sector. We propose a dynamic intertemporal hybrid general equilibrium model to simulate the economic effects of sector regulations and new policy targets within environmental taxation scenarios, by accounting for a complex set of linkages between the energy sector and other components of the economy. Our simulation results suggest that positive economic growth is possible with a realistic energy mix, but it will not offer considerable emission reduction, as required by the European Commission. In the short-time horizon, the best choice is renewable energy sources indicated by less capital-intensive technologies (such as biomass). In the long-time horizon, more capital-intensive technologies (such as wind turbines) will be a better choice for economic growth. Carbon tax plays a crucial role in optimal energy mix targets, since its elimination ceteris paribus implies negative economic growth.

The effects of climate change and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions are one of the deep concerns today. The energy generation sector contributes significantly to these emissions, potentiating the climate change and the vulnerability of society and the environment. To attain the Paris Agreement goals, the decarbonization of energy sector at global scale may be a solution, which includes the insertion of more renewable sources in the energy mix. In this sense, the increase on generation by wind energy is a feasible option to achieve these targets. Although the wind energy is considered a “cleaner” source and “free of CO 2 emissions”, when its entire life cycle is considered, it is possible to verify that certain stages, namely the equipment manufacturing and decommissioning, have different and significant contributions in terms of inputs and energy consumption, but also gases emissions and environmental impacts. Thereby, the aim of this research is to present a systematic literature review of wind farms life cycle assessments, the relevant aspects related to CO2 emissions and resource consumption are highlighted, and improvements in process and advantages of equipment reusing in end of service for diminishing the effects of climate change are discussed.

In recent years, the destruction of the ecosystem, due to the strong emission of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere by humans has led to significant damage to wildlife, human health, and flora. This has significantly changed the human life cycle. Nowadays, the environmental damage costs are applied for the countries strongly impacting pollutant emission. To this end, developing countries receive annual compensation from the countries considered to be the most polluting. So far, decision-makers seem to be unaware that, at the scale of an eco-neighborhood, some emerging countries produce also a significant amount of CO2. The main purpose of this research is to quantify and to compare the effect of the energy mix of 150 countries on three environmental impacts generated by an eco-neighborhood: greenhouse effect, energy demand, and biodiversity damage. To perform this comparison, the same neighborhood design is applied to 150 countries, but four parameters are adapted to each country: energy mix, local climate, building materials, and occupants’ mobility. In addition, this research evaluates the induced environmental costs of the neighborhood over a life cycle of 100 years and examines the impact of mobility and photovoltaic panel on these environmental costs. The different environmental impacts were evaluated by the Pleiades ACV simulation software under four phases (construction, use, renovation, and demolition), before being translated into environmental costs. Among the four local parameters (energy mix, local materials, climate, and transport), the energy mix has the most significant effect on the three studied environmental impacts. The results show that the countries having a higher concentration of renewable energy sources produce lower CO2 than others. Domestic and material wastes are also one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity damage in a sustainable neighborhood. The biodiversity damage is high in Sub-Sahara Africa, and MiddleEast, but low in the USA, Brazil, European Union, Russia, and Australia. The implementation of photovoltaic panels in a sustainable neighborhood mitigates, on average, 15.9% of carbon dioxide emissions and 21.2% of primary energy demand; but, unfortunately, this solution increases up to 25.0% the biodiversity damage.

Energy has become the driving force for national infrastructure development, including the socioeconomic development of every society. Ghana, like many other African countries, formulated developmental policies to attain middle-income status in the medium term. Socioeconomic growth comes with an upsurge in electricity consumption. Ghana seeks to use industrialization to achieve its middle-income target. To achieve this target, there is a need to develop a reliable, sustainable and affordable energy supply in a benign environment. The entry point for Ghana to become a middle-income economy is a cost-effective and reliable electricity supply. Ghana is endowed with fossil fuel, hydro and renewable resources to drive its industrial ambitions, but the indigenous gas fields feeding some thermal plants for electricity production are decreasing and could run out by early 2030 unless new fields are discovered and may also be affected by price volatility. The untapped hydro resources are also small and unreliable if the country seeks to become a middle-income country. Despite the abundant renewable resources, they are intermittent and do not present a baseload option. In safeguarding Ghana’s energy security, the country seeks to include nuclear energy into her energy mix. This research paper discusses the major drivers for nuclear energy inclusion.

