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The renewable energy transition of oil- and gas-producing countries has specific peculiarities due to the ambivalent position of these countries in the global energy market, both as producers and consumers of energy resources. This task becomes even more challenging when the share of oil and gas in the country's GDP is very high. These circumstances pose serious challenges for long-term energy policy development and require compromising decisions to better align the existing and newly created energy policies of the country. The scale, scope, and pace of changes in the transition process must be well balanced, considering the increasing pressure of economic and environmental factors. The objective of this paper is to develop models that allow the selection of the most appropriate scenario for renewable energy transition in an oil- and gas-producing country. The distinguishing feature of the proposed model is that alternatives in the decision matrix are presented as scenarios, composed of a set of energy resources and the level of their use. Linguistic descriptions of the alternative scenarios are formalized in the form of fuzzy statements. For the problem solution, four different Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods were used: the fuzzy simple additive weighting (F-SAW) method, the distance-based fuzzy TOPSIS method (Technique of Order Preference Similarity to the Ideal Solution), the ratio-analysis-based fuzzy MOORA method (Multi-Objective Optimization Model Based on the Ratio Analysis), and the fuzzy multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution method VIKOR (Serbian: VIekriterijumsko Kompromisno Rangiranje). This approach is illustrated using the example of the energy sector of Azerbaijan. The recommended solution for the country involves increasing natural gas (NG) moderately, maintaining hydro, and increasing solar notably and wind moderately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is written within the European Project "THREE-Lanka" which has the aim of modernizing the higher education related to Renewable Energy (RE) in Sri Lanka. The paper presents the outcomes of analysing various incentive schemes to stimulate RE development. In Europe, there was substantial growth in RE installation through generous incentives in the first years. Then, to regulate this growth, in recent years, the auction system has been introduced to improve the competition among companies that install RE plants. In Sri Lanka, on the other hand, the main energy tariff policies focus on the spread of PhotoVoltaics (PV) through contributions based on the electricity fed into the grid. This paper provides an updated view of the evolution of the energy tariff policies in the relevant European countries with respect to Sri Lanka, covering some recent policy developments. Within the Sri Lankan framework, four case studies involving residential, commercial, and industrial users are outlined to suggest better mechanisms (in the case of not adequate current incentive tariff) for supporting the deployment of grid-connected PV systems in a wide power range. Such knowledge transfer in the THREE-Lanka project will demonstrate the enormous potential RE capacity in a developing country, still depending on fossil fuels but willing to follow the path towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with improving the feed-in tariff policy for green energy advancement in Ukraine's households based on assessing the economic efficiency of investment project implementation under the current state support mechanisms. This study was conducted for solar and wind power plants with different installed capacities. The Levelized Cost of Electricity and the payback period for such power plants were calculated considering the ongoing feed-in tariffs and discount rates determined by various equity and debt capital ratios. The results showed that the state support provides attractive payback periods for solar and wind power plants with an installed capacity of ≥30 kW. In comparison, 5 kW solar power plants and wind power plants with a capacity of up to 10 kW are not paid off during the power plants' lifecycle. It confirmed that the ongoing energy policy in Ukraine's residential sector is still designed to obtain profits by the owners of generating facilities by selling the excess electricity. In the meantime, its main goal—providing households energy independence—has been levelled. To resolve the issues caused by such a state support model, a methodical approach to improve the feed-in tariff calculation is proposed. In addition, recommendations for reconsidering other policy measures to ensure effective renewable energy development in the residential sector have been made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) into energy systems requires a meticulous assessment of various factors, spanning renewable energy potential, legal frameworks, technical considerations, community engagement, and consumer preferences. This article synthesizes a multifaceted discussion on the subject, focusing on the need for comprehensive analyses before deciding to implement SMRs. Drawing insights from geographic information systems (GIS) and lessons from renewable energy development in Poland, this paper underscores the significance of aligning energy strategies with local needs, emphasizing stakeholder participation. This study examines the factors influencing location attractiveness for various energy technologies, including small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), wind, solar, and hydroelectric power plants, within Poland. Employing 17 indicators sourced from Statistics Poland and URE, coupled with the application of the k-means algorithm, we outline four distinct clusters that delineate the zones of location attractiveness for SMRs and other renewable energy sources. While large and medium-sized cities exhibit optimal location attractiveness, coastal counties in northern Poland emerge as more suitable for renewable energy sources than for SMRs. The study outlines four distinct energy development strategies based on typologies of regions, each tailored to maximize the utility of available resources and minimize environmental impact. The strategies encompass renewable energy utilization, energy efficiency enhancement, energy diversification, and adaptation through innovation. Emphasizing the interplay between renewable energy potential, energy demand, and local conditions, the research suggests the strategic deployment of SMRs as part of an energy mix in areas where renewable energy resources are limited. By leveraging SMRs' continuous energy production, these reactors can complement intermittent renewables, bolstering energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful and just