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The transition to low‐carbon energy and energy independence of a country play an important role in the sustainable development of its energy sector. Another important issue of sustainable energy development is the cost competitiveness in the generation process; with new renewable energy technologies, a sustainable energy transition to carbon‐neutral society is possible. In this article, we present a view of sustainable energy transformation based on a case study of Malta. We have created a simulation of a Maltese electricity system with projected growth and dominance of photovoltaic energy in the electricity market. The study results suggest that a system with a high penetration of photovoltaics has significant advantage over a conventional system using fossil fuels. In particular, in the simulated Maltese system, the total annual cost of energy was reduced threefold, the CO2 emissions were reduced by 40%, and the energy independence of Malta increased by 60%. In the end, the article gives a recommendation for further research into the Maltese energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU countries (especially euro area countries) were again the object of grouping based on the energy cost-effectiveness of their industrial sector in the work of Ginevicius et al. [[23]]. Chudy-Laskowska et al. researched the wind energy market in 28 EU countries in 2017 and grouped these countries in terms of their potential for wind energy production. Havrysh et al. investigated alternative energies and their role in the development of the energy market, examining the comparative competitiveness of biogas production in comparison with other types of renewable energy sources in the context of the biogas potential of Ukraine [[31]]. Ceryová et al. attempt to determine whether the 89 counties from different regions produce renewable energy efficiently given the investments made by public financial institutions and the installed electricity capacity for renewable energy sources. [Extracted from the article]

The growing level of modern environmental problems and the need to ensure energy security creates new challenges for the development of the energy sector. Nowadays, countries must balance their international competitiveness and progress in achievement the Sustainable Development Goals. This provides a necessity for the development of alternative energy technologies. Modern trends in the development of alternative energy indicate a gradual increase in the relevance of biofuel production. At the same time, the development of clean energy technologies needs significant investments, and their commercial implementation is a long process. Moreover, energy industry transformations require significant changes in the functioning of complementary spheres. That makes necessary the use of additional incentives for the development of the bioenergy sector. Thus, an assessment of the impact of environmental taxes on biofuel production and consumption becomes crucial. This research is aimed at the identification of contextual and causal relationships between environmental taxation (transport and energy taxes) and biofuel production and consumption. Contextual links were identified by the methods of bibliometric analysis (VOSviewer and Google Books Ngram Viewer results), while causal links were determined by the methods of panel regression modeling (panel-corrected standard errors model) with a time lag from 0 to 4 years. A sample of nine European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, U.K.) was formed for the assessment. The research period includes 2010–2020. The conducted bibliometric analysis proved the presence of a wide range of relationships between environmental taxation and the development of the bioenergy industry. Panel regression modeling proved the existence of a significant impact of environmental taxation on the volumes of biofuel production and consumption. The increase in revenues from transport and energy taxes determines the growth in indicators of biofuel production and consumption. Such effects are medium term for transport taxes and short term for energy taxes. These results made a huge contribution in the development of the system of state regulation methods of alternative energy stimulation and energy production and consumption transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, a distributed energy system can be a clean and low-carbon way of using energy that can realize nearby renewable energy consumption, guarantee energy supply and improve the urban living environment. Conclusions In this review, we discussed articles related to various aspects of distributed energy, ranging from a review of standards and guidelines for microgrids and distributed energy resources, novel methods, and approaches, to local strategies to control the suppression of distributed energy fluctuations based on a soft open point. In the current context of energy transition, the first step to ensuring the cost-effectiveness and reliable operation of a network is the use of appropriate planning tools. The results of the authors' research show that the use of micro-scale photovoltaic systems would help residential buildings obtain more energy, significantly reduce energy consumption based on fossil fuels, and even if the grid cannot be used as virtual storage of electricity, direct self-consumption can reduce energy consumption by an average of 30%. [Extracted from the article]

The European Union's Green Deal emphasises the importance of improving the efficiency of the energy sector in its countries, which is why the issues involved are relevant in both scientific and practical terms. The article sets out the hypothesis that conveying the state of the economic efficiency of energy development by grades does not reflect the real situation. Instead of ranks, it is proposed to form homogeneous groups of some countries based on non-linear data normalisation instead of today's universally used linearisation. Grouping the euro area countries in the European Union on the basis of the value of the cost-effectiveness indicator for the energy development of their industrial sector confirmed the appropriateness of the proposed method-ology. In this way, three groups of countries were formed according to the level of cost-effectiveness achieved. The proposed methodology for grouping countries is universal and can be used for international comparisons of any kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Model for optimization of biomass use on municipality level. • Case study on sustainable regional energy planning on municipal level. • Support for decision making on use of biomass on municipal level. • Involvement of stakeholders for fostering just low carbon energy transition. In this article, we seek to analyze the regional energy policy in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, with a particular focus on the potential for developing renewable energy from biomass. The article aims to build a mathematical model of the regional energy system, related to the strategy of sustainable development in the region. Taking into account the potential for biomass development and the sustainability criteria, this paper presents a case study of sustainable regional energy planning and implementation in the selected region in Poland. An example of optimizing biomass for renewable use at the municipal level is valuable, as the use of biomass energy requires knowledge of landscapes, energy options, and different stakeholder perspectives. Thus, "energyscapes," a complex spatial and temporary combination of energy supply, demand, and infrastructure within the landscape, can be very useful in this context. Ongoing research contributes to the development of knowledge on promoting renewable energy sources at the local level and supporting a fair transition to low-carbon energy through energy citizenship and the development