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This article analyzes Green Jobs (GJs) in the energy sector. GJs are naturally created in the processes related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); this is especially visible in the 7th and 8th SDGs. There is currently a green transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in the energy sector, and this mainly technological change also influences GJ creation. Despite this, there is a research gap related to green self-employment and GJ definitions. The goal of this paper is to explore the scientific literature collected from the Scopus database using a qualitative approach to present areas and keywords related to GJs in the energy sector. The adopted method is a Structured Literature Review (SLR), with the original query Q1. The retrieved data results of the SLR method were analyzed in the form of bibliometric maps of co-occurring keywords generated by the VOSviewer software, together with tables showing clusters of keyword features. As a result, the pivotal keywords and their clusters were identified. In this study, the most important scientific areas of GJ research in the energy sector were also indicated. This paper presents the current state of knowledge and the evolution of the subject of GJs in the energy sector, which can be useful for both researchers and practitioners. In the last section of this paper, possible new directions of future studies on the subject of GJ creation in the energy sector are identified. The limitations of this research and its practical implications are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) countries have declared the ambitious goal of providing carbon-free economic development. Considering this, the EU countries are going to pursue relevant policies for a step-by-step refusal of mining and coal energy, consequently reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis of the theoretical background showed that renewable energy is the core dimension of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this case, the paper aims to justify the impact of core dimensions (knowledge spillover, innovation, and environmental regulation) that could boost renewable energy penetration into all sectors and levels. The following methods are applied to test the hypotheses: stationarity testing in panels; cross-section dependence testing; cointegration testing; and estimation in heterogeneous parameter models. The data are obtained from Eurostat, the OECD, and the World Data Bank. The object of research is the EU country in the period 2010–2020. The findings confirm the hypothesis on the statistically significant impact of innovation and knowledge spillover on renewable energy. In addition, environmental regulation has a mediating positive effect on interconnections among knowledge spillover, innovations, and renewable energy. In this case, countries should boost the development of appropriate environmental regulations, which should be effective and transparent for all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the Geography of Sustainability Transitions (GOST) has enhanced our understanding in how place-based factors condition sustainability transitions. Its emphasis on the geography of niche development, however, neglects regime-level responses to regional sustainably transitions imperatives. Given the urgency of sustainability transitions, recent sustainability transitions research has emphasized an active destabilization and/or phase-out of incumbent carbon-intensive industries. However, this poses normative and practical challenges for regions heavily dependent in these sectors. Here the challenge is how to ensure an inclusive transition. This paper contributes to GOST by focusing on distributional and procedural dimensions of policy mixes, relying on just transition and institutionalist literature. Our longitudinal case study of two Norwegian oil-dependent regions, Stord and Verdal identifies phases separated by critical junctures, with different policy mixes. Underpinned by the Norwegian tripartite cooperation model, the multi-scalar policy mixes in the regions has focused on the sector's decarbonization, rather than its phase-out, while developing renewable energy sectors through technology-push. Supporting short term business as usual, this provides the industry time to prepare for emerging renewable technologies and reducing negative impacts of transitions. We suggest that just sustainable development of such regions requires coherent multi-scalar policy mixes, and legitimacy and participation among key actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability of economic growth has recently become a major objective for the global economy. Innovation is a newly emerged key factor for an efficient energy market and sustainable development. It can reduce pollution by increasing production efficiency (the first effect of CO 2 e reduction) and direct involvement in renewable energy development (the second effect of CO 2 e reduction) by replacing fossil fuel instruments with their counterparts that rely on renewable energy. The main question of this research is: Will the impact of innovation on per capita CO2e be the same on a threshold with different levels of renewable energy consumption? This paper explores the impact of innovation on CO 2 emissions in a panel of 29 selected EU countries from 2000 to 2019 using the fixed-effect panel threshold model. The results indicated that innovation had a significantly negative effect on per capita CO 2 e. In the early levels of the use of renewable energy, innovations have been directed more towards clean energy (the second effect on CO 2 e). Innovations were directed more towards clean energy in using renewable energy at early levels. It can be concluded that this policy has led to more innovation in clean energy production and more use of renewable energy, thus reducing CO2e considerably (the second effect). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of sustainable development, the renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) may have a potential impact upon the industrial structure upgrading, while green finance will play a moderating part. This paper studies the role of green finance and renewable energy technological innovation on industrial structure in China. We found that RETI has contributed significantly to the adjustment of industrial structure. The research results of PVAR (Panel Vector Autoregressive) model further prove this dynamic and continuous positive promotion. The threshold regression results indicate that with the improvement of green finance, there is a non-linear relationship between RETI and industrial structure. In areas where green finance is relatively low, RETI can inhibit the upgrading of industrial structure. When the degree of green finance development is relatively high, the influence of RETI on industrial structure is remarkably positive. Heterogeneity analysis shows that in eastern China, renewable energy technological innovation has significantly promoted the industrial structure upgrading. Therefore, policy makers should take various measures to expedite the green finance development and strengthen the green finance support to renewable energy technology innovations. Chinese government has the need to continue to implement related green credit policies and expand the source of green funds. • Study the impact of renewable energy technology innovation on industrial structure. • Green finance is a moderating variable. • Threshold regression model is used to study nonlinear relationship. • Renewable energy technology innovation positively impacts industrial structure. • Green finance has a positive moderating effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation is a feasible and potential option that governments can adopt to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and speed the transition to renewable energy sources. This study analyzes the relationship between green finance development and green innovation using listed Chinese companies to investigate the role of green finance. In the preliminary analysis, it employs Poisson and negative binomial distributions based on the sample characteristics. The additional research considers enterprises' internal and external characteristics and adds a zero-inflated factor with enterprise-scale and bank competition. Our main findings suggest that green finance positively improves green technological innovation, and zero-inflated factors can significantly lower the possibility of enterprises refusing to engage in green innovation. By using a representative green finance policy in 2012 as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper also demonstrates the promoting effect of green finance development. The above results are still valid by the robustness test. Furthermore, this paper applies the panel threshold model and finds that the enterprise scale and bank competition not only affect the choice of the enterprise but also stimulate the promotion intensity in different development stages. This paper contributes to targeted policy implications for the renewable energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid developments in environmental infrastructure have contributed to significant improvements in green total factor productivity, but further investigation is required to provide a detailed assessment to understand the policy mechanisms involved. This paper analyzes environmental progress in China through MMQR, CCEMG, and AMG as empirical strategies for 30 provinces in China. Our empirical results reveal that energy optimization through renewable energy is the most effective channel to improve green total factor productivity, though it is not the only available option. Since environmental regulations, infrastructure development, and green technology innovation also directly impact energy efficiency, adopting these within policy channels will positively impact environmental sustainability. Our empirical approach helps suggest novel environmental policy suggestions. In particular, policymakers must introduce structural changes within energy developments to foster renewable energy. Furthermore, China must increase environmental spending to upgrade its energy infrastructure further and solve ecological issues. These insights offer valuable policy guidance for decision-makers in China and globally, aiming to foster economic and environmental sustainability and achieve zero-carbon transition goals. • The current study analyses the role of green factor productivity in zero carbon transition. • We use 30 chinese provincial datasets from 2005 to 2020. • Energy transition is the most effective channel to improve green total factor productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupling innovations in everyday social and technological practices to close energy poverty delivers local sustainable development. Although case studies on the linkages between energy access and sustainable development had been far-reaching, we know very little about their interactions in everyday practices, such as cooking. A focus on access to renewable energy for everyday activities as cooking has substantial implications for the energy justice principles of equity, accessibility, and affordability. Energy justice underlines the necessity for all people to have access to energy services fairly. At the same time, one should ensure that these energy systems do not inflict damage upon the present and future generations. This paper used a Grounded Theory approach to show how an energy transition in everyday practices such as cooking can deliver just, local, sustainable development while emerging as a sociotechnical innovation in rural Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coherency of research, development, and innovation processes are vital in promoting a more resource efficient society. Sustainability-oriented innovation systems define specific kinds of innovation systems, i.e. those that are directed to the aims of sustainable development. This paper develops an integrated method with four layers of analysis to evaluate the priorities and performances of such systems. The method is applied to a sample of emerging and innovation based economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey, and Singapore. The analyses consider the 6 main activities or functional dynamics of innovation systems and a set of 19 keywords. The keywords relate to the thematic clusters of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, and environmental management. The priorities of the countries in each main interaction of the system are classified accordingly. The priorities are compared to the existing level of specialization in the keywords based on the intermediate outputs of the system. The analyses cover 153,838 papers and 15,138 patents between the years 2003 and 2014. A Sustainable Innovation Index is developed to aggregate the normalized values of country performance across all keywords. Singapore receives the highest value (21.17) and the