scholarly journals Environment-Friendly Energy Research in Norway

2021 ◽  
pp. 49-70
Author(s):  
Antti Silvast ◽  
Chris Foulds

AbstractThe Research Council of Norway established the Centres for Environment-Friendly Energy Research in 2009. These are long-term national centres that are meant to integrate academics with industries, private companies, regulating bodies, governmental organisations, and research institutes, to trigger a clean-energy transition and pursue environmental innovations. Increasingly, addressing energy issues through the integration of technological and Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines has become expected in these Centres. This chapter draws from interviews with the project participants and fieldwork to demonstrate how different academics and professionals experienced these interdisciplinary collaborations, including what consequences and dynamics such collaborations generated. We round up by interpreting the findings along with the traits of interdisciplinarity that have been emerging in this book.

Daedalus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kassia Yanosek

Historically, energy transitions have occurred gradually over the span of several decades, marked by incremental improvements in technologies. In recent years, public interest in accelerating the next energy transition has fueled a clean-energy policy agenda intended to underpin the development of a decarbonized energy economy. However, policies to date have encouraged investors to fund renewable energy projects utilizing proven technologies that are not competitive without the help of government subsidies. A true transition of the energy mix requires innovations that can compete with conventional energy over the long term. Investments in innovative technology projects are scarce because of the “commercialization gap,” which affects projects that are too capital-intensive for venture capital yet too risky for private equity, project, or corporate debt financing. Accelerating innovation through the commercialization gap will require governments to allocate public dollars to, and encourage private investment in, these riskier projects. Policy-makers will face a trade-off between prioritizing policies for accelerating the energy transition and accounting for the risks associated with innovation funding in a tight budgetary environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-81
Author(s):  
T.A. Zheliezna

The aim of the work is to develop recommendations for Ukraine on setting long-term integrated climate and energy goals and identifying ways to achieve them. The preconditions, main goals and objectives of the European Green Deal, which was presented by the European Commission in December 2019, are analyzed. The European Green Deal is a comprehensive strategy for the transition to a sustainable economy, clean energy and climate neutrality, i.e., zero greenhouse gas emissions, in Europe by 2050. The adoption of this Deal was preceded by several stages of a coherent EU policy in the relevant sectors. Possibilities for renewable energy development within the framework of the European Green Deal are considered. It is determined that preference is given to the production of green electricity, mobilization of the potential of offshore renewable energy, production of biogas and biofuels from biomass of agricultural origin, sustainable use of low-carbon and renewable fuels, including biomass and hydrogen, in hard-to-electricity sectors. In Ukraine, the document that is closest by its contents to the European Green Deal is the draft Concept of green energy transition until 2050 presented in January 2020. The draft Concept states the goal of achieving 70% of renewable energy sources in electricity generation by 2050 and the climate-neutral economy of Ukraine by 2070. It is recommended that this document should be finalized and adopted formally as soon as possible.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5138
Author(s):  
Paulina Rodríguez Fiscal ◽  
Rallou Taratori ◽  
Marie Abigail Pacho ◽  
Christos S. Ioakimidis ◽  
Sesil Koutra

One of the key challenges of developing countries is to tackle the mitigation of the impacts of rapid and uncontrolled urbanization. Assessing this phenomenon is crucial to lessen the consequences for the environment and society. ‘Literature has been concentrated in planning strategies for the cities’ adaptation and engagements to the principles of green development ensuring a long-term quality of life for their citizens. Hereby, smart technologies and applications consist of two of the most encouraging concepts for solutions for achieving the 2030 and 2050 horizon targets towards clean energy transition and carbon neutrality. In academia, scholars have already raised the importance of ‘smartness’ to define the adaptative patterns for the global pressures of climate change and uncontrolled urban growth. The mitigation of these phenomena is crucial to ensure the cities’ future and lessen their impacts. This study seeks a strategic and smart-driven vision to leverage smartness on the phenomenon of rapid urbanization that occurred in the case of Beijing, China. Defining and evaluating the environmental impacts in line with the RIAM approach as one of its main targets. Future works can be focused on addressing solutions in similar cases in further developing countries to not only overcome environmental, but also economic, social, and digital complications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-193
Author(s):  
Aisha Naiga ◽  
Loyola Rwabose Karobwa

Over 90% of Uganda's power is generated from renewable sources. Standardised Implementation Agreements and Power Purchase Agreements create a long-term relationship between Generating Companies and the state-owned off-taker guaranteed by Government. The COVID-19 pandemic and measures to curb the spread of the virus have triggered the scrutiny and application of force majeure (FM) clauses in these agreements. This article reviews the FM clauses and considers their relevance. The authors submit that FM clauses are a useful commercial tool for achieving energy justice by ensuring the continuity of the project, despite the dire effects of the pandemic. Proposals are made for practical considerations for a post-COVID-19 future which provides the continued pursuit of policy goals of promoting renewable energy sources and increasing access to clean energy, thus accelerating just energy transitions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-173
Author(s):  
Andrzej Lorkowski ◽  
Robert Jeszke