energy transition is subject to policies that adhere to a multi-dimensional approach to renewable energy development. To achieve success in renewable energy development, well-thought-out and efficient policies must be implemented. This paper aims to address a major shortcoming in renewable energy development in terms of understanding and recognising the policy space that promotes or hampers renewable energy growth. The paper examines the relevant literature to identify major themes and factors in renewable energy development. A thematic analysis was conducted using a hybrid inductive and deductive approach and resulted in the identification of 5 major themes namely Institutional, Environmental, Financial, Socio-cultural, Technical and 144 factors. The identified themes and factors will assist to make a policy action decisive, just, and sustainable. Recommendations including comprehensive incentivisation, regulatory support for renewable energy technologies in developing nations, environment impact assessment programs, promotion of financial transparency and opting for a just transition to benefit local and vulnerable communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores Coastal Energy-Based Industrial Clusters (EBICs) and their role in advancing energy efficiency and sustainability through collaborative innovation. Economic growth theory and energy sustainability have been introduced into industrial clusters to illustrate indicators that have a greater impact on the development of EBICs. This paper proposes an EBICs development model based on the Cobb-Douglas function, in which accounts for various factors that drive the progress of such clusters. The outcomes of the economic model also provide insights into how the interaction of various factors affects the economic growth of EBICs and their eventual dominance in the energy market of coastal regions, dependent on gradually investing in areas such as research and development (R&D). Different development strategies demonstrate that the final development of a cluster has low dependence on the cluster's initial advantages. The study also illustrates how clusters can gradually monopolize the energy market, even with initial disadvantages. Through quantitative analysis, it showcases the transformation process of developing advantageous clusters into sub-clusters. Next, an energy symbiosis framework for coastal is proposed, which places greater emphasis on the multi-energy complementary system and reduces production costs. Finally, this paper also sheds light on shaping energy strategies for public authorities who shape economic policies at various levels of aggregation and in diverse dimensions. • Multi-energy complementarity provides a new path for sustainable development of coastal energy. • Hardware investment is critical to the development of energy-based industry clusters. • Clusters with better natural advantages may become sub-clusters due to incorrect development strategies. • The essence of energy cluster development is the result of the interaction of multiple influencing factors. • The economic growth of energy clusters depends on the proportion of investment in software and hardware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iran is situated in a wind belt. However, the installed wind capacity in Iran is around 300 MW, which is minuscule compared with the global 651 GW capacity as of 2021. Using novel data from wind trackers across Iran, the paper's findings show immense potential for wind energy in Iran from a technical perspective. While attractive policies are already in place to incentivize wind energy development in Iran, the feed-in tariff (FiT) for wind energy has dropped to around 3 cents per kWh because of the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial between 2018 and 2020. This paper shows that there is no economic justification for the development of wind farms in Iran at such low FiTs. A minimum FiT of 12 cents per kWh is required to reinvigorate Iran's wind energy industry investments. Given the extremely tight fiscal space of the Iranian government due to the sanctions and consequently reduced oil exports, the paper argues that a mere 2.14% of Iran's wasteful fossil fuel subsidies are sufficient to provide a FiT of 12 cents per kWh for wind energy to meet 5% of the country's total electricity demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy documents suggest that quantitative information is important in the development of climate and energy policy. This is supported by quantitative studies research into the use of numbers in governance, which tends to assume that numbers have sufficient epistemic authority to be used by policymakers because they are believed to be trustworthy since they are produced through mechanical objectivity. This paper questions such assumptions, by analysing the extent of extra-calculative work when providing numeric information to policymakers. We term such efforts numeric work and analyse the extent and content of such work based on interviewed experts who are engaged with calculating climate and energy issues in the context of policymaking in Norway. Numeric work shares features with the actor–network theory concept of translation but differs due to the dialogic interaction between calculation actors and policymakers that includes efforts to improve the transparency of calculation, which counters a complete black-boxing of calculation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the application of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for evaluating what technologies using renewable energy sources (RES) for electricity production have the chance to develop in Poland under the current socio-economic conditions. First, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to determine the weights of the optimization criteria. Five main criteria and 30 sub-criteria were identified. Next, the authors modified numerical taxonomy (NT) to rank eight RES technologies (such as onshore and offshore wind farms, photovoltaics, or biogas plants). The results show that offshore wind farms are the RES technology with the greatest development opportunities in Poland. The following three technologies: distributed photovoltaic energy, biogas plants, and biomass power plants, respectively, received a similar rating in the ranking. Hydropower and geothermal were the lowest-ranked technologies. The ranking, which is the result of multi-criteria analysis, in several respects, is significantly different from the directions of activities indicated in the state energy policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates state policy to promote solar energy in Latvia's and Ukraine's households. Comparing different approaches to stimulating sectors' development in both countries, the article evaluates the economic