average of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa is 14.91. The results determine the ability of countries to align priorities and performance towards more mature innovation systems for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan, located in a subtropical area, is a high energy-importing nation with approximately 98% of our energy supplied by imported fuels since 2000. In this regard, renewable electricity systems from its richness of solar radiation and strong monsoon are thus becoming attractive due to the energy, economic, and environmental policies for pursuing clean electricity supply, sustainable development and greenhouse gases emission mitigation in Taiwan. The objective of this paper was to present an analysis of profitable promotion and innovative measures for renewable electricity in Taiwan because the photovoltaic (PV) power and wind power systems have rapidly increased the total installed capacity from 2.7 MW in 2000 to 1006.2 MW in 2013. The description in the paper was thus summarized on an analysis of renewable electricity supply since 2000 and its future goals up to 2030, and then centered on the new promotion legislation (i.e., Renewable Energy Development Act) in the measures of feed-in tariff (FIT) and tax/subsidy incentives. Current subsidiary and innovative programs to promote the development of renewable electricity technologies, including roof-type PV power, off-shore wind power and biogas-to-power, were also described. Due to its innovation promotion for renewable energy exploitation in recent years, Pingtung County, located in the southernmost of Taiwan, was introduced as a case study. Finally, some recommendations for promote renewable electricity development were addressed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years, thermoelectric (TE) devices have emerged as promising alternative environmental friendly applications for heat pumps and power generators since the environmental issues such as the global warming and the limitations of energy resources gradually drew worldwide attentions. Due to the green feature and distinct advantages, the thermoelectric technology have been applied to different areas in an effort of designing simple, compact and environmental friendly systems. The applied areas are extended from the earliest application on kerosene lamp to aerospace applications, transportation tools, industrial utilities, medical services, electronic devices and temperature detecting and measuring facilities. The application potentials of TE in directly conversing thermal energy into electrical power have been identified, especially for where the cost of thermal energy input need not to be considered, such as waste heat utilization, in the light of the present low efficiency of thermoelectric conversion. The capability of TE in producing thermal energy (in terms of cooling or heating) with the use of electrical power is also well identified. This paper reviews the status of the material development and thermoelectric applications in different areas and discusses the difficulties in terms of the commercialisations of advanced materials. Other than this, the main purpose of this paper is to present the great potential of achieving both environmental and economic benefits by exclusively utilizing thermoelectric applications in different areas. It also comes to the conclusion that the thermoelectric applications with the current conversion efficiency are economically and technically practical for micro/small applications. However, it would be transformed to a more significant green energy solution for improving the current environment and energy issues by using medium/large scale thermoelectric applications when the thermoelectric materials with a figure-of-merit over 2 come into commercial practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Given the current environmental problems such as climate change, it is urgent to move towards a new technological and production pattern that allow economic growth and care for the environment to be compatible with each other. Different economic growth models have addressed the relationship between this and technical change, however, they have given little importance to the environment. For this reason, the objective of the current paper is to perform an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the role of technological change as a determinant of economic growth from the Solow (1957) and Kaldor & Mirrlees (1962) models, as well as to raise the need to move towards more sustainable growth models based on a new technological pattern and more efficient forms of production that guarantees a green economy, some principles of Industrial Ecology and the intensive use of renewable energy, sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to highlight efforts of an emerging market economy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in complementing the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) initiative. This is a growing phenomenon that has brought about a major shift in the international business landscape with emerging markets at the center.Design/methodology/approach – The exploratory nature of the paper prompted the need to draw upon media reports and other official documents in a bid to stimulate academic interest in Masdar City – the world's first zero-carbon city in Abu Dhabi (capital of the UAE) as a business case illustration.Findings – Masdar City remains arguably the world's acclaimed first zero-carbon, zero-waste city fully powered by renewable energy and poised to attract leading international expertise, academics, commerce, and residents. It also sets a standard for other emerging market players to emulate in this resurgent wave in the "internationalisation of innovation into emerging markets".Social implications – The aspiration to live within ecological limits and still improve the quality of people's lives is undoubtedly the cornerstone for sustainable development. Be that as it may, developments at Masdar City would require further monitoring and of course academic and policy research into how it feeds into (as well as feeds off) the international support enjoyed by this emerging market.Originality/value – By highlighting the efforts made in the UAE, in addition to securing headquarter status for IRENA and the rapid development of Masdar City, it looks quite obvious that the time for reflection is nigh and to learn lessons from the successful communities and emulate the ideas and innovations of these communities by the backward