The main aim of this paper is to explore the role of globalization on ecological footprint in Turkey while controlling energy consumption, economic growth, and trade openness. To achieve this objective, we employ dual adjustment approach. The main novelty of the dual adjustment approach is that the method offers another path to the cointegration analysis by relaxing the implicit assumption of the singular adjustment in cointegration analysis. The findings clearly reveal that (i) in the long run, globalization impacts ecological footprint positively and (ii) trade openness reduces ecological footprint in the short run, while ecological footprint is negatively affected by GDP growth in both the short and the long run. In terms of policy implications, this study suggests that in order to improve the environmental quality, Turkey should adopt such policies that encourage energy consumers to shift toward renewable energy. Moreover, the government should take necessary steps to diversify the overall energy mix toward renewable energy.

This study aims to decompose the changes in CO2 emission, in 1990–1995 and 2010–2015, to identify the main drivers of those changes at the sectoral level. Using energy input and input-output table, the emission changes were decomposed into six factors: energy intensity, carbonization factor, technology, structural demand, consumption pattern effect, and scale effect. This model would allow a given country to identify the impacts of energy consumption, energy mix, and production efficiency (as direct sources of emission) while paying close attention to their linkages with both the economic structure and the accretion of final demand. This research was the first attempt to decompose CO2 emission changes using the input-output framework in Indonesia. The results revealed that the scale effect was the main driving factor of emission in 1990–1995. In 2010–2015, embodied emission in the chemical industry, mining, rubber, and plastic industry significantly rose due to an increase in energy intensity. Meanwhile, the embodied emission in electricity, road and air transportations, and non-metallic mineral production rose due to inefficiency in production. The energy policy to improve efficiency and diversified primary energy seemed to be negative between 2010 and 2015. Consequently, the embodied emission from energy intensity factor in several energy-intensive sectors increased along with a lack of contribution to changes in primary energy composition. This study also demonstrated that there was a decline in structural demand for electricity and mining between 2010 and 2015, which contributed negatively to the emission and yet outdrew with the rise from scale effect.

Water is an essential component of agriculture-food production. As the biomass and biofuel are known excellent sources of renewable and sustainable energy, cultivating process consumes significant quantities of water. Without sufficient, good-quality and easily accessible water, the European agriculture-food production could thus be under threat. This research analyses the impact of the water supply on the bioenergy production in the 28 European Union countries, for the 1990-2018 period within the pathway of the European Union 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The findings using the generalised least squares (GLS) technique show that bioenergy production and population density appear to decrease water supply. Precisely, the magnitude of the effects is - 0.224 and - 0.136 for developing countries and developed countries in the EU, respectively. This indicates that a serious reduction of water security is more likely to happen in developed countries than in developing countries as a result of the increase in bioenergy consumption. In the meantime, fossil fuel, income generation activities and institutional quality have already positively affected water supply. Thus, these findings implied that water scarcity is becoming one of the main obstacles for bioenergy expansion and growth. The results were also further verified by the random effect and pooled oriented least squares method. This study recommends that the Member of the European Union States should continue to increase bioenergy production in the energy mix efforts without any strenuous water security issues. Notwithstanding, there are several situations where a developing bioenergy industry is unlikely to be constrained by water shortage, and with the drive of bioenergy demand, the efforts might unlock new opportunities to adapt to water-related challenges and to improve water usage efficiencies. The authorities should illustrate organised water security and sustainable bioenergy policy by way of developing alternative strategies in reducing fossil fuel power and related CO2 emissions, accordingly to the unique characteristics of both developed and developing countries in the EU.

Shale gas plays a significant strategic role in improving energy security and optimizing the energy mix for China. However, the potential environmental impacts are becoming an extremely serious pro...

