scholarly journals Renewable Energy Strategies Leading to Closer Europe-Japan Cooperation after 3/11

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-85
Author(s):  
Wilhelm Vosse

The EU and Japan have intensified its cooperation and a broad range of fields since the early 1990s. Political, industrial and academic cooperation in the area of science and technology including in the improvement of new technologies to production of energy had become one core element since the early 1990s, and even more so with the 2001 EU-Japan Action Plan. The 3/11 disaster and the post-Fukushima energy future promise another area of cooperation, namely in dealing with the global energy crisis. Despite common interests between Japan and many European countries and the EU in regard to energy policy, research and development in nuclear safety and renewable energy resources, post-3/11 cooperation between Japan and European countries remained far from optimal. In the immediate post-disaster period, it was the initiatives of businesses and R&D interests rather than national government initiatives that provided first evidence that cooperation between Japan and the EU and individual EU member states might become more prominent in the face of a global energy crisis. This article analyzes the changes in bilateral and multilateral relations of the EU and some of its member states with Japan, and asks whether 3/11 can act as a trigger for the development of a joint Japanese-European energy strategy.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bramhaiah Kommula ◽  
Santanu Bhattacharyya

Considering the current global energy crisis and the most alarming environmental pollution issues, moving towards renewable energy resources instead of fossil fuels, should be the ultimate goal of modern civilization....


Author(s):  
Vlada VITUNSKIENĖ ◽  
Vilija ALEKNEVIČIENĖ ◽  
Neringa RAMANAUSKĖ ◽  
Astrida MICEIKIENE ◽  
Jonas ČAPLIKAS ◽  
...  

This paper contributes to the comprehensive approach for sustainable and balanced development of bioeconomy as a cross-cutting economic sector and focuses on the drivers of Lithuanian bioeconomy strategy. Lithuanian bioeconomy strategy development can be motivated by country’s specialization and, compared with other EU member states, strong performance in terms of recent growth in all biomass production and fully bio-based manufacturing sectors. However, Lithuanian bioeconomy strategy depends not only on the current state and trends of its subsectors, but also on the drivers that will be forcing and shaping them in the future. The authors decomposed these drivers into global, European and national. Using content analysis of the EU, OECD and European countries’ legal acts, global drivers such as depletion of natural resources, growing population, increasing environmental pressures and climate change were identified. Applying content analysis of the EU and European countries’ bioeconomy strategies and analysis of case studies of good practices in European countries and regions, the following drivers at European level were identified: common EU bioeconomy policy, strategy and action plan; assurance of biomass availability and sustainability, as well as efficient biomass value chain; the need to strengthen markets and competitiveness of the bioeconomy subsectors; the necessity of close cooperation among all stakeholders, namely politicians, business people, scientists and the public; the need of the development of new technologies and processes, especially industrial biotechnology. The research revealed that the bioeconomy development in Lithuania has been regulated and promoted through certain sectoral policies: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, environment (including waste management), scientific research, innovation and biotechnology development. In the future, the cross-sectoral links and interactions in the Lithuanian bioeconomy will increase due to the scarce biomass, applying the cascading principle in the biomass refinement, transition towards circular economy, and the development and implementation of innovations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (Suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Denis Horgan ◽  
Walter Ricciardi

In the world of modern health, despite the fact that we've been blessed with amazing advances of late - the advent of personalised medicine is just one example - “change” for most citizens seems slow. There are clear discrepancies in availability of the best care for all, the divisions in access from country to country, wealthy to poor, are large. There are even discrepancies between regions of the larger countries, where access often varies alarmingly. Too many Member States (with their competence for healthcare) appear to be clinging stubbornly to the concept of “one-size-fits-all” in healthcare and often stifle advances possible through personalised medicine. Meanwhile, the legislative arena encompassing health has grown big and unwieldy in many respects. And bigger is not always better. The health advances spoken of above, an increased knowledge on the part of patients, the emergence of Big Data and more, are quickly changing the face of healthcare in Europe. But healthcare thinking across the EU isn't changing fast enough. The new technologies will certainly speak for themselves, but only if allowed to do so. Acknowledging that, this article highlights a positive reform agenda, while explaining that new avenues need to be explored.


2013 ◽  
pp. 143-146
Author(s):  
Orsolya Nagy

The use of renewable energies has a long past, even though its share of the total energy use is rather low in European terms. However, the tendencies are definitely favourable which is further strengthened by the dedication of the European Union to sustainable development and combat against climate change. The European Union is on the right track in achieving its goal which is to be able to cover 20% its energy need from renewable energy resources by 2020. The increased use of wind, solar, water, tidal, geothermal and biomass energy will reduce the energy import dependence of the European Union and it will stimulate innovation.


