A framework for reviewing the trade-offs between, renewable energy, food, feed and wood production at a local level

Energy plays a central part in economic development, yet alongside fossil fuels bring vast environmental impact. In recent years, renewable energy has gradually become a viable source for clean energy to alleviate and decouple with a negative connotation. Different types of renewable energy are not without trade-offs beyond costs and performance. Multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) has become one of the most prominent tools in making decisions with multiple conflicting criteria existing in many complex real-world problems. Information obtained for decision making may be ambiguous or uncertain. Neutrosophic is an extension of fuzzy set types with three membership functions: truth membership function, falsity membership function and indeterminacy membership function. It is a useful tool when dealing with uncertainty issues. Entropy measures the uncertainty of information under neutrosophic circumstances which can be used to identify the weights of criteria in MCDM model. Meanwhile, the dissimilarity measure is useful in dealing with the ranking of alternatives in term of distance. This article proposes to build a new entropy and dissimilarity measure as well as to construct a novel MCDM model based on them to improve the inclusiveness of the perspectives for decision making. In this paper, we also give out a case study of using this model through the process of a renewable energy selection scenario in Taiwan performed and assessed.

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Renewable Energy Attitudes and Behaviour of Local Governments in Poland

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14102765 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (10) ◽

pp. 2765

Author(s):

Joanna Rakowska ◽

Irena Ozimek

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Local Governments ◽

Local Development ◽

Local Level ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Local Authorities ◽

The Public ◽

Energy Behavior ◽

Public Aid ◽

Energy Projects

The deployment of renewable energy at the local level can contribute significantly to mitigating climate change, improving energy security and increasing social, economic and environmental benefits. In many countries local authorities play an important role in the local development, but renewable energy deployment is not an obligatory task for them. Hence there are two research questions: (1) Do local governments think investments in renewable energy (RE) are urgent and affordable within the local budgets? (2) How do they react to the public aid co-financing investments in renewable energy? To provide the answer we performed qualitative analysis and non-parametric tests of data from a survey of 252 local authorities, analysis of 292 strategies of local development and datasets of 1170 renewable energy projects co-financed by EU funds under operational programs 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 in Poland. Findings showed that local authorities’ attitudes were rather careful, caused by financial constraints of local budgets and the scope of obligatory tasks, which made renewable energy investments not the most urgent. Public aid was a factor significantly affecting local authorities’ behavior. It triggered local authorities’ renewable energy initiatives, increasing the number and scope of renewable energy investments as well cooperation with other municipalities and local communities. Despite this general trend, there were also considerable regional differences in local authorities’ renewable energy behavior.

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Trade-offs between wood production and forest grouse habitats in two regions with distinctive landscapes

Forest Ecosystems ◽

10.1186/s40663-020-00227-2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Helena Haakana ◽

Esa Huhta ◽

Hannu Hirvelä ◽

Tuula Packalen

Keyword(s):

Wood Production ◽

Trade Offs

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A short-term decline in anthropogenic emission of CO2 in India due to COVID-19 confinement

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133320966741 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 030913332096674

Author(s):

Bikash Ranjan Parida ◽

Somnath Bar ◽

Nilendu Singh ◽

Bakimchandra Oinam ◽

Arvind Chandra Pandey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Local Level ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Total Change ◽

Increasing Demand ◽

Using Data ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Renewable Energy Generation

To curb the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), confinement measures were undertaken, which altered the pattern of energy consumption and India’s anthropogenic CO2 emissions during the effective lockdowns periods (January to June 2020). Such changes are being analyzed using data of energy generated from coal and renewable sources and fossil-based daily CO2 emissions. Results revealed that coal-fired (fossil-based) energy generation fell by –13% in March, –29% in April, and –20% in May, and –16.6% in mid-June 2020 as compared with the same period in 2018–2019. Conversely, the renewable energy generation increased by 19% in March, 12% in April, 17% in May, and 7% in June 2020. The share of fossil-based energy fell by –6.55% in 2020 compared with mean levels, which was further offset by increases of renewable energy. India’s daily fossil-based CO2 emissions fell by –11.6% (–5 to –25.7%) by mid-June 2020 compared with mean levels of 2017–2019 with total change in fossil-based CO2 emission by –139 (–62 to –230) MtCO2, with the largest reduction in the industry (–41%), transport (–28.5%), and power (–21%) followed by the public (–5.4%), and aviation (–4%) sectors. If some levels of lockdown persist until December 2020, both energy consumption and CO2 emissions patterns would be below the 2019 level. The nationwide lockdown has led to a reduction in anthropogenic CO2 emissions and, subsequently, improved air quality and global environment and has also helped in reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations at the local level but not on the global level. With suitable government policies, switching to a cleaner mode of energy generation other than fossil fuels could be a viable option to minimize CO2 emissions under increasing demand for energy.