efficiency of solar power plants implementation based on the Levelized Cost of Electricity method and investment projects payback periods. The calculations were performed for solar power plants installed capacities ranging from 1 to 30 kW. The results revealed the fundamental differences in solar energy advancement due to the existing support mechanisms in the countries. While high feed-in tariff rates contribute to the rapid deployment of solar power plants in Ukraine's, Latvia's net-metering system hinders solar energy development in households. The research forms recommendations for improving policy by adjusting Ukrainian feed-in tariffs to trends in reducing solar energy costs, introducing solar energy in the Mandatory Procurement Component for Latvia, and applying preferential public financing to solar power plants construction in both states. Highlights State policy to promote solar energy in Ukraine's and Latvia's homes is analyzed The economic efficiency of small solar power plants is estimated for both countries Feed-in tariff in Ukraine ensures a quick payback period for solar power projects Net metering in Latvia does not provide investment attractiveness of solar plants Both countries need energy policy changes for balanced solar power development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saving energy is an important strategy to address the current energy crisis and environmental degradation. Regarding the pilot policy of the energy quota trading as a quasi-natural experiment by employing a difference-in-differences method, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of this pilot policy on energy saving and its mechanisms based on city-level data in China from 2006 to 2020. We find that the energy quota trading policy can reduce the total energy consumption and energy consumption intensity of pilot cities, and the effect of the policy can gradually strengthen over time. The market-oriented reform of energy factor allocation can effectively promote energy saving and economic growth. These results are convincing through a series of robustness checks. The heterogeneity test shows that the energy quota trading has a significant energy saving effect on economically developed cities, densely populated cities and southern cities, but not in economically underdeveloped cities, sparsely populated cities and northern cities. Further mechanism inspection suggests that the pilot policy of energy quota trading mainly achieves energy conservation through industrial structure upgrading and green technology innovation. Our findings provide a valuable insight for China to control energy consumption and promote the high-quality development of the energy economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a truism that whole energy system models underpin the development of policies for energy system decarbonisation. However, recent reviews have thrown doubt on the appropriateness of such models for addressing the multiple goals for future energy systems, in the face of emergent real-world complexity and the evolution of stakeholder's priorities. Without an understanding of the changing priorities of policy makers and expectations of stakeholders for future systems, system objectives and constraints are likely to be ill-defined, and there is a risk that models may be inadvertently instrumentalised. Adopting a system architecture perspective, the authors have undertaken a three-year programme of research to explore strategies for decarbonising heat in the UK, with interaction with and elicitation of needs from stakeholders at its heart. This paper presents the procedure, methods, and results of an exercise in which experts from stakeholder organisations across the energy system were interviewed. Analysis of interview data reveals two broad approaches to heat decarbonisation which can be defined as either adaptive or transformative. Specific insights gained from these interviews enabled our modelling teams to refocus their work for exploration with a wider circle of stakeholders. Results suggests that this iterative approach to formalising model-policy interaction could improve the transparency and legitimacy of modelling and enhance its impact on policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current legal and policy system of renewable energy in China has set up a framework of policy instruments, which provides an important foundation for dealing with climate change and promoting the healthy development of the renewable energy industry with the goal of "carbon neutrality" and "emission peak". However, the current policy instruments cannot meet the needs for rapid development of the renewable energy industry. This paper investigates, analyzes, and concludes the status of renewable energy development along with related policy instruments in different renewable energy sources by literature and points out the problems of current policy instruments, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures. Moreover, from the perspective of energy consumption market transformation, the authors carried out an analysis of China's challenges of policy instruments, pointing out that China's renewable energy policy instruments have the potential to take one step further in the areas of the regulatory system, legal system and legal security system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate and energy policies are the key areas of the European Union's development aspirations in the international arena. The European Green Deal sets ambitious new goals in this respect, emphasizing clean energy. The development of the energy sector, relying chiefly on renewable sources, is one of the conditions for the EU to transition to energies that do not produce waste that pollutes or is otherwise harmful to the Earth and human health. This paper assesses the development of renewable sources of energy in the EU and identifies challenges to the realization of the EU's energy priorities. An analysis of renewable sources of energy in the EU in 2012 and 2020 is the prime method. The generation of primary energy from renewable sources, the share of energy from renewable sources in the final energy consumption, the structure of energy generation from renewable sources, and the share of energy from renewable sources in the energy used by the transport sector are discussed. Secondary data are employed, made available by Eurostat and Statistics Poland. To reach the objective of the study, Z. Hellwig's taxonomic method is applied to assess the development of renewable energy sources (RES). Cluster analysis (Ward's agglomerative clustering method) is additionally used for separation of objects and member states that are similar with regard to the phenomenon reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the challenges that societies and economies