scholarly journals Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Possible Energy Sustainability Solutions in the Hotels of the Canary Islands

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6943
Author(s):  
Andrés Lorente de las Casas ◽  
Ivelina Mirkova ◽  
Francisco J. Ramos-Real
Keyword(s):  
Canary Islands ◽  
Q Methodology ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Transition Strategy ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Administrative Procedures

Energy production and consumption represent the most significant sources of CO2 emissions in the world. An isolated island scenario such as the case of the Canary Islands, where dependence on fossil fuels is almost complete needs an effective integrative strategy for energy efficiency in order to reduce the carbon footprint. The objective of our work is to propose an effective design for an integrative and sustainable energy transition strategy in the hotel sector of the Islands. To achieve this, we implement a qualitative/quantitative technique called Q methodology. Our study was conducted with a carefully selected group of 31 experts from diverse areas related to the energy sector who were asked to rank-order their degree of agreement or disagreement with 30 key energy discourses (statements). The results of our analysis identify four profiles of stakeholders’ mindsets: the “Low-carbon”, the “Techies”, the “Skeptics”, and the “Trusting”. A well-defined integrative strategy could be identified which includes self-consumption using renewable energies, simplification of the administrative procedures, and promotion of the use of heat pumps, among others. A further interesting consensus result among all four groups reveals experts’ uncertainty regarding the post-COVID-19 reality.

scholarly journals Coronavirus Pandemic: Opportunities or Challenges for Energy Transition?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lianbiao Cui ◽  
Xiaobing Zhang ◽  
Hongbo Duan ◽  
Lei Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium Model ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Crude Oil Prices ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Low Carbon Energy ◽  
Oil And Oil Products

Abstract The coronavirus pandemic greatly shocked the global energy market, which could be clearly demonstrated by the recent collapse in crude oil prices. Using a dynamic multi-regional computable general equilibrium model, we explored the influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on energy production and consumption. The associated impacts on the macroeconomy as well as on carbon emissions are also examined. The results of this paper indicate dramatic negative shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic to energy consumption at both global and national levels, particularly for oil and oil products. However, the energy transition to renewables will be paused, as other non-oil fossil fuels can still play significant roles in economic activity. The epidemic may also temporarily terminate the more than ten-year increasing trend of the world’s total CO2 emissions, despite its limited contribution to the mitigation of global warming. However, there are still many opportunities worthy of use to promote short- or mid-term low-carbon energy transitions.

scholarly journals Should Countries Fire Sell their Oil & Gas Assets? Addressing the Mis-conceptions Surrounding the Continued Role of Fossil Fuels in the Energy Transition Era

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 432-440
Author(s):  
Victoria R. Nalule ◽  
Xiaoyi (Shawn) Mu
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Poverty Eradication ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Tackle Climate Change ◽  
Oil Gas ◽  
Carbon Economy

Access to modern energy such as electricity is key in the economic development of any country, and yet over 600 million people remain with no access to electricity in developing countries. It is true that both renewable energy and fossil fuels are key in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development (UN SDG) Goal 7 and Goal 1 on energy access and poverty eradication respectively. However, the current global efforts to transition to a low carbon economy, and tackle climate change as stipulated in the SDG 13 and the 2015 Paris Agreement, have created a lot of tension on fossil fuel developments in recent years.This commentary article is presented as a question and answer session aimed at addressing the misconceptions surrounding the achievement of SDG 7 and SDG 13 in this energy transition era. The paper is of interest to oil producing countries. The article follows the various questions raised by policymakers during an online seminar delivered by both the authors entitled, ‘Fossil Fuels in the Energy Transition Era’.

scholarly journals Consumption and Emissions Analysis in Domestic Hot Water Hotels. Case Study: Canary Islands

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Díaz Pérez ◽  
Ricardo Díaz Martín ◽  
Francisco Pérez Trujillo ◽  
Moises Díaz ◽  
Adib Mouhaffel
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Domestic Hot Water ◽  
Temperature Heat

