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Abstract: The goal of this paper is to estimate the perspectives of the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on meeting the new European Union climate commitments, i.e., to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% to the year 2020 in comparison with 1990. This ambitious target could be reached based on other EU climate and energy package commitments: increase of the share of renewables and improvement of energy efficiency as tools for fulfilling the GHG emissions reduction target. The paper gives an overview on the current situation and future plans of the Baltic States in the field of energy efficiency, consumption of renewables and reduction of GHG emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the global warming and climate change are recognized as real concerns, attention of power system planners and operators, energy policy makers and regulators as well as developers around the world including Australia is focused on using alternative and low emission energy technologies for electric power production. Renewable energy and energy efficient technologies have many advantages including reducing climate change, increasing sustainability in power sector, and increasing security of power supply. This paper presents an overview on both current electricity grid and future grid. Experts believe that in future more distributed generation (DG) will be integrated into the low to medium electricity grid. This paper will also review the key drivers in relation to integration of increased DG technologies in general and the renewable energy-distributed generation (RE-DG) technologies in particular, into the electric power system and the opportunities and challenges linked to these technologies. This paper also reviews possible connection location of RE-DG into the grid and its impact on system voltage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Energy security has been an actively studied area in recent years. Various facets have been covered in the literature. Based on a survey of 104 studies from 2001 to June 2014, this paper reports the findings on the following: energy security definitions, changes in the themes of these definitions, energy security indexes, specific focused areas and methodological issues in the construction of these indexes, and energy security in the wider context of national energy policy. It is found that the definition of energy security is contextual and dynamic in nature. The scope of energy security has also expanded, with a growing emphasis on dimensions such as environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. Significant differences among studies are observed in the way in which energy security indexes are framed and constructed. These variations introduce challenges in comparing the findings among studies. Based on these findings, recommendations on studying energy security and the construction of energy security indexes are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent energy independence and climate change policies encourage development and utilization of renewable energy such as bioenergy. Biofuels in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms have been intensively researched, produced, and used over the past 15 years. This paper reviews the worldwide history, current status, and predictable future trend of bioenergy and biofuels. Bioenergy has been utilized for cooking, heating, and lighting since the dawn of humans. The energy stored in annually produced biomass by terrestrial plants is 3–4 times greater than the current global energy demand. Solid biofuels include firewood, wood chips, wood pellets, and wood charcoal. The global consumption of firewood and charcoal has been remaining relatively constant, but the use of wood chips and wood pellets for electricity (biopower) generation and residential heating doubled in the past decade and will increase steadily into the future. Liquid biofuels cover bioethanol, biodiesel, pyrolysis bio-oil, and drop-in transportation fuels. Commercial production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials has just started, supplementing the annual supply of 22 billion gallons predominantly from food crops. Biodiesel from oil seeds reached the 5670 million gallons/yr production capacity, with further increases depending on new feedstock development. Bio-oil and drop-in biofuels are still in the development stage, facing cost-effective conversion and upgrading challenges. Gaseous biofuels extend to biogas and syngas. Production of biogas from organic wastes by anaerobic digestion has been rapidly increasing in Europe and China, with the potential to displace 25% of the current natural gas consumption. In comparison, production of syngas from gasification of woody biomass is not cost-competitive and therefore, narrowly practiced. Overall, the global development and utilization of bioenergy and biofuels will continue to increase, particularly in the biopower, lignocellulosic bioethanol, and biogas sectors. It is expected that by 2050 bioenergy will provide 30% of the world’s demanded energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Renewable energy and energy efficiency (REEE) policies have far-reaching implications for energy security, climate change, economic competitiveness, pollution, and human livelihood. For these reasons, REEE has become a national priority for the Chinese government, particularly since 2005. This paper aims to critically review China's REEE policies in six sectors: electricity, industry, transportation, buildings, and local government. In addition to examining the progress China has made in the development and implementation of REEE policies, this review also identifies limitations and room for improvement. Finally, five policy recommendations are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of the article is to develop technique for climate change mitigation policies assessment based on priorities of sustainable energy development. There is a close relationship between energy policies and tools aiming at sustainable energy development targets, i.e. promotion of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures and climate change mitigation tools. Therefore ranking of climate change mitigation tools based on their impact sustainable energy development targets is necessary seeking to ensure harmonization of policies and their synergy effect. The main tasks of the article are: (i) to define EU sustainable energy development targets, (ii) to analyze EU energy and climate change mitigation policies and their interactions, (iii) to propose a multi-criteria framework for climate change mitigation policies assessment and ranking, and (iv) to apply multi-criteria decision making methodology for climate change mitigation policies ranking in Lithuania. The main findings of paper are related with proposed technique for climate change mitigation policies assessment and application of this technique for ranking of climate change mitigation policies in Lithuania. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]