face in view of the assumptions of the EU's new Green Deal, which envisages a balancing of CO2 emissions and absorption. This analysis discovers varied progress on the development of RES in the member states, posing a threat to the European community's aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional petrol vehicles emit a substantial quantity of greenhouse gases, leading to increasingly serious global warming problems. The expansion and development of renewable power generation technologies is conducive in promoting the use of electric vehicles, which are more environmentally friendly. This paper proposes a multi-objective power expansion model considering renewable energy policy objectives. The model regards the problem as a multi-period optimisation task, taking the newly installed capacity and the power generation capacity of each power generation technology as decision variables, and simulating the uncertain factors in the planning process using Geometric Brownian Motion and Monte Carlo approaches. The optimisation objective of the model is to minimise expected costs, reduce risk and environmental impacts, and incorporate changing policy objectives into the constraints to meet policy makers' expectations for renewable energy development. Then, a decentralised target search-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is proposed to solve the model. Its effectiveness is verified by a numerical example using real data from the Chinese power system. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm exhibits improved performance compared with benchmark algorithms and provides high quality and diverse Pareto-optimal solutions to decision makers. Finally, the optimal plans for power expansion and generation mix under different preferences and policy objectives are discussed and corresponding recommendations are made. [Display omitted] • Planning for the expansion of power generation under uncertainties is determined. • Strategies for the expansion of power generation towards renewable energy are optimised. • A novel multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with a constraint handling method is developed. • The impact of multiple renewable energy policies on power generation expansion planning is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the establishment of the Climate Convention and its recent Paris Agreement, capacity building has been considered as a fundamental prerequisite for achieving the goals of the climate regime. Various institutional architectures have been explored, while the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) established the Paris Committee on Capacity-Building aiming to address needs and gaps, along with promoting current, emerging, and further capacity-building efforts. Efforts to build capacity have been underway for decades but have largely failed in their objectives as they were not designed from, and rooted in, the local context. Drawing from the author's more than 40 years of personal experience in capacity building in Africa, this paper sheds light on the systemic challenges involved in building capacities. Arrangements that do not entail working on, or being led by, an agenda set by those in capacity needs are not, by definition, capacity mobilization or capacity building efforts. It is argued that capacity is tied to self-reliance and self-determination and thus ability to set and pursue the recipient's own agenda must be at the core of development narratives. Key policy insights Self-reliance and self-determination are at the core of capacity development. Therefore, countries need to set and pursue their own agenda by creating and following a bottom-up and inclusive development narrative. Intellectual, financial, and other important resources need to fall under the control of local leadership. Partnerships and networks of research centres think tanks and similar institutions in the South should be created and maintained to build capacities. Climate change, while a global issue, must be addressed based on a deep understanding of the local and national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As digital economy develops, its impact on green innovation and energy efficiency has become the focus of current research. To explore the impact of the current development of the digital economy on the energy industry, this paper selects the parameter of green innovation resilience, analyzes the impact mechanism of green innovation resilience on energy efficiency under the shock of digital economic development, and uses relevant data from 284 cities in China from 2011 to 2019 for empirical testing. It is found that: green innovation resilience promotes energy efficiency; low level of green innovation resilience inhibits the improvement of energy efficiency, while high level of resilience promotes energy efficiency; the initial stage of digital economic development generates resource grabbing and the effect of technological constraints, which weakens the role of green innovation resilience in promoting energy efficiency. The results indicate that the resilience of the green innovation system should be strengthened in order to fully tap the potential for promoting energy efficiency; the policy orientation of "digital greening—energy efficient" should be pursued in the development of digital economy; the rational allocation of resources and the implementation of green standards should be strengthened in the process of digital economic development; and the constraints on energy efficiency improvement in the early stage of digital economic development should be broken through by accelerating the digitalization process. • Green innovation resilience can promote energy efficiency. • Early digital economy development can lead to resource grabbing and technology constraints effects. • Pursuing the policy orientation of "digital greening—energy efficient". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of effective energy policy interventions on reducing energy poverty in the emerging nations of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Existing literature lacks a detailed investigation into the connection between energy policy and sustainable energy development for addressing energy poverty. Consequently, this work explores the dynamics of energy policy interventions in alleviating energy poverty in 42 emerging economies in the APAC region by engaging enhanced econometric approaches and panel estimates covering the period of 2000–2019. Analyzing the accessibility of energy, clean cooking fuel and technologies, and energy consumption level, this paper investigates energy poverty from a macro standpoint considering energy policy interventions in APAC emerging nations. The results suggest that energy policies, comprising laws, regulations, and strategies, are negatively associated with energy poverty. Among these, well-planned, forward-looking strategies are more successful in alleviating energy poverty. The implications of this study provide a framework for formulating necessary energy policies to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG7, which focuses on affordable and clean energy for all. Role of Energy policies interventions on energy poverty. [Display omitted] • Effective energy policy intervention in alleviating energy poverty is evaluated. • Energy policies, comprising laws, regulations, and strategies, are negatively associated with energy poverty. • Well-planned strategies are more effective in eradicating energy poverty. • The right energy policies contribute to accomplishing SDG-7, which is affordable and clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is continuously growing stronger. Realization of the direct correlation of quality of life to the environmental aspects of the energy sector has been at the heart of the new energy paradigm. In light of this, ensuring full awareness of current and potential emissions, with regard to market circumstances and policy implications, is crucial in acquiring a better overview on the current issues and the future development of the energy system. Research presented in this paper offers a method for calculating direct CO2 emissions from electricity generation. It also offers an insight into current issues and future prospects of the South East Europe electricity market. Observing various scenarios, the region's emission intensity is evaluated, with special consideration given to the potential impact of varying carbon prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the effect of geopolitical risk on renewable energy deployment, assuming that geopolitical uncertainty stimulates nations to be independent and rely on their renewable energy sources in order to reduce the geopolitical risk concomitant to fossil fuel inflows. The current paper's data sample covers 10 net crude oil importer countries during the period 1985–2017. It employs panel cointegration analysis and estimate an autoregressive distributed lag model. The results show that geopolitical risk has a significant and positive effect on renewable energy diffusion. Therefore, this work determines that it is an incentive, not an obstacle, to renewable energy deployment. The present study's policy implication is that renewable energy development is expected to increase if the geopolitical risk rises, all else being equal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Chinese government has promulgated many renewable energy generation policies to reduce carbon emissions and stimulate the renewable energy industry, it is vital to assess the policy effectiveness and extent to which they encourage sustainable renewable energy generation. This paper focused on the most prominent and the best-performing policy mechanisms feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS), and developed a system dynamics model to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of the renewable energy generation policies. The model clearly shows the complex causal relationships between the related economic and environmental factors, and the policy scenarios were simulated to indicate the future trends and illustrate the coordination processes between polices and compare the development effects. The results show that current FIT has no obvious impact on the sustainable development of renewable energy industry, while under the integrated scenario, the RPS quota growth rate and fines have a significant positive effect after the construction period. The findings also suggest that a FIT-RPS integrated renewable energy generation policy and a perfect RPS trading system should be prioritized, and the RPS quota ratios and fines should be appropriately increased. As various policies cannot be simultaneously implemented because of financial and resource limitations, the proposed system of dynamics-based analysis approach is useful to analyze policy effectiveness and long-term industry sustainability to ensure the provision of optimized policies. It can also provide guidance for similar problems in different areas as well as decision support for further renewable energy generation policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the research topics of China's energy transition policy and predicting future research trends are crucial for policymakers to make informed decisions and advance the energy transition. This study applied the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to extract 26 major research topics from the 13,976 abstracts of Chinese policy research papers in web of science (WOS), conceptualized the five most popular topics and used the ARIMA model to predict trends over the next 36 months. The results show that except for Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13), which will first experience unanticipated fluctuations and then show strong growth capacity, all other topics will continue to remain positive growth trend. Research and Development (Topic3) is driven by the urgency of China's energy transformation. Economic and Environmental Impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (Topic13) is driven by the potential for the development of renewable energy. Economic Impact of Climate Change (Topic26) is driven by the climate change debate. Economic Growth, Urbanization, and Energy Consumption (Topic7) is driven by a discussion of their relationship and the mechanisms influencing them. Regional Efficiency and Productivity Analysis (Topic19) is driven by regional differences in China's energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty alleviation and environmental improvement are two important targets which most developing countries try to achieve. In order to promote the poverty alleviation by using clean energy sources, this paper develops a joint poverty alleviation project including the green energy investment company (GEIC), solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant (SPP) and wind power plant (WPP). By using a tripartite evolutionary game model, evolutionary stable strategies are evaluated. Influence estimate results of key factors show that longer annual operation time and higher on-grid electricity price will increase the participating intention of all the three participators. The government should increase the on-grid electricity price of the SPP properly, but control that of the WPP as the joint poverty alleviation project can also progress well even with relatively low on-grid electricity price of the WPP. A reasonable investment ratio of the SPP and WPP is the guarantee for the smooth development of the joint poverty alleviation project. In this study, the investment ratio of the SPP and WPP of 6:4 is relatively