scholarly journals Potential of Power-to-Methane in the EU energy transition to a low carbon system using cost optimization

2018 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
pp. 323-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herib Blanco ◽  
Wouter Nijs ◽  
Johannes Ruf ◽  
André Faaij
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 772-784
Author(s):  
Yury V. Borovsky

In the early 2020s the worlds transition from carbon-intensive to climate-neutral energy use has already become a discernible and a difficult-to-reverse process. With Joe Bidens election as US president, the United States have returned to the Paris Climate Agreement and have become a key driver of this process (along with the EU and China). As a result, the international community has reached a consensus on the ongoing energy transition. This process will require considerable effort and may take several decades. Nevertheless, the impact of energy transition on traditional approaches to energy security, which emerged largely as a result of the global oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s and are centered around the supply of fossil fuels, is already a relevant research topic. This problem is examined relying on the relevant terminological, theoretical and factual material. The article concludes that energy transition will ultimately undermine the carbon paradigm that has underpinned energy security policies since the 1970s. Rapid development of renewable and other low-carbon energy sources will certainly remove key energy security risks of energy importers and, possibly, allow them to achieve energy independence. However, a post-carbon era may also generate new risks. For countries that rely heavily on oil, gas and coal exports, energy transition will result in the loss of markets and revenues. It may present an energy security threat for them as well as it will require a costly and technologically complex process of the energy sector decarbonization. Some exporters, especially those with high fuel rents and insufficient financial reserves, may face serious economic and social upheavals as a result of energy transition. The EU and the US energy transition policies reflect provisions of all three fundamental international relations theoretical paradigms, including realism. This means that the EU and the US policy, aimed at promoting climate agenda, may be expected to be rather tough and aggressive. China as the third key player in energy transition is still following a liberal course; however, it may change in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 156-171
Author(s):  
A. V. Zimakov

Clean energy transition is one of major transformation processes in the EU. There are different approaches among EU countries to decarbonization of their energy systems. The article deals with clean energy transition in France with the emphasis on power generation. While this transformation process is in line with similar developments in the EU, the Franch case has its distinct nature due to nuclear power domination in electricity production there. It represents a challenge for the current model as the transition is linked to a sharp drop of nuclear share in the power mix. It is important to understand the trajectory of further clean energy transition in France and its ultimate model. The article reviews the historical roots of the current model (which stems from Messmer plan of the 1970-es) and its development over years, as well as assesses its drawbacks and merits in order to outline possible future prospects. The conclusion is that the desired reduction of nuclear energy is linked not solely to greening process but has a complex of reasons, the ageing of nuclear reactors being one of them. Nuclear power remains an important low-carbon technology allowing France to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. A desired future energy model in France can be understood based on the analysis of new legislation and government action plans. The targeted model is expected to balance of nuclear and green energy in the generation mix in 50% to 40% proportion by 2035, with the rest left to gas power generation. Being pragmatic, French government aims at partial nuclear reactors shut down provided that this will not lead to the rise of GHG emissions, energy market distortions, or electricity price hikes. The balanced French model is believed to be a softer and socially comfortable option of low-carbon model.


Subject The EU's single market for energy. Significance Climate change targets, the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and direct emissions controls increasingly define the end-destination of the EU’s energy transition towards a single market, while the precise path of travel is determined largely by national-level policies. Differences in national approaches create distortions that hamper the increase in cross-border trade required to make the EU single energy market a reality. Impacts The EU will continue to resist capacity markets and strategic-reserve mechanisms, which create significant market distortions. Cross-border electricity trade requires significant new investment, but it is not clear that the financial incentives exist to support it. The long-term future of gas-fired generation is in doubt owing to increasing competition from low-carbon technologies.