This article aims to present historical rate of decoupling and based on that determine the scope for India to increase its mitigation beyond the NDC commitment. Empirical evidence on nature and rate of decoupling between energy related emission and economic growth for the period 1990–91 to 2012–13 in India is presented. In addition to estimating the magnitude of decoupling elasticity, decomposition analysis is also applied to understand how the four factors: activity growth, energy intensity change, structural change and fuel mix change, are driving the change in emission in India. Decoupling elasticity and Log Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) methods are used for decomposition. The results indicate presence of relative decoupling in India. The industrial sector leads among the four sectors -agriculture, industry, services and power generation in achieving this relative decoupling, mostly through improvement in energy efficiency and some structural changes. Results show that even in the business as usual scenario if India acts upon individual sector level mitigation potentials, it has the potential to raise mitigation ambition beyond current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) without adversely impacting economic growth. With continued high share of coal in the energy mix it is going to be difficult to achieve absolute decoupling.

In 2019. the BICS (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) group remained not only one of the largest global CO2 emitter, but also most of the projected carbon emissions in the future and highly vulnerable to negative impacts of climate are associated with them. However, the recent literature finds number of studies having contradictory numbers about present and future carbon emissions in the BICS. It does not only affect the existing environmental regulations in the BICS but also mislead the future policy framework for the climate change. Thus, this study develops comprehensive forecasting model using Grey system theory approach for policy analysis. The variables (i.e. CO2 emissions, environmental related technological change, fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption, and economic output) are used to predict CO2 emissions. The results find that the emissions intensity will continue to rise in BICS region. However, the significant progress at environmental technology front can reduce the CO2 emissions intensity while achieving the economic growth targets. The results also find that the fossil fuels will remain the significant source of energy mix in BICS countries. The use of renewable energy is expected to increase during the projection period. The results are useful for BICS countries in shaping future environmental policy.

This paper seeks to answer an empirical question of whether clean biomass energy consumption lowers CO2 emissions while controlling for technical innovation in eight selected countries from Africa for the 1980–2015 period. The countries which are chosen based on availability of data on biomass energy and technological innovation include Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Zambia. Applying pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect panel estimators, the results indicate that clean biomass energy use decreases CO2 emission in the long run. But the effect of biomass energy consumption on CO2 emission is insignificant in the short run. The findings imply that CO2 emission can be reduced by increasing clean biomass energy in the energy mix of these countries. Similarly, environmental quality and economic growth can be achieved simultaneously by increasing the share of biomass energy in large-scale production process. Furthermore, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), which hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped relationship between CO2 emission and economic growth, was validated in the long run. This suggests that the EKC pattern is only observed in the long run. Thus, as part of recommendation from this study, policy makers in these countries should formulate more policies that will enhance clean biomass energy production and its usage to substitute significant percentage of fossil fuel use in production process.

Reducing carbon emissions while minimizing carbon costs is the main objective of Indonesian carbon management. Using data from 2016, this article focuses on 475 Indonesian manufacturing firms with consumption greater than 6,000 tons of oil equivalent mandated by regulation to reduce their emissions. This study examines the effect of the type of energy consumed on carbon-related costs, with CO2emissions as the mediating variable. The study decomposes the type of energy consumed, namely into coal, natural gas, diesel, and electricity. The results show that: 1) Coal, natural gas, diesel, have a positive effect on CO2emissions; electricity has a negative effect on CO2emissions; 2) electricity, and CO2emissions have a negative effect on costs; and 3) CO2emissions significantly mediated the effect of coal, natural gas, diesel, and electricity on costs. The findings imply that firms’ investment in an efficient machine and technology required to reduce CO2emissions, as mandated by the regulation, has seemingly been unable to reduce the CO2emissions produced by fossil fuels but has been able to reduce CO2emissions from consumed electricity. Moreover, such investment seems able to reduce carbon-related costs. Policymakers should review the Indonesian energy mix from fossil fuels and socialize to firms that using the source of power from electricity is cleaner and cheaper than fossil fuels so that firms may be considered to shift fossil fuels energy into electricity. Hence, the government should ensure the availability of electricity supply generated from cleaner energy sources.Keywords: CO2; Costs; Electricity; Energy Management; Fossil Fuels; Path AnalysisJEL Classifications: Q4; Q51; L5DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.9246

