CO2 Reduction Targets Research Articles

Multi-scale retrofit pathways for improving building performance and energy equity across cities: A UBEM framework

Institutional inequality has created an environment in which our physical surroundings reflect racial and economic biases – causing inequitable thermal comfort and energy consumption across neighborhoods. Just as energy and thermal comfort challenges are unique to each climate and built environment, the solutions to address these issues should be optimized for their context. We introduce a novel integrated data-driven and building energy simulation method that incorporates urban context, satellite imagery, and socioeconomic data to analyze multi-scale retrofit scenarios across disparate communities. We apply this method to case studies in New York City and Los Angeles to analyze energy and thermal comfort inequities across distinct climate zones and urban morphologies. Through parametric analysis, we demonstrate the efficacy of multi-scale retrofits at improving building performance and reducing existing thermal inequities. Our research shows that retrofit effectiveness is influenced by the microclimatic changes induced by the urban context and existing infrastructural inequity. For example, instantaneous building cooling energy demand in a disadvantaged community of Los Angeles is reduced more due to window retrofits (around 30 kWh) than by a greenspace retrofit (around 3 kWh). Greenspace installation dissipates more heat overnight and in the early morning, whereas window retrofits reduce solar heat gain during the day, showing the different heat reduction pathways that retrofits can achieve. Although the window retrofits lead to an order of magnitude higher utility cost savings ($70 savings from windows vs $9 for greenspace and $12 for reduced cars), the district-scale retrofits show promising pathways for reducing the cost burden across all residents. We also analyze pathways for achieving city-specific CO2 reduction targets and find that building-level retrofits are most effective at meeting building performance standards (reducing CO2 by 40%), whereas district-level retrofits should be used to achieve city-scale climate goals because of the sequestered and abated emissions offered by these pathways. This generalizable modeling framework empowers policymakers, urban planners, and building owners around the world to analyze pathways for meeting their climate action plan goals by reducing extreme heat, reducing greenhouse emissions, and reducing energy cost burden while improving environmental justice in their cities.

Transitioning to Alternative Fuels: A Study on the Feasibility of Synthetic Fuels in Saudi Arabia’s Road Transport Sector

Researchers are exploring alternative fuels to transition away from conventional fuels, driven by the need to reduce carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. The transportation sector is a significant consumer of fuels, making it a crucial area for alternative fuel adoption. This study is an expansion on earlier works by recognizing the potential for synfuels derived from fossil fuels to compete with fuels derived from renewable sources. Study illustrating possible transition scenarios in the road transport sector to replace gasoline and diesel in fossil fuel-dependent economies, including Saudi Arabia. The study highlights the potential of alternative fuels like ethanol and hydrogen to meet demand due to of technology developments that increase efficiency and reduce the costs. The findings demonstrate that by 2050, synthetic fuel production will significantly lower the crude oil consumption and CO2 emissions. This study, a first for the region, assesses the implementation of synthetic fuels produced from fossil fuels. Study shows that significant modification in policies and their execution is required, and alternative fuels can be cost-competitive with conventional fuels if Saudi Arabia’s strict CO2 reduction targets are met. The study provides a preliminary assessment of the system implementation and underscores the need for strict regulations to drive the transition to alternative fuels.

Decarbonizing Urban Mobility: A Methodology for Shifting Modal Shares to Achieve CO2 Reduction Targets

In most urban areas, mobility is predominantly reliant on automobiles, leading to significant negative environmental impacts, such as noise pollution, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. To meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, urgent action is required to decarbonize the mobility sector. This necessitates the development of assessment and planning tools to create effective decarbonization scenarios. Urban mobility must evolve to reduce dependency on fossil fuels by increasing public transport options and promoting active modes of transportation. This research presents a methodology to estimate the modal share required to shift car users to active modes and public transport, thereby achieving future CO2 emission reduction targets in the road transport sector. A case study in Braga, Portugal, demonstrates that to meet the 2040 target of 59,150 tons of CO2, 63% of trips must be made using active modes (e.g., walking and cycling) and 32% by public transport.

