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The pulp and paper industry (PPI) has several opportunities to contribute to meeting prevailing climate targets. It can cut its own CO2 emissions, which currently account for 2% of global industrial fossil CO2 emissions, and it has an opportunity to produce renewable energy, fuels, and materials for other sectors. The purpose of this study is to improve understanding of the decarbonization prospects of the PPI. The study provides insights on the magnitude of needed annual renewal rates for several possible net-zero target years of industrial fossil CO2 emissions in the PPI and discusses decarbonization opportunities, namely, energy and material efficiency improvement, fuel switching, electrification, renewable energy production, carbon capture, and new products. The effects of climate policies on the decarbonization opportunities are critically evaluated to provide an overview of the current and future business environment of the European PPI. The focus is on Europe, but other regions are analyzed briefly to widen the view. The analysis shows that there are no major technical barriers to the fossil-free operation of the PPI, but the sector renovates slowly, and many new opportunities are not implemented on a large scale due to immature technology, poor economic feasibility, or unclear political environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original feature of this paper is the development of a toolkit for the decarbonisation of Mediterranean islands. The defined methodology was aimed to develop framework, skills and capabilities, coordinating and tailoring predictive assessment tools, analysing three alternative scenarios for the penetration of renewable sources into the energy system by 2030, consistently with a rationale of integration between technologies, production sectors and available funds. The findings of the research cofinanced by the European Programme Interreg Med (2014-2020) support Local Authorities by developing more effective methods and databases to plan and manage interventions in favour of the energy and cultural transition also through energy communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of carbon emissions in the power industry will play a vital role in global decarbonization. The power industry has three main strategies to achieve this reduction in emissions: to implement lean marketing strategies that effectively target users of power and encourage them to adopt decarbonizing technologies and services; to optimize the efficiency of these users of power; and to improve the efficiency of renewable energy sources. This paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation system of indexed data from power industry customers for the development of lean marketing strategies. This system evaluates indexes derived from customer data on renewable energy sources, carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and customer credit. It adopts the DEMATEL–CRITIC combination weight assignment and VIKOR method for system evaluation and conducts simulation experiments on customer data in a region of Northeastern China to give an example of how this method could be applied in practice to lean marketing. The results show that the evaluation system proposed in this paper can govern the lean marketing decision-making of power sales enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ten nations of Southeast Asia, collectively known as ASEAN, emitted 1.65 Gtpa CO2 in 2020, and are among the most vulnerable nations to climate change, which is partially caused by anthropogenic CO2 emission. This paper analyzes the history of ASEAN energy consumption and CO2 emission from both fossil and renewable energies in the last two decades. The results show that ASEAN's renewable energies resources range from low to moderate, are unevenly distributed geographically, and contributed to only 20% of total primary energy consumption (TPEC) in 2015. The dominant forms of renewable energies are hydropower, solar photovoltaic, and bioenergy. However, both hydropower and bioenergy have substantial sustainability issues. Fossil energies depend heavily on coal and oil and contribute to 80% of TPEC. More importantly, renewable energies' contribution to TPEC has been decreasing in the last two decades, despite the increasing installation capacity. This suggests that the current rate of the addition of renewable energy capacity is inadequate to allow ASEAN to reach net-zero by 2050. Therefore, fossil energies will continue to be an important part of ASEAN's energy mix. More tools, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen, will be needed for decarbonization. CCS will be needed to decarbonize ASEAN's fossil power and industrial plants, while blue hydrogen will be needed to decarbonize hard-to-decarbonize industrial plants. Based on recent research into regional CO2 source-sink mapping, this paper proposes six large-scale CCS projects in four countries, which can mitigate up to 300 Mtpa CO2. Furthermore, this paper identifies common pathways for ASEAN decarbonization and their policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel control strategy to manage the integration of a wind turbine (WT) and an energy storage unit to an existing stand-alone microgrid servicing an oil and gas (O&G) rig is the topic of this paper. The control strategy includes a primary and a secondary controller that, using the battery in tandem with the WT, does not require any dump load (A). The secondary controller includes an energy management system (EMS) which uses the estimated wind production and other specific local information to size the battery to avoid the curtailment of the WT (B) and simultaneously provide the framework for the economic analysis (C). Points A, B and C are the main novelties introduced with this work. Additionally, a primary controller operates the original microgrid source, a gas turbine (GT), at its maximum efficiency through an active power control strategy to lower fuel consumption, by prioritizing the exploitation of the renewable energy source through the combination EMS and battery sizing. The microgrid is simulated and the combined controller of the battery and GT bench-tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation and adaptation of renewable energy technologies significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and increase energy efficiency. Understanding the convergence patterns in renewable energy innovation will enable policymakers to design policies to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy consumption and reduce CO2 emissions. This paper applies the convergence algorithm proposed by Philips and Sul to assess the convergence in renewable energy innovation for 90 countries covering the period between 1993 and 2018. This paper also examines the determinants/factors driving the convergence clubs of the countries using Probit and Logit regression. The convergence analyses suggest that there is no global convergence in renewable energy innovation. Findings highlight two convergence clubs: i) a club comprising more