A large number of studies evidenced the role of energy on growth and renewable energy as a cleaner input, which is the need of the hour as because of population and growth, the energy demand is on the rise in South Asia region. This study scrutinizes the quadratic effect of the non-renewable and renewable energy consumption mix and its impact on sustainable development while controlling for trade openness, development expenditures and industrialization. This study resorts to feasible generalized least squared model for the estimation of quadratic function for five SAARC countries between 1990 and 2017. The results show that the non-renewable-to-renewable energy mix ratio follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with HDI. Further renewable energy must be significantly higher than non-renewable energy in order to ensure that it is development promoting.

Although the world energy mix is still strongly dependent on fossil fuels, biofuels have been gaining market share, especially in the transport sector. The main biofuel raw materials are those produced by agropastoral systems that use large expanses of land. The present work presents an innovative method of sustainability assessment of biodiesel, combining temporal and regional approaches based on its three pillars. The method aims to ascertain whether a determined region, whose main economic activities are agropastoral and processing of agricultural raw materials, is moving toward or away from sustainability. The work integrates tools to evaluate land use change from satellite images with life-cycle assessment, to obtain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as the environmental metric. The economic and social metrics are the time derivative of per capita gross domestic product and the school enrolment ratio. The improvement of agropastoral/industrial activities in the region directly reflects the changes of the three metrics. The proposed method was applied to assess the sustainability of biodiesel produced from soybean oil and beef tallow in a micro-region of Central Brazil, in the period from 2003 to 2013. The case study revealed a reduction of 10% in sustainability, with improvements of 344% and 15% in the economic and social metrics but a decline of 1106% in the environmental metric. The results also showed that for both biodiesel made from soy oil and tallow, land use change is responsible for 97% of GHG emissions. The conclusion is that the implementation of automation of agricultural processes, with consequent increase in productivity, besides diminishing the environmental impact, would lead to an increase in gross domestic product indices and in the average schooling level, thus contributing to reduce social inequalities and increase the sustainability of agricultural-based biodiesel.

Energy mix persistence is a defining characteristic of energy systems, for reasons including the long‐lived nature of energy infrastructure and the role of local endowments. This persistence is evident in current energy‐type use being strongly influenced by past use. Our analysis uses data for eight energy types and a large sample of countries, finding varying degrees of energy mix persistence. We also find evidence that carbon pricing appears to have played a key role in tilting energy mixes from coal towards renewable energy. Our estimates provide empirical support to policymakers seeking to implement carbon pricing to transition their energy systems in a lower‐carbon direction.

High-speed rail (HSR) is one of the essential innovations in the field of transportation in the latter half of the twentieth century. In China, the rapid development of HSR has received increasing attention and resulted in a boost of tourism, with significant impact on the development of cities that operates HSR. To accurately comprehend how will the operation of HSR influence the regional CO2 emissions, this paper applies the modified STIRPAT model, combining with real data on high-speed rail passenger flow volume of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail Hunan section. The results show that (1) the high-speed rail operation is also a significant impact factor for regional CO2 emissions. (2) Considering the operation of HSR, the ranking of contribution rate of driving factors for regional CO2 emissions is as follows: GDP per capita, energy consumption per unit of GDP, arrival volume of high-speed rail, originated volume of high-speed rail, the proportion of coal in the energy mix, proportion of the tertiary industry, and population. (3) Surprisingly, the numerical research result shows that the operation of HSR for the cities may promote regional CO2 emissions, while the increase in urban population and the optimization of energy structure have a reducing effect on regional carbon emissions. There is a transfer effect of the operation of HSR and region development, which results in the rising of regional CO2 emissions. Thus, it is urgent to research on the decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions. The findings could be conducive for the government and railway company to evaluate and administrate the operation of high-speed rail and adequately deal with the relationships between the high-speed railway and regional development.