proper and can make the three participators all have relatively high increasing rates of participating intention simultaneously. The results will be of reference value for formulating relevant governmental policies on the poverty alleviation and clean energy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies targeting energy efficiency and renewable energy are sometimes viewed as more politically feasible than carbon pricing in pursuit of emission reduction goals. This paper assesses underlying drivers of energy policy development. These factors include economic, social, environmental, and institutional variables. The between estimator for panel data is an appropriate method for our focus on some exogenous variables that vary more across countries than over time. We find that larger oil reserves per capita have a negative relationship with renewable energy policy development. Education and political globalisation have strong positive relationships with both energy-efficiency and renewable-energy policy development. These results suggest that greater participation in global political groups can be an indirect approach toward energy policy development, in cases where direct and immediate policies are hard to implement. OECD countries have higher policy scores by 33 and 25 points in energy efficiency and renewable energy respectively. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis shows that these higher scores are primarily due to social and political institution predictors rather than economics and physical endowments. • Large-n cross country international sample on continuous policy score measurement. • Political globalisation is positively linked with renewables and energy efficiency policies. • Education is positively linked to energy policy development, especially for efficiency. • Higher OECD countries' policy scores are primarily due to social and political predictors. • Higher incomes are unlikely to lead to automatic improvements in energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A cyber-physical model is proposed for plant-wide energy monitoring/diagnosis. • The proposed model describes the cause-effect relationship with in-depth analysis. • The distributed monitoring mechanism and statistics aims to detect energy states. • An abnormal variable is used to trace the root cause of the abnormal energy state. • The accurate energy monitoring and explicable energy diagnosis are analyzed. In the large-scale plant-wide chemical process, energy monitoring and diagnosis have a great impact on energy management and sustainable development. Most monitoring and diagnosis methods focused on the construction of the global model with process data, regardless of the meaningful process knowledge and in-depth analysis. Due to the multi-dimensional, correlative, and uncertain characteristics of the collected industrial data, it is laborious to obtain accurate and reliable energy monitoring and diagnosis results. To address these problems, a novel cyber-physical energy monitoring and diagnosis scheme is proposed in this paper. This scheme constructs a cyber-physical model based on process knowledge and data to describe the cause-effect relationships among the energy variables. For energy monitoring, a distributed monitoring approach is developed for energy state estimation based on the constructed monitoring statistics in both variable and residual spaces. For energy diagnosis, a faulty contribution degree index is further addressed and the corresponding root cause location strategy is discussed. The effectiveness and practicality of the proposed scheme are demonstrated via a numerical simulation example and practical ethylene oxide production. Two preset simulated faults and one practical process fault are used and all the abnormal states and root variables are monitored and diagnosed by the proposed scheme. The energy monitoring and diagnosis results provide great support for energy management and development in large-scale chemical plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary frequency control (PFC) has become increasingly important for the stable operation of power systems due to the development of renewable energy resources, and the thermal power units still need to provide satisfactory PFC services. The energy stored in metal and working fluid are the main impact factors for PFC. This paper proposed a universal assessment mechanism to evaluate PFC capability for thermal power plants under various working conditions by decomposing and quantifying the energy state, especially under flexible operating processes. A transient heat current model describes the dynamic process by constructing the relation of different parameters in overheated components at various energy states. In this study, the PFC dynamic response ability of a 600 MW supercritical power plant under various working conditions is quantified based on the proposed modeling. The maximum load regulation amount decreases from 6.0% to 1.69% with a decrease in the load. Compared to the theoretical calculation results with the experimental data of actual PFC tests, the proposed mechanism of the dynamic response of PFC assessment is more precise, with an accuracy of 97.85%, which has a significant meaning in guiding the PFC services in the power grid and regulating the power plants. • Constructed a new energy state-based model by heat current method. • Proposed a novel PFC capability assessment model under dynamic processes. • Considered the boiler and the turbine sides in the PFC simultaneously. • Validated the new model with various frequency deviations by field experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the 2015 Paris Agreement and other agreements which have been signed after, sustainable energy development is becoming the major goal in many countries. EU have set the targets to reduce the annual greenhouse gas emission by 40% in 2030 and 80% for 2050 compared with 1990 levels. For achieving this ambitious energy policy, three major technological changes are available: energy savings on the demand side, efficiency improvements in the energy production, and replacement of fossil fuels by various sources of renewable energy. Also, for realization cited three major technological changes the support of the multi-disciplinary scientific knowledge is needed. Therefore, from the beginning of the 21st century, since 2002, a series of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) Conferences were founded. This paper presents an overview of published researches in special issues of leading journals dedicated to the series SDEWES Conferences, including also the papers in current special issue. The focus is on five main fields: (1) energy policy and analysis of smart energy systems; (2) energy savings in the building sector; (3) co/polygeneration - integrated