We analyze the energy consumption of domestic hot water (DHW) in the hotels of the archipelago of the Canary Islands (Spain). Currently, systems use fossil fuels of propane and gas oil. However, this paper analyzes several alternative systems which focus on renewable and mixed energies, such as biomass, solar thermal and heat pumps systems associated with an electric generation with photovoltaic solar panels for self-consumption. The carbon footprint generated is calculated for each method of generation of DHW. In our analysis, we demonstrate that by using a high-temperature heat pump with an average coefficient of performance (COP) equal to or greater than 4.4 associated with photovoltaic solar panels, a zero-emission domestic hot water system can be achieved, when the installation area of the photovoltaic solar panels is equal to that of the solar thermal system. The importance of DHW’s carbon footprint is proven, as is the efficiency of using high-temperature heat pumps associated with photovoltaic solar panels. As such, such mixed system suggests that the generation of DHW would have zero emissions with maximum annual savings according to hotel occupancy, between 112,417 and 137,644 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared to current boilers based on fossil fuels.

scholarly journals The Power to Change: A Brief Survey of The Wind Power’s Technological and Societal Potential, Barriers to Use, and Ways Forward

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p11
Author(s):  
Helen Kopnina
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
The Government ◽  
Carbon Dependency

With the effects of climate change linked to the use of fossil fuels, as well as the prospect of their eventual depletion, becoming more noticeable, political establishment and society appear ready to switch towards using renewable energy. Solar power and wind power are considered to be the most significant source of global low-carbon energy supply. Wind energy continues to expand as it becomes cheaper and more technologically advanced. Yet, despite these expectations and developments, fossil fuels still comprise nine-tenths of the global commercial energy supply. In this article, the history, technology, and politics involved in the production and barriers to acceptance of wind energy will be explored. The central question is why, despite the problems associated with the use of fossil fuels, carbon dependency has not yet given way to the more ecologically benign forms of energy. Having briefly surveyed some literature on the role of political and corporate stakeholders, as well as theories relating to sociological and psychological factors responsible for the grassroots’ resistance (“not in my backyard” or NIMBYs) to renewable energy, the findings indicate that motivation for opposition to wind power varies. While the grassroots resistance is often fueled by the mistrust of the government, the governments’ reason for resisting renewable energy can be explained by their history of a close relationship with the industrial partners. This article develops an argument that understanding of various motivations for resistance at different stakeholder levels opens up space for better strategies for a successful energy transition.

scholarly journals The political logics of clean energy transitions

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Breetz ◽  
Matto Mildenberger ◽  
Leah Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cost Curve ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Experience Curves

AbstractTechnology costs and deployment rates, represented in experience curves, are typically seen as the main factors in the global clean energy transition from fossil fuels towards low-carbon energy sources. We argue that politics is the hidden dimension of technology experience curves, as it affects both costs and deployment. We draw from empirical analyses of diverse North American and European cases to describe patterns of political conflict surrounding clean energy adoption across a variety of technologies. Our analysis highlights that different political logics shape costs and deployment at different stages along the experience curve. The political institutions and conditions that nurture new technologies into economic winners are not always the same conditions that let incumbent technologies become economic losers. Thus, as the scale of technology adoption moves from niches towards systems, new political coalitions are necessary to push complementary system-wide technology. Since the cost curve is integrated globally, different countries can contribute to different steps in the transition as a function of their individual comparative political advantages.

Circular economy and energy transition: A nexus focusing on the non-energy use of fuels

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 586-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Ming Chen ◽  
Hana Kim
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Energy Use Intensity

Given emerging concerns about climate change, low-carbon energy transition is advocated and promoted. Non-energy use of fossil fuels accounted for 8.9% of the world’s total final energy consumption in 2015. Non-energy use intensity does not show an evident reduction, while energy intensity as fuel per dollar of gross domestic product has decreased thanks to energy transition efforts such as energy efficiency promotion and renewable energy expansion.  This study conducted an extensive review of the circular economy and energy transition frameworks, and found that the energy transition framework has a critical gap, so it cannot provide a foundation for investigating non-energy use. This study suggests that the energy transition discourse needs to be extended to incorporate the transition of non-energy use and the achievement of a closed loop of non-energy use, which is part of the circular economy framework. The coordinated circular economy–energy transition approach could bring in synergistic effects, such as promoting circular economy activities among industries, reducing energy demand, and attaining additional greenhouse gas mitigation potential.

scholarly journals European Cities in the Energy Transition: A Preliminary Analysis of 27 Cities