The objective of this study is to investigate the role of democracy, ecological footprint, economic growth, and globalisation in enhancing sustainable electricity consumption in an ecological reserve-based country of Brazil over the period 1971-2014. To achieve this objective, the minimum Lagrange multiplier (LM) unit root and Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration tests are applied. The model is estimated using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FM-OLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimation procedures. The empirical results suggest that all the variables have a positive and significant effect on electricity consumption. This implies that increasing the level of these variables would stimulate electricity consumption. The long-run causality results indicate a one-way causality running from ecological footprint, democracy, and globalisation to electricity consumption. The results further discover that causality flows from ecological footprint, democracy, and globalisation to economic growth. In addition, a long-run bidirectional causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth is uncovered. In the short run, the result validates a bidirectional causality between ecological footprint and electricity consumption. More so, electricity consumption causes economic growth and democracy, whilst economic growth causes globalisation. The results are validated by the innovation accounting tests. The policy implication of the findings is that ecological-based conservation policies could have negative consequences on economic growth and electricity consumption because of a significant dependence of these two variables on the ecological footprint. Therefore, to guarantee sustainable electricity consumption, sufficient and sustainable green energy and optimum energy mix should be encouraged by the stakeholders.

Switzerland and the European Union (EU) face similar challenges when it comes to the decarbonisation and securing of energy supply. Both lack sufficient domestic energy resources, apart from nuclear energy. But nuclear energy has become controversial after the nuclear meltdown accident at Fukushima, Japan, in 2011. Without reconsidering nuclear energy as a future energy resource, the cooperation in the energy market between the EU and Switzerland becomes even more vital for securing energy supply. While in the past, Switzerland has fulfilled an important function in securing energy supply in neighbouring EU Member States, lately, the EU has provided for its own governance for emergency situations. However, Switzerland will maintain its function as an interface in the electricity sector. This is even more true, since the new focus on renewable energies fosters the demand for flexible cross-boundary solutions. An electricity agreement between Switzerland and the EU might provide a stable legal framework for these developments. The price to pay for Switzerland will be a further opening of the market, offering the private consumer a choice of energy providers. The good news for Swiss strategies for promoting renewable energies is that EU Member States are still allowed to take a flexible approach towards national promotion measures, especially in designing them to their territory. Therefore, the cooperation between Switzerland and the EU offers some advantages in terms of flexibility in the quest for security of supply while fighting climate change.

The increasing wood energy demand could cause an important mobilization of forest resources and be the reason of the forest management sustainability. To assess this risk, it is necessary to determine precisely the availability of wood in the forest. The methods used to evaluate the resource and forest availability have improved, but, paradoxically, misunderstandings have arisen because the published results vary according to the methods, which require great attention to the explanations in support of figures published in different studies. Currently, - harvest is still far from the total availability in forest wood, even if we consider only the technically and economically part harvestable. However, the objectives set in the forest, if realized, would lead to an exploitation of forests much more intensive, which raises the question of maintaining the fertility of forest soils. Research must thus work on solutions that allow the exploitation of forest products while maintaining a high level of productivity.

Climate change significantly impacts people’s lives. Since the declaration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the nexus of climate change, land use, energy, and water (CLEW) has attracted attention. As an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia was predicted to experience a significant impact of climate change. To minimize the impact of climate change, the government of Indonesia (GOI) commits to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the Paris Agreement. One of the plans is in the energy sector, in which 87% of existing power plants are made up of fossil fuels. According to the GOI target, renewable energy (RE) should share the national energy mix of a minimum of 31% by 2050. However, RE resources are highly dependent on the natural condition. Currently, Indonesia’s long-term planning has not considered the impact of the CLEW Nexus on RE power generation. This paper reviews the generation expansion planning (GEP) method considering CLEW in Indonesia. Systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted as a methodology of the research. Based on the review results, the system dynamics method is one of the possible solutions to the generation expansion planning problems considering the CLEW nexus.

