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Sustainable Energy Transition and Clean Energy Finance
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Sustainable Energy Transition and Clean Energy Finance

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 22937

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kim Schumacher

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Lecturer in Sustainable Finance and ESG, Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering, School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Bldg. G5-12, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori Ward, Yokohama, 226-8502 Kanagawa, Japan
Interests: ESG, Sustainable Finance, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Environmental Impact Assessment, Life-Cycle Analysis, Green Bonds, Energy Finance, Green Finance, Climate Finance, Sustainable Development, SDGs

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Numerous climate mitigation policies and industry-level initiatives notwithstanding, energy generation-related greenhouse gas emissions currently still represent the largest contributing factor to anthropogenic climate change. As physical climate impacts are materializing at an accelerating rate all over the planet, public attention has been shifting towards energy-related externalities. Recent wildfire disasters in California and Australia have exposed some of the potential risks that current energy generation models entail. In order to avoid climate-related risks such as planned blackouts and policy-related supply chain disruptions, low-carbon energy systems need to be scaled, and clean energy investment rates expanded. IRENA estimates that to put the world on track with the goals of the Paris Agreement, cumulative investment in renewable energy needs to reach USD 27 trillion in the 2016-2050 period. The IEA Sustainable Development Scenario projects that new renewables generation has to rise rapidly and global investment in renewable electricity needs to almost double versus current levels to meet these goals, to nearly USD 550 billion per year by 2030.

This issue will focus on how global capital flows can be steered more effectively towards green low-carbon energy infrastructure projects. Global infrastructure debt providers are shifting away from carbon-intensive projects, with the European Investment Bank announcing in November 2019 that it will phase out lending to fossil fuel projects by 2021. Therefore, with green infrastructure investments growing in size and renewable energy projects having become the most coveted asset class for investors wanting to integrate ESG factors, this issue will provide further contextualize the impacts of financial innovation on the sustainable energy transition.

The issue will cover all aspects of moving towards more resilient, climate-adapted, and ESG-aligned energy systems; including but not limited to:

- Financial products that stimulate clean energy solutions (e.g., green bonds, climate bonds, ESG funds, green loans, blended finance solutions, etc.);

- Novel ESG investment and sustainable finance models that facilitate the sustainable energy transition;

- Regulatory and policy initiatives in favour of low-carbon energy infrastructure development (e.g., tax schemes, subsidies, regulatory streamlining, project approval procedures, budgetary earmarking, etc.);

- Identification and analysis of low-carbon energy infrastructure barriers (e.g., regulatory, social, environmental, financial, technological, etc.);

- Mapping and framing of current energy infrastructure risks and vulnerabilities, and adequate low-carbon responses in local, regional, and global contexts

Dr. Kim Schumacher
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • low-carbon energy transition
  • ESG
  • sustainable finance
  • infrastructure development
  • renewable energy
  • sustainability
  • green assets
  • green finance
  • climate finance, green bonds