innovative countries and ii) another club that includes less innovative countries. We find that countries with higher income per capita, CO2 emissions per capita, research and development (R&D) investment, better environmental regulations and stronger institutional settings are more likely to be part of the innovative club. Countries should increase their R&D investment and environmental regulations and improve their institutional quality to increase their likelihood of belonging to a more innovative club. Furthermore, less innovative countries could promote policies to transfer renewable energy technologies from innovative countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether renewable energy consumption is beneficial to reducing CO 2 emission intensity and carbon emissions in the context of the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" in China. To prove this conjecture, considering the spatial spillover effect of carbon dioxide, this paper adopts the spatial Dubin model for empirical analysis based on the panel data of China's 30 provinces over the period 2002–2019. This study explores the CO 2 intensity mitigation effect of China's renewable energy consumption and further investigates the mediation role of technological innovation, industrial structure upgrading and optimization, and energy efficiency in the nexus between renewable energy consumption and carbon intensity. The main findings present that: (1) China's carbon emission intensity is characterized by significant spatial correlation; (2) Renewable energy consumption can significantly reduce carbon intensity and per capita carbon emissions; (3) The mediation effect of renewable energy consumption in reducing carbon emission intensity is to promote technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading, as well as improve energy efficiency. Based on the conclusions, this paper offers several policy implications for governments to reduce CO 2 emission intensity. • The impact of renewable energy consumption on CO 2 emission intensity is explored. • Renewable energy consumption can reduce carbon emission intensity and per capita carbon emissions. • Renewable energy consumption reduces CO 2 intensity through the spatial mediation effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brundtland Commission report 'Our Common Future' highlighted that residents in high-income countries lead lifestyles incompatible with planetary boundaries. Three decades later, consumption-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to increase. To achieve 'well below 2°C' and 1.5 °C goals, consumption-related emissions must be substantially reduced in the coming decades. This paper provides insights on how to pursue 1.5 °C pathways through changes in household consumption. It draws on original data gathered in the project 'HOusehold Preferences for reducing greenhouse gas Emissions in four European High Income Countries' (HOPE) to analyse policies targeting and affecting direct and indirect GHG emissions in three household consumption categories (mobility, housing and food) in four countries (France, Germany, Norway and Sweden) and four medium-sized cities. This paper demonstrates discrepancies and similarities between current governmental policy approaches in the four countries and household perceptions of consumption changes with respect to policy mechanisms, responsibilities and space for acting on mitigation. Current demand-side policy strategies rely heavily on instruments of self-governance and nudging behaviour. Whilst some of our data suggests that households broadly accept this, it also suggests that governments could more actively lead and steer demand-side mitigation via adjusting and supplementing a comprehensive list of 20 climate policy measures currently in place in one or more of the case countries. The paper concludes by suggesting areas for more effective policy change and household-level climate change mitigation to feed the next update of climate pledges under the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are believed to be the main factor for alarming rise in global temperatures. Conference of Parties 21 held at Paris in the year 2015 strictly warned and asked the nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emission level. This makes the nations to adopt renewable energy technology to substitute burning fossil fuels. Solar energy due to its accessibility and affordability leads the renewable energy application race. Even though Photovoltaic (PV) technology is mature but the effect of temperature on its efficiency is considerable, which opens up new front of research where combination of PV and thermal absorber is focussed to harness thermal energy which otherwise negatively affect the PV electrical efficiency. In the proposed study starting from the effect temperature on PV electrical efficiency, construction of Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV/T) module, historical development of PV/T, about different types of PV/T's developed around the globe along with performance of developed PV/T's, effect of operating parameters and methods of thermodynamic management are reviewed and presented. The study emphasised on the use of nano fluid and phase change material to harness maximum thermal energy from the system, also includes an insight into commercially available PV/T modules across the globe. This paper presents enviro-economic evaluation of PV/T systems developed by various researchers and also enumerated thermodynamic methods for evaluating system efficiency, which includes both energy and exergy analysis. This paper also provides the necessary information about the requirement of future research in PV/T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an empirical analysis of CO2emissions and economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and energy consumption over the period 1975–2014 in Germany. This paper uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach of cointegration test and vector error-correction models. The unit root and cointegration tests show that the long-run relationship between CO2emissions and its determinants. The empirical results show that the findings do not support the environmental Kuznets curve between real GDP and CO2emissions. To estimate the shocks of renewable energy consumptions, the study applies the dynamic test of Impulse Response Function (IRF) under the VAR method. The increasing portion of renewable energy consumption in electricity generation would have no impacts on the environment. However, the hikes of renewable energy sources would incur more cost to electricity producers and shrivel up the growth of economies through the expansionary effect of industry’s consumption and private capital spending in the Germany’s economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand had summited its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in 2015 and ratified the Paris Agreement in September 2016. Its INDCs stated that by 2030 GHG emissions will be reduced by 20–25% when compared to the business- as -usual (BAU) scenario by using mainly domestic