Many countries, states, and territories have set short and long term targets to increase the share of renewable sources for electricity generation as part of their respective energy policies. Increased reliance on renewables can occur from several sources (e.g., biomass, solar, hydro, wind). Similarly, when increasing renewables, a decreased reliance on one or more non-renewable (e.g., coal, gas, oil, nuclear) sources must occur. However, each region is different with respect to its present profile and capabilities to generate electricity. Complicating this is that demand can differ across individuals, states and territories. By using a discrete choice experiment and latent class hybrid choice model (LCHCM), we estimate individual willingness to pay (WTP) values among four renewable and four non-renewable energy sources for residents across Australia’s states and territories. The model identifies two latent segments in relation to WTP, which can be described using differences in pro-environmental attitudes and socio-demographics. The findings reveal that preferences in terms of energy mix composition for electricity generation are heterogeneous across Australia states and individuals. WTP is found to be higher for biomass, whilst those who are younger, males and those holding pro-environmental attitudes are also supportive of hydro and solar over gas and nuclear sources.

This study explores the role of renewable energy (RE) penetration in Malaysia's energy security (ES) and its implications for the country's target of 20% capacity in the energy mix by 2025. Renewable energy (RE) is a critical driver of long-term energy security. In 2018, the share of renewable energy in Malaysia's energy mix was 9%, falling far short of the national target of 20% penetration by 2025. This study employs a system dynamics approach to investigate the relationship between RE penetration and correlated indicators from energy security (ES) dimensions: energy availability, environmental sustainability, and socio-economics. The causal relationships between the three-dimensional indicators of ES have been established using causal and stock and flow logic. Simulated results show that energy consumption has increased sharply, while energy efficiency and economic growth have only increased by a small margin with an increase in RE from 2015 to 2020. The energy intensity is expected to rise slightly by the end of the fifth year. As a result, the overall impact is positive for Malaysia's environmental sustainability while reducing its reliance on energy imports and meeting national economic growth demands.

Wind energy is crucial in German energy and climate strategies as it substitutes carbon-intensive fossil fuels and achieves substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. However, wind energy deployment currently faces several problems: low expansion rates, wind turbines at the end of their service life, or the end of remuneration. Repowering is a vital strategy to overcome these problems. This study investigates future annual GHG payback times and emission savings of repowered wind turbines. In total, 96 repowering scenarios covering a broad range of climatological, technical, economic, and political factors affecting wind energy output in 2025–2049 were studied. The results indicate that due to more giant wind turbines and geographical restrictions, the amount of repowerable sites is reduced significantly. Consequently, in most scenarios, emission savings will dramatically diminish compared to current savings. Even in the best-case scenario, the highest emission savings’ growth is at 11%. The most meaningful drivers of GHG payback time and emission savings are wind turbine type, geographical restrictions, and GHG emissions. In contrast, climate change impact on the wind resource is only marginal. Although repowering alone is insufficient for achieving climate targets, it is a substantial part of the wind energy strategy. It could be improved by the synergies of different measures presented in this study. The results emphasize that a massive expansion of wind energy is required to establish it as a cornerstone of the future energy mix.

This essay considers the rural-to-urban transition and correlates it with urban energy demands. Three distinct themes are inspected and interrelated to develop awareness for an urbanizing world: internal urban design and innovation, technical transition, and geopolitical change. Data were collected on the use of energy in cities and, by extension, nation states over the last 30 years. The\ud urban population boom continues to pressure the energy dimension with heavily weighted impacts\ud on less developed regions. Sustainable urban energy will need to reduce resource inputs and environmental impacts and decouple economic growth from energy consumption. Fossil fuels continue to\ud be the preferred method of energy for cities; however, an increased understanding is emerging that\ud sustainable energy forms can be implemented as alternatives. Key to this transition will be the will to\ud invest in renewables (i.e., solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, and biomass), efficient infrastructure,\ud and smart eco-city designs. This essay elucidates how the technical transition of energy-friendly technologies focuses on understanding the changes in the energy mix from non-renewable to renewable.\ud Smart electricity storage grids with artificial intelligence can operate internationally and alleviate\ud some geopolitical barriers. Energy politics is shown to be a problematic hurdle with case research\ud examples specific to Central and Eastern Europe. The energy re-shift stressed is a philosophical\ud re-thinking of modern cities as well as a new approach to the human-energy relationship.