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Transformation of Energy Systems: From the Perspective of Climate and Energy Policies

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "C: Energy Economics and Policy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 May 2024) | Viewed by 10772

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (CNR-IMAA), Basilicata, Italy
Interests: energy systems analysis and modelling; energy—energy–environmental modelling and planning; energy–environmental policy assessment; energy–conscious communities and stakeholders’ involvement; climate change mitigation strategies; sustainable development; smart governance

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Guest Editor
National Research Council of Italy - Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (CNR-IMAA), Basilicata, Italy
Interests: energy—the development of models and tools for energy planning; energy systems analysis with a focus on the environmental impact of anthropogenic activities, rational resource management and technology innovation; climate and energy scenario analysis; sustainable development; smart cities and communities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy systems have a central role in the achievement of climate neutrality and energy policy targets. Their transformation is therefore needed to ensure a sustainable energy supply contributing at the same time to reduce energy dependence and energy poverty, improve energy security and energy access and mitigate climate change. In this framework, interactions of climate and energy with technology should be regarded from multiple aspects: i) infrastructural, concerning the development of innovative technologies and robust and reliable energy infrastructures that can promote renewable deployment and guarantee energy supply; ii) strategic concerning the definition of the policy priorities, mid- and long-term action plans and investment patterns to transfer policy goals into sectoral actions; iii) socio-economic to support economic development through new business models and citizens’ engagement in order to make them protagonist of the energy systems transformation and foster the acceptance of new energy technologies and smart energy management tools.

This Special Issue aims at contributing to the debate on energy system transformation dealing with all the above-mentioned aspects with publications addressing, but not exclusively, the following issues:

  • Sustainable, secure, competitive and inclusive energy supply;
  • The implementation and assessment of energy and climate policies; 
  • Renewable energy development strategies;
  • Models and tools to analyze the multiple dimensions of sustainable development and support decision making;
  • Efficient, sustainable and competitive solutions for end-uses

Dr. Carmelina Cosmi
Dr. Senatro Di Leo
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • energy transition
  • renewable energy
  • energy systems modeling
  • climate change
  • climate and energy policy
  • sustainable development
  • mitigation
  • adaptation
  • energy security
  • decarbonisation
  • energy equality