renewable energy resources and energy efficiency improvement. Therefore, this paper assesses the potential of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction by the use of renewable energy in Thailand's INDCs and the economic impacts from GHG emission reduction. This paper employed the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model/Computable General Equilibrium (AIM/CGE). Besides the BAU scenario, four mitigation scenarios are assessed at given GHG emission levels and renewable power generation targets. Results show that Thailand's INDC can be achieved under the current renewable energy target in Thailand's Power Development Plan 2015. As a result, macroeconomic loss will be small under the light GHG reduction target; however, it will be large under the stringent GHG emission reduction target. The GDP loss ranges from 0.2% in the case of a 20% reduction target to 3.1% in the case of a 40% reduction target in 2030. Thus, the availability of land for deploying the renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and biomass needs to be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing energy demand in harbour areas, coupled with the need to reduce pollutant emissions, has led to the development of renewable energy-based polygeneration systems to face the carbon footprint of ports and ships at berth. In this way, in the coming years, ports can be converted into modern energy hubs. From this point of view, this paper presents a new dynamic simulation model for assessing and optimizing the energy and economic impact of ports. Here, energy systems and renewable sources can be designed to be connected to national electricity and natural gas grids and can include also alternative fuels (hydrogen, biomethane, etc.) and thermal energy networks, as well as different biomass fluxes (to be exploited for energy aims). Energy availability/demands of near towns and port buildings/infrastructures, as well as on-shore power supply are also included in the dynamic assessments. Hourly weather data and different prices for all the considered energy carriers are taken into account hour by hour. A multi-objective optimization approach is also implemented in the model considering energy and economic indexes to be optimized. The whole model is implemented in a computer tool written in MATLAB. For showing the capability of the developed model, a novel case study referred to the port of Naples (South-Italy) is presented. Here, several renewable energy sources are considered, including an anaerobic biodigester for producing biogas from the organic waste of docked cruise ships. A combined heat and power system (fed by biogas) is implemented in the port energy hub also for supplying absorption chillers. PV panels, and marine power generators are also included. In the conducted analysis, optimization targets are the maximization of system self-consumption and self-sufficiency as well as the minimum simple payback period. The proposed system can effectively contribute to the decarbonization of the port energy demand and reduce harmful pollutant emissions. Results showed that very high rate of renewable energy produced on-site can be exploited (up to 84%) by the considered port facilities, ensuring increasing independency from utility power grid (self-sufficiency index up to 40%). By the obtained results and through the developed simulation/optimization tool, novel design and operating criteria can be achieved for future port energy hubs featured by renewables and bi-directional energy exchange between ships and port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are long lasting issues and need continuous research to improve efficiency evaluation and performance monitoring of economies. The static and dynamic aspects of efficiency need to be dealt with simultaneously to thoroughly analyze the performance of economies. This paper aims at conducting a static and dynamic analysis of energy and CO 2 emissions efficiency of major economies. In this paper, we applied slacks based model of Tone (2001) with the treatment of undesirable output in objective function and constraint assuming free disposability of undesirable output and built a dashboard. The results can be summarized by saying that the larger economies with intensive production strategy, larger secondary industry, and weaker carbon tax laws are more likely to be inefficient. China, India, and Russia have the greatest potential for improvement in both energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions efficiency. The suggested dashboard has the ability to dig out the potential for efficiency improvement of countries like the USA, which mostly appear at the efficient frontier with other techniques. Concluding it can be suggested that economies in lower ranks of dashboard need stricter policy measures to cut energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and encourage a shift from fossil fuels to other renewable resources of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home energy consumption is increasing, and renewable energy sources are being deployed. The use of renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear energy is a significant opportunity for reducing CO 2 emissions. However, carbon emissions from electricity generation are dependent on the type of renewable energy source and the quantity of the electricity that is produced. With the emergence of the smart grid, residents are able to reduce their electricity consumption by shedding the power usage in their homes. The objective of this study is to smooth power peak demand and diminish CO 2 emissions. This paper describes the power shedding benefits of reducing energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. This reduction of CO 2 emissions eliminates the need for auxiliary power plants in the grid in the case of peak demand points and the need to switch to renewable energy sources. In this study, we prove that emerging information and communication technology can reduce energy use and CO 2 emissions. Wireless communication architecture is introduced in this study to increase grid flexibility and rapidity in the data flow among all of the components in the proposed system. Our proposed system with local renewable generation can reduce CO 2 emissions nearly 72% of all CO 2 emissions when all appliances are supplied with the grid. With our load shedding algorithm, the CO 2 emissions decrease nearly 91%. The yearly estimation shows that our system can reduce 62% of CO 2 emissions and 37% of consumed power. In this paper, we introduce an efficient architecture of a smart home energy management system and propose a shedding algorithm for home energy usage. This system is based on wireless communication among home appliances, a home management and control system, a grid management and control system and domestic renewable energy sources. Our proposed system, which employs wireless communication, domestic renewable generation and a power shedding algorithm, can operate in conjunction with future smart grids by applying real-time data, such as peak demand points. Numerous real data sets permitted