Improve Energy Security Research Articles

BENEFITS, RISKS AND TRADE-OFFS IN RENEWABLE AND LOW CARBON TECHNOLOGIES FOR GREEN ENERGY ELECTRICITYPRODUCTION IN INDIA

Global energy demand is expected to double by 2050, necessitating an estimated investment of 2.5 trillion USD per year in new energy installations and energy conservation initiatives over the next twenty years. Furthermore, rising energy demand and climate change efforts necessitate a significant increase in low-carbon electricity generation. However, there is concern that rapid investment in some novel technologies may result in a new set of environmental problems. When compared to coal, electricity generated by hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal power can reduce emissions of not only greenhouse gases (by more than 90%), but also pollutants hazardous to human health and ecosystems (by 60-90%). CO2 collection and storage from fossil fuel power plants will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70% while increasing pollutants affecting human health and ecosystems by 5-80%. On the other side, there is a risk that the widespread adoption of low-carbon energy technology, while beneficial in lowering GHG emissions, will result in new environmental and societal consequences. India's installed power capacity is approximately 408.72 GW. India has achieved 166GW of renewable energy capacity. India has met its NDC target of 159.95 GW of non-fossil-based installed energy capacity, accounting for 41.4% of total installed electrical capacity. The major goal of adopting renewable and low-carbon green energy technology in India is to drive economic growth, improve energy security, increase energy access, and reduce climate change. This paper discusses the benefits, risks and trade-offs in renewable and low-carbon technologies for green energy electricity production in India. This study has adopted secondary research methods such as articles, journals, government reports, etc on renewable and low carbon energy. This study presents various investment benefits, employment opportunities and challenges in renewable and low carbon energy in India. Moreover, this study provides recommendations to foster the expansion of renewable and low-carbon technologies for green energy electricity production in India.

Exploring economy-wide sustainable conditions for EU bio-chemical activities

The EU's Green Deal sets out a vision for a clean, competitive, climate neutral circular economy. As a part-solution for decarbonising its industrial base and improving its strategic autonomy, the role of bio-based substitutes is envisaged. Focusing on EU chemicals, the MAGNET simulation model is employed to quantify the impacts from EU bio-based chemical, pharmaceutical and plastic output increases over a thirty-year time horizon to 2050. To support this transformation, a fiscally-neutral tax funded investment scheme is modelled. Results show EU bioeconomy (rural) employment and growth improvements, although bio-feedstock market tensions impact negatively on EU food security, whilst ‘leakage’ effects cause net global increases in greenhouse gases and land use. Further experiments explore (i) sustainable tax schemes on food-based feedstock to mitigate said tensions and (ii) green-investment driven input-saving productivity gains in EU bio-based chemicals. Employing metrics for the five bioeconomy strategy objectives, the former generates environmental, food and (bio-)energy security improvements, relieves land market tensions, but falls short of a win-win/win-neutral outcome. Similarly, for four EU bioeconomy objectives, the latter produces outcomes that are largely on a par, or even better than the baseline. Finally, a stylised combination of both is found to generate the most optimal outcomes.

The significance of clean energy development for China’s energy security from 2010 to 2019

Energy security is a matter of economic security and national security. This paper examines the influencing mechanism of clean energy on China's energy security from 2010 to 2019, by using the entropy method and spatial econometric model. The results show that (1) from 2010 to 2019, China's energy security index shows an overall decreasing trend. The western region has the highest energy security index, followed by the central, northeastern, and eastern regions; (2) there is an inverted u-shaped relationship between clean energy and energy security; (3) in the short term, clean energy will have a negative effect on industrial structure upgrading. But with the expansion of its scale, clean energy development will promote the industrial structure upgrading, and then improve energy security; and (4) the development of clean energy has a positive effect on the adjustment of energy structure.

Possibilities, Challenges, and Future Opportunities of Microgrids: A Review

Microgrids are an emerging technology that offers many benefits compared with traditional power grids, including increased reliability, reduced energy costs, improved energy security, environmental benefits, and increased flexibility. However, several challenges are associated with microgrid technology, including high capital costs, technical complexity, regulatory challenges, interconnection issues, maintenance, and operation requirements. Through an in-depth analysis of various research areas and technical aspects of microgrid development, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the strategies and technologies required to overcome these challenges. By assessing the current state of microgrid development in Pakistan and drawing lessons from international best practices, our research highlights the unique opportunities microgrids present for tackling energy poverty, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting sustainable economic growth. Ultimately, this research article contributes to the growing knowledge of microgrids and their role in addressing global sustainability issues. It offers practical recommendations for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and local communities in Pakistan and beyond.

Quantifying management efficiency of energy recovery from waste for the circular economy transition in Europe

Energy recovery is a viable option for waste management to integrate prevention, reuse and recycling when those strategies are not feasible. As such, efficient management of energy from waste can facilitate the circular economy (CE) transition. Efficient waste and energy management can assist sustainable development by curbing environmental degradation and resource depletion, improving energy security and health and safety conditions and creating new jobs and income. European countries have put substantial efforts and investments to improve their management efficiency of energy from waste and align to CE. To this end, this study develops a robust composite indicator to clarify and quantify this nexus, calculating European countries' achievements and filling a literature gap. A set of statistical techniques is employed to analyze a large panel dataset of 17 countries and 14 energy efficiency variables for 15 years. One may observe that Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, the UK and Germany get positive outcomes. Conversely, the remaining 12 European countries get negative performances at the global level. Results vary across the different sub-indexes. 5 sensitivity and robustness analyses corroborate the results and confirm the hypothesis. The findings can assist the CE transition and may be used for research, management and policy purposes.

Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development in Developing Countries: Benefits to the Environment

The primary objective of this study is to investigate economic freedom of access to energy, energy utilization and consumption, improve energy security, mitigate climate change and ignite interest in various renewable energy sources in developing countries. Sustainable development is the benefit that meet the needs of the people without compromising access to affordability, reliability, sustainability and modern quality of human satisfaction of its citizens within the limitation of the environment. It has become widely recognized that the rising environmental hazards, depletion threatened the unreliable supply of electricity with huge economic cost associated with fossil fuel has made renewable energy issue a significant sustainability resource as the basic requirements for development in developing countries. This paper aims to present review and promote access to harnessing, harvesting, storage, conversion and technology of renewable energy sources for generating electricity in developing nations by 2050. In this review, we have identified the various renewable energy sources, challenges and benefits. The recommendation on this investigation shows greatly our contributions to the aspiration of citizens in developing countries for alleviating struggles to overcome the epileptic power supply that has harassed the economy of the nation in jeopardy for long time.

Exploring the Efficacy and Feasibility of Wind Energy as A Panacea for Eskom’s Sustainable Generation with Energy Security and Energy Poverty

There is ample proof that South Africa's ongoing reliance on fossil fuels as its primary source of energy consumption. It has contributed to the release of greenhouse gases that have exacerbated ecosystem disruption causing global warming and climate change. The study investigated and evaluated the effectiveness and feasibility of wind energy as a magic bullet to improve energy security, sustainable energy production, and alleviate energy poverty in South Africa. This is in order to improve sustainable energy generation, energy security, and the elimination of these problems. A thorough literature review of papers published between 2015 and 2022 was done in this study. SWOT analysis method (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is also used in the study. According to the analysis, Eskom's deployment of wind energy at a large scale can enhance South Africa's energy security and sustainably provide power while also lowering the country's present level of energy poverty. The systematic literature review indicates that South Africa, particularly in the Eastern and Western Cape regions, offers significant potential for and capacity for renewable wind energy. In order to incorporate renewable sources into its energy mix and achieve energy sustainability, Eskom should use macro-level strategies that discourage carbon-based energy.

Investigating the effects of natural gas, nuclear energy, and democracy on environmental footprint and energy risk in France: Does financial inclusion matter?

To alleviate their energy poverty, most European nations, including France, import the bulk of their oil, natural gas, and coal needs, damaging the environment. The government has expanded its nuclear energy industry to lessen its reliance on imported fossil fuels and for energy security. The current investigation analysis the influence of natural gas, nuclear energy, democracy, and financial inclusion on carbon footprint and energy security from 2000Q1 to 2018Q4. The results of the Bounds test demonstrate that there are long-term interactions between the variables studied. Based on the estimates of the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model results, nuclear energy, natural gas, and financial inclusion contribute to environmental degradation by increasing the carbon footprint. However, democracy has a role in mitigating long and short-term emissions. Nuclear energy and democracy, on the other hand, help to reduce energy risks while increasing energy costs. The outcomes of the Competition Competence Reports (CCR) test show that all findings are robust and consistent. Moreover, the study results confirmed the existence of the U-shaped EKC hypothesis. The study provides significant policy suggestions that improve energy security and enhance environmental quality. The study suggests that policymakers should exploit the productive capabilities of nuclear energy so that it can achieve energy security. Moreover, it does not have to be at the expense of the quality of its environment. The policy maker should use natural gas as a bridge that accelerates the energy transition since natural gas is the least emitting fossil energy. Likewise, within the framework of democracy, associations and political parties must be encouraged to consider environmental sustainability in their political programs.

Energy from forest residues in Turkey: An environmental and economic life cycle assessment of different technologies

Forest residues, as cheap and abundant feedstock, can replace current fossil-energy sources, helping to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve energy security. Given 27 % of total lands covered with forests, Turkey has a remarkable potential of forest residues from harvesting and industrial activities. This paper thus focuses on evaluating the life cycle environmental and economic sustainability of heat and electricity generation utilising forest residues in Turkey. Two types of forest residues (wood chips and wood pellets) and three energy conversion options are considered: direct combustion (heat only, electricity only and cogenerated heat and power (CHP)), gasification (for CHP) and co-firing with lignite. Results suggest that direct combustion of wood chips for cogeneration of heat and power has the lowest environmental impacts and levelised costs for both functional units (per MWh heat and per MWh electricity generation) considered. Compared to fossil-fuel sources, energy from forest residues has a potential to reduce the climate change impact as well as fossil-fuel, water and ozone depletion by >80 %. However, it also causes an increase in some other impacts, such as terrestrial ecotoxicity. The bioenergy plants have also lower levelised costs than electricity from the grid (except those using wood pellets and gasification regardless of the feedstock) and heat from natural gas. Electricity-only plants using wood chips achieve the lowest LCC, generating net profits. All biomass plants, except the pellet boiler, pay back in their lifetime; however, the economic feasibility of electricity-only and CHP plants is highly sensitive to subsidies for bioelectricity and efficient use of heat. Utilising the currently available forest residues in Turkey (5.7 Mt/yr) for energy provision could potentially reduce the national GHG emissions by 7.3 Mt/yr (1.5 %) and save $0.5 bn/yr (5 %) in avoided fossil-fuel import costs.

Harnessing Renewable Energy for Sustainable Urban Development: Case Studies from the MENA Region

This study examines the potential of renewable energy for sustainable urban development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on key case studies such as Masdar City (UAE), the Noor Sour Complex (Morocco), and the Egyptian Gulf of Suez Wind Energy Project. The crisis narrative addresses the MENA region’s increasing reliance on fossil fuels, increasing energy demand due to rapid urbanization, and the environmental and economic challenges associated with energy of commonly used sources. The study aims to assess how renewable energy can be incorporated into urban planning to meet growing energy needs while reducing environmental impact and improving energy security