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The EU has set the ambitious target of raising the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 32% by 2030, with a target of climate neutrality by 2050. The aim of this paper is to assess the role of biomass usage in the context of these targets. The paper identifies the progress made between 2013 and 2022 by focusing on a selection of EU countries. The largest bioenergy increments of 130, 77, and 60 PJ were reported for Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. This study evaluates the crucial role of co-generation and heat in EU regions, with biomass usage between 55 and 80% of the combined heat and power (CHP) energy in Nordic countries. The future perspectives for bioenergy based on EU policies, biomass resources, and technical issues were addressed. The EU possesses around 9% of the global biomass supply, ensuring a certain level of biomass resource dependence. Thus, the biomass usage demand in energy production, non-energy sectors, and transport is expected to rise, leading to increments of 13–76% on biomass imports. It appears that bioenergy development is mostly limited by economic issues and uneven support for bioenergy in different EU countries as well as environmental issues. The study shows a promising and sustainable potential of bioenergy in the EU as a renewable energy source while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and the economy. By 2050, liquid biofuels are likely to be increasingly used in the transport sector. Non-energy sector usage of biomass is still in an early stage of development, except for the pulp and paper industry, and significant use of biomass in non-energy sectors seems unlikely in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency response performance in power systems is becoming vulnerable due to the transition toward the higher penetration of renewable energy such as achieving carbon neutrality. In particular, reducing power system inertia energy as the asynchronous generation increases could result in violating the frequency stability constraint when a disturbance occurs in the power systems. In order to control the rapidly fluctuating frequency of the power system with low inertia, it is necessary to introduce fast frequency response resources such as a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). This paper proposes a method to calculate the required capacity of BESS for compensating the frequency control performance of the power system using inertia energy. For calculating the required capacity of BESS, the inertia energy in the critical power system, where frequency control performance marginally satisfies frequency stability constraint, should be calculated. Also, the inertia energy in the evaluated power system having deficit inertia energy should be calculated. By comparing power systems that respond with different dynamics when the same disturbance occurs, the proposed calculation corresponds to the ratio of inertia energy deficiency based on critical power system inertia energy within the power imbalance. Through various case studies employing Korean power systems, the effectiveness of the inertia energy-based calculation method for the required BESS is verified by the fact that the BESS integrated power system marginally satisfies the frequency stability constraint. In these study cases, it is found that the instant response of BESS is very effective for compensating the frequency control performance of the low inertia power system. By applying the proposed method, it is also found that about 840 MW of BESS can achieve carbon neutrality in the Korean power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a practical framework for developing a net-zero electricity mix scenario (NEMS), which considers detailed conditions for supply of each energy. NEMS means a path scenario for power generation amount by year of each generation resource required to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. NEMS framework refers to a methodological framework that contains procedures and requirements to continuously update the NEMS by comprehensively reflecting policy changes. For evaluation of NEMS, indicators such as a system inertia resource ratio (SIRR) and a fuel conversion rate (FCR) are proposed. The proposed framework and indicators are applied for the 2050 NEMS in Korea's electricity sector. The SIRR, indicating the ratio of inertial resources to total resources, projects values of 49% and 15% for the years 2030 and 2050, respectively. Furthermore, the FCR, reflecting the ratio of fuel conversion for resources undergoing this process, predicts that all targeted resources will have completed conversion by the year 2043. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of carbon neutrality does have economic costs; however, few studies have measured the cost and the economic neutral opportunities. This paper uses a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate China's carbon neutrality path from 2020 to 2060 and analyzes its economic impact. This paper innovatively adjusts the CGE modeling technology and simulates the boundary of the Porter hypothesis on the premise of economic neutrality. The results show that the carbon neutrality target may reduce the annual GDP growth rate by about 0.8% in 2020–2060. To make the carbon pricing method under the carbon neutrality framework meet the strong version of the Porter hypothesis (or economic neutrality), China must increase its annual total factor productivity by 0.56–0.57% in 2020–2060; this is hard to achieve. In addition, the study finds that China's 2030 carbon target has little impact on the economy, but the achievement of the 2060 carbon neutrality target will have a significant effect. Therefore, the paper believes that the key to carbon neutrality lies in the coexistence of technological innovation and carbon pricing to ensure that we can cope with global warming with the lowest cost and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Republic of Korea has unique geographical characteristics similar to those of an island, resulting in an isolated power system. For this reason, securing sufficient operating reserves for the system's stability and reliability in the face of the intermittency of increasing variable renewable energy (VRE) is paramount, and this will pave the way to achieving the nation's decarbonization target and carbon neutrality. However, the current reserve-operation method in Republic of Korea does not take into account energy-system conditions, such as the intermittency of the VRE. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis of the impact of changes in reserve-operation methods on the electricity market in the future Republic of Korean power system, with the increased levels of VRE that are currently envisioned. Specifically, three reserve-operation methods, including Korea's current reserve-power-operation standards, were applied to the two power-system plans announced by the Korean government to analyze the annual generator operation and costs. The analysis results show that securing reserves proportional to the VRE would exert negative effects, such as increased power-generation costs and the curtailment of nuclear and VRE generation. These results can contribute to the estimation of operational reserves needed for high levels of VRE and to the design of new the Korean reserve market, to be introduced in 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses existing trends and prospects for decarbonization in the Commonwealth of Independent States (the CIS), an international organization that regroups Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The CIS occupies a significant share of Eurasia, representing a large share of global energy consumption and production with a corresponding carbon footprint. These countries and their decarbonization prospects are rarely discussed in the English-language scientific literature. This paper fills in this gap by offering a comprehensive analysis based on statistical data, policy documents, and scenario-based future projections. The results underline that revisiting Nationally Determined Contributions, increasing energy efficiency, and decoupling GDP growth from greenhouse gas emissions are essential to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The future energy mix should include larger shares of renewable energy, hydrogen, fossil fuels (highly efficient with carbon capture), and nuclear energy to achieve energy security and decarbonize the economy of the region in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing carbon emission mitigation and carbon utilization have become necessary for the world to respond to climate change caused by the increase of greenhouse gas concentrations. As a result, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies have attracted considerable attention worldwide, especially in China, which plans to achieve a carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. This paper proposed six priorities for China, the current world's largest carbon emitter, to achieve its dual carbon strategy in the green energy transition process. We analyzed and summarized the challenges and potentialities of conventional carbon utilization (CU), carbon capture utilization (CCU), and CCUS. Based on the current development trend, carbon dioxide capture, circular utilization, and storage (CCCUS) technology that integrates carbon circular utilization and partial sequestration, with large-scale underground energy storage were proposed, namely biomethanation. Technically and economically, biomethanation was believed to have an essential contribution to China's renewable energy utilization and storage, as well as the carbon circular economy. The preliminary investigation reveals significant potential, with a corresponding carbon storage capacity of 5.94 × 108 t~7.98 × 108 t and energy storage of 3.29 × 1012 kWh~4.42 × 1012 kWh. Therefore, we believe that in addition to vigorously developing classical CCUS technology, technical research and pilot projects of CCCUS technology that combined large-scale underground energy storage also need to be carried out to complete the technical reserve and the dual-carbon target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the exponential growth of traffic demand, ultra-dense networks have been proposed to cope with such demand. However, the increase of the network density causes more power use, and carbon neutrality becomes an important concept to decrease the emission and production of carbon. In cellular networks, emission and production can be directly related to power consumption. In this paper, we aim to achieve carbon neutrality, as well as maximize network capacity with given power constraints. We assume that base stations have their own renewable energy sources to generate power. For carbon neutrality, we control the power consumption for base stations by adjusting the transmission power and switching off base stations to balance the generated power. Given such power constraints, our goal is to maximize the network capacity or the rate achievable for the users. To this end, we carefully design the objective function and then propose an efficient Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm to maximize the objective. A simulation is conducted to validate the benefits of the proposed method. Extensive simulations show that the proposed method can achieve carbon neutrality and provide a better rate than other baseline schemes. Specifically, up to a 63% gain in the reward value was observed in the DDPG algorithm compared to other baseline schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is a critical crisis threatening human survival and development. International organizations and countries worldwide are introducing policies and practices to achieve carbon neutrality. In China, numerous carbon neutrality policies have been established; however, a systematic understanding of the underlying policy logic is lacking. Using the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, this paper analyzes selected carbon neutrality policies in China. We conducted a bibliometric visualization analysis of the texts of 20 policies and matched their logic to the elements of the IAD framework. We established 90 keywords with occurrences of no less than 10 times in China's carbon neutrality policies. The network visualization analysis identified six clusters. We discuss implementation challenges of China's carbon neutrality policies, address the policy implementation, and finally outline impacts on China's carbon neutrality governance. This study responds to the global concern over China's carbon neutrality commitments by clarifying the institutional logic of China's policies and actions. This study could provide a reference for countries worldwide that are designing and introducing carbon neutrality policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU has several directives aiming toward carbon neutrality and is attempting to promote and encourage individual electricity consumers to participate in this endeavor. The key idea behind consumer awakening and activation is to push consumers to become aware of their electricity consumption behavior. The purpose of this paper was to examine the current consumption behavior of Finnish electricity consumers and their intention to support the goals of carbon neutrality through energy efficient consumption. The aim was to reveal how far the consumption behavior of people was from the intention to tackle climate change. To reach this goal, a qualitative research method was applied to evaluate the consumer awareness and intentions. A consumer survey was conducted to enable standardized and consistent data collection. The research utilized a key performance indicator (KPI) approach to evaluate the results: the social KPIs connected with qualitative values