the development of some of the statistics in the system results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a view to the expected increased data traffic volume and energy consumption of the fifth generation networks, the use of renewable energy (RE) sources and infrastructure sharing have been embraced as energy and cost-saving technologies. Aiming at reducing cost and grid energy consumption, in the present paper, we study RE exchange (REE) possibilities in late-trend network deployments of energy harvesting (EH) macrocell and small cell base stations (EH-MBSs, EH-SBSs) that use an EH system, an energy storage system, and the smart grid as energy procurement sources. On this basis, we study a two-tier network composed of EH-MBSs that are passively shared among a set of mobile network operators (MNOs), and EH-SBSs that are provided to MNOs by an infrastructure provider (InP). Taking into consideration the infrastructure location and the variety of stakeholders involved in the network deployment, we propose as REE approaches 1) a cooperative RE sharing, based on bankruptcy theory, for the shared EH-MBSs and 2) a non-cooperative, aggregator-assisted RE trading, which uses double auctions to describe the REE acts among the InP provided EH-SBSs managed by different MNOs, after an initial internal REE among the ones managed by a single MNO. Our results display that our proposals outperform baseline approaches, providing a considerable reduction in SG energy utilization and costs, with satisfaction of the participant parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Theses on China's low-carbon economy focus on the driving forces of carbon emissions, energy–carbon efficiency, and the carbon–economy nexus. Meanwhile, comprehensive frameworks that assess China's green economy and also analyze its driving forces are lacking. This paper constructs a green productivity index based on the Global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index to evaluate the development of the low-carbon economy in China. A panel vector auto-regression model is adopted to further analyze the endogenous interactions and dynamic relationships among aspects of the green economy and its influencing factors. Empirical results show that China has seen a balanced development of green economic growth in 2000–2016, achieved in a series of clear stages. To maintain the sustainable growth of the low-carbon economy in the future, China must rely more on technological progress. This research also makes some important discoveries that have not been found in previous studies: the impact of China's industrial structure and energy consumption structure on the green economy are short term, having a duration of impact of approximately four years. Finally, we provide an assessment of provincial green economy development and describe the corresponding policy implications. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • A comprehensive analysis of China's green economy. • A slack-based Global Malmquist–Luenberger index is adopted to calculate the Green Productivity Index in China. • The stage characteristics of green economic development are identified. • A panel vector autoregressive model is used to analyze the interactions among aspects of the environmental economic system. • The findings that the impact duration of energy structure, industry structure, and urbanization on the green economy is about four years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs panel methodological approaches to explore the link between per capita carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, per capita real gross domestic product (GDP), renewable energy consumption, and health expenditures as health indicator for a panel of 42 sub-Saharan Africa countries, spanning the period 1995–2011. Empirical results support a long-term relationship between variables. In the short-run, Granger causality reveals the presence of unidirectional causalities running from real GDP to CO 2 emissions, to renewable energy consumption, and to heath expenditures, and bidirectional causality between renewable energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. In the long-run, there is a unidirectional causality running from renewable energy consumption to health expenditures, and bidirectional causality between health expenditures and CO 2 emissions. Our long-run elasticity estimates document that both renewable energy consumption and health expenditures contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions, while real GDP leads to the increase of emissions. We recommend these countries to pursue their economic growth and invest in health care and renewable energy projects, which will enable them to benefit from their abundant wealth in renewable energy resources, improve the health conditions of their citizens, and fight climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the determinants of carbon emissions based on energy consumption, analyzing the data of 30 countries using nuclear energy for the period 1990–2014. Renewable energy and nuclear energy consumption are adopted as determinants, and real coal price and real GDP are used as additive variables. The panel cointegration analysis and Granger causality tests are conducted to investigating the relationship among the variables. First, the panel cointegration test results suggest that long-run equilibrium relationship exists among carbon emissions, renewable energy consumption, and nuclear energy consumption. The results of the long-run cointegrating vector and Granger causality tests indicate that nuclear energy does not contribute to carbon reduction unlike renewable energy. Thus, the development and expansion of renewable, not nuclear, energy are essential to prevent global warming. Though there is a concern that rising energy prices caused by the expansion of renewable energy may impact the economy negatively, our empirical results also imply that renewable energy consumption will promote economic growth. In other words, our evidence shows that using and expanding renewable energy is both economically and ecologically beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to reduce carbon intensity of electricity involve increasing shares of variable renewable energy (VRE), including a trend towards decentralized generation. Ensuring their high utilization necessitates addressing generation variability at different spatial and temporal scales, likely involving a coordination of multiple systems (e.g. flexible loads, storage, dispatchable generation). This paper presents a methodology for estimating the energy flexibility required from such a synchronized system. The simple data-based approach uses local load and VRE production patterns, and provides a regional assessment considering (1) indicators to evaluate energy flexibility requirements based on VRE self-consumption (2) visualization methods to observe consumption and production patterns' impact on flexibility requirements across day/week/year and (3) simple algorithms to estimate the energy flexibility requirements at different timescales. The approach is