(Invited) Looking Beyond the Stack: A Systems Engineering Approach to Optimize Stack and System Design of Electrolysers

In the coming decade green hydrogen production is expected to grow at an unparalleled rate. Much of the international focus is currently on the Gigawatt scale plants, with regular announcement of new projects. From a European perspective, the rapid scale-up is necessary to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and achieve CO₂ reduction targets. Importing green hydrogen or derivatives such as ammonia from regions where renewable electricity cost are low, is key driver for investments for the energy intensive industry, especially in the North Western part of Europe. This will require hydrogen production on a very large-scale. In contrast to the differentiation on application level, a one-size fits all approach for stack manufacturing appears to be attractive, with a high degree of standardisation and volume of production.However, as the case for the Netherlands illustrates, there are more drivers for green hydrogen production, such as addressing (regional) grid congestion, improving the business case for offshore wind farm developments, and providing green energy to small and medium enterprises. For all these use cases the requirements for the electrolyser system differ. Aspects such as the variability of the energy supply, capacity factors, logistics for operation and maintenance, available footprint, are application specific. Therefore, electrolyser system designs may need to be optimized for different markets and applications.At TNO we focus on the development, integration and validation of novel materials and innovative cell components for the different generations of electrolyser technology, both for low temperature (liquid alkaline, PEM, AEM) and high temperature electrolysers. To understand and assess the requirements for future generations of electrolyser technology, a systems engineering approach is developed together with the industrial partners. This allows to translate the requirements from the application, to the system and stack design, down to the requirements on a cell and component level.Results will be presented from several studies carried out by TNO and industrial partners in the field of low temperature electrolyser systems to understand: How to optimize a stack design for a specific application. Should an electrolyser be designed to maximize flexible operation and achieve a broad operating range? Or will a high efficiency be the most important target? And how application specific is such an optimisation.How to bring down the cost of the total system. What impact do the design choices for the electrolyser stack have on the complexity of the system around the electrolyser, the balance-of-plant? What can we learn from this for the future stack requirements?How different operating strategies impact a certain design. Which stack requirements change in large multi-stack systems powered by renewable electricity supply? Can different strategies improve overall system performance and bring down the overall cost of hydrogen production?How can the desired safety level be achieved against the lowest cost by optimizing component and stack design? As both the electrolyser technology and the value chains become more mature, a systems engineering approach will be indispensable, bringing together the requirements of the different levels: from application, electrolyser system and stack design, down to the performance of individual components.

Role of environmental awareness & self-identification expressiveness in electric-vehicle adoption

AbstractGlobal warming is a serious threat to humanity, and greenhouse gases are behind it. CO2 is one of the main greenhouse gasses that cause global warming. The second most important reason behind CO2 emission is the transport sector. Electric-powered Vehicles introduced by the automobile sector are regarded as the main alternative to cope with this issue. Despite their advantages, EV adoption rates vary by country, and the expected reductions in energy shortages and pollution are not fully achieved. We took the opportunity to assess the consumer EV adoption intention by using the Value-based technology adoption model. We integrated Environmental awareness (EA) and Self-identification expressiveness (SIE) as new factors in this model to assess the role of EA and SIE in EV adoption intentions. We have collected the response of 704 EV users from China and applied the SEM-ANN dual-stage hybrid model to test proposed hypotheses and rank the variables according to their importance. Study findings revealed that Environmental awareness is a significant predictor of EV adoption but is not the most important factor. Study results also revealed that the perceived benefits of EV adoption and perceived sacrifices for its adoption have a significant impact on the perceived value of EV, and this value leads to the adoption intentions. PV is revealed as a significant mediator in our proposed model. We conclude that people need to educate about environmental issues and the benefits of using EVs to achieve the CO2 reduction and EV sale target. The study has several theoretical and practical implications for the government and the electric vehicle manufacturing industry.

Strategic Siting of Direct Air Capture Facilities in the United States

Direct air capture (DAC) systems that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere are garnering considerable attention for their potential role as negative emission technologies in achieving net-zero CO2 emission goals. Common DAC technologies are based either on liquid–solvent (L-DAC) or solid–sorbent (S-DAC) to capture CO2. A comprehensive multi-factor comparative economic analysis of the deployment of L-DAC and S-DAC facilities across various United States (U.S.) cities is presented in this paper. The analysis considers the influence of various factors on the favorability of DAC deployment, including local climatic conditions such as temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentrations; the availability of energy sources to power the DAC system; and costs for the transport and storage of the captured CO2 along with the consideration of the regional market and policy drivers. The deployment analysis in over 70 continental U.S. cities shows that L-DAC and S-DAC complement each other spatially, as their performance and operational costs vary in different climates. L-DAC is more suited to the hot, humid Southeast, while S-DAC is preferrable in the colder, drier Rocky Mountain region. Strategic deployment based on regional conditions and economics is essential for promoting the commercial adoptability of DAC, which is a critical technology to meet the CO2 reduction targets.