heating, cooling and electricity systems and district heating; (4) biomass for energy; and (5) measurement of energo-environmental sustainability of processes and systems. Researchers are focused on the development of methods, policies and technologies for both efficient production of energy, mainly from renewable sources, and consumption in industry, buildings and transport. Undoubtedly, the researches presented in the papers in this special issue as well as in previous ones, dedicated to SDEWES conferences, will contribute to the promotion of sustainable development and thus to the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the editorial for the virtual special issue (VSI) of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER) dedicated to 4 SDEWES Conferences held in 2020, namely: (i) the 2nd Latin American Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (LASDEWES 2020) held from February 9 to 12, 2020 in Buenos Aires, Argentina; (ii) the 1st Asia Pacific Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (APSDEWES 2020) held from April 6 to 9, 2020 in Gold Coast, Australia; (iii) the 4th South East European Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SEESDEWES 2020) held from June 28, 2020 to July 2, 2020 in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, and (iv) 15th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES 2020) held from September 1 to 5, 2020 in Cologne, Germany. The VSI collected both high quality review papers and original research articles presented at the 4 SDEWES conferences in 2020 belonging to the aims and scope of RSER. After a scrutinizing peer review process, 20 articles were accepted and published. These articles fall into four main areas: renewable energy cutting edge technologies, energy storage, energy modelling techniques and, climate and energy policy and impacts. Cross-areas articles belong to this Special Issue covering almost all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • The VSI SDEWES 2020 covers four main areas. • An overview of the renewable and sustainable energy challenges to be dealt. • Cross-areas studies help addressing SDGs. • The advances and the novel findings for the successful achievements of ambitious policy targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The impact of the dynamic dual credit policy on the development of new energy vehicles is discussed. • Assumptions about the market for vehicle manufacturers using the Hotelling model. • Propose dynamic dual credit and regulatory policy coordination. • Analysis of factors related to the new energy vehicle industry. To discuss how to promote the rapid development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) through low regulatory costs after the removal of financial subsidies, in this paper, an evolutionary game model between local governments and vehicle manufacturers is developed. In the model, we suppose a series of parameters based on academic research and practical situations. Then the model and its parameters are analyzed and verified by system dynamics simulation. The study shows that: (1) Compared with the static, the dynamic dual credit policy enables the system to have an equilibrium stability point, which helps the development of NEVs. (2) The cost of local government regulation is reduced by the effective implementation of the dynamic dual credit policy. (3) After the removal of financial subsidies, consumers focus on personal experience. Therefore, government and enterprises should focus on technological breakthroughs and infrastructure development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Energy Act of 2020 authorizes $1 billion over five years from 2021 to 2025 to support energy storage development in the United States. In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Orders 841 and 2222 opened the wholesale energy markets for distributed energy resources, including energy storage. The statute and orders pave the way for novel energy storage technologies to participate in electricity markets as the qualifying facilities, thereby expanding opportunities for energy storage development. However, the existing policy, legal, and regulatory regime, including these much-welcomed newcomers, fails to recognize and support the entire spectrum of benefits that some forms of energy storage create. In this paper, we focus on Pumped Underground Storage Hydro (PUSH), a variant of pumped hydro storage (PHS), which currently provides over 90% of the world's energy storage capacity. PUSH operates with the same principle as PHS; however, it is an entirely underground variant of PHS. In addition to becoming competitive in the wholesale electricity market, PUSH facilities can be developed as community infrastructure in the postindustrial landscape, particularly in abandoned underground mines. Given federal energy law and policy development, this paper identifies how communities with abandoned mines, technically feasible for PUSH facilities and operating as municipal-owned utilities or cooperatives, can participate and take advantage of federal legislation. We further look into the implications through the lens of technical, economic, and social aspects of energy justice. We consider energy justice as a conceptual framework that seeks to explain the occurrence of injustice within energy system decisions and outcomes and how policymakers can respond to these injustices. We use it as a conceptual tool for understanding policy formulation and detailing the energy system's missing ethical and justice dimension. We argue that as a technically mature technology, PUSH facilities can act as a potential means to speed up the energy transition in the United States. The federal and state law along with utility market structures are vital in shaping the potential opportunities and barriers for energy storage facilities like PUSH. We show that although it supports PUSH development, there are gaps in the current market structure, specifically in the regulatory framework, when seen through the lens of justice and valuation of just energy services. These gaps limit the realization of utility-scale energy storage technology's potential to fully contribute to a decarbonized energy system that is more resilient and more just than the incumbent system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the energy sector. The new behavior of industrial and non-commercial consumers changes the energy consumption model. In addition, the constraints associated with the coronavirus crisis have led to environmental effects from declining economic activity. The research is based on evidence from around the world showing significant reductions in emissions and improved air quality. This situation requires rethinking the energy development strategy, particularly the construction of smart grids as a leading