Author(s):  
Viktor Boiko ◽  
Mykola Vasylenko ◽  
Serhii Kukharenko

The article deals with the issues of establishing cybersecurity in the EU and its member-states at the legislative level as viewed from the point of a systematic approach. The authors identified problematic aspects of improving cybersecurity quality and conditions. They analyzed the impact of the EU member states legislation on cy-bersecurity. The article as well considers the process of ICT development and pre-sents the ways of creating new challenges by means of new technologies. Key words: cybersecurity, cyber resilience, regulatory instruments, EU legislation, innovations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabela Jonek-Kowalska

Research background: Energy policy is closely linked to economic development. Therefore, its optimization is an important issue especially in the contemporary European environmental conditions.  EU regulations enforce a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and the abandonment of non-renewable energy resources. Instead, they promote renewable energy sources. In this way, new legal and environmental circumstances are becoming the main reason for the transformation of energy balances, which is a real economic and technological challenge. This transformation requires a strategic and effective approach, especially in those countries which until now have used mainly hard coal in the energy sector. Purpose of the article: According to above justification, the main purpose of the article is to identify the strategies for the transformation of energy balances that were implemented in the years 1990–2017 by chosen European countries and Turkey. Methods: The study period covers the years 1990–2017, and the subject of the research at first applies to all European countries, and then to 7 countries selected due to their high share of bituminous coal in energy balance in the first year of the analysis, treated as the initial point of transformation (1990). As a result of this selection, 6 EU members and Turkey with the largest share of coal in energy production in the year 1990 are examined. Particularly, an analysis of the trends in their energy balances in the years 1990–2017 is conducted. The research uses data on non-renewable energy consumption and renewable energy resources and the total energy consumption. The research methodology includes: analysis of the structure and dynamics, evaluation of trends and comparative analysis and presentation of development strategies. At the end of the article, a comparative analysis is carried out, the economic consequences of identified changes are assessed, and recommendations are formulated aimed at optimizing the structure of the energy balance in the future. Findings & Value added: Generally, there are four theoretical and empirical patterns of transformation strategies of energy balances with dominant coal consumption: 1) using other non-renewable energy resources; 2) replacing non-renewable energy resources with renewable ones; 3) using nuclear energy instead of coal; 4) increasing coal consumption as available and efficient energy resource. It was found that the examined countries implement mainly the strategy in which the decreasing share of coal is made up for by an increasing share of gas. Additionally, we can observe an increase in the share of nuclear energy in France, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. In Spain and Germany, despite the use of nuclear power plants for the production of energy, the share of nuclear energy in the energy balances has systematically decreased in time. In all analyzed countries, we can also observe an increasing share of renewable sources in energy balances, however, this growth is very slow.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke Welisch ◽  
Gustav Resch ◽  
André Ortner

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to provide estimation results for feasibility of renewable energy source (RES) deployment in Turkey, the Western Balkans and North Africa. From these results, the potential for cooperation in renewables production between the countries and the European Union (EU) is assessed and evaluated, in a mid- (2030) and long-term (up to 2040) perspective. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on the quantitative assessments undertaken on the extent to which RES cooperation can create mutual benefits, identifying costs and benefits for both sides, but in particular with respect to RES target achievement (2020 and 2030) at EU level. The potentials for RES generation in Turkey, North Africa and the Western Balkans are calculated under different policy pathways, taking into account different levels of economic and non-economic barriers that could occur. Findings Overall, the authors found that increasing RES deployment in the three analysed regions and initiating or intensifying cooperation with EU28 Member States leads to mutual benefits. Concretely, these benefits become apparent in terms of the EU Member States importing renewable energy sources for electricity with a good resource quality and adding on to their targets for RES deployment. At the same time, substantial savings occur for the EU, in turn leading to income and investments in the cooperating regions. Originality/value The assessment underlying this paper is the first of its kind to the authors’ knowledge that opens up the geographical spread in comparison to merely assessing cooperation between Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, the multitude of policy parameters analysed provides detailed and robust insights concerning a broad variety of different possible scenarios.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-494
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Zell

With the negotiation of its Data Protection Regulation, the European Union seeks to reform an outdated set of laws that has failed to address the evolving data protection challenges inherent in new technologies such as social networks, e-commerce, cloud computing, and location-based services. This article addresses the forthcoming Data Protection Regulation as well as the current state of data protection law in the EU, with a particular focus on Germany. The first part of the article examines Germany's robust data protection framework and the EU's existing authority. The article then raises key issues related to data protection in Germany and the EU—namely, discrepancies in data protection standards and enforcement among EU Member States—as illustrated by recent, high profile cases involving household names like Facebook, Apple, Google, and Amazon. Through this analysis, the article attempts to explain how and why companies doing business in Germany, but established in other EU Member States, are subject to less stringent data protection standards than German companies. Lastly, the article synthesizes the issues in debate with regard to the draft Data Protection Regulation and offers perspectives on what the Regulation could and should mean for data protection in the EU.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document