Global Energy Transition: Redefining India’s Energy Roadmap

The onset of transition and transformation in the global energy landscape is disrupting the prevailing energy order,defined by the hydrocarbons. The power dynamics unfolded by global environmental concerns (Paris Agreement)and smart technology is changing the geopolitics by shifting the strategic leverage between energy producers andconsumers at various levels: globally, regionally and within the national boundaries. In this strategic shift, the Asianconsumers are emerging as critical players both as promoters and spoilers of global energy transition. Since they arethe largest consumer of fossil fuel, their compliance with Paris Agreement is going to be vital in meeting the targetsand time line. Thus IEA has rightly observed, “Energy developments in India transform the international energysystem, and, in turn, India will be increasingly exposed to changes in international markets.”Clearly the Indian roadmap of energy transition is going to be influenced if not determined by its global commitmentto meet Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). The government therefore has all reasons to scale upits targets and execution. However in meeting the targets, it has to address the issue of energy poverty as well. Thusthe roadmap has to meet the convergence of minimizing carbon emission meeting the growing energy needs of thepoor. This calls for re defining the organizing principle of India’s energy policy. Besides ensuring supply security ataggregate level it demands meeting the objectives of energy justice. The transition thus involves not only hugefinancing (estimated to be 2.5 trillion dollar) and massive technological push but the compatible institutionalmechanism and effective system of governance also. Indian energy roadmap has to recalibrate global energyengagement beyond the search of hydrocarbons in consonance with the imperatives of energy transition defined byglobal and local context.

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Transitions to Future Energy Systems: Learning from a Community Test Field

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10124513 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 4513 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Siddharth Sareen ◽

Douglas Baillie ◽

Jürgen Kleinwächter

Keyword(s):

Energy Systems ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Test Field ◽

Global Connections ◽

Systems Learning ◽

Integrated Policy ◽

Southern Portugal ◽

Energy Justice ◽

Socioeconomic Considerations

This article explores the challenges of transitioning towards future energy systems in a solar test field within the eco-community of Tamera, Portugal. We examine what findings can point to wider actionability and how. First, we consider how Tamera’s solar test field has addressed energy transition challenges. We unpack the nature of stability and change in achieving 60 percent energy autonomy; trace the linkages to spatiotemporal issues implicated in this sociotechnical process informed by keen commitment to energy justice; and dwell on the test field’s socioeconomic considerations at its interface with the Portuguese institutional framework and global connections. Second, we identify which findings can fertilise policy and action across European contexts. Considerations in gradually installing sub-100 kW solar capacity contrast starkly with the current proliferation of grid-scale solar in southern Portugal, raising questions about the actionability of knowledge on sociotechnical transitions. We co-generate ideas on how such contextualised epistemological advances can aid our understanding of societal energy transitions. The article encourages socially informed, integrated policy pathways. It speaks to building epistemological complementarities between applied researchers and practicing agents; problematises linking across scale between a community and institutionalising powers; and calls for actionable efforts that integrate systems thinking and power dynamics towards transformation.

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National and Subnational Drivers for Cooking Energy Consumption in Rural India

10.21203/rs.3.rs-829238/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anandajit Goswami ◽

Kaushik Ranjan Bandopadhyay ◽

Amulya Gurtu

Keyword(s):

Rural Households ◽

National Level ◽

Energy Inequality ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Transition Process ◽

Local Context ◽

Rural India ◽

Cooking Energy ◽

The Government ◽

Bds Test

Abstract BackgroundThe energy transition pattern in India highlights that cooking continues to be the weakest link in the energy transition process for rural households. The government is trying to subsidize LPG for rural families to increase usage of LPG in India for a clean cooking energy transition. The paper endeavors to fill the void by revisiting the nature and degree of the rural energy transition for cooking in India. MethodologyUsing a multinomial logit model, the potential drivers at the individual household and group level have been identified. The group effect analysis has been conducted purposely to understand if social and cultural norms or -level factors within a village society affect the cooking energy transition of households in rural India and if that prevails over the income effect. At the sub-national level, an estimate of energy inequality has been derived by applying social choice-based Atkinson Inequality measure to examine the connection between higher energy inequality in primary fuel used for cooking and higher income inequality. In addition, the Brock-Dechert-Scheinkman (BDS) test on firewood consumption has been conducted for poor energy households from 38 districts of Bihar, one of the highest energy-poor states, to statistically examine the perceived nonlinearity in the dynamics of energy transition/fuel choice in cooking for rural households. ResultsThe analysis at the national level indicates the importance of local and cultural factors that leads to the nonlinearity in the probability of the switchover from firewood to other clean fuel options. Conclusions SummaryThe paper highlights if subsidies on modern fuel and/or other cooking alternatives alone drive the transition process and examines the validity of the energy ladder hypothesis in the case of rural cooking energy transition and the drivers of the energy transition at the national and sub-national level. Potential ImplicationsThe state-level analysis done for Bihar and across various districts corroborates this finding and provides an important direction towards local context-specific policy-making in the long term.

