Institutional Complexity in European Union Climate Innovation: European and National Experiences with Off-Shore Renewable Energy

2014 ◽  
pp. 235-254
Author(s):  
Ian Bailey
Author(s):  
Almas Heshmati ◽  
Shahrouz Abolhosseini

This chapter reviews relevant literature on the current state and effectiveness of developing renewable energy on energy security in general, and on energy security in the European Union (EU) in particular. The chapter elaborates on primary energy import sources, possible alternatives, and how energy security is affected by the sources of supply. It also gives an analysis of the effects of the Ukrainian crisis, the isolation of Iran on diversification sources, and on European energy security. It examines EU’s energy policy, analyses the best motivation for a new energy policy direction within Europe, and suggests alternative solutions for enhanced energy supply security. The aim is to suggest suitable solutions for energy security in Europe through energy supply diversification. Supply diversification includes alternative energy corridors for reducing dependency on Russia as a supplier and enhancing the power generated by renewable energy sources under the European Union 2020 strategy.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1347
Author(s):  
Kyriakos Maniatis ◽  
David Chiaramonti ◽  
Eric van den Heuvel

The present work considers the dramatic changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the global economy, with particular emphasis on energy. Focusing on the European Union, the article discusses the opportunities policy makers can implement to reduce the climate impacts and achieve the Paris Agreement 2050 targets. The analysis specifically looks at the fossil fuels industry and the future of the fossil sector post COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis first revises the fossil fuel sector, and then considers the need for a shift of the global climate change policy from promoting the deployment of renewable energy sources to curtailing the use of fossil fuels. This will be a change to the current global approach, from a relative passive one to a strategically dynamic and proactive one. Such a curtailment should be based on actual volumes of fossil fuels used and not on percentages. Finally, conclusions are preliminary applied to the European Union policies for net zero by 2050 based on a two-fold strategy: continuing and reinforcing the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive to 2035, while adopting a new directive for fixed and over time increasing curtailment of fossils as of 2025 until 2050.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3765
Author(s):  
Jarosław Brodny ◽  
Magdalena Tutak ◽  
Peter Bindzár

The global economic development is, to a great extent, dependent on access to large amounts of cheap energy sources. The growing social awareness of ecology and the enormous damage to the Earth’s ecosystem due to the production of energy from conventional sources have forced fundamental changes in the energy sector. Renewable energy is considered to be an opportunity for such changes. The current state of the art allows such changes to be made without restricting economic development. Therefore, activities related to the energy transition are being taken all over the world. The European Union has definitely managed to achieve the most tangible effects in this regard. This article presents the findings of the research aimed at presenting the current state of renewable energy in the European Union and analyzing the changes reported in this sector in the last decade. The research was carried out using a selected set of 11 indicators characterizing renewable energy in individual countries. These indicators were selected on the basis of literature review and own studies of the state of renewable energy and its development prospects. Based on these indicators, changes in the energy structure of individual European Union countries between 2008–2018 were determined. The study is divided into two main stages. The principal components analysis (PCA) was used for the first analysis. In turn, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was adopted to assess the level of renewable energy development in the European Union countries. Both these methods and the extended statistical analysis were applied to determine the state of renewable energy development in the European Union countries in the studied period and to divide the Member States into classes with different levels of development. The results of the study showed that the EU countries are characterized by significant differences in the development of RES during the period in question. The unquestionable leaders in this respect are Sweden, Austria, Finland, and Latvia. Based on the findings, it is possible to evaluate the effects of activities related to renewable energy development and to prepare assumptions for future activities. Additionally, both the research and its findings broaden the knowledge of the directions of renewable energy development in individual European Union countries. This is particularly important in the context of changes related to the need to reduce harmful substance emissions and the implementation of the European Green Deal idea.


Author(s):  
Robert Stefko ◽  
Beata Gavurova ◽  
Miroslav Kelemen ◽  
Martin Rigelsky ◽  
Viera Ivankova

The main objective of the presented study was to examine the associations between the use of renewable energy sources in selected sectors (transport, electricity, heating, and cooling) and the prevalence of selected groups of diseases in the European Union, with an emphasis on the application of statistical methods considering the structure of data. The analyses included data on 27 countries of the European Union from 2010 to 2019 published in the Eurostat database and the Global Burden of Disease Study. Panel regression models (pooling model, fixed (within) effects model, random effects model) were primarily used in analytical procedures, in which a panel variable was represented by countries. In most cases, positive and significant associations between the use of renewable energy sources and the prevalence of diseases were confirmed. The results of panel regression models could be generally interpreted as meaning that renewable energy sources are associated with the prevalence of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and kidney diseases, digestive diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, neoplasms, sense organ diseases, and skin and subcutaneous diseases at a significance level (α) of 0.05 and lower. These findings could be explained by the awareness of the health problem and the response in the form of preference for renewable energy sources. Regarding statistical methods used for country data or for data with a specific structure, it is recommended to use the methods that take this structure into account. The absence of these methods could lead to misleading conclusions.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1570
Author(s):  
Tomasz Rokicki ◽  
Aleksandra Perkowska ◽  
Bogdan Klepacki ◽  
Piotr Bórawski ◽  
Aneta Bełdycka-Bórawska ◽  
...  

