scholarly journals Synthesis of European Union Biorefinery Supply Networks Considering Sustainability Objectives

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1588
Author(s):  
Sanja Potrč ◽  
Lidija Čuček ◽  
Mariano Martin ◽  
Zdravko Kravanja

Increasing the use of renewable energy sources is one of the most important goals of energy policies in several countries to build a sustainable energy future. This contribution proposes the synthesis of a biorefinery supply network for a case study of the European Union (EU-27) under several scenarios based on a mathematical programming approach. Several biomass and waste sources, such as grains, waste oils, and lignocellulosics, are proposed to be utilized, and various biofuels including first, second, and third generations are produced such as bioethanol, green gasoline, biodiesel, Fischer Tropsch (FT) diesel, and hydrogen. The aim of this study is to evaluate the capabilities of EU-27 countries to be able to meet the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) target regarding the share of renewable energy in the transport sector by 2030 in each Member State while not compromising the current production of food. A generic mathematical model has been developed for the multi-period optimization of a biorefinery supply network with the objective of maximizing sustainability profit. The solutions obtained show that biomass and waste are promising raw materials to reach and go beyond the EU’s renewable energy target in the transport sector for the year 2030. However, some countries would need to provide additional subsidies for their companies to achieve at least a non-negative economic performance of biofuel production.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18(33) (4) ◽  
pp. 250-258
Author(s):  
Anna Klepacka

The aim of this article was to show the position of Poland in the renewable energy subsectors among the European Union countries. The research covered the areas of biomass, solar heating and heat pumps, showing the degree of their utilization, power required to drive the system and their production in 2016. The provided information was supplemented with a revenues per employee in thousand euros in chosen subsectors of renewable energy sources in the year 2016. The main tool for carrying out the set objective was the use of descriptive and comparative methods. The results of the survey demonstrated Poland’s prominent place in the sector of liquid biofuels (1st place in EU), thanks to the significant supply of raw materials as well as development perspectives in solar energy, which is confirmed by the world's statistics indicating a record number of photovoltaic installations fitted (PV).


Author(s):  
Yuriy Konstantinovich Knyazev

In Slovenia, there is an urgent problem of limiting the harmful effects of economic activities that deteriorate the living conditions of people, animals and fl ora. The state is taking measures to encourage residents to stay in their home towns and take care of their arrangement and development, the preservation of natural resources and a comfortable environment for people. Numerous public organizations of civil society play an important role in this. This article outlines the features of the modern environmental policy of Slovenia, carried out within the framework of the general line of the European Union, aimed at the phasing out of carbon fuels and the transition to renewable energy sources. The article analyzes Slovenian official documents, setting out the country's environmental strategy, progress in the implementation of plans for energy and climate measures until 2030, the current state of the energy sector and its compliance with the planned tasks. The author's assessment of the efficiency of the environmental policy carried out in Slovenia and its possible results is presented. It is stated that although the indicators of improving the environmental situation are gradually increasing, the emission of harmful gases is decreasing, and the efficiency of the use of energy and raw materials is improving, Slovenia still lags behind the European average in most of these indicators. Meanwhile, it has a relatively high share of renewable energy sources in its total production. This is achieved through budget subsidies for the energy produced from renewable energy sources so that its price does not exceed the market level. Significant monetary resources are spent to apply a wide range of incentive measures. Therefore, the government is forced to seek opportunities to further increase the funding for environmental activities, in particular through European Union funds, including assistance to fight the coronavirus pandemic. English version of the article on pp. 317-324 at URL: https://panor.ru/articles/features-of-the-environmental-policy-in-slovenia/66114.html


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.


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.


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 [...]


Author(s):  
N. V. Tsopa ◽  
A. E. Dikarev

in the article provides a comparative analysis of the development of solar energy in the world, in the European Union, in Russia and in Crimea; the advantages and disadvantages of the use of solar energy, the features of the use of renewable energy sources are considered, the use of solar energy in the Crimea is justified; describes the mechanism of a feasibility study for the use of autonomous power supply for low-rise buildings in Crimea.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Daniel Santillán-Lemus ◽  
Hertwin Minor-Popocatl ◽  
Omar Aguilar-Mejía ◽  
Ruben Tapia-Olvera

Due to the opening of the energy market and agreements for the reduction of pollution emissions, the use of microgrids attracts more attention in the scientific community, but the management of the distribution of electricity has new challenges. This paper considers different distributed generation systems as a main part to design a microgrid and the resources management is defined in a period through proposed dynamic economic dispatch approach. The inputs are obtained by the model predictive control algorithm considering variations of both pattern of consumption and generation systems capacity, including conventional and renewable energy sources. Furthermore, the proposed approach considers a benefits program to customers involving a demand restriction and the costs of regeneration of the pollutants produced by conventional generation systems. The dispatch strategy through a mathematical programming approach seeks to reduce to the minimum the fuel cost of conventional generators, the energy transactions, the regeneration of polluted emissions and, finally, includes the benefit in electricity demand reduction satisfying all restrictions through mathematical programming strategy. The model is implemented in LINGO 17.0 software (Lindo Systems, 1415 North Dayton Street, Chicago, IL, USA). The results exhibit the proposed approach effectiveness through a study case under different considerations.


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