of sustainable low-carbon communities at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution, energy supply and security of supply have become major issues across the world due to climate change, limited energy sources, energy price volatility and energy supply constraints. Energy availability, energy efficiency and the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources are key factors in the global development of sustainable energy. In many countries with limited fossil fuel resources, the sustainable development of renewable energy sources is an important tool in reducing dependence on imported fuels. Some alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar, tidal and hydropower, seem almost inexhaustible. With the exception of tidal energy, all of these sources have been used extensively and for a long time. This article examines the improvement of energy security and the government's actions to promote the use of renewable energy sources, focusing on increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy intensity and dependence on energy imports in Lithuania. In addition, the article provides the state of renewable energy sources in Lithuania, aspects of sustainability and future development directions and perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National economic development largely depends on the development of the energy sector. Its condition is most commonly assessed based on the situation over the last year. An alternative approach, however, is to evaluate fluctuations in development that have occurred over a longer period. In this paper, both methodologies have been applied, in order to assess, based on the results, which of them is more accurate. The article hypothesizes that the second method is more accurate. To prove this empirically, values representing the energy development in various sectors (industrial, agricultural, transport, service and the other (miscellaneous) sectors) in various European countries over the 2009–2018 period were estimated. The development fluctuations that occurred during the period under consideration were evaluated according to two parameters—intensity and stability. The first parameter was taken to be the difference between the values representing energy development in a given sectors at the end and beginning of the period under consideration. The second parameter was taken as the aggregate change across consecutive time slots during which positive or negative fluctuations occurred. The value of energy development in a particular economic sector was estimated as the product of the latter coefficient and the development intensity indicator. Comparison of the results representing evaluation of energy development based on the methodology proposed, and the analysis of the situation in the last year for which data was available revealed that the results in both cases differed, with the values varying from 2% (for the transport sector) to 4.5% (for the agricultural sector). Taking into account the fact that the indicator representing energy development in particular economic sectors was estimated as a percentage of the total sectoral energy consumption, this difference was relatively significant (22.7 and 1.5% respectively). Thus, the findings suggest that application of the proposed methodology is relevant. The methodology provides a greater potential to adequately research issues related to national economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the impact of energy consumption on the three pillars of sustainable development in 74 countries. The main methodological challenge in this research is the choice of a single integral indicator for assessing the social component of sustainable development. Disability-adjusted life year (DALY), ecological footprint, and GDP (Gross domestic product) are used to characterize the social, ecological, and economical pillars. The concept of physics, namely the concept of density (specific gravity), is used. It characterizes the ratio of the mass of a substance to its volume, i.e., reflects the saturation of a certain volume with this substance. Thus, to assess the relationship between energy consumption and the three foundations of sustainable development, it is proposed to determine the energy density of the indicators DALY, the ecological footprint, and GDP. The reaction to changes in energy consumption is described by the elasticity of energy density functions, calculated for each of the abovementioned indicators. The state of the social pillar is mostly dependent on energy consumption. As for the changes in the ecological pillar, a 1% reduction in energy consumption per capita gives only a 0.6% ecological footprint reduction, which indicates a low efficiency of reducing energy consumption policy and its danger for the social pillar. The innovative aspect of the research is to apply a cross-disciplinary approach and a calculative technique to identify the impact that each of the pillars of sustainable development imposes on energy policy design. The policy of renewable energy expansion is preferable for all sustainable development pillars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the planning of wind energy development in the West Pomeranian Region after the introduction of the Act "On investments in wind farms" as of 20 May 2016. The purpose of the article is to provide the forecast of the region's wind energy development in 2019–2030 by taking into account current legal regulations in Poland. The article proposes an original, optimizing multi-criteria wind energy development model for the studied region, exploring various types of technologies that may appear in the system, taking into account recent legal and political changes in the field of renewable energy regulation in Poland. The results of the optimization model show that the currently passed Act "On investments in wind farms" in Poland actually stopped the development of wind energy in the region. On the other hand, in accordance with the objectives of the adopted draft of the Polish energy policy until 2040, it is expected that the share of renewable energy in electricity production will increase in 2030 in the studied region. Therefore, the paper argues that policy changes are necessary to meet the renewable energy goals of Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the analysis of the EU carbon trading scheme and its impacts on regional power system development and penetration of renewable energy sources (RES). The aim of the article is to analyze the forecasts of carbon dioxide (EUA) prices for the years 2019–2030 and to apply the results of this forecast in regional power system planning. The data employed in this paper come from many sources, including empirical data of the selected analytical companies, such as Thomson Reuters among others. The current low prices for carbon dioxide emission rights do not encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, in particular carbon dioxide, and do not have a significant impact on the penetration of renewables. This paper presents the results of two scenarios (for 2021 and 2030) developed after the analysis of the EUA price impact on penetration of renewable energy sources in West-Pomeranian region assuming different electricity production and the EUA price forecasts. The results of two regional energy development scenarios run for 2021 and 2030 indicate changes in the structure of renewables in West-Pomeranian region. The results also show that the increase of EUA price has a significant impact on the increase of costs for power production and increase of unit cost of the installed 1GWh. In addition, the forecasted EUA price in 2030 is 3% lower as compared with 2021, which has its impact on the increased share of electricity produced by co-firing biomass with other fossil—from 42% to 68% in the electricity generation structure of West-Pomeranian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]