Research on Regional Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions Reduction Targets: A Decoupling Perspective

Elucidating the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions helps promote the coordinated and synergistic development of the economy and the environment. This study utilizes the Tapio decoupling model to analyze the decoupling relationship between economic growth rate and CO2 emissions in 14 cities of Liaoning Province from 2005 to 2020. Additionally, a model is established with the aim of determining CO2 reduction targets for achieving strong or weak decoupling states. Results showed that although most cities showed a strong or weak decoupling state, the decoupling performance in specific year was not ideal, the proportion of negative decoupling increased from 2017 to 2020. Liaoning Province faces significant challenges in decoupling economic growth rate from CO2 emissions, it needs to reduce its CO2 emissions (CE) by 5659.33 107 Kg or 5397.80 107 Kg to achieve strong or weak decoupling, respectively. Among the 14 cities, 8 cities have not achieved strong or weak decoupling. Cities such as Anshan, Yingkou, and Benxi face the greatest challenges, with a minimum required reduction of 25.72% in CE, 41.77% in Carbon Emissions per Capita, and 16.62% in Carbon Emissions per Unit of GDP. The research results can provide theoretical support for improving energy efficiency.

Exploring Sustainable Planning Strategies for Carbon Emission Reduction in Beijing’s Transportation Sector: A Multi-Scenario Carbon Peak Analysis Using the Extended STIRPAT Model

The transportation sector plays a pivotal role in China’s efforts to achieve CO2 reduction targets. As the capital of China, Beijing has the responsibility to lead the era’s demand for low-carbon development and provide replicable and scalable low-carbon transportation development experience and knowledge for other cities in China. This study calculates the CO2 emissions of the transportation sector in Beijing from 1999 to 2019, constructs an extended STIRPAT model (population, affluence, technology, and efficiency), employs ridge regression to mitigate the effects of multicollinearity among the eight indicators, reveals the extent and direction of influence exerted by different indicators on CO2 emissions, and predicts the development trends, peak times, and quantities of transportation CO2 emissions in nine scenarios for Beijing from 2021 to 2035. Finally, adaptive low-carbon planning strategies are proposed for Beijing pertaining to population size and structure, industrial layout optimization, urban functional reorganization and adjustment, transportation infrastructure allocation, technological research and promotion, energy transition planning, and regional collaborative development. The results are as follows: (1) The total amount of CO2 emissions from Beijing’s transportation sector exhibits a trend of gradually stabilizing in terms of growth, with a corresponding gradual deceleration in the rate of increase. Kerosene, gasoline, and diesel are the main sources of transportation CO2 emissions in Beijing, with an annual average proportion of 95.78%. (2) The degree of influence of the indicators on transportation CO2 emissions, in descending order, is energy intensity, per capita GDP, population size, GDP by transportation sector, total transportation turnover, public transportation efficiency, possession of private vehicles, and clean energy structure. Among them, the proportion of clean energy structure and public transportation efficiency are negatively correlated with transportation CO2 emissions, while the remaining indicators are positively correlated. (3) In the nine predicted scenarios, all scenarios, except scenario 2 and scenario 4, can achieve CO2 emission peaks by 2030, while scenarios 7 and 9 can reach the peak as early as 2025. (4) The significant advancement and application of green carbon reduction technologies have profound implications, as they can effectively offset the impacts of population, economy, and efficiency indicators under extensive development. Effective population control, sustainable economic development, and transportation efficiency improvement are viable means to help achieve carbon peaking and peak value in the transportation sector.

Exploring equality and sustainability trade-offs of energy transition outcomes in the United States in 2050

With increasing focus on equitable and just energy transition, it is critical to understand the trade-offs of different decarbonization outcomes across economic, environmental, and social sustainability criteria. In this analysis, we use a multi-criteria decision analysis to quantify sustainability outcomes across 32 decarbonization outcomes in 2050 in the U.S. The economic sustainability criteria we use are system cost, national average retail rate, and electricity system employment. The environmental sustainability criteria we use are life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, life cycle water depletion, life cycle land transformation, and air pollution fatalities. The social sustainability (distributional impacts) criteria we use are retail rate equality across states, electricity employment equality across low-income households, and air pollution disparities across census tracts. We evaluate performance across these criteria under eleven different stakeholder preference scenarios. We find that decarbonization policies with indefinitely extended tax credits have the highest sustainability score under equal criteria weighting, with greater investments in renewable energy technologies, and result in better environmental, system cost, job, and air pollution disparities compared to mid-case scenarios, that only include current policies and CO2 reduction targets. We also see that our multi-criteria decision analysis identifies decarbonization outcomes that would not have been identified as optimal under a single objective, which highlights the importance of trade-off analyses to understand decarbonization outcomes more holistically.