demonstrated for three Swiss distribution system operators, for both current and increased shares of VRE generation. The largest benefits for optimal self-consumption are realized for the energy flexibility timescale of 6–12 hrs. Medium- and long-term (seasonal) storage appears beneficial at VRE penetration levels beyond 40%. The proposed framework can be readily utilized to assess energy flexibility requirements of different regions, and serve as a basis for identifying a suitable mix of strategies needed to address them. • Variable renewable energy raises flexibility needs at various spatiotemporal scales. • Novel metrics evaluate energy flexibility needs using aggregated time-series data. • They consider the effect of spatial and temporal mismatch on renewable energy use. • A simple algorithm estimates how they evolve with increased shares of renewables. • As proof-of-concept, the method is applied to multiple case studies in Switzerland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose In response to increasing energy demand and financial constraints to invest in green infrastructure, behaviour change energy-saving interventions are increasingly being considered as a tool for encouraging pro-environmental behaviour in campus residences. This paper aims to report on a pilot programme aimed at reducing energy consumption via behaviour change interventions, variably applied in residences at Rhodes University, South Africa.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via structured questionnaires, energy consumption records and post-intervention programme focus group discussions.Findings Participant residences that received a mix of different interventions in the forms of pamphlets, face-to-face discussions, incentives and feedback recorded more energy reductions of up to 9 per cent than residences that received a single or no intervention. In post-experiment discussions, students cited personal, institutional and structural barriers to pro-environmental energy-use behaviour.Practical implications Overall, the results of this study suggest that information provision of energy-saving tips combined with regular feedback and incentives can result in energy-use reductions in university residences, which may yield environmental and economic benefits for universities, but addressing barriers to pro-environmental behaviour might maximise the results.Originality/value Given the lack of literature on energy conservation in the global South universities, this study provides the basis for discussing the potential for using behavioural interventions in universities for stirring pathways towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major consumption of energy around the globe is related to human activities. However, it may be essential to quantify how renewable energy consumption influence process of human development. This particular area of research still needs to be explored. Thus, this paper explores the relationship between renewable energy consumption, economic growth and human development index for 1990–2014 in Pakistan by using Two-Stage Least Square (2SLS) method. Empirical results reveal that renewable energy consumption does not improve the situation of the human development process in Pakistan. More, interestingly higher the income of the country the lower is level of human development. In addition, the CO 2 emission is helpful to improve human development index. Furthermore, trade openness discourages human development process in Pakistan. Furthermore, causality analysis confirms feedback hypothesis between environmental factor and human development process in the long run path. These novel findings would help policymaker and government officials to better understand the role of renewable energy and economic growth in the human development process in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction sector delivers the infrastructure and buildings to the society by consumption large amount of unrenewable energy. Consequently, this consumption causes the large emission of CO 2 . This paper explores and compares the level of CO 2 emission caused by the construction activities globally by using the world environmental input-output table 2009. It analyses CO 2 emission of construction sector in 40 countries, considering 26 kinds of energy use and non-energy use. Results indicate: 1) the total CO 2 emission of the global construction sector was 5.7 billion tons in 2009, contributing 23% of the total CO 2 emissions produced by the global economics activities. 94% of the total CO 2 from the global construction sector are indirect emission. 2) Gasoline, diesel, other petroleum products and light fuel oil are four main energy sources for direct CO 2 emission of global construction sector. The indirect CO 2 emission mainly stems from hard coal, nature gas, and non-energy use. 3) The emerging economies cause nearly 60% of the global construction sector total CO 2 emission. China is the largest contributor. Moreover, the intensities of construction sector’s direct and indirect CO 2 emission in the developing countries are larger than the value in the developed countries. Therefore, promoting the development and use of the low embodied carbon building material and services, the energy efficiency of construction machines, as well as the renewable energy use are identified as three main pivotal opportunities to reduce the carbon emissions of the construction sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy consumption of the water sector presents an increasing energy demand, contrary to GHG mitigation aims. As a result, research aimed at capturing emitted CO2and at developing treatment technologies with a low energy demand and increased renewable energy production has increased, leading to a surge in implementation of anaerobic digestion (AD). Valorization of the biogenic CO2emitted with biogas AD (estimated at over 1 MtCO2per annum for the UK water and organic waste sectors), presents an opportunity to further reduce carbon footprint and support energy supply decarburization. This paper reviews bioconversion of CO2into CH4in ADs (without addition of H2) as a means to valorize CO2emissions. The review has concluded this to be a promising solution to reduce carbon footprint and uplift renewable energy production. However, in order to increase readiness for implementation (1) the mechanisms of CO2utilization need to be elucidated, including the sources of additional H2needed, (2) studies need to report more thoroughly the conditions of CO2injection and (3) trials where ADs are integrated with gas to liquid mass transfer technologies need to be performed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By considering the weight penalty of batteries on payload and total vehicle weight, this paper shows that almost all forms of land-based transport may be served by battery electric vehicles (BEV) with acceptable cost and driving range. Only long-distance road freight is unsuitable for battery electrification. The paper models the future Indian electricity grid supplied entirely by low-carbon forms of generation to quantify the additional solar PV power required to supply energy for transport. Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis for use as a fuel for road freight provides an inter-seasonal energy store that accommodates variations in renewable energy supply. The advantages and disadvantages are considered of midday electric vehicle charging vs. overnight charging considering the temporal variations in supply of renewable energy and demand for transport services. There appears to be little to choose between these two options in terms of total system costs. The result is an energy scenario for decarbonized surface transport in India, based on renewable energy, that is possible, realistically achievable, and affordable in a time frame of year 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the self-declared energy and environmental protection objectives of many car manufacturers responsible companies must use energy-efficient production technologies. The running costs of production sites are a decisive factor in the overhead of automotive production. Therefore, it is important for many operators to reduce those costs in a sustainable way. For this purpose, they attempt to reduce both the energy consumption costs and CO 2 emissions of production systems. However, most components of the energy costs are determined during the very early phases of the product creation process. To achieve an estimation of the energy consumption in this early planning stage, a new suitable forecasting method is required. Therefore, this paper presents an approach for determining the prospective energy consumption by using Methods-Energy Measurement combined with defined energy reference cycles for manufacturing technologies. With this approach, key performance indicators are defined, and the production technologies are divided into basic energy consumers. The average energy values will be determined empirically by using the defined energy reference cycles. With these data, the energy demands for different scenarios are calculated. Thereby, it is possible to estimate the potential energy consumption of complex manufacturing cells. The designed method is validated within a case study of a modern automotive body shop. In summary, the approach contributes to identify and realize sustainable solutions in advance and thus increase the profitability of a factory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability of chemical processes depends on three major pillars, namely, economic performance, environmental and social impacts. To design sustainable processes based on renewable sources and/or to compare fuels and technologies in view of their sustainability, a simple 3-D metric has been developed. It involves production and investment costs, the effect of the facility on the generation of jobs, the emissions of carbon dioxide, due to the consumption of energy and water, and their mitigation, due to the production of renewable based commodities and chemicals. The carbon tax is used to normalize the contribution of the use of resources and the substitution of products by the renewable counterparts into an economic basis. The metric is region specific. It can be used as objective function in process synthesis or as an offline tool for sustainability assessment. In this paper, a large number of biofuels, including several processing paths, and processes for the production of chemicals or power from solar and wind have been evaluated using the metric. The results show that the processes that generate a surplus of energy, like FT fuels, are more sustainable because of their emission mitigation potential. Furthermore, water availability determines the sustainability of solar based facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the European Union is to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% till 2020. This objective is transferred to municipalities through the Covenant of Mayors initiative which was established by the European Commission in 2008. In line with this, this paper presents an integration of Sustainable Energy Action Plans on the Croatian island of Korcula. This was developed through a methodology that uses factors, derived from the statistic, that have an influence on the energy consumption. Energy consumption and the Baseline CO2 emissions inventory for municipalities on Korcula in the public sector, households, tertiary sector and road transport are calculated. Total CO2 emissions for listed sectors in baseline 2012 are 42,923 tCO2, and with recommended actions and measures this can be reduced by approx. 22% till 2020. There are planned joint actions, so all municipalities on the island can cooperate together to maximise their limited financial and human capacities. There has been suggested the establishment of action group for actions implementation which will include representatives from municipalities and other stakeholders. Investments for measures in household sector in joint and individual approach was compared and it was concluded that achieving economy of scale with an integrated approach would accelerate their implementation. The integrated approach enables small neighbouring municipalities to develop one strategy and act together towards achieving goals taken by submitting to the Covenant of Mayors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Synergistic between renewable energy and cogeneration is an ideal transition path. • Imported and exported power could reduce the CO₂ emissions of the heating system. • Investment costs mainly affect the economy of the future heating systems. • Taken Beijing as a case study, the proposed method can be applied to other regions. In response to climate change, China has set the target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The large-scale development of renewable energy and the decarbonization transition of the heating system are crucial for achieving this target. Is there a synergistic effect between the heating system's decarbonization transition and the use of large-scale renewable energy sources? What effect does this synergistic development have on the CO₂ emissions and the economic costs of an energy system? This paper conducts a case study of Beijing, China, and designs three technical path scenarios for heating system decarbonization transition in the future, namely, business as usual scenario where existing policies and regulations are applied, the electricity substitution scenario where the traditional fossil fuel heating system is replaced by electric heat pump, and the synergistic development scenario where the existing thermal power units are retrofitted to replace the consumption of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. Using the EnergyPLAN model, the hourly operation of Beijing's power and heating systems under the three scenarios are simulated. The research results are: Firstly, the proportion of local renewable energy will be over 70% in all three scenarios, and in the synergistic development scenario, the electricity and heating demand can be met by 100% renewable energy, reducing CO₂ emissions resulted from fossil fuel combustion; secondly, in view of the