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1846 KiB  
Article
Development of the Polish Power Sector towards Energy Neutrality—The Scenario Approach
by Andrzej Gutowski and Mariusz Maciejczak
Energies 2024, 17(11), 2763; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17112763 - 5 Jun 2024
Viewed by 563
Abstract
This article discusses three scenarios for the transformation of the Polish power system leading to the achievement of climate neutrality through investment in renewable energy sources. The scenarios differ in terms of the role played by the selected energy technologies. The scenarios were [...] Read more.
This article discusses three scenarios for the transformation of the Polish power system leading to the achievement of climate neutrality through investment in renewable energy sources. The scenarios differ in terms of the role played by the selected energy technologies. The scenarios were developed using the balancing tool, the Simulator Polish Power System, which analyzed the development of the national power system in terms of optimal costs of achieving climate neutrality and the lowest possible price of electricity generation. The research shows that under Polish climatic conditions, 100% RES energy can be achieved in the balance, but ensuring the continuity of energy supply, which in future will be generated mainly from this type of source, requires the participation of controllable sources such as gas-fired power plants powered by biomethane and energy storage facilities. The scenarios assume balancing RES sources with 15–25 GW of available gas sources and 40 GWh in electricity storage. The article also discusses factors limiting the suggested scenarios, such as the availability of sustainable biomethane in Poland or limitations associated with the possibility of building onshore and offshore wind turbines. Full article
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20 pages, 6425 KiB  
Article
Global Hydrogen and Synfuel Exchanges in an Emission-Free Energy System
by Felix Lippkau, David Franzmann, Thushara Addanki, Patrick Buchenberg, Heidi Heinrichs, Philipp Kuhn, Thomas Hamacher and Markus Blesl
Energies 2023, 16(7), 3277; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16073277 - 6 Apr 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2462
Abstract
This study investigates the global allocation of hydrogen and synfuels in order to achieve the well below 2 °C, preferably 1.5 °C target set in the Paris Agreement. For this purpose, TIMES Integrated Assessment Model (TIAM), a global energy system model is used. [...] Read more.
This study investigates the global allocation of hydrogen and synfuels in order to achieve the well below 2 °C, preferably 1.5 °C target set in the Paris Agreement. For this purpose, TIMES Integrated Assessment Model (TIAM), a global energy system model is used. In order to investigate global hydrogen and synfuel flows, cost potential curves are aggregated and implemented into TIAM, as well as demand technologies for the end use sectors. Furthermore, hydrogen and synfuel trades are established using liquid hydrogen transport (LH2), and both new and existing technologies for synfuels are implemented. To represent a wide range of possible future events, four different scenarios are considered with different characteristics of climate and security of supply policies. The results show that in the case of climate policy, the renewable energies need tremendous expansion. The final energy consumption is shifting towards the direct use of electricity, while certain demand technologies (e.g., aviation and international shipping) require hydrogen and synfuels for full decarbonization. Due to different security of supply policies, the global allocation of hydrogen and synfuel production and exports is shifting, while the 1.5 °C target remains feasible in the different climate policy scenarios. Considering climate policy, Middle East Asia is the preferred region for hydrogen export. For synfuel production, several regions are competitive, including Middle East Asia, Mexico, Africa, South America and Australia. In the case of security of supply policies, Middle East Asia is sharing the export volume with Africa, while only minor changes can be seen in the synfuel supply. Full article
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16 pages, 321 KiB  
Article
Does Information and Communication Technology Trade Openness Matter for China’s Energy Transformation and Environmental Quality?
by Yinhui Wang and Yugang He
Energies 2023, 16(4), 2016; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16042016 - 17 Feb 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2035
Abstract
Energy transformation and environmental quality are now fundamental components of China’s economic development plans, which are being reorganized to ensure the dependability of the energy supply and protect environmental quality. Nonetheless, technical inefficiency is one of the most significant obstacles to achieving these [...] Read more.
Energy transformation and environmental quality are now fundamental components of China’s economic development plans, which are being reorganized to ensure the dependability of the energy supply and protect environmental quality. Nonetheless, technical inefficiency is one of the most significant obstacles to achieving these overall objectives. Therefore, utilizing yearly data from 2000 to 2021 and the autoregressive distributed lag model, this article examines the implications of information and communication technology trade openness on China’s energy transformation and environmental quality. The findings indicate that information and communication technology trade openness has a favorable impact on environmental quality as a consequence of its negative impact on carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, the findings indicate that information and communication technology trade openness has a beneficial impact on energy transformation due to its positive impact on renewable energy consumption and negative impact on energy intensity. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate the necessity of eliminating obstacles to information and communication technology trade in China in terms of guaranteeing energy transformation and environmental quality. Therefore, it is optimal for China’s government to progressively reduce trade barriers in order to increase cross-border flows of information and communication technology products. Full article
18 pages, 557 KiB  
Article
The Role of Hydrogen in the Visegrad Group Approach to Energy Transition
by Ewelina Kochanek
Energies 2022, 15(19), 7235; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15197235 - 1 Oct 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3044
Abstract
Hydrogen is an energy carrier in which hopes are placed for an easier achievement of climate neutrality. Together with electrification, energy efficiency development, and RES, hydrogen is expected to enable the ambitious energy goals of the European Green Deal. Hence, the aim of [...] Read more.
Hydrogen is an energy carrier in which hopes are placed for an easier achievement of climate neutrality. Together with electrification, energy efficiency development, and RES, hydrogen is expected to enable the ambitious energy goals of the European Green Deal. Hence, the aim of the article is to query the development of the hydrogen economy in the Visegrad Group countries (V4). The study considers six diagnostic features: sources of hydrogen production, hydrogen legislation, financial mechanisms, objectives included in the hydrogen strategy, environmental impact of H2, and costs of green hydrogen investments. The analysis also allowed to indicate the role that hydrogen will play in the energy transition process of the V4 countries. The analysis shows that the V4 countries have similar approaches to the development of the hydrogen market, but the hydrogen strategies published by each of the Visegrad countries are not the same. Each document sets goals based on the hydrogen production to date and the specifics of the domestic energy and transport sectors, as there are no solutions that are equally effective for all. Poland’s hydrogen strategy definitely stands out the strongest. Full article
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21 pages, 1249 KiB  
Article
In Search of Complementarity: Insights from an Exercise in Quantifying Qualitative Energy Futures
by Claire Copeland, Britta Turner, Gareth Powells and Kevin Wilson
Energies 2022, 15(15), 5340; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15155340 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1881
Abstract
In this study, we considered a bridging strategy between qualitative and quantitative research with the aim of achieving complementarity. A pilot case study using the Sheffield Elicitation Framework “SHELF” to estimate appropriate inputs for a quantitative energy systems model (based on a qualitative [...] Read more.
In this study, we considered a bridging strategy between qualitative and quantitative research with the aim of achieving complementarity. A pilot case study using the Sheffield Elicitation Framework “SHELF” to estimate appropriate inputs for a quantitative energy systems model (based on a qualitative energy future scenario) was used to gain insights. Of novelty are the ethnographic insights of an example translation procedure as well as the methodological approach of the translation procedure itself. This paper reports the findings from this exercise concerning the practicalities of applying such a technique and the observations from the expert elicitation process itself. Based on this pilot, we make two recommendations. The first is the importance of devising a strategy in projects, and research programmes, where bridging between qualitative and quantitative research activities would be most effective. The second is that observations of discussions during the expert elicitation process provide value in the provenance of the estimates for quantitative modelling purposes and provide considerations for further development of qualitative future scenarios. Full article
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