scholarly journals Reconciliaton and Energy Democracy

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Scott

Indigenous clean-energy leaders are moving Canada’s sustainable development agenda along at an impressive rate as well as setting the stage for the localization of goods and services.   Indigenous communities who have not yet had enough energy security should be the first recipients of green infrastructure investments to bolster equity as a tenet of Canadian nationalism.   A series of key policy drivers to amplify Indigenous inclusion in the energy transition are offered as well as a number of performance indicators that can determine the extent to which Canada is advancing on reconciliation and energy democracy.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5676
Author(s):  
Girolama Airò Farulla ◽  
Giovanni Tumminia ◽  
Francesco Sergi ◽  
Davide Aloisio ◽  
Maurizio Cellura ◽  
...  

The transition to a sustainable society and a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 requires extensive deployment of renewable energy sources that, due to the aleatority and non-programmability of most of them, may seriously affect the stability of existing power grids. In this context, buildings are increasingly being seen as a potential source of energy flexibility for the power grid. In literature, key performance indicators, allowing different aspects of the load management, are used to investigate buildings’ energy flexibility. The paper reviews existing indicators developed in the context of theoretical, experimental and numerical studies on flexible buildings, outlining the current status and the potential future perspective. Moreover, the paper briefly reviews the range of grid services that flexible buildings can provide to support the reliability of the electric power system which is potentially challenged by the increasing interconnection of distributed variable renewable generation.


Author(s):  
Valeria Chávez ◽  
Debora Lithgow ◽  
Miguel Losada ◽  
Rodolfo Silva-Casarin

AbstractInfrastructure is necessary to protect and provide the goods and services required by humans. As coastal green infrastructure (CGI) aims to respect and work with natural processes, it is a feasible response to mitigate or avoid the consequences of coastal squeeze. The concept of CGI is receiving increased attention of late due to the challenges facing us, such as climate change, population growth and the overexploitation of natural resources on the coast. Terms which may be applied to encourage the construction of infrastructure, or to minimize the responsibility for poorly made decisions, often induce misunderstanding. In this paper, the concept of CGI and its use in solving coastal problems is reordered. Four categories are proposed, according to the degree of naturalness of the project: Nature reclamation, Engineered ecosystems, Ecologically enhanced engineering, and De-engineering/Relocation. Existing coastal risk evaluation frameworks can be used to design many types of CGI. Key concepts, challenges and good practices for the holistic management of coastal squeeze are presented from the analysis of successful and unsuccessful CGI projects worldwide.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
Elena Cima

Abstract In 2017, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) began a modernization process aimed at updating, clarifying, and modernizing a number of provisions of the Treaty. Considering the scope of application of the Treaty—cooperation in energy trade, transit, and investment—there is hardly any doubt that the modernization kicked off in 2017 offers a springboard for constructive reform and a unique opportunity to bring the Treaty closer in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Although none of the items selected by the Energy Charter Conference and open for discussion and reform mention climate change or clean energy, a careful analysis of the relevant practice in both treaty drafting and adjudication can provide valuable insights as to how to steer the discussions on some of the existing items in a climate-friendly direction. The purpose of this article is to rely on this relevant practice to explore promising avenues to ‘retool’ the Treaty for climate change mitigation, in other words, to imagine a Treaty that would better reflect climate change concerns and clean energy transition goals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 46-64
Author(s):  
Cristina Dominguez ◽  
Kristina Orehounig ◽  
Jan Carmeliet

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8789
Author(s):  
Giovanni Bianco ◽  
Barbara Bonvini ◽  
Stefano Bracco ◽  
Federico Delfino ◽  
Paola Laiolo ◽  
...  

As reported in the “Clean energy for all Europeans package” set by the EU, a sustainable transition from fossil fuels towards cleaner energy is necessary to improve the quality of life of citizens and the livability in cities. The exploitation of renewable sources, the improvement of energy performance in buildings and the need for cutting-edge national energy and climate plans represent important and urgent topics to be faced in order to implement the sustainability concept in urban areas. In addition, the spread of polygeneration microgrids and the recent development of energy communities enable a massive installation of renewable power plants, high-performance small-size cogeneration units, and electrical storage systems; moreover, properly designed local energy production systems make it possible to optimize the exploitation of green energy sources and reduce both energy supply costs and emissions. In the present paper, a set of key performance indicators is introduced in order to evaluate and compare different energy communities both from a technical and environmental point of view. The proposed methodology was used in order to assess and compare two sites characterized by the presence of sustainable energy infrastructures: the Savona Campus of the University of Genoa in Italy, where a polygeneration microgrid has been in operation since 2014 and new technologies will be installed in the near future, and the SPEED2030 District, an urban area near the Campus where renewable energy power plants (solar and wind), cogeneration units fed by hydrogen and storage systems are planned to be installed.