The whole world is currently struggling with one of the most disastrous pandemics to hit in modern times – Covid-19. Individual national governments, the WHO and worldwide media organisations are appealing for humanity to universally stay at home, to limit contact and to stay safe in the ongoing fight against this unseen threat. Economists are concerned about the devastating effect this will have on the markets and possible outcomes. One of the countries suffering from potential destruction of this situation is Poland. In this article we will explain how difficult internal energy transformation is, considering the long-term crisis associated with the extraction and usage of coal, the European Green Deal and current discussion on increasing the EU 2030 climate ambitions. In the face of an ongoing pandemic, the situation becomes even more challenging with each passing day.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul K. Gellert ◽  
Paul S. Ciccantell

Predominant analyses of energy offer insufficient theoretical and political-economic insight into the persistence of coal and other fossil fuels. The dominant narrative of coal powering the Industrial Revolution, and Great Britain's world dominance in the nineteenth century giving way to a U.S.- and oil-dominated twentieth century, is marred by teleological assumptions. The key assumption that a complete energy “transition” will occur leads some to conceive of a renewable-energy-dominated twenty-first century led by China. After critiquing the teleological assumptions of modernization, ecological modernization, energetics, and even world-systems analysis of energy “transition,” this paper offers a world-systems perspective on the “raw” materialism of coal. Examining the material characteristics of coal and the unequal structure of the world-economy, the paper uses long-term data from governmental and private sources to reveal the lack of transition as new sources of energy are added. The increases in coal consumption in China and India as they have ascended in the capitalist world-economy have more than offset the leveling-off and decline in some core nations. A true global peak and decline (let alone full substitution) in energy generally and coal specifically has never happened. The future need not repeat the past, but technical, policy, and movement approaches will not get far without addressing the structural imperatives of capitalist growth and the uneven power structures and processes of long-term change of the world-system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 183-195
Author(s):  
Elena Macevičiūtė

The article deals with the requirements and needs for long-term digital preservation in different areas of scholarly work. The concept of long-term digital preservation is introduced by comparing it to digitization and archiving concepts and defined with the emphasis on dynamic activity within a certain time line. The structure of digital preservation is presented with regard to the elements of the activity as understood in Activity Theory. The life-cycle of digitization processes forms the basis of the main processing of preserved data in preservation archival system.The author draws on the differences between humanities and social sciences on one hand and natural and technological science on the other. The empirical data characterizing the needs for digital preservation within different areas of scholarship are presented and show the difference in approaches to long-term digital preservation, as well as differences in selecting the items and implementing the projects of digital preservation. Institutions and organizations can also develop different understanding of preservation requirements for digital documents and other objects.The final part of the paper is devoted to some general problems pertaining to the longterm digital preservation with the emphasis of the responsibility for the whole process of safe-guarding the cultural and scholarly heritage for the re-use of the posterior generations. It is suggested that the longevity of the libraries in comparison with much shorter life-span of private companies strengthens the claim of memory institutions to playing the central role in the long-term digital preservation.


Author(s):  
Е. А. Dolmatov ◽  
Т. А. Khrykina

Development of low-growing varieties is one of the prioritized directions in groups selection. Solution of excessive growth in the selection can be solved in today’s conditions by two means: on a polygenic and on a monogenic level. Up until recently such work was performed by research institutes of horticulture in the U.S.S.R. and Russian Federation only on the polygenic level. The analysis is performed for the data of 17 summer studies on the development of complex donors of monogenic determined dwarfness (gene D), high winter hardiness, group fungal disease resistance (scab, leaf spot and Septoria blight) and bright red coloration of pear fruits (gene C). On the first stage of these studies the issue of the development of population of hybrid dwarf types with high adaptive potential in the conditions of the Central Black Earth region of Russia was solved based on a hybridization of the donors of high winter hardiness and fungal disease resistance with the donors of monogenic determined dwarfness which were the descendants of 4th generation of the NainVert variety. As a result, several complex donors were selected. Its use in long-term pear selection programs would make sorting process possible on earlier stages of the ontogenesis and thanks to that would make it possible to halve the size of hybrid funds. Brief description of the complex donors is given.


Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yam Nath Paudel ◽  
Efthalia Angelopoulou ◽  
Bhupendra Raj Giri ◽  
Christina Piperi ◽  
Iekhsan Othman ◽  
...  

: COVID-19 has emerged as a devastating pandemic of the century that the current generations have ever experienced. The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 12 million people around the globe and 0.5 million people have succumbed to death. Due to the lack of effective vaccines against the COVID-19, several nations throughout the globe has imposed a lock-down as a preventive measure to lower the spread of COVID-19 infection. As a result of lock-down most of the universities and research institutes has witnessed a long pause in basic science research ever. Much has been talked about the long-term impact of COVID-19 in economy, tourism, public health, small and large-scale business of several kind. However, the long-term implication of these research lab shutdown and its impact in the basic science research has not been much focused. Herein, we provide a perspective that portrays a common problem of all the basic science researchers throughout the globe and its long-term consequences.


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