provide a comprehensive approach. According to the results, the awareness of consumers of their consumption behavior was not very high, and some data needs can be identified. In addition, clear intentions can be detected among the residents to support the environment and to save energy. However, the consumers did not seem to be aware of the available data and existing services that could help them to improve their energy efficiency. Therefore, more motivation and communication is still required to affect the electricity consumption behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To avoid the potential adverse impacts of climate change from global warming, it is suggested that the target of net zero emissions should be reached by this mid-century. Thailand is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Since electricity generation is one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide emission, the associated emissions must be greatly reduced to achieve the targets mentioned above. Thus, new generation expansion plans must be well developed. This paper discusses the development of generation expansion plans considering Thailand's latest policies along with enhancement of the existing multi-period linear programming model, allowing new electricity generation technologies having low emissions, e.g., solar PV with battery and hydrogen blending in natural gas, to be integrated into generation expansion planning. Then, four generation expansion plans with different levels of hydrogen blending in natural gas are proposed and discussed. It is found that Thailand can achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by promoting more use of renewable energy altogether with trade-off between land for solar PV installation and amount of hydrogen blended in natural gas. The lesson learned from this study provides crucial information about possible pathways to achieve carbon neutrality in the electricity sector for policy makers in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To combat global warming, "carbon neutrality" has gradually become a consensus. Some countries have constructed domestic and regional carbon trading markets, and links to global carbon markets are receiving increasing attention. Blue carbon, an important component of nature-based solutions (NbS), has not received the attention it deserves and is still isolated from the carbon trading market. Based on summarizing the existing achievements of blockchain application in carbon trading, this paper analyzes how to make each participating body provide services in the process of blue carbon production, circulation and trading, and designs the architectural diagram of the blue carbon system under peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions based on the theoretical framework of blockchain 3.0. Utilizing the advantages of decentralization, high transparency and non-tamperability of blockchain, we can realize a highly efficient, low-cost and intelligent blue carbon trading management system. Thus, we can make the world pay more attention to the development and utilization of marine resources and increase investment in blue carbon sink projects; and promote the development of blue carbon market, enrich the carbon trading market, and help achieve "emission reduction without reduction in production". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation has become an important support to promote the strategic goals of peak carbon dioxide emission and high-quality economic development. This paper systematically examines whether internal control can effectively drive enterprise green innovation and achieve the "win–win" result of enterprise economic development and environmental protection. We found that internal control can significantly improve the green innovation level of enterprises, which is mainly reflected in the mandatory disclosure stage of internal control information and the other four elements of internal control, except the control environment. The mechanism test found that internal control can promote green innovation by reducing enterprise risks, alleviating agency conflicts, relieving financing constraints, and improving the rationality of innovation investment. The heterogeneity test found that the promotion effect of internal control on green innovation is more significant in large enterprises and private enterprises; internal control can effectively supervise the maintenance of relationship resources, and relationship resources positively regulate the promotion effect of internal control on green innovation; excessive executive power will weaken the internal control supervision and punishment of executives, and weaken the positive effect between internal control and green innovation; internal control can improve the utilization rate of government subsidies, and government subsidies positively regulate the positive effect of internal control on green innovation. The research conclusions enrich the market-oriented research on the driving factors of enterprise green innovation, and provide empirical evidence for enhancing the competitiveness of enterprise green innovation and achieving carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban activities, including urban mobility, play a crucial role in climate change mitigation. Urban mobility is currently at a crossroads. In a business as usual scenario, CO2 emissions from urban transportation will grow by one fourth by 2050. Nevertheless, during this period, it may drop by about one third. To make the drop happen, we need to introduce comprehensive policies and measures. Electrifying urban transit is one feasible solution. This study investigates whether and how urban water transit systems have been electrified—a means of transport which has not been well researched in this respect. A multilevel perspective and the comparative case study method were employed to answer the research questions. The comprehensive study focussed on 24 cities representing the current experience in planning and operating water transport, based mainly on secondary, primarily qualitative, data, such as industry reports, feasibility studies, urban policies, and scientific papers. The primary outcome is that urban electric passenger ferries left their market niches and triggered a radical innovation, diffusing into mainstream markets. However, urban diversity results in various paths to electrification, due to the system's physical characteristics, local climate and transport policies, manufacturing capacity, green city branding, and the innovativeness of international ferry operators. Three dominant transition pathways were identified—a comprehensive carbon neutral policy, a transport sector policy, and a research and development policy. From a multilevel perspective, cities can be considered a bridge between niches and regimes that provide the actual conditions for implementing sociotechnical configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]