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Dear Colleagues,

The development of renewable energy systems needs to step up its investment in energy efficiency and renewable technologies, also bringing along technical and business challenges. However, the transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy can be a difficult and costly process requiring technoeconomic assessments. Investment in renewable energy development is also influenced by national spatial planning systems. Spatial policy tools, especially local spatial plans, can create the framework for attracting and deploying investments—including such specific ones as energy investments.

This Special Issue of Energies aims at deepening the understanding surrounding renewable and sustainable energy systems, and the relationships between spatial planning and renewable energy investments.

Contributions from different disciplines, bringing conceptual, empirical and practical insights, are invited for this Special Issue of Energies. Key research topics include the following:

Renewable energy investments and sustainable development;
The role and place of renewable energy investments in spatial development plans at different levels;
Planning for the commission and decommission of renewable energy installations;
Renewable energy investments and the demand for flexibility in planning;
Environmental protection, policy and renewable energy investments;
Statutory changes in different countries regarding the planning basis for renewable energy investments;
Spatial conditions for the implementation of distributed energy in individual countries.

Prof. Dr. Maciej Nowak
Dr. Oleg Golubchikov
Prof. Dr. Valentine Udoh James
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

renewable energy
public policy
energy economics
spatial planning
spatial policy
local spatial plans
environmental protection
sustainable development
sustainable communities

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 5633 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Urban Heating Systems Planning through Spatially Explicit Participatory Modeling

by Hyunkyo Yu and Erik O. Ahlgren

Energies 2023, 16(11), 4264; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16114264 - 23 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 916

Abstract

Effective planning of urban heating systems is crucial for achieving net-zero emissions at the city level. In particular, the spatial dimension plays a pivotal role in shaping the design and operation of these systems. Nonetheless, the integration of urban spatial and energy planning is rarely performed. To address this deficit, the current study proposes a participatory modeling methodology that explicitly incorporates the spatial dimension to facilitate integration and decision-making in the planning of urban heating systems. The methodology is applied to a case municipality to evaluate its benefits and implications for stakeholders involved in urban heat planning. The results reveal that the participatory nature of the methodology enhances the legitimacy, transparency, and relevance of the modeling process by engaging urban stakeholders, so as to exploit their valuable knowledge, experience, and understanding of the local context and related challenges. The developed methodology provides a spatial representation of district heating expansion, heating technology transition at the district-building level, and the installed capacities in each district, thereby improving the coherence of urban heat planning integrated with other urban plans. Consequently, the incorporation of the spatial dimension adds a nuanced layer of modeling outcomes to standard city level optimization models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development and Spatial Policy for Renewable Energy Systems)

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20 pages, 1802 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Conflicts concerning Wind Power Plants—A Case Study of Spatial Plans in Poland

by Maciej J. Nowak, Agnieszka Brelik, Anna Oleńczuk-Paszel, Monika Śpiewak-Szyjka and Justyna Przedańska

Energies 2023, 16(2), 941; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020941 - 13 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1401

Abstract

This article aims to determine the specificity of spatial conflicts related to spatial plans concerning wind power plants. To achieve the aim of the article, all spatial plans in force in Poland were analysed, distinguishing those which determine the possibility of realisation of wind power plants. The research concerns the whole country. The literature review carried out for this article verifies approaches to spatial conflicts and identifies how planning barriers to the implementation of wind power investments are defined. The results identified Polish municipalities where spatial plans containing provisions for implementing wind power plants have been enacted. Then, through survey research, an attempt was made to identify critical spatial conflicts occurring in these municipalities. The last part of the research involved identifying and analysing Polish court decisions concerning spatial plans permitting wind power plants. These were recognised as a particular stage of spatial conflicts. The article’s novelty is the attempt to isolate regional spatial conflicts concerning wind power plants comprehensively. This applies to a broader scientific discussion (also applicable to other countries). In addition, the treatment of court cases as the final stage of spatial conflicts related to the location of wind power plants should be considered innovative. An important contribution to the international discussion is the proposal for broader (quantitative) research on the role of courts in spatial planning. Possible classifications in court settlements of parties to spatial conflicts, reasons for spatial conflicts, and ways of ending conflicts have been proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development and Spatial Policy for Renewable Energy Systems)

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