Federalism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 100-114
Author(s):  
N. V. Bahtizina ◽  
A. R. Bahtizin

International organizations representing the interests of energy-deficient developed countries are urging to solve the problem of global warming through the Energy Transition, which implies decarbonization of the world economy. The implementation of the Energy Transition requires annual investments of 3% of world GDP in energy efficiency, renewable energy, electric vehicles, etc. In 2020, despite the acceleration of dynamics, the volume of world investments was more than 5 times lower than required. The leaders in investments in clean energy are the technologically developed countries of Europe, the USA, Japan, as well as developing countries – China and Brazil, striving for technological independence. In order to expand its presence in the promising market for low carbon technologies, the EU pays special  attention  to  innovations  in  the  field  of  clean  energy,  financing  them  through  the Innovation Fund. To prevent Russia’s technological backwardness and reduce the carbon footprint of export products, it is advisable to envisage the possibility of state support for innovative projects in the field of clean energy from the Climate Fund.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6276
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Matuszewska-Janica ◽  
Dorota Żebrowska-Suchodolska ◽  
Urszula Ala-Karvia ◽  
Marta Hozer-Koćmiel

The policy related to the use of renewable sources is a key element of the energy policy executed in the European Union (EU). One of the targets set for 2050 is to increase the share of electricity in energy consumption to 50%, and 80% of electricity is to be generated from low-carbon sources. In recent years, the EU economies have significantly modified their electricity production, which raises the question of the scale of these changes. The aim of the presented analysis is to assess changes in the use of renewable sources for electricity production in the EU countries in 2005–2019. Gini coefficient and k-mean are applied in the analysis. The conducted research shows that EU countries, in line with the energy policy assumptions, have both increased the share of renewable sources in energy production, especially in electricity production, as well as increased the diversity of used renewable sources. The results also indicate a vast diversity in terms of the use of such sources for the production of renewable electricity in the EU. This indicates that the energy transition is being implemented by EU countries with individual country-level approaches. Nonetheless, a variety of the EU’s both support and restrictive measures are of considerable importance for the ongoing energy transition.


Author(s):  
José Ángel Gimeno ◽  
Eva Llera Sastresa ◽  
Sabina Scarpellini

Currently, self-consumption and distributed energy facilities are considered as viable and sustainable solutions in the energy transition scenario within the European Union. In a low carbon society, the exploitation of renewables for self-consumption is closely tied to the energy market at the territorial level, in search of a compromise between competitiveness and the sustainable exploitation of resources. Investments in these facilities are highly sensitive to the existence of favourable conditions at the territorial level, and the energy policies adopted in the European Union have contributed positively to the distributed renewables development and the reduction of their costs in the last decade. However, the number of the installed facilities is uneven in the European Countries and those factors that are more determinant for the investments in self-consumption are still under investigation. In this scenario, this paper presents the main results obtained through the analysis of the determinants in self-consumption investments from a case study in Spain, where the penetration of this type of facilities is being less relevant than in other countries. As a novelty of this study, the main influential drivers and barriers in self-consumption are classified and analysed from the installers' perspective. On the basis of the information obtained from the installers involved in the installation of these facilities, incentives and barriers are analysed within the existing legal framework and the potential specific lines of the promotion for the effective deployment of self-consumption in an energy transition scenario.


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.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3683
Author(s):  
Yerasimos Yerasimou ◽  
Marios Kynigos ◽  
Venizelos Efthymiou ◽  
George E. Georghiou

Distributed generation (DG) systems are growing in number, diversifying in driving technologies and providing substantial energy quantities in covering the energy needs of the interconnected system in an optimal way. This evolution of technologies is a response to the needs of the energy transition to a low carbon economy. A nanogrid is dependent on local resources through appropriate DG, confined within the boundaries of an energy domain not exceeding 100 kW of power. It can be a single building that is equipped with a local electricity generation to fulfil the building’s load consumption requirements, it is electrically interconnected with the external power system and it can optionally be equipped with a storage system. It is, however, mandatory that a nanogrid is equipped with a controller for optimisation of the production/consumption curves. This study presents design consideretions for nanogrids and the design of a nanogrid system consisting of a 40 kWp photovoltaic (PV) system and a 50 kWh battery energy storage system (BESS) managed via a central converter able to perform demand-side management (DSM). The implementation of the nanogrid aims at reducing the CO2 footprint of the confined domain and increase its self-sufficiency.


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