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Assessing African Energy Transitions: Renewable Energy Policies, Energy Justice, and SDG 7

Politics and Governance ◽

10.17645/pag.v9i1.3615 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 119-130

Author(s):

Franziska Müller ◽

Manuel Neumann ◽

Carsten Elsner ◽

Simone Claar

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Transition ◽

African Continent ◽

Energy Policies ◽

Energy Demands ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Energy Needs ◽

Policy Frameworks ◽

Renewable Energy Policies ◽

Energy Justice

Renewable energy has made significant inroads in addressing growing energy demands on the African continent. However, progress towards SDG 7 is still limited and difficult to trace. Furthermore, the results-oriented rationale of the SDGs means that both policy change and the dimension of environmental justice are not covered properly. We argue that the energy justice concept may provide a powerful tool to offset looming trade-offs and enhance the co-benefits of SDG 7 within broader transition endeavours. In doing so, we assess African energy transition processes based on a comparative mapping of African renewable energy policies in 34 countries. We investigate the scope of policy frameworks in order to analyse their contribution to greater energy justice along different justice dimensions. We then identify four transition scenarios, which reflect the challenges of integrating the justice dimension into renewable energy policies. In comparing these scenarios, we argue that SDG 7 tracking needs to consider the justice dimension to arrive at a more holistic implementation that is in line with socio-ecological justice and takes account of people’s energy needs.

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Design of a Smart Nanogrid for Increasing Energy Efficiency of Buildings

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14123683 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3683

Author(s):

Yerasimos Yerasimou ◽

Marios Kynigos ◽

Venizelos Efthymiou ◽

George E. Georghiou

Keyword(s):

Storage System ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Energy Storage System ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Pv System ◽

Interconnected System ◽

Low Carbon Economy ◽

Energy Needs ◽

Energy Domain ◽

Battery Energy

Distributed generation (DG) systems are growing in number, diversifying in driving technologies and providing substantial energy quantities in covering the energy needs of the interconnected system in an optimal way. This evolution of technologies is a response to the needs of the energy transition to a low carbon economy. A nanogrid is dependent on local resources through appropriate DG, confined within the boundaries of an energy domain not exceeding 100 kW of power. It can be a single building that is equipped with a local electricity generation to fulfil the building’s load consumption requirements, it is electrically interconnected with the external power system and it can optionally be equipped with a storage system. It is, however, mandatory that a nanogrid is equipped with a controller for optimisation of the production/consumption curves. This study presents design consideretions for nanogrids and the design of a nanogrid system consisting of a 40 kWp photovoltaic (PV) system and a 50 kWh battery energy storage system (BESS) managed via a central converter able to perform demand-side management (DSM). The implementation of the nanogrid aims at reducing the CO2 footprint of the confined domain and increase its self-sufficiency.

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Optimizing accuracy and efficacy in data-driven materials discovery for the solar production of hydrogen

Energy & Environmental Science ◽

10.1039/d0ee02984j ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yihuang Xiong ◽

Quinn Campbell ◽

Julian Fanghanel ◽

Cathy Badding ◽

Huaiyu Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Splitting ◽

Fossil Fuel ◽

Data Driven ◽

Practical Relevance ◽

Global Energy ◽

Environmental Consequences ◽

Energy Needs ◽

Production Of Hydrogen ◽

Water Photoelectrolysis ◽

Hydrogen Fuels

The production of hydrogen fuels, via water splitting, is of practical relevance for meeting global energy needs and mitigating the environmental consequences of fossil-fuel-based transportation. Water photoelectrolysis has been proposed...

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Understanding stakeholder positionalities and relationships to reimagine asylum at the US–Mexico border: Observations from McAllen, TX

Human Geography ◽

10.1177/1942778620979317 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 194277862097931

Author(s):

Halley L. Glier ◽

Temperance Staples ◽

Megan Martínez ◽

Anita Fábos ◽

S.E.D. Mitchell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Paradigm Shift ◽

Community Action ◽

Observational Research ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Federal Authority ◽