The paper’s main purpose was to identify and present the current situation and changes in energy consumption in agriculture in the European Union (EU) countries. The specific objectives were the determination of the degree of concentration of energy consumption in agriculture in the EU countries, showing the directions of their changes, types of energy used, and changes in this respect, establishing the correlation between energy consumption and changes in the economic and agricultural situation in the EU countries. All member states of the European Union were deliberately selected for research on 31 December 2018 (28 countries). The research period covered the years 2005–2018. The sources of materials were the literature on the subject, and data from Eurostat. Descriptive, tabular, and graphical methods were used to analyze and present materials, dynamics indicators with a stable base, Gini concentration coefficient, concentration analysis using the Lorenz curve, coefficient of variation, Kendall’s tau correlation coefficient, and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. A high concentration of energy consumption in agriculture was found in several EU countries, the largest in countries with the largest agricultural sector, i.e., France and Poland. There were practically no changes in the concentration level. Only in the case of renewable energy, a gradual decrease in concentration was visible. More and more countries developed technologies that allow the use of this type of energy. However, the EU countries differed in terms of the structure of the energy sources used. The majority of the basis was liquid fuels, while stable and gaseous fuels were abandoned in favor of electricity and renewable sources—according to which, in the EU countries, the research hypothesis was confirmed: a gradual diversification of energy sources used in agriculture, with a systematic increase in the importance of renewable energy sources. The second research hypothesis was also confirmed, according to which the increase in the consumption of renewable energy in agriculture is closely related to the economy’s parameters. The use of renewable energy is necessary and results from concern for the natural environment. Therefore, economic factors may have a smaller impact.


Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta

Abstract The European Commission has the initiative to foster the sector of renewable energy and to build an Energy Union, with a common energy market at the level of the European Union, but is this only an utopic vision or is this possible to achieve? The topic of clean energy is very new and of great interest for the European Union, which is shown by the fact that the European Commission recently adopted on the 30th November 2016 the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”, which contains proposals for the modernization of the energy market at the level of the European Union. But which are the challenges such a project is confronted with? According to the literature, such challenges are related to the process of liberalization of electricity markets. Conflicts between national interest and international actors of the energy market might occur. Due to the oligopolistic structure of the energy market, there are several barriers to the market entry. In order to answer to the research questions, case studies regarding the liberalization of the energy market will be analyzed in a comparative manner, offering an international overview. Furthermore, the legal provisions on which the common energy policy of the European Union relies, will be analyzed, as well as their economic and social impact. The package “Clean Energy for All Europeans” comprises a proposal of the revised Renewable energy Directive, energy efficiency measures and issues related to the Energy Union Governance. It contains as well proposals for the electricity market design, which will be analyzed and the present paper outlines the contribution of this proposal in building a common energy market of the European Union. What role does competition play in implementing the common energy market of the European Union? Which role do competition authorities have in this context? These are interesting aspects to be analyzed in the present paper.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5142
Author(s):  
Javier Menéndez ◽  
Jorge Loredo

The use of fossil fuels (coal, fuel, and natural gas) to generate electricity has been reduced in the European Union during the last few years, involving a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions [...]


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Armands Grāvelsiņš

European Union has set ambitious decarbonization goals under Green Deal, therefore, Latvia needs to search for solutions on how to move towards reaching the said goals. Although renewable energy share in Latvia is one of the highest among the European Union countries, it is mostly due to historic heritage, not as the result of implementing meaningful policies. Essential high renewable energy share in power sector comes from three large hydroelectric stations on Daugava, which is heritage from the Soviet Union times. Steady increase in renewable energy share can be observed in District Heating, however it is based on increased utilization of biomass, and that most likely is not a sustainable solution. Considering that bioeconomy will experience significant growth in the future, utilization of wood resource for production of products with low added value will steadily phase out. For energy sector it means the necessity to look for other alternatives to replace fossil fuels. If in other European countries (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, et al.) solar and wind technology capacity have significantly increased over last decade, in Latvia this increase is negligible. Only in the last few years significant increase in installed solar capacities can be observed, but total capacity is still low. Latvia needs to seek solutions on how to increase the introduction rate of renewable energy technologies in order to move towards carbon neutrality in 2050. The aim of the Thesis is to develop a comprehensive system dynamics model which can be used to analyze energy sector at both national and local scale. It should include both heating and power sectors and be able to evaluate the possibility of sector coupling and its influence on the total system. Specific objectives are set to reach the aim: to develop a system dynamics model structure for heating system development; to analyze the heating system at local and national scale; to assess the importance of power sector flexibility on system development; to implement the elements of sector coupling in energy system; to analyze sector coupling as a flexibility increase measure for national scale and local systems.


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