Supply chain as key driver for sustainability

As the importance of sustainability is rising on the corporate agenda, companies need to provide environmental impact reduction plans to shareholders, banks and other stakeholders. The Paris Agreement urges companies to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, to achieve the goal of maximum 1.5°C temperature increase. A benchmarking study of sustainability performance was conducted on the environmental reports of 59 companies, and their plans for emission reductions were analysed. From the results, a framework to define CO2 reduction targets to achieve net zero has been devised for companies, starting from now.

Power-to-X strategies for Smart Energy Regions: a vision for green hydrogen valleys

Future energy systems will have to face the challenge of managing surplus electricity from renewable sources. In this context, technologies like electrolyzers could play a key role since they can convert this surplus into hydrogen. The study aims to develop an energy strategy for the Campania region, in Italy, aligning with 2050 European CO2 reduction targets. It utilizes detailed bottom-up modeling and dynamic simulations to propose a scenario emphasizing extensive integration of renewable energy sources, particularly using Power-to-Gas technologies to convert surplus electricity into hydrogen for the transportation sector. This approach leads to abating the significant surplus of around 2.4 TWh/year produced by renewables and enables it to cover about 10% of transport sector consumption by hydrogen, boosting the overall share of renewable energy.

A review of electricity consumption and CO2 emissions in Gulf Cooperation Council households and proposed scenarios for its reduction

PurposeThe Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of countries has some of the highest electricity consumptions and carbon dioxide emissions per capita in the world. This poses a direct challenge to the GCC government’s ability to meet their CO2 reduction targets. In this review paper the current household electricity consumption situation in the GCC is reviewed.Design/methodology/approachThree scenarios for reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions are proposed and evaluated using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) as well as the political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental (PESTLE) frameworks.FindingsThe first scenario found that using solar Photovoltaic (PV) or hybrid solar PV and wind system to power household lighting could save significant amounts of energy, based on lighting making up between 8% to 30% of electricity consumption in GCC households. The second scenario considers replacement of conventional appliances with energy-efficient ones that use around 20% less energy. The third scenario looks at influencing consumer behavior towards sustainable energy consumption.Practical implicationsPilot trials of these scenarios are recommended for a number of households. Then the results and feedback could be used to launch the schemes GCC-wide.Social implicationsThe proposed scenarios are designed to encourage responsible electricity consumption and production within households (SDG12).Originality/valueAll three proposals are found viable for policymakers to implement. However, to ensure successful implementation GCC Governments are recommended to review all the opportunities and challenges associated with these schemes as laid out in this paper.

Scenario Development for Evaluating Carbon Capture and Utilization Concepts Using Steel Mill Exhaust Gases with Linear Optimization Models

Utilizing exhaust gases from the steel mill generation to produce chemicals presents a promising avenue for carbon capture and utilization (CCU) concepts. Employing a model-based mathematical approach, specifically mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), enables the identification of optimal production concepts. To evaluate the long-term feasibility under uncertain future conditions, the construction of hypothetical scenarios to depict possible future states is necessary. This study introduces novel and tailored scenarios for a specific CCU concept aimed at producing methanol, ammonia, urea and/or acetic acid from steel mill exhaust gases by the year 2040 to enhance decision-making processes for identifying the optimal concept. These scenarios provide comprehensive insights into potential future conditions, spanning technical, economic and ecological domains. Unlike prior studies that focus on individual key factors, this approach involves analyzing the interactions of 24 identified key factors within the investigated CCU concept. The method yields five distinct scenarios: (1) Business as Usual (BAU), (2) CO2 Reduction and Renewable Energy Target (RE-Boom), (3) Technical Improvement and Market Booming (Market-Boom), (4) Energy and Market Crisis (Crisis) and (5) Hydrogen Booming (H2-Boom). These five scenarios can be directly integrated into MILP models, enhancing the significance of the optimization results for identifying the optimal CCU concept.