direction of energy development. Evaluating the efficiency of smart grids is a vital tool for disseminating successful experience in improving their management. This paper proposes an approach to a comprehensive assessment of smart grids based on a comparative analysis of existing methods, taking into account the changes that need to be considered after the experience gained from the COVID-19 pandemic. The approach provides an accurate set of efficiency indicators for assessing smart grids to account for the direct and indirect effects of smart grids' implementation. This evaluation approach can be helpful to policymakers in developing energy efficiency programs and implementing energy policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the problem of modeling a time series using the Minimax method is considered. The expediency of using Minimax to identify points of change in trends and the range of changes in the graphical figures of technical analysis is justified. Spline approximation of the dynamic process with range constraints was performed to improve the quality of the model. Investors are advised to refrain from making hasty decisions in favor of holding reliable shares (such as PJSC Novatek shares), rather than selling them. The purchase of new shares should be carefully analyzed. Through an approximation of the dynamic number of the applicable optimization problem of minimizing the maximum Hausdorff distances between the ranges of the dynamic series and the values of the approximating function, the applied approach can provide reliable justification for signals to buy shares. Energy policy occupies the highest place in the list of progress ratings according to news analytics of businesses related to the energy sector of the economy. At the same time, statistical indicators and technologies of expert developments in this field, including intellectual analysis, can become an important basis for the development of a robotic knowledge program in the field under study, an organic addition to which is the authors' methodology of development in energy economics as in energy policy. This paper examines the model of approximation of the multivalued time series of PJSC Novatek, represented as a series of ranges of numerical values of the indicators of financial markets, with constraints on the approximating function. The authors consider it advisable for promising companies to apply this approach for successful long-term investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes methodological approaches to assessing the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency development on emerging economies' energy security. It is suggested to supplement the current methodology for assessing energy security with the decoupling index of the renewable energy financial burden on the state budget, the energy efficiency decoupling index, the households' energy poverty indicator, the index of capacity development for balancing electricity generation volumes, and the energy fluctuations indicator. These indices provide a comprehensive assessment of energy security under the latest challenges. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic in the Ukrainian energy sector led to the "green and coal paradox", when the government decided to keep green electricity generation but limit nuclear generation. It required increased flexible capacities (thermal generation) and led to a rise in electricity prices and environmental pollution. Forecasting energy fluctuations with Butterworth filters allows minimizing the risks of maximum peak loads on the grid and timely prevention of emergencies. The energy fluctuations within the 20% range guarantee energy security and optimal energy companies' operation. It is proposed to smooth out energy consumption fluctuations through green energy development, smart grids formation, energy efficiency improvements, and energy capacities balancing to ensure energy and economic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern about energy in the European Union (EU) has been a recurrent issue from the very beginning. Though initially addressed at the state level, energy is now a shared competency as stressed by article 194 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. New challenges, added from time to time, need public support in order to be properly addressed. Such is the case of substituting traditional energy production with renewable energy sources. Our paper seeks to determine whether the Romanian public opinion favors such an evolution, which is traditionally associated with significant investment efforts. The study is focused on the north-east development region, which has the highest population and registered the fastest economic growth in 2019. The topic was explored through a survey applied to a sample of 649 household respondents. The results suggest strong support for introducing renewable energy sources, serious concerns about climate change, and a preoccupation for energy saving. Concerns regarding climate change or various economic factors, behaviors oriented towards reducing energy waste, as well as perceived knowledge on the matter are the factors with the biggest impact on supporting electricity production based on renewable energy sources. However, TV and online exposure have a negative impact on support. Demographics, along with social and political values remain mostly not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of energy networks and electrification is a major challenge in many African countries, which can contribute to reducing social inequalities. Energy, and above all electricity, is a decisive factor influencing the functioning of national governments. The power of governments in individual countries depends on the energy sector. Therefore, it is worth noting that during the presidential elections, candidates make many promises related to the improvement of the energy supply. The article shows, using the examples of Guinea, Ethiopia and Egypt, how politicians in the pre-election period use slogans related to the energy and development of the country. The innovative side of this article looks at how politicians keep their promises by using the energy sector and how they secure victory in the next election. The article linked the objective needs for the development of the energy sector resulting from the growing demand for energy with the motives of the decisions makers who want to maintain power through the implementation of new investments in the energy sector. The paper presents the results of research on the development of the energy sector and the motives for this development, explains how energy investments are realized, and discusses the environmental and social problems that arise when building huge hydropower stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]