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estitxu Villamor ◽  
Ortzi Akizu-Gardoki ◽  
Olatz Azurza ◽  
Leire Urkidi ◽  
Alvaro Campos-Celador ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Low Carbon Energy ◽  
Current Energy

Nowadays, there is a wide scientific consensus about the unsustainability of the current energy system and at the same time, social awareness about climate change and the IPCC’s goals is increasing in Europe. Amongst the different pathways towards them, one alternative is the radical transition to a democratic low-carbon energy system where the local scale has a key leading role. Under this scope, this research is framed within the mPOWER project, financed by the European Commission’s H2020 programme, which promotes collaboration among different European municipalities in order to boost the transition to a renewable-based participatory energy system. This paper presents the starting point of the mPOWER project, where the main energy features of 27 selected European municipalities are collected and analysed for the year 2016. An open public tender and selection process was carried out among European cities in order to choose the candidates to participate in mPOWER project. A view of this situation will be taken by the mPOWER project as a diagnostic baseline for the following steps: a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing process among these European municipalities, and subsequently, among a more extensive group. The first finding of the paper is that, even if those municipalities are trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, they are highly dependent on fossil fuels, even in cases where renewable energies have significant presence. Second, their energy consumption is logarithmically related to the human development index and gross domestic product but not to the size of the cities and their climate characteristics. Finally, despite the work that these cities are making towards energy transition in general and within the mPOWER project in particular, the paper shows a high difficulty mapping their energy systems. The lack of accurate and unified data by the municipalities is a sign of disempowerment at a local and public level in the energy sphere and makes difficult any strategy to advance towards a bottom-up energy transition. Among other goals, the mPOWER project aims to reveal these kinds of difficulties and help local authorities in managing their transition paths.

scholarly journals Overview of the Use of Sustainable Energies in Agricultural Greenhouses

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Vourdoubas
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Renewable Energy Resources ◽  
Energy Technologies

<p>Global concern on environmental problems like climate changes has altered our energy patterns promoting non-polluting renewable energies instead of fossil fuels. Technological advances in sustainable energy technologies allow their increasing use in all sectors of everyday life. Agricultural greenhouses utilize energy for heating, cooling and operation of various electric devices. The highest amount of energy used in greenhouses is consumed in heating them. Controlling crops growth conditions including temperature results in higher productivity and in better economic results. Various sustainable energies including renewable energies and high efficiency and low carbon energy technologies have been used in commercial scale and the technical and economic viability of others has been investigated in experimental scale. Among renewable energies solar energy, biomass and geothermal energy can be used in order to cover part or all of the energy requirements for heating, cooling and power generation of greenhouses. Energy efficient and low carbon technologies like co-generation of heat and power, heat pumps, fuel cells but also waste heat can be used also for energy generation in them. Governmental energy incentives for the promotion of sustainable energies like feed-in tariffs or net-metering allow the use of the abovementioned energy technologies for electricity generation in greenhouses offering additional economic benefits to the farmers. Use of the sustainable energies which are mature, reliable and cost effective in greenhouses results in mitigation of climate changes, use of local renewable energy resources instead of fossil fuels and better profitability of the cultivated crop.</p>

scholarly journals Energy Transition Indicators in African Countries: Managing the Possible Decline of Fossil Fuels and Tackling Energy Access Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-48
Author(s):  
Victoria Nalule ◽  
Theophilus Acheampong
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Tackle Climate Change ◽  
Definition Of

The global move to tackle climate change as envisaged in the 2015 Paris Agreement has necessitated debates and action geared towards transitioning to a low carbon economy. Although there is no agreed international definition of energy transition, the focus has been put to a shift from fossil fuels to renewables. This paper is intended to contribute to the global debate on energy transition with a focus on the initiatives taking place in a few selected countries. The argument in this paper is to the effect that many developing countries still need fossil fuels to tackle energy access challenges and ensure economic growth. Nevertheless, this does not in any way mean that these countries are climate change deniers. In this respect, the question to be addressed in this article is how can we measure energy transition efforts in developing countries? In responding to this question, the article attempts to develop and analyse some key energy transition indicators.

Determinants and barriers of PV self-consumption in Spain from the perception of the installers for the promotion of distributed energy systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 153-169
Author(s):  
José Ángel Gimeno ◽  
Eva Llera Sastresa ◽  
Sabina Scarpellini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Transition Scenario

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document