Temperature Dependent EXAFS to Address Functional Mechanisms in Battery Materials

Increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources is necessary to meet the fast increase of global energy needs and match the CO2 reduction targets. In order to address these challenges, intensive research efforts are ongoing both in energy harvesting and storage technologies such as solar panels, fuel cells, supercapacitors and batteries. The latter are required to match the energy demand and supply; in fact, batteries are by far the most ubiquitous energy storage technology currently employed.Synchrotron x-ray spectroscopies have played a key role in the continuous development and breakthroughs in battery science, thanks to their capability to provide accurate information on electronic structure of the redox active element, local structure, and morphological information. In particular, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is more and more employed for addressing battery materials [1]. Generally, XAS studies on battery materials are performed at a single temperature as a function of charge, to access information on the electrochemical behavior and charge transfer mechanism during the intercalation or deintercalation process. However, the fact that the charging/discharging process is expected to have direct influence on the bond length characteristics, strength and disorder, it is important to perform temperature dependence measurements to find a realistic correlation between the local structure and the battery characteristics. Indeed, temperature-dependent studies quantitatively allow to discriminate in between static and dynamic disorder, and to have direct access to the local force constant between the atom pairs. Here the interest of performing temperature dependent extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies is highlighted by exploiting several examples. In Li and Mn-rich NMC cathodes temperature-dependent EXAFS investigation revealed the evolution of the lattice rigidity which directly affects the reversible anionic redox contribution [2-3]. Similar studies on Ti based MXene-type [4], NaxCoO2 [5], and V2O5 [6] electrode materials underline the importance of the local atomic correlations as limiting factor in the ion diffusion in battery materials.

BRICS and the climate challenge: navigating the role of factor productivity and institutional quality in CO2 emissions.

The BRICS countries are important contributors to global efforts aimed at preventing a climate catastrophe. These countries account for half of the total emissions generated by the G20 nations. In this context, this paper examines the relationship between total factor productivity (TFP) and CO2 emissions (CE) in BRICS countries from 1996 to 2022, with institutional quality serving as a moderating factor. Moreover, a diverse range of methodologies was employed to address the problem of cross-sectional dependence; i.e., the CS-ARDL technique is used to analyze the relationship between variables in both the long and short-run. The AMG and CCEMG methods are employed for robustness analysis, while the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test is used to assess causality. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that TFP is positively associated with CE. Conversely, we find that institutional quality has a negative impact on CE. Furthermore, the study confirms that the interaction between TFP and institutional quality has a negative effect on CE. This implies that an improvement in institutional quality leads to a decrease in CE, as it strengthens the regulatory system governing CE and reduces pollution. Environmental policy must include economic flexibility and policy unpredictability in order to meet CO2 reduction targets. In addition, the study has identified bidirectional causal links between CE and variables such as TFP, institutional quality, and other control variables. According to our study, the BRICS countries should encourage digitalization and renewable energy production while preserving a reasonable standard of institutional quality since they have significant resource advantages in the renewable energy sector.

Does corporate social performance improve environmentally adjusted efficiency? Evidence from the energy sector

AbstractThis study analyses the impact of corporate social performance (CSP), proxied by the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Index and its pillars and dimensions, on the environmentally adjusted efficiency (EAE) of 239 listed companies, over the period 2016–2021, in the global energy sector. The EAE index, estimated via data envelopment analysis (DEA), assesses the efficiency of companies by considering economic aspects alongside CO2 and energy consumption reduction targets. Our results support the hypothesis that only above a certain level of performance, do CSP practices positively influence EAE, so there is a non‐linear U‐shaped association between the overall ESG score and EAE. The same holds for the social and governance pillars, and the human rights and management subspecific dimensions, on EAE. Other ESG attributes show a positive linear relationship with EAE, namely the environmental pillar, the environmental innovation dimension and the shareholder dimension. Our paper has significant implications for companies, policy makers and researchers insofar as it estimates EAE and indicates which CSP practices should be invested in over the long term to have a positive effect on it.

