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This paper explores the role of electricity in the transition to renewable energy to mitigate climate change. A systematic literature review with the Scopus database identified 92 papers relevant to the renewable electricity transition. A PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) review of the papers provided a multidisciplinary analysis. The Paris Agreement created a global movement for carbon neutrality to address the threats of climate change, calling for a transition to renewable electricity to lead the way and expand into new sectors and regions. Although smaller renewable technologies are ramping up, complexities thwarting the transition include locked-in assets, high upfront costs, variability of solar and wind energy, infrastructure, difficulty in decarbonizing transportation and industry, material resource constraints, and fossil fuel support. This research found that renewables are not replacing fossil fuels to date but adding further energy demands, so that greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2021 despite an increased renewable electricity share. Without a major shift in the trillions of dollars of subsidies and investment away from fossil fuels to renewables, catastrophic climate change is predicted. This paper found that the Paris Agreement's commitment to net-zero carbon and the transition to renewable electricity are undermined by record-high levels of subsidies and financing for fossil fuel industry expansion. Transitioning to a climate-neutral economy requires an investment away from fossil fuels into renewable energy ecosystems. Renewable electricity provides possibilities to realize sustainable development goals, climate stabilization, job creation, a green economy, and energy security with careful planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tajikistan holds the eighth position globally in terms of hydropower potential, estimated at 527 terawatt-hours (TWh), with a technically exploitable capacity of 317 TWh. Only 4–6 percent of this immense potential is currently utilized. In this paper, employing a combination of the Johansen cointegration test, vector autoregression, and the Granger-causality test on annual data from 1993 to 2021, we examine the causality relationship between electricity production and key macroeconomic variables, including gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, exports, imports, final consumption, capital investment, and employment, in Tajikistan. The empirical findings reveal a positive unidirectional causality from electricity production to exports and imports. A positive bidirectional or feedback causality is found between electricity production and variables such as GDP, GDP per capita, final consumption, and employment. No causality relationship between electricity production and variables such as trade openness and capital investment is observed. The exploration of complex causal relationships between electricity production and key macroeconomic variables in Tajikistan, as revealed in this study, offers a modest yet meaningful addition to academic discourse. It presents insights that may inform policymakers and stakeholders, albeit with a recognition of the limitations inherent in the findings. These insights could potentially guide the formulation of sustainable development strategies and shed light on the underutilized potential of the country's hydropower resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inaccessibility of modern energy in low-income countries (LIC), especially in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region, continues to be a problem in the 21st century. The lack of access to modern energy has led to an inability to implement developmental structures and initiatives. While considerable progress and successes have been realised in the last three decades with increased activities and global commitments from international governments and multinational agencies through electrification projects in the SSA region, SSA countries remain off-track in their efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7. This is mainly demonstrated in sparsely populated rural regions where the high cost of centralised power generation, poor transmission and distribution infrastructures and economic factors have been a major barrier to electricity expansion. Although the use of RES (i.e., decentralised or stand-alone systems) have been acknowledged by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to be the least expensive route to improving access, its impact has not been effectively demonstrated regionally. Decentralised RES use in SSA countries have not seen significant uptake and/or enjoyed long-term sustainability owing to a number of factors. Malawi, despite its significant hydropower resources and the favourable proximity of its inhabitants to grid infrastructures, still has one of the lowest levels of access to electricity globally, with 86% of the population having no access to electricity. The country provides a good case study to investigate factors limiting electricity access in SSA countries. This paper explores the main issues that have historically hindered the uptake and sustainable operation of decentralised RES in the country. Recommendations to facilitate a potential improvement in RES use as a pathway to improved universal energy access are then put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy resource utilisation is becoming more prevalent in society and can be a sustainable method to meet rising energy demand and consumption. The International Renewable Energy Agency reports that presently, approximately 33% of total electricity output around the world is from renewable energy sources. However, in Nigeria, the World Bank reported this figure as 18.2% in 2015. It is important to understand how Nigeria can raise this average as the world moves towards less use of fossil fuels. Therefore, the aim of this work was to provide a review of the established literature, which can then be used to support the development of