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Territorial Governance of EU Cross-Border Renewable Energy Cooperation: A Soluble or Turbulent Model in the Current Framework?

Global Energy Law and Sustainability ◽

10.3366/gels.2021.0048 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 79-97

Author(s):

Melis Aras

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Large Scale ◽

Planning Process ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Local Level ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Legal Framework ◽

Development Planning ◽

Cross Border

The energy transition in Europe requires not only the implementation of technological innovations to reduce carbon emissions but also the decentralised extension of these innovations throughout the continent, as demonstrated by the ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ package. However, decentralised energy generation, and specifically electricity generation, as it gives rise to new players and interactions, also requires a review of the energy planning process. In this sense, governance becomes the key concept for understanding the implementation of the energy transition in a territory. This is particularly visible in a cross-border setting, especially considering cross-border cooperation in the development of renewable energy sources (RES) provides the necessary elements to determine the criteria of local regulation between the different levels of governance. In light of the current legal framework in France, this paper presents the institutional framework of the multi-level governance of the RES development planning process. It concludes that it is quite conceivable for the rationales of governance at the local level (decentralisation) and the large-scale operation of a large interconnected network (Europeanisation) to coexist.

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Applying Cluster Analysis to Renewable Energy Emergent Sector at Local Level

Lecture Notes in Management and Industrial Engineering - Managing Complexity ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-04705-8_34 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 293-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jaso Larruscain ◽

Rosa Río-Belver ◽

Ernesto Cilleruelo ◽

Gaizka Garechana ◽

Javier Gavilanes-Trapote

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Local Level

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Impact study of NOOR 1 project on the Moroccan territorial economic development

Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability ◽

10.1051/rees/2021008 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 8

Author(s):

Amale Laaroussi ◽

Abdelghrani Bouayad ◽

Zakaria Lissaneddine ◽

Lalla Amina Alaoui

Keyword(s):

Economic Development ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Economic Impact ◽

Large Scale ◽

Solar Power ◽

Local Level ◽

Concentrated Solar Power ◽

Professional Literature ◽

Study Results ◽

The Impact

Morocco is one of the countries investing more and more in Renewable Energy (RE) technologies to meet the growing demand for energy and ensure the security of supply in this sector. The number of solar projects planned and implemented, as well as solar thermal projects in the form of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) installations is steadily increasing. Many of these installations are designed as large utility systems. In order to provide strong evidence on local, regional and even national impacts, this article examines the impacts of large-scale renewable energy projects on territorial development, based on a case study of the NOOR 1 (Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)) project in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The data collected during this study, conducted through semi-structured interviews with experts, stakeholders, local community representatives and combined with an analysis of documents provided by the NOOR 1 project managers, investors and consulting firms specialized in the field of Renewable Energy, provide detailed evidence on the type and magnitude of impacts on the economic development of the Moroccan southern region where the NOOR 1 plant is located. The data collected is analyzed using NVIVO software. The study results in a consolidated list of many impacts with varying levels of significance for different stakeholder groups, including farmers, youth, women, community representatives and small and medium firms owners. It should be noted that the importance of analyzing the economic impact of large infrastructure projects is widely recognized, but so far, there is little published in the academic and professional literature on the potential impacts of these projects at the local level. Even less information is available on the local impacts of large-scale project implementation in Morocco. While many macroeconomic studies have fed the recent surge in investment in RE projects with the promise of multiple social, economic, environmental, and even geopolitical benefits at the macro level, public debates and discussions have raised considerable doubts. The question of whether these promises would also leave their marks at the local level has also arisen. Despite these uncertainties, very few academics and practitioners have conducted research to empirically develop a good understanding of the impact of RE projects at the local level. To fill this research gap, the economic impact analysis of NOOR 1 provides a detailed empirical overview, which allows a better understanding of the effects that the infrastructure developments of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants can have on the economic environment in which they are located.

