scholarly journals Evolution of Energy Landscapes: A Regional Case Study in the Western Netherlands

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolanda de Jong ◽  
Sven Stremke

While the transition to renewable energy becomes a main driver of landscape change, few publications discuss the historical transformation of landscapes for the development of energy—commonly referred to as energy landscape. The research reported in this paper investigates the evolution of energy landscapes in the Western Netherlands—a region shaped by peat extraction and dotted with windmills. Five periods have been identified, dominated by wood, peat, wind, fossil fuels, and modern renewables, respectively. During each period, the landscape coevolved with the new energy source hosting new energy infrastructure. The sequence of landscape transformations over the past 10 centuries in the Western Netherlands is illustrated by means of historical paintings, photographs and a series of five georeferenced maps. Our systematic analysis confirms the long-lasting and manifold interrelations between energy development and landscape transformation at the brink of another energy transition. This paper presents the first all-encompassing application of the analytical framework for the study of energy landscapes proposed earlier. The three main qualifications—substantive, spatial, and temporal—provided a clear framework for the systematic study of landscape transformations at the regional scale.

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-223
Author(s):  
Izzet Alp Gul ◽  
Gülgün Kayakutlu ◽  
M. Özgür Kayalica

Technological improvements allow changing a significant part of the electricity generation investments to renewable energies. Especially in emerging markets and energy import-dependent countries, shift to renewable energy generation became more important to break the links of dependency. Pakistan relies on imported fossil fuels; however, the country’s experience and ambition about the renewable energy transition gain prominence in recent years. Considering the long-term life cycle of energy infrastructure investments, possible risk factors and their dynamic nature must be analysed before the financial decisions are taken. This article aims to propose a system dynamics model for the risk analysis of investment life cycle. In this study, possible risk factors are detected and discussed in different categories. The casual loop diagram of possible risk factors and risk assessment model are designed, and the impacts are analysed. Case study of the proposed model in Pakistan highlighted the importance of commercial risks. The results achieved through this study will guide investors, sector participants and policymakers to develop stable strategies for promoting renewable energy in the country. JEL: Q42, P48, O13


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Picchi ◽  
Simone Verzandvoort ◽  
Davide Geneletti ◽  
Kees Hendriks ◽  
Sven Stremke

PurposeThe transition to a low carbon future is an emerging challenge and requires the planning and designing of sustainable energy landscapes – landscapes that provide renewable energy while safeguarding the supply of other ecosystem services. The aim of this paper is to present the application of an ecosystem services trade-off assessment in the development of sustainable energy landscapes for long-term strategic planning in a case study in Schouwen-Duivenland, The Netherlands.Design/methodology/approachThe application consists in three activities: in (1) stakeholder mapping hot spots of ecosystem services and renewable energy technologies in a workshop, (2) landscape design principles being discussed by a focus group, (3) experts gathering the information and proceeding with an assessment of the potential synergies and trade-offs.FindingsThe case study indicates that (1) deploying the ecosystem services framework in planning and design can enhance the development of sustainable energy landscapes, (2) diversified and accurate spatial reference systems advance the trade-off analysis of both regulating and cultural ecosystem services and (3) the involvement of local stakeholders can advance the trade-off analysis and, ultimately, facilitates the transition to a low-carbon future with sustainable energy landscapes.Originality/valueThe originality of this research lies in the creation of an approach for the deployment of ecosystem services in the planning and design of energy transition. This is useful to advance energy transition by enhancing research methods, by providing methods useful for planners and designers and by supporting communities pursuing energy self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-290
Author(s):  
Timothy E. Dolan

Azerbaijan is a case study of the issue of nations with non-renewable natural resource-based economies, usually fossil fuels, facing depletion of what was deemed to be their principal resource. Azerbaijan’s petroleum wealth has been a defining feature of its national economy, social development, and national character for 150 years. It has also manifested what is commonly known as the “resource curse” for its entropic effect on all of the other sectors of the economy. This main driver of its economy is projected to be exhausted roughly within the next 30 years. The focus of this piece is on assessing the prospects of developing a national economy that can create a more equitable and sustainable economic public benefit over the next generation. Each of the pathways summarized herein are from capstone project research reports of graduate students on this issue. It is ultimately intended to be a demonstration of conducting applied future-oriented anticipatory action learning.


Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Santilano ◽  
Eugenio Trumpy ◽  
Gianluca Gola ◽  
Assunta Donato ◽  
Davide Scrocca ◽  
...  

We exploit the concept of the geothermal favourability, widely used for hydrothermal and EGS systems, to present an innovative methodology for assessing geopressured-geothermal resources occurring in terrigenous units in sedimentary basin plays. Geopressured-geothermal systems are an unconventional resource for power trigeneration exploiting three forms of energy from hydrocarbons, hydrothermal fluids, and well-head overpressure. This paper is intended to be a practical analytical framework for the systematic integration of the relevant data required to assess geopressured-geothermal resources. For this purpose, innovative parameters were also implemented in the methodology. The final result is the favourability map for identifying prospective areas to be further investigated for the appraisal of the geopressured-geothermal potential. We applied our methodology to the foredeep-foreland domains of the Apennines thrust belt in the Abruzzo region (central Italy). We analysed hundreds of deep hydrocarbon wells in order to create 3D geological and thermo-fluid dynamic models at a regional scale as well as to obtain information on the pressure regimes and on the chemistry of the system. The final favourability map for the Abruzzo case study is a first attempt at ranking these kinds of unconventional geothermal resources in a region that has been historically explored and exploited mostly for hydrocarbons.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin D. Phillips

People in the Singida region of Tanzania have long utilized diverse energy sources for subsistence. The wind separates grain from chaff. The sun ripens the millet and dries it for storage. More recently, solar panels charge phones and rural electricity investments extend the national grid. Yet as an electric frontier, Singida remains only peripherally and selectively served by energy infrastructures and fossil fuels. This article sketches Singidans’ prospect from this space and time of energy transition. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted between 2004 and 2019, it asks: how do rural Singidans eke energy from their natural and social environment? How can ideas of the sun and of labour in Nyaturu cosmology inform understandings of energy? And how are new energy technologies reshaping Singida’s social and economic landscape? I theorize energy as a deeply relational and gendered configuration of people, nature, labour and sociality that makes and sustains human and natural life.


Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (23) ◽  
pp. 1481
Author(s):  
Carlos Ujados Lorenzo ◽  
José Pablo Paredes Sánchez ◽  
Guillermo Laine Cuervo ◽  
Jorge Xiberta Bernat

The growing decrease of traditional fuels leads to the development of a new energy model. Biomass poses as an energy alternative that can substitute fossil fuels. In this context, this work aims to study the necessities and possible solutions in biomass production for conventional energy systems in populated-industrial environments. The methodology applied evaluates the use of biomass by collecting both the integrity of the management process and the transformation of the existing resources to start up bioenergy plants for domestic and industrial markets. The results show both the energetical and environmental importance that biomass shows in said locations in terms of reducing Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) and the development of future environmentally sustainable systems through energy-renewable projects.


Author(s):  
José Ángel Gimeno ◽  
Eva Llera Sastresa ◽  
Sabina Scarpellini

Currently, self-consumption and distributed energy facilities are considered as viable and sustainable solutions in the energy transition scenario within the European Union. In a low carbon society, the exploitation of renewables for self-consumption is closely tied to the energy market at the territorial level, in search of a compromise between competitiveness and the sustainable exploitation of resources. Investments in these facilities are highly sensitive to the existence of favourable conditions at the territorial level, and the energy policies adopted in the European Union have contributed positively to the distributed renewables development and the reduction of their costs in the last decade. However, the number of the installed facilities is uneven in the European Countries and those factors that are more determinant for the investments in self-consumption are still under investigation. In this scenario, this paper presents the main results obtained through the analysis of the determinants in self-consumption investments from a case study in Spain, where the penetration of this type of facilities is being less relevant than in other countries. As a novelty of this study, the main influential drivers and barriers in self-consumption are classified and analysed from the installers' perspective. On the basis of the information obtained from the installers involved in the installation of these facilities, incentives and barriers are analysed within the existing legal framework and the potential specific lines of the promotion for the effective deployment of self-consumption in an energy transition scenario.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Thu Ha ◽  
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen

The retail market in Vietnam continues to grow with the entry of foreign retail brands and the strong rise of domestic businesses in expanding distribution networks and conquering consumer confidence. The appearance of more retail brands has created a fiercely competitive market. Based on the outcomes of previous research results on brand choice intention combined with a customer survey, the paper proposes an analytical framework and scales to examine the relationship of five elements including store image, price perception, risk perception, brand attitudes, brand awareness and retail brand choice intention with a case study of the Hanoi-based Circle K convenience store chain. These five elements are the precondition for retail businesses to develop their brands so as to attract customers.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document