renewable energy systems in Nigeria. The methodology employed for the study of the literature involved a systematic review method, including identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion criterium steps. Understanding the national energy landscape is essential to support potential projects, and consequently, energy supply, demand and consumption in Nigeria are observed. The review examined renewable energy sources in Nigeria with a focus on solar and biomass/bioenergy. The levelised cost of electricity from renewable technologies was analysed, and the paper identified and evaluated past projects centered on solar and biomass, presenting three main case studies. The results indicate that solar and biomass have the most potential for energy generation in Nigeria, with 4–6.5 kWh/m2 of solar irradiation available per day and approximately 2.3 × 109 GJ bioenergy potential per year. However, solar PV is currently of most interest in Nigeria due to the lower cost of on-grid solar PV electricity, which can comfortably compete with fossil fuels. Nevertheless, costs still need to be lowered to compete fully. Finally, the findings also indicate that there is an omission in the literature surrounding the existing renewable projects and technologies in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because generating electricity significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions, meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement and 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact requires rapidly transitioning to zero or low-emissions electricity grids. Though the installation of renewables-based generators—predominantly wind and solar-based systems—is accelerating worldwide, electrical energy storage systems, such as pumped storage hydropower, are needed to balance their weather-dependent output. The authors of this paper are the first to examine the status and potential for pumped storage hydropower development in 24 Pacific Rim economies (the 21 member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation plus Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar). We show that there is 195 times the pumped storage hydropower potential in the 24 target economies as would be required to support 100% renewables-based electricity grids. Further to the electrical energy storage potential, we show that pumped storage hydropower is a low-cost, low-greenhouse-gas-emitting electrical energy storage technology that can be sited and designed to have minimal negative (or in some cases positive) social impacts (e.g., requirements for re-settlement as well as impacts on farming and livelihood practices) and environmental impacts (e.g., impacts on water quality and biodiversity). Because of the high potential for pumped storage hydropower-based electrical energy storage, only sites with low negative (or positive) social and environmental impacts such as brownfield sites and closed-loop PSH developments (where water is moved back and forth between two reservoirs, thus minimally disturbing natural hydrology) need be developed to support the transition to zero or low-carbon electricity grids. In this way, the advantages of well-designed and -sited pumped storage hydropower can effectively address ongoing conflict around the social and environmental impacts of conventional hydropower developments. Noting the International Hydropower Association advocacy for pumped storage hydropower, we make recommendations for how pumped storage hydropower can sustainably reduce electricity-sector greenhouse gas emissions, including through market reforms to encourage investment and the application of standards to avoid and mitigate environmental and social impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for renewable energy is regarded as a major component in the move towards achieving sustainable development. Using a large sample of 177 countries over the period 1990 to 2020, this research explores the impact of the most significant drivers of renewable energy. Findings from this work contribute to the literature by identifying the most significant drivers of renewable energy deployment and their different responses in developed and developing economies. Empirical results suggest that GDP, oil price, access to electricity, and CO2 and methane emissions are significant determinants of renewables both as a share in energy consumption and as a share in electricity production. Additionally, trade is found to be a significant driver for the share of renewables in total energy consumption but not for the share of renewables in the electricity production model. Finally, our findings indicate that the factors influencing the development of renewables vary significantly between developed and developing countries, necessitating distinct approaches for each group of countries. These results can play a significant role from a policy perspective in designing and implementing specific policies to increase renewable energy deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main part of mankind's ecological footprint is the carbon footprint, a measure of the environmental impact of humanity's energy release from fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels will have to change in the forthcoming decades to a largely climate-neutral use of solar energy enabled by dramatic cost reductions for PV and wind energy systems. The impact of this trend on world society has been discussed in a previous paper. In connection with these important technical developments, the role of electricity, its transport and storage will alter in the coming decades, allowing the design and use of larger and larger electricity grids and a parallel use of hydrogen for both storage and energy transport. This will further change the energy landscape of the world. All these developments and their relationship to global sustainable development are elaborated in this cross-disciplinary paper by specifically analyzing whether the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations are an effective road map for humanity to handle global climate change risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is a very essential indicator for the sustainable development and economic growth of any country. Pakistan heavily relies on imported fossil fuels; their excessive use contributes to environmental pollution. According to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Pakistan produces 63% of its electricity from fossil fuels. The world is now shifting towards renewable energy sources such as biomass, wind energy, solar energy, ocean energy, hydropower, and geothermal energy. At present, Pakistan fulfills 5.4% of its energy demand from renewable energy sources, including biomass, wind, and sun, and 25% from hydropower. Due to economic and political challenges, the country is facing a severe energy deficit (7000 MW). By 2030, Pakistan plans to fulfill 30% of its energy demand from renewable sources. The untapped potential of energy from renewable sources in Pakistan is nearly 60,000 MW from hydropower, 40,000 MW from sun, 346,000 MW from wind. To address the escalating energy demands and bridge the energy deficit, Pakistan must intensify its efforts in harnessing renewable energy resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time carbon emissions monitoring at the enterprise level is a crucial tool in shifting macrolevel carbon peak and carbon neutrality plans toward micro-level implementations. This study extends the existing CO2 emissions accounting framework to enterprise emissions monitoring. We analyze the correlation mechanism between electricity consumption and CO2 emissions by industries, calculate the electricity–CO2 coefficients, and finally model an enterprise-level real-time carbon emissions monitoring method based on electricity big data. Taking Guangxi region as a sample, the results show that (1) the proportion of electricity-related emissions is on the rising stage in Guangxi, with 441 g CO2/KWh emitted from electricity consumption in 2020, (2) the carbon emissions from the energy-intensive industries account for over 70% of the whole society, and they all have high electricity–CO2 coefficients, far exceeding the industry average of 1129 g/kWh, and (3) the monitoring method is applied to 1338 enterprises from over 40 industries. The emission characteristics reflect the regional and industrial heterogeneity. This enterprise-level monitoring method aims to optimize the carbon emissions calculation method toward higher temporal and spatial resolutions, so as to provide an important numerical basis for promoting carbon emission reduction and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An eco-friendly and sustainable power production system constitutes the cornerstone of every country's strategic plan to tackle climate change and enhance energy resource autonomy. Carbon dioxide abatement in electricity generation, in addition to being a necessary condition for t "green" energy transition, can contribute greatly to cleaner industrial production and sustainable development. Emphasizing this key role of the power sector, the present research focuses on shedding light on the impact of renewable energy resources (RES), per capita gross domestic product (GDP), electricity gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) and urbanization in the CO2 intensity, and the sustainability level of electricity production. The analysis is based on a comprehensive dataset of 31 countries including 26 European countries, U.S.A., Japan, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand from 1995 until 2018. The econometric outcomes revealed the strong statistical significance of all variables and a plethora of causality relationships, upon which several policy suggestions are made. Interestingly, GDP per capita beyond a certain level can gradually become an aggravating factor for the electricity carbon footprint. Similarly, the vital role of RES in clean electricity production was confirmed as expected, yet surprisingly, this effect also appears to reverse after a certain percentage of total RES reliance. In contrast to urbanization, the electricity GFCF parameter is estimated to have an adverse effect on electricity CO2 intensity, indicating that the vast amount of new investments in the power sector concerns carbon-intensive technologies. Finally, a dynamic analysis is carried out, revealing to policy makers the necessary time frame after which the implementation of new energy policies can have the full impact on the carbon emissions of electricity generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uninterrupted availability of energy and power resources is essential for the productivity and smooth functioning of an enterprise. However, constrained by financial resources, smaller firms in developing economies face a plethora of challenges concerning the access to electricity. However, less attention has been paid in the extant literature to explore this phenomenon. The present study investigates the impact of access to electricity on labor productivity in Bangladesh in the presence of electricity constraints, electricity obstacles, and SME firm size. It employs the OLS regression and propensity score matching (PSM) technique for treatment effect to deal with the selection bias and endogeneity issue using the World Bank Enterprise Survey's cross-sectional firm-level data for 3196 sample firms over the period of 2007–2013. The results provide evidence in support of SMEs' labor productivity in response to electricity access. Lack of electricity access was partially found to affect SMEs' labor productivity significantly negatively. Further, the results show a positive impact of firm size on firm performance. However, results from this model appear that constrained SMEs' access to electricity has a negative relationship with firm performance. The article then suggests several policy implications on changing government regulations regarding the efficient use of renewable energy resources to enhance electricity generation for optimized SME performance and sustainable economic development in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]