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1131 KiB  
Article
Towards Comparable Carbon Credits: Harmonization of LCA Models of Cellulosic Biofuels
by Nariê Rinke Dias de Souza, Bruno Colling Klein, Mateus Ferreira Chagas, Otavio Cavalett and Antonio Bonomi
Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10371; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810371 - 17 Sep 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3944
Abstract
Decarbonization programs are being proposed worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models or tools. Although such models are broadly accepted, varying results are often observed. This study describes similarities and differences of key decarbonization [...] Read more.
Decarbonization programs are being proposed worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models or tools. Although such models are broadly accepted, varying results are often observed. This study describes similarities and differences of key decarbonization programs and their GHG calculators and compares established LCA models for assessing 2G ethanol from lignocellulosic feedstock. The selected LCA models were GHGenius, GREET, JRC’s model, and VSB, which originated calculators for British Columbia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Renewable Energy Directive, and RenovaBio, respectively. We performed a harmonization of the selected models by inserting data of one model into other ones to illustrate the possibility of obtaining similar results after a few harmonization steps and to determine which parameters have higher contribution to closing the gap between default results. Differences among 2G ethanol from wheat straw were limited to 0.1 gCO2eq. MJ−1, and discrepancies in emissions decreased by 95% and 78% for corn stover and forest residues, respectively. Better understanding of structure, calculation procedures, parameters, and methodological assumptions among the LCA models is a first step towards an improved harmonization that will allow a globally accepted and exchangeable carbon credit system to be created. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy Transition and Clean Energy Finance)
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18 pages, 688 KiB  
Article
Do the Green Credit Guidelines Affect Renewable Energy Investment? Empirical Research from China
by Kexian Zhang, Yan Wang and Zimei Huang
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9331; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169331 - 19 Aug 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3759
Abstract
How to promote renewable energy investment is central to energy transformation and green development. To take China’s “green credit guidelines” policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we investigate the impacts of green credit policy on renewable energy investment. Using the samples of 1021 Chinese [...] Read more.
How to promote renewable energy investment is central to energy transformation and green development. To take China’s “green credit guidelines” policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we investigate the impacts of green credit policy on renewable energy investment. Using the samples of 1021 Chinese listed enterprises during 2007–2017, we find that: Firstly, the introduction of the green credit guidelines has promoted renewable energy investment. Secondly, short-term debts play a mediating role in the impacts of green credit guidelines on renewable energy investment, while long-term debts play a masking role, and financing constraints do not play a significant role. Thirdly, the heterogeneous impacts on renewable energy investment are reflected in different ownerships and enterprise scales, with significant impacts on the state-owned enterprises and small ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy Transition and Clean Energy Finance)
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18 pages, 2043 KiB  
Article
A SWOT Analysis Approach for a Sustainable Transition to Renewable Energy in South Africa
by Solomon E. Uhunamure and Karabo Shale
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3933; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073933 - 2 Apr 2021
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 11016
Abstract
South Africa is been faced with erratic power supply, resulting in persistent load shedding due to ageing in most of its coal-fired power plants. Associated with generating electricity from fossil fuel are environmental consequences such as greenhouse emissions and climate change. On the [...] Read more.
South Africa is been faced with erratic power supply, resulting in persistent load shedding due to ageing in most of its coal-fired power plants. Associated with generating electricity from fossil fuel are environmental consequences such as greenhouse emissions and climate change. On the other hand, the country is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources that can potentially ameliorate its energy needs. This article explores the viability of renewable energy using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis approach on the key renewable potential in the country. The result indicates that geographic position, political and economic stability and policy implementation are some of the strengths. However, Government bureaucratic processes, level of awareness and high investment cost are some of the weaknesses. Several opportunities favour switching to renewable energy, and these include regional integration, global awareness on climate change and the continuous electricity demand. Some threats hindering the renewable energy sector in the country include land ownership, corruption and erratic climatic conditions. Some policy implications are suggested based on the findings of the study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy Transition and Clean Energy Finance)
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23 pages, 2765 KiB  
Article
Financial Performance of Renewable and Fossil Power Sources in India
by Gireesh Shrimali
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2573; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052573 - 27 Feb 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2869
Abstract
This paper seeks to study and compare the historical and present-day financial performance and risk profile of the renewable energy and fossil fuel power sectors. Our findings are as follows. First, renewable energy power portfolios have historically shown more attractive investment characteristics including, [...] Read more.
This paper seeks to study and compare the historical and present-day financial performance and risk profile of the renewable energy and fossil fuel power sectors. Our findings are as follows. First, renewable energy power portfolios have historically shown more attractive investment characteristics including, on average, 12% higher annual returns, 20% lower annual volatility and 61% higher risk-adjusted returns. Second, investors perceive renewable energy power investments to be less risky than fossil fuel power investments, with the expected returns on debt to the fossil fuel power sector is at least 80 basis points higher than for expected returns on debt for the renewable energy power sector. Third, the main risk factors driving the risk perception of both renewable energy and fossil fuels are counterparty, grid and financial risks; counterparty risk is the most significant risk by far, followed by grid risk and then financial sector risk. Our findings have significant implications for investments in these technologies in India. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Energy Transition and Clean Energy Finance)
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