Major Stakeholder ◽

The Us ◽

The Status ◽

Mexico Border ◽

The Government

This paper draws on observational research conducted in McAllen, Texas, during the summer of 2019, of three major stakeholder groups involved in asylum management: Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center (HRC); federal government agencies; and the McAllen community. Each group holds a unique, pluralistic perspective on migration, informing intra-group relations and exposing uneven power dynamics between them. Our analysis is contextualized by a local voice, a former long-term volunteer at the HRC, who speaks of the evolution of the McAllen border in her lifetime, as well as federal authority over McAllen and the HRC to process asylees. We dissect how this power dynamic produces a highly violent, detention-dominant immigration landscape in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), antithetical to the practiced intersectional culture of voces locales. We reimagine how the US responds to asylum seekers by offering a community action-based framework, where these pluralistic perspectives are equitably valued. Based on interactions and conversations had with each group, we advocate a paradigm shift reflective of La Frontera’s (The Border’s) intersectional identity. This can be achieved by prioritizing voces locales and building capacity for the humanitarian sector, which is already doing critical work at the southern border. We look to contemporary movements like “Defund the Police” as examples, where divesting from the status-quo system of oppression can nurture reparative justice and empowerment to the RGV. In reimagining a more adaptive, asylum justice-oriented paradigm shift, we also recognize the need to abandon the government-controlled deterrence paradigm, which repeatedly causes tremendous harm.

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An inter-disciplinary approach to the energy transition in South Africa

Discover Sustainability ◽

10.1007/s43621-021-00043-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Iain Todd ◽

Darren McCauley

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Transition Process ◽

Social Scientists ◽

Key Issues ◽

Static Approach ◽

Tackle Climate Change ◽

Fossil Fuel Industry ◽

Energy Justice

AbstractThe compelling need to tackle climate change is well-established. It is a challenge which is being faced by all nations. This requires an approach which is truly inter-disciplinary in nature, drawing on the expertise of politicians, social scientists, and technologists. We report how the pace of the energy transition can be influenced significantly by both the operation of societal barriers, and by policy actions aimed at reducing these effects. Using the case study of South Africa, a suite of interviews has been conducted with diverse energy interests, to develop and analyse four key issues pertinent to the energy transition there. We do so primarily through the lens of delivering energy justice to that society. In doing so, we emphasise the need to monitor, model, and modify the dynamic characteristic of the energy transition process and the delivery of energy justice; a static approach which ignores the fluid nature of transition will be insufficient. We conclude that the South African fossil fuel industry is still impeding the development of the country’s renewable resources, and the price of doing so is being met by those living in townships and in rural areas.

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On the role of solar photovoltaics in global energy transition scenarios

Progress in Photovoltaics Research and Applications ◽

10.1002/pip.2885 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (8) ◽

pp. 727-745 ◽

Cited By ~ 110

Author(s):

Christian Breyer ◽

Dmitrii Bogdanov ◽

Ashish Gulagi ◽

Arman Aghahosseini ◽

Larissa S.N.S. Barbosa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Transition ◽

Global Energy ◽

Solar Photovoltaics

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Foreign Trade of Russia: Barometer Foretells Storm

World Economy and International Relations ◽

10.20542/0131-2227-2016-60-2-15-25 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 15-25

Author(s):

V. Obolenskiy

Keyword(s):

Foreign Trade ◽

Large Scale ◽

Manufacturing Industry ◽

Import Substitution ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Scale Production ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Effective System ◽

The Government ◽

The Developed Countries

The development of Russian foreign trade during the previous five years is analyzed. It is stated that, in terms of value, exports of services and imports of goods and services steadily grew during the first four years of the period under review. Exports of goods also rose during three years, but in 2014 both exports and imports again fell in comparison with the previous year as was the case five years ago. The composition of the Russian exports and imports of goods did not change radically during the previous years. The main items of export are, as always, mineral products, metals and fertilizers. Import is prevailed by foodstuffs, chemicals and heavy engineering equipment. The current situation is featured by the reduction of world oil prices, slump of the domestic economy and war of sanctions with the Western countries. All this substantially impairs the conditions of Russia’s foreign trade activities and inhibits its development in the upcoming years. In the author’s view, the implementation of measures worked out by the government – correction of tariff liabilities before the WTO, redirecting of trade streams from the European to the Asian markets, import substitution and export support – will unlikely improve the situation. Revision of the liabilities before the WTO in the conditions of the decrease of the internal demand and serious devaluation of Ruble is considered as inappropriate and counterproductive. “Asiatic turn” is only capable to compensate to a certain respect the loss of supplies of some food products from Europe, but cannot fully offset the loss of potentialities of the acquisition of modern technologies and equipment from the developed countries. It is doubtful that it will be possible to dramatically cut the import dependence. It is necessary to replace many kinds of foreign goods, but it is impossible to implement a frontal substitution of import in all directions. Excessive stress on the import substitution might lead to the emergence of shortages and poorer availability of some goods at the internal market and, at the worst, to self-isolation and economic autarky. The attempts to build up an effective system of export support might be successful only in the conditions of the establishment of the large-scale production of goods and services which would be comparable with the foreign analogues in respect to the criteria of price and quality. Taking this into consideration the technological renovation of production processes, first of all in the manufacturing industry, and on this basis rising up of the competitiveness of plants and factories are the most important prerequisites for encouraging export activities and formation of the new export specialization of the country.

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