Effectiveness of energy depletion, green growth, and technological cooperation grants on CO2 emissions in Pakistan's perspective

According to Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Pakistan proposed to set a very ambitious conditional objective of an overall 50 % reduction in anticipated emissions by 2030, with 15 % coming from domestic resources and 35 % contingent on international grant financing, which would entail USD 101 billion just for the energy transition. Due to this consideration, the current study examines the impact of energy depletion, green growth, technological cooperation grants, and labor force on CO2 emissions in Pakistan for 1990 to 2020. This research used the STIRPAT framework and novel dynamic ARDL techniques. Additionally, a robustness check is also carried out using Kernel-based regularized least squares (KRLS) and the Granger causality approach is utilized to establish cause-effect relationships. The findings indicate that energy depletion leads to environmental contamination in the long run. In contrast, Green growth is reducing environmental contaminations in the long run. Furthermore, we found that technological cooperation grants also decline environmental contamination in the short run. Likewise, the Labor force dwindles CO2 emissions in the long run. According to Granger causality, there is bidirectional causality between GG↔CO2, and TCG ↔CO2, while there is one-way causality between END→CO2 and CO → LF. The findings show that policymakers should emphasize on the transition to green growth with extensive investment in technological innovations, so the country can achieve its CO2 reduction targets.

Identifying critical sectors in the restructuring of low-carbon global supply chains

Based on recent events in the world, global supply chain (GSC) restructuring has become an important issue for industries worldwide. To develop an effective CO2 reduction strategy through GSC restructuring, this study investigated the impacts of GSC restructuring in a specific sector on the industrial global carbon footprint. Through this process, this study developed a scenario-based hypothetical extraction method (HEM) into a practical and flexible framework with a focus on the reasonable scale of relevant GSC restructuring. As a case study, this study applied the practical HEM framework to a global multi-regional input output database in 2014 and estimated the impacts of restructuring major automotive GSCs on CO2 emissions. Based on the results, this study identified the Chinese electrical equipment sector and the Russian basic metals sector, both included in the automotive GSCs as key sectors (i.e., key suppliers) for low-carbon GSC restructuring. These sectors exhibited the largest CO2 reduction effects when targeted for relevant GSC restructuring. Additionally, this study highlighted the practical potential for CO2 reduction based on a reasonable scale of relevant GSC restructuring. Finally, based on the findings, this study discusses how policymakers should formulate trade policies that prioritize intermediate products to promote GSC restructuring toward low-carbon practices and proposes an effective approach to utilize the results as benchmarks for setting CO2 reduction targets or incentives in the context of GSC restructuring.

Reducing CO2 Emissions for PV-CHP Hybrid Systems by Using a Hierarchical Control Algorithm

National targets for CO2 reduction in the German building sector have stagnated due to low refurbishment rates. This paper proposes an alternative approach using highly efficient, decentralized energy systems. By combining photovoltaic (PV) systems and combined heat and power (CHP) plants controlled by a modified hierarchical control algorithm, CO2 emissions can be reduced. Results from a single-family home show a 13% CO2 reduction with only 11% higher operational costs on heating days. On summer days, up to 50% CO2 emissions can be avoided without additional costs. The control algorithm easily adapts to changing input parameters, making it suitable for different countries and business cases. Overall, with its modified control, the PV-CHP hybrid system can effectively reduce CO2 emissions and adapt to varying conditions. The control can be easily used for other energy systems, like fuel cells or heat pumps.

Research on Power Aggregators within the European Internal Electricity Market

Abstract The ongoing climate changes have determined governing bodies from all around the globe to set ambitious targets for CO2 reduction. In recent years, renewable energy technologies have proven themselves to be a method of CO2 reduction that is competitive in terms of both costs and efficiency, which led to the technologies becoming affordable and practical for residential use. Since the adoption of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package in 2019, consumers were encouraged to have an active role in the power sector. This has led to the emergence of a new participant in the energy system, the power aggregator. From the scientific literature that has been covered so far, many articles focus on the economic benefits that different aggregator business models bring to the aggregators, their clients, and the system. Other scientific papers focus on optimizing how aggregators participate in energy markets by taking into consideration the technologies included in their portfolios and pricing mechanisms. Regardless of the subjects tackled, the articles mostly present theoretical aspects since, in practice, residential power aggregators are still not present in many countries. For all the reports that have been turned in so far, secondary research was carried out to gain a better understanding of the current power sector context. Renewable energy technologies were reviewed to uncover synergies that would prove valuable for power aggregator portfolios, existing business models of aggregators were examined to have a grasp on regulatory and economic limitations, and academic papers related to mathematical optimization models were studied. The doctoral research, for which this paper presents the progress, aims to use secondary research to understand aggregators at a European level and then to perform primary research into implementing the aggregating activity in Romania in the context of an accelerated shift to a decentralized power system.