and not so successful nations and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key issues in adopting a sustainable and renewable energy system is gaining social acceptance for technological change. Many technological changes can adversely affect residents and lead to opposition. Extensive development of electricity infrastructure has been met with especially strong resistance from local stakeholders. An abundance of research has been conducted to study the process and driving factors of social acceptance in the context of these infrastructural developments. This paper develops a conceptual definition of social acceptance that is both explicit and allows for quantitative assessment. This definition will aid future literature by clearly defining the goal of social acceptance research from the outset. As examples of the problems faced in electricity system change, factors of discontent surrounding the social acceptance of wind farms, transmission lines, and pump hydro-storage facilities are identified and synthesized. Policy relevant conclusions from previous research are summarized for these three infrastructure types. It is concluded that while research has done well in understanding the causes of opposition, more work is needed to grasp the efficacy and implementation of acceptance improving strategies. Future research should be focused on devising procedures to facilitate quick and efficient negotiations between infrastructure developers and local groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies conditions for the rapid diffusion of what may be part of the solution for global sustainable energy – hydrogen – by drawing a comparison with the contemporary history of the Internet. The Cold War drove the take-off of the Internet and state regulation ensured that the market on which its rapid diffusion came to depend was not controlled by corporations. To take-off and start to diffuse, hydrogen energy could similarly have to be considered a “public good”. However, the comparison with the Internet reveals differences too. The Internet diffused rapidly among the public at low cost to individual users, starting in the mid 1980s and kicking off in the 1990s. To achieve affordable hydrogen transport in the long term, many drivers might have to forgo cars for public transport. Moreover, global sustainable energy demands cooperation between nations rather than the conflict that spurred the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The steady and maintainable energy supply for human development provides the strong motivation, which is necessary to every country in the whole world. The high strength carbon emissions has brought great harm to the earth since industrialization before hundreds of years, and the global warming and extreme weather cause humans to develop low-carbon economy. Low-carbon economy has become a consensus of the entire human race no matter developed countries or developing countries, which is the combination of the lifestyle changing and production structure basic changing and technical innovation. It is well known that China is the largest developing country in the world. With the rapid industrialization of country, energy demand of Chinese society is increasing in an incredible speed, China has become the second largest energy consumer and the first carbon emissions country at present. Furthermore, Chinese energy structure and production methods are very inappropriate, which cannot guarantee the sustainable development of China in future, and therefore actively developing low-carbon economy is the only road to realize China''s economic development mode change and sustainable development, which is supported by central government and local governments. Low carbon economy for China is not only an opportunity but also a great challenge. Firstly, this paper discusses the current situation of energy supply and energy structure in China. Secondly, current situation of units’ energy consumption in China is discussed. Thirdly, some application practices of low carbon are described, such as low carbon traffic, low carbon city, and low carbon village. Then, the policies and law of China central government and local governments are described in the following paragraphs. At the end, the developmental prospect of low carbon economy in future China and the development barriers and recommendations are introduced, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The energy consumed in Ireland is primarily achieved by the combustion of fossil fuels. Ireland''s only indigenous fossil fuel is peat; all other fossil fuels are imported. As fossil fuels continually become more expensive, their use as an energy source also has a negative impact on the environment. Ireland''s energy consumption can be separated into three divisions: transportation, electricity generation and heat energy. Ireland however has a vast range of high quality renewable energy resources. Ireland has set a target that 33% of its electricity will be generated from renewable sources by 2020 [I. Government. Delivering a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland; 2007.]. The use of biomass, wind and ocean energy technologies is expected to play a major part in meeting this target. The use of renewable energy technologies will assist sustainable development as well as being a solution to several energy related environmental problems. This paper presents the current state of renewable energy technologies and potential resources available in Ireland. Considering Ireland''s present energy state, a future energy mix is proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The complexities related to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are considered quite high and only a relatively low percentage of the existing potential has been exploited in the developing world. Israel obtains a significant unexploited potential, especially regarding Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) and Energy Efficiency (ENEF). In order to be able to identify potential CDM projects and to formulate a series of possible investment strategies with a CDM component, it is crucial to establish a clear understanding of the host country''s needs and priorities, the suitable sustainable energy technologies, as well as their related potential benefits and barriers. The paper presents results obtained from an elaborated stakeholders'' assessment on potential of sustainable energy technologies under the CDM conducted in Israel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]