Author(s):  
Muntasir Murshed ◽  
Zahoor Ahmed ◽  
Md Shabbir Alam ◽  
Haider Mahmood ◽  
Abdul Rehman ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 891-900
Author(s):  
Iban Lizarralde ◽  
Audrey Abi Akle ◽  
Mikhail Hamwi ◽  
Basma Samir

AbstractCurrent development of renewable energy systems (RES) is characterised by an increasing participation of citizens in the upstream decision-making process. These citizens can be future users of the RES but also members of a Renewable Energy Community that develop RES. They can be at the same time Renewable Energy producer, investor and consumer. Moreover, several type of businesses and terms are used to cope with social innovations within the energy sector: local renewable projects, sustainable energy communities or community of renewable energy production. So, actors' engagement opens new solutions for designers who are induced to share alternatives before making decisions. They usually impose constraints since the early phases of the design process. This approach implies for designers to consider new criteria related to citizens motivations and barriers. This paper presents a study to define the main factors that drive people to contribute in social innovation schemes for clean-energy transition. After a state of the art, a survey about 6 main factors and 18 criteria is presented. The analysis based on the responses from 34 participants (i.e. experts) reveals 2 most important factors of motivation and 2 principal barrier sources.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
pp. 1787
Author(s):  
Pilar Gargallo ◽  
Luis Lample ◽  
Jesús A. Miguel ◽  
Manuel Salvador

This paper analyzes the co-movements of prices of fossil fuels, energy stock markets and EU allowances. This analysis is conducted in order to identify the spillover effect of volatility and correlation among these financial markets, and to provide a scientific basis that shows the interest of incorporating sustainable assets in the design of minimum risk strategies of investment. To achieve this goal, we have used a Vector Autoregressive-Dynamic Conditional Correlation-Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (VAR-DCC-GARCH) model that also incorporates a stock index of industrial companies as a leading indicator of the level of economic activity. In addition, the paper conducts an impulse response analysis to determine how unexpected shocks to prices are propagated along time, and, in particular, how they affect prices of the others, both in mean, variance and correlation. Therefore, the results of this one- and two-dimensional analysis allow for the study of short and long run dynamics of the relationship among those prices, thus, providing greater meaning and information for investors, which has implications for building their portfolios. The analyzed period was from January 2010 to February 2021, so that the data include half of phase II, full phase III and the onset of phase IV of the EU ETS, as well as the COVID-19 outbreak in the European context. We also analyzed whether the EUA price impulses the demand of clean energy stocks, which has important implications for the objective of triggering the investment in clean energy. Our results show the transmission mechanism of all of those prices, which are relevant not only for investors but also for policymakers to construct an early-warning system, revealing the most important transmission channels. Moreover, from an investment viewpoint, we observe a decline in dirty energies and a rise in the clean energy market, which might be an indication of the progress towards the energy transition to renewables sources within a circular economy perspective. Therefore, this shows that the EU ETS is achieving its goals, and that clean energy companies, aligned with their role towards socially responsible initiatives, are also gaining acceptance in terms of investments, which would be beneficial for the environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Barros ◽  
Kris Piessens ◽  
the GeoConnect³d team

<p>The transition towards a clean and low carbon energy system in Europe will increasingly rely on the use of the subsurface. Despite the vastness of subsurface space, only a fraction of it is suitable for the exploitation of geo-resources. The distribution and fitting combination of required conditions is determined by geological processes. We are, therefore, constrained in where we can develop resources and capacities. Moreover, increased subsurface use in a restricted area will inevitably lead to high chances of interferences and conflicts of interest. This means that sound geological information is essential to optimise the subsurface contribution to a safe and efficient energy transition.</p><p>Within this scope, the main goal of the GeoConnect³d project is to convert existing geological data into an information system that can be used for various geo-applications, decision-making, and subsurface spatial planning. This is being accomplished through the innovative structural framework model, which reorganises, contextualises, and adds value to geological data. The model is primarily focused on geological limits, or broadly planar structures that separate a given geological unit from its neighbouring units. It also includes geomanifestations, highlighting any distinct local expression of ongoing or past geological processes. These manifestations, or anomalies, often point to specific geologic conditions and, therefore, can be important sources of information to improve geological understanding of an area.</p><p>Geological data in this model are composed of spatial data at different scales, with a one-to-one link between geometries and their specific attributes (including uncertainties), and of semantic data, with data organised conceptually and categorised and/or linked using SKOS hierarchical and generic schemes. Concepts and geometries are linked by a one-to-many relationship. The combination of these elements then results in a multi-scale, harmonised and robust model.</p><p>The structural framework-geomanifestations methodology has now been applied to different areas in Europe. The focus on geological limits brings various advantages, such as displaying geological information in an explicit, and therefore more understandable, way, and simplifying harmonisation efforts in large-scale geological structures crossing national borders. The link between spatial and semantic data is the essential step adding conceptual definitions and interpretations to geometries. Additionally, geomanifestation data successfully validates or points to inconsistencies in specific areas of the model, which can then be further investigated.</p><p>The model demonstrates it is possible to gather existing geological data into a comprehensive knowledge system. We consider this as the way forward towards pan-European integration and harmonisation of geological information. Moreover, we identify the great potential of the structural framework model as a toolbox to communicate geosciences beyond our specialised community. This is an important step to support subsurface spatial planning towards a clean energy transition by making geological information available to all stakeholders involved.</p><p>This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731166.</p>


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