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Advancing Relevance, Credibility, Legitimacy, and Effectiveness as a Heuristic for Local-Parallel Scenarios

Frontiers in Climate ◽

10.3389/fclim.2021.705229 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas A. Cradock-Henry ◽

Bob Frame

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Local Level ◽

Global Scale ◽

Global Changes ◽

Scenario Development ◽

Personal Time ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Economic Trends ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Competing Priorities

The parallel scenario process provides a framework for developing plausible scenarios of future conditions. Combining greenhouse gas emissions, social and economic trends, and policy responses, it enables researchers and policy makers to consider global-scale interactions, impacts and implications of climate change. Increasingly, researchers are developing extended scenarios, based on this framework, and incorporating them into adaptation planning and decision-making processes at the local level. To enable the identification of possible impacts and assess vulnerability, these local-parallel scenarios must successfully accommodate diverse knowledge systems, multiple values, and competing priorities including both “top down” modeling and “bottom-up” participatory processes. They must link across scales, to account for the ways in which global changes affect and influence decision-making in local places. Due to the growing use of scenarios, there is value in assessing these developments using criteria or, more specifically, heuristics that may be implicitly acknowledged rather than formally monitored and evaluated. In this Perspective, we reflect on various contributions regarding the value of heuristics and propose the adoption of current definitions for Relevance, Credibility, and Legitimacy for guiding local scenario development as the most useful as well as using Effectiveness for evaluation purposes. We summarize the internal trade-offs (personal time, clarity-complexity, speed-quality, push-pull) and the external stressors (equity and the role of science in society) that influence the extent to which heuristics are used as “rules of thumb,” rather than formal assessment. These heuristics may help refine the process of extending the parallel scenario framework to the local and enable cross-case comparisons.

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A Roadmap for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries Using MiViPPs (Microutility Virtual Power Plants)

ASME 2010 4th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Volume 1 ◽

10.1115/es2010-90303 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Swati Pandey ◽

Manish Chauhan

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Power Plant ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Power Plants ◽

Local Level ◽

Rural Electrification ◽

Virtual Power ◽

Effective Manner ◽

Virtual Power Plants

In this paper we present a road-map for rural electrification in developing countries by means of Renewable Energy based MiViPPs (Microutility virtual power plants). First and foremost a feasibility and viability analysis of the various upcoming and alternative renewable energy options is performed with respect to rural environmental constraints and demands. Renewable Energy based DDG’s (Decentralized Distributed Generation Units) offer the potential for affordable, clean electricity with minimal losses and effective maintenance and local cost recovery. But Independent DDG projects are fraught with their own issues mainly stemming from the unreliable and intermittent nature of the generated power and high costs. We propose an alternative approach to rural electrification which involves off grid DDG units operated at the local level taking advantage of feasible renewable energy technologies, which can effectively serve rural areas and reduce the urgency of costly grid extension. In MIVIPP model, a multitude of decentralized units (renewable energy based units and a non-renewable energy based unit for last mile backup) are centrally controlled and managed as part of an interconnected network, resulting into a virtual power plant that can be operated as a distributed power plant large enough to reliably serve all the local electricity demands in a cost effective manner. Finally, by a set of simulation results we establish how an automated MIVIPP (based on an Intelligent Auto Control System) effectively addresses all the issues pertaining to Dispersed DDG units by leveraging the scalability achieved by mutually augmenting the supplies from different Renewable Energy Based DDG units.

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Improving Sustainability of the Environment in a Changing Climate

Advances in Environmental Engineering and Green Technologies - Handbook of Research on Climate Change Impact on Health and Environmental Sustainability ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8814-8.ch016 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 327-346

Author(s):

Albert Arhin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Policy Making ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Local Level ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Weak Institutions ◽

Trade Offs ◽

International Climate ◽

Mitigate Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Community

The mechanism of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of carbon stocks is emerging as one of the current efforts and actions being developed by the international climate change community to mitigate climate change. This chapter highlights the potentials as well as the challenges of this mechanism to reduce forest loss and improve the health and sustainability of the environment. Main potentials include its resolve to make trees worth more standing than cut, the transfer of funds to support conservation efforts and a focus on delivering social benefits. The main challenges include the less attention on unclear tenure and benefit-sharing framework; weak institutions and the complex historical, political and structural interests which have allowed powerful groups to expropriate the forest resources and trade-offs that may arise during implementation. It then outlines four broad areas where researchers can make contributions in national and local level policy-making and interventions related to REDD+.

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