real-time match of power supply and demand in the power system, at times renewable energy supply would exceed demand. The rational use of the surplus renewable energy can promote further the synergistic development of decarbonization transition of heating system and renewable energy, reducing the primary energy consumption and CO₂ emissions by over 16% and 28% respectively in the future heating system; Thirdly to improve the economic benefit of a synergistic electric power and heating system, focus should be on the reduction of infrastructure construction cost rather than the reduction of fuel consumption. The proposed method can be extended to regional energy systems with more energy sectors, and can be used to formulate decarbonization transition schemes for industry, agriculture, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper MARKAL integrated energy system model is applied to explore the impacts and opportunities for low emissions energy system development in Macedonia, identifying CO 2 emission reduction policies and the cost of taking action. Two scenarios with different reduction target have been examined: higher ambition scenario where emissions are restricted to 10% above 1990 levels in 2021 and 2.5% in 2030, and moderate ambition scenario where emissions are restricted to 25% above 1990 levels in 2021 and 15% in 2030. In order to provide insights into the optimal timing of emission reductions, both of these cases have also been run under cumulative constraints, that is, rather than having the specified annual targets, there is a carbon “budget” set for 2015–2030 (44 Mt and 26 Mt for higher and moderate ambition cases, respectively), reflecting the same ambition as the above cases but providing flexibility to reduce emissions in the most cost-optimal way. The results show that most of the CO 2 reductions are in the power generation sector, which is not surprising as this tends to be the most carbon intensive sector. The higher ambition case is considerably more expensive than the reference case, with costs 1.9% higher, while the increase under the moderate ambition case is 1%. Under a cumulative constraint, the additional costs are reduced to 1.5% and 0.6% respectively, highlighting the importance of the timing of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper mainly investigates the relationship among energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth in China from 1952 to 2012. First, we implement unit root and cointegration analysis to test the stationary. Furthermore, we analyze the mutual influence among energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth through Granger causality analysis. Next, we also conduct static and dynamic regression analysis on the determinants of carbon emissions and economic growth. Last, we predict the future influence of different energy consumption on carbon emissions and economic growth. We find that coal has dominant impact on economic growth and carbon emissions. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has bi-directional relationship with CO 2 (carbon dioxide) emission, coal, gas, and electricity consumption. It is imperative to change energy consumption structure in China. We had better decrease coal consumption rate. It is significant to develop hydro and nuclear power in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron and steel industry is the largest energy consuming manufacturing sector in the world. It is responsible for emitting 4–5% of the total anthropogenic CO 2 . Due to consistently increasing demand of iron and steel products for human needs, fossil-fuel energy use and CO 2 emission will continue to grow in this industry. So there is a strong motivation to develop and implement energy-efficient and low-carbon technologies as well as carbon reduction programs for this industry. Enhancing the development and deployment of high-temperature waste heat energy recovering technologies along a desired combination of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will be the effective solution to reducing CO 2 emissions from iron and steel production. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the worldwide carbon reduction programs and new CO 2 breakthrough technologies for energy saving and carbon capture and storage in iron and steel making processes by collating updated information from a wide range of sources. Also, a discussion on the selection of the appropriate technology and their barriers and stages of development and deployment is presented. It is found that lots of factors that limit the role of using biomass in CO 2 abatement, so implementation of CCS technology in coal-based integrated steel plant would be an efficient means for sustainable green iron and steel manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the atmosphere has been exposed to a substantial increase in concentration of the trace gases. In 2012, energy-related CO 2 emissions reached a record of 31.6 gigatonnes which corresponds to 1.4% comparing to 2011. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an energy revolution is needed to achieve a 50% reduction of global CO 2 emissions relative to current levels by 2050. In this revolution, energy efficiency, energy storage, new transport technologies, nuclear energy and CO 2 capture and storage should play a crucial role. Furthermore, renewable energy technologies comprise a large potential for emission reductions which takes second place after energy efficiency improvements. Until 2035, renewable energy will also have greater impact than other potential alternatives including both CO 2 capture and storage or nuclear energy. For this reason, renewable energy industries, markets, and policy frameworks are developed rapidly in recent years, and they will play a substantial role in the world׳s future. This paper presents an overview of renewable electric power capacity worldwide and discusses the current status, technologies, industry and recent developments of renewable energy sources (RESs) in detail. In addition, the top countries in terms of total installed renewable electric power capacity are also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy sectors of all the countries around the world are faced with a big challenge: the energy transition under the imperative of continuous reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. The energy transition and the sustainability constraints pose a significant challenge for engineers, researcher and scientists developing new and clean energy-efficient technologies. Energy production and transformations, along with its storage, distribution and consumption, are achieved by utilising new and clean energy technologies, with the goal of the continuous increase of energy efficiency, the growth of renewable energy sources utilisation, the uninterrupted switch from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, and the continued reduction of CO2 emissions. This editorial paper addresses the latest progress and the findings in research and developments in the sustainable energy technologies, energy and environment systems from selected papers of the conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems held in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By establishing a two-stage model in which a monopolization firm first chooses R&D input and then the quantity of energy, this paper compares the different effects of two regulatory policies: feed-in tariff (FIT) and renewable portfolio standard (PRS). The results show that FIT is more efficient than RPS to increase the quantity of renewable energy (installed capacity) and to stimulate the R&D input to reduce costs. And RPS policy is more efficient to reduce the carbon emissions and to improve the consumer surplus. Apart from existing findings, we cannot obtain the accurate conclusion about the effects of social welfare under the two policies. The effects of two policies on the social welfare heavily depend on the level of negative externality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to evaluate newly introduced energy policies with regard to economic development and environmental preservation by analyzing carbon dioxide emissions and the costs associated with various electrical power generation schemes. Nonlinear regression was used to measure the efficiency of technology aimed at CO 2 emission reduction and the Morris method was employed for sensitivity analysis. Our results indicate that new Taiwanese energy policies represent the lowest possible cost and the lowest possible CO 2 emissions per kW h currently possible. However, total CO 2 emissions under this plan fail to meet emissions targets established in 2000. This paper outlines a long-term plan for the transformation of the Taiwanese power generation industry from a major contributor of pollution into a largely green entity through the replacement of coal with renewable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in China for the period 1977–2011. Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach (ARDL) to cointegration and Johansen cointegration techniques are employed by including intermittent variables namely carbon dioxide emissions and labor. We also employed Granger causality test in order to determine the direction of the causality among the variables. The results show that there is a bi-directional long term causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth. This finding implies that growing economy in China is propitious for the development of renewable energy sector which in turn helps to boost economic growth. We also find that labor influences renewable energy consumption in the short term. However, there is no evidence of long or short run causality between carbon emissions and renewable energy consumption. This implies that actual level of renewable energy in China is still insignificant and not considerably exploited in order to contribute to the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is likely that the future availability of energy from fossil fuels, such as natural gas, will be influenced by how efficiently the associated CO2 emissions can be mitigated using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). In turn, understanding how CCS affects the efficient recovery of energy from fossil fuel reserves in different parts of the world requires data on how the performance of each part of a particular CCS scheme is affected by both technology specific parameters and location specific parameters, such as ambient temperature. This paper presents a study into how the energy consumption of an important element of all CCS schemes, the CO2 compression process, varies with compressor design, CO2 pipeline pressure, and cooling temperature. Post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxyfuel capture scenarios are each considered. A range of optimization algorithms are used to ensure a consistent approach to optimization. The results show that energy consumption is minimized by compressor designs with multiple impellers per stage and carefully optimized stage pressure ratios. The results also form a performance map illustrating the energy consumption for CO2 compression processes that can be used in further study work and, in particular, CCS system models developed to study performance variation with ambient temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of new sources of biomass residues for energy purposes in Europe is crucial for increasing the share of renewable energy sources and the limitation of carbon dioxide emissions. The residues coming from regular pruning of permanent crops are an alternative to conventional fuels. The paper is focused on the assessment of European pruning potentials in European Union (EU28) in line with the nomenclature of territorial units (NUTs) at NUTs0, NUTs2 and NUTs3 level. The assessment indicates that the yearly theoretical and technical potential of that biomass is 13.67 MtDM (or 252.0 PJ·yr−1) and 12.51 MtDM (or 230.6 PJ·yr−1), respectively. The economic potential has been assessed based on different management or exploitation models: management of pruning as a waste, self-consumption, and demand-driven mobilisation by consumption centres at small, medium and large scales. The utilisation of pruning when gathering is compulsory coincides with the technical potential. Under self-consumption, up to 10.98 MtDM per year could be effectively mobilised (202.3 PJ·yr−1). The creation of new value chains for delivery of pruning biomass ranges 7.30 to 8.69 MtDM per year (from 134.5 to 160.2 PJ·yr−1). When applying further constraints related to other existing uses the implementation of the potential further descends, ranging from 6.18 to 10.66 MtDM per year (from 113.9 to 196.4 PJ·yr−1). The analysis shows that the amount of available pruning residues is regionally scattered; however, most of them (ca. 80%) are located in the Mediterranean area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of urbanization, people's living standards have improved. Simultaneously, the growing aggravation of resource shortages and environmental pollution have also gradually attracted widespread attention. Low-carbon energy planning can effectively reduce dependence on fossil resources and carbon emissions to the atmosphere, as well as improve the utilization of resources. Therefore, the formulation and evaluation of low-carbon energy planning have become the focus of attention for related colleges and institutions. This paper puts forward a hybrid multi-criteria decision making(MCDM) method combining decision making trial and evaluation laboratory(DEMATEL), analytical network process(ANP), and VIKOR to obtain the weight of each criterion and evaluate each alternative about low-carbon energy planning for building. A hierarchy structure of criteria involving cost, safety, reliability, and environment protection is built. Afterwards, a case of four alternatives is applied for testifying this methodology. Lastly, a comparison with prior methodologies serves as proof of the raised ranking. The presentation has proved that this methodology offers a more precise and effective foundation for decisions about low-carbon energy planning evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]