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The sustainable development of enterprises is based on three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. Sustainable development aims to limit climate change and its negative impact on the natural environment. The main aim of this paper is to assess the impact of selected energy economy factors (government expenditure, environmental taxes, outlays on renewable energy sources, prices of futures contracts for CO2 emissions, outlays on R&D, and the EU Emissions Trading System (ETSEU)) on the sustainable development of the energy sectors in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, and Poland, from 2008 to 2022. We use the correlation coefficients, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Models, and the simultaneous equation. The research results indicate a variation in the direction and strength of the influence of individual economic factors in the studied countries (p < 0.05). The results can support operational and strategic decisions sustaining the sustainable development of enterprises in the analyzed countries. The results indicate the need to reform selected economic factors, with an emphasis on the increased importance of environmental taxes and the reform of the EU ETS, which is a key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal and terrestrial fisheries communities in Europe, often economically marginalised, are likely to face severe impacts as climate change becomes more acute. Although progress on climate mitigation and adaptation from national governments remains slow, local development actions can also address these impacts from the bottom up. In this paper we analyse the Fisheries and Sea Operational Programme 2014–2020 and 36 Local Development Strategies prepared within the framework of this programme for the case of Poland. The strategies, which were prepared by cross-sectoral, area-based partnerships known as Fisheries Local Action Groups, are analysed using a content analysis approach. The aim was to assess the degree to which local stakeholders sought to address the climate challenge. We found that the mitigation of climate impacts and the development of renewable energy did not feature prominently in the analysed documents, suggesting that both central policymakers and local stakeholders in Polish fisheries regions had a low level of awareness about the climate problem and their potentially important role in addressing it. Transformation to a post-carbon society undoubtedly requires additional, targeted support and extensive educational activities at the local level, in Poland and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass, a basic product of agriculture, is one of the main sinks of carbon in global cycle. Additionally, it can be used as a renewable source of energy, leading to depletion in CO2 emissions. The paper presents the results of estimations on the current and potential share of catch crop cultivation in climate change mitigation, in Poland, where the agricultural sector plays a significant economic role. The estimation of CO2 assimilation in biomass was performed on the basis of our own data on yields of commonly used catch crops, obtained in randomly selected 80 farms in Poland, and the content of carbon in the biomass. Calculation of energy potential of the biomass was conducted, assuming its conversion into biogas, on the basis of our own data on catch crop yields and the literature data on their biomethane potentials. The results have shown that catch crops in Poland, which are cultivated to an area of 1.177 mln ha sequestrate 6.85 mln t CO2 yr−1. However, considering the total area of fields used for spring crop cultivation, it is possible to increase the sequestration to 18.25 mln t CO2 yr−1, which constitutes about 6% of the annual emission of CO2 in Poland. Biomethane yields per hectare of particular crops ranged from 965 to 1762 m3 CH4 ha−1, and were significantly lower compared to maize, which is commonly in use in biogas plants. However, due to high biomethane potential and favorable chemical composition, catch crops can be a valuable co-substrate for the feedstocks with a high C:N ratio. The potential recovery of energy produced from aboveground biomass of catch crops harvested in Poland during the year is 6327 GWh of electricity and 7230 GWh of thermal energy. Thus, it is advisable to promote catch crops on a wide scale due to substantial environmental benefits of their cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energies are deployed worldwide to mitigate climate change and push power systems towards sustainability. Nevertheless, the weather-dependent nature and variability of renewable energy sources often hinders their integration to national grids. The combination of different sources to profit from their beneficial complementarity has often been proposed as a partial solution to overcome these issues. This paper introduces a novel method for quantifying total temporal energetic complementarity between three different variable renewable sources, based on well-known mathematical techniques: correlation coefficients and compromise programming. It has the major advantage of allowing the simultaneous assessment of partial and total complementarity, as well as allowing for a linear assessment of complementarity. The method is employed to study the complementarity of wind, solar and hydropower generation on different temporal scales in a region of Poland. Results show that timescale selection has a determinant impact on the estimated value of the total temporal complementarity index. • A method for simultaneous evaluation of partial and total energetic complementarity. • Method combines known metrics: compromise programming and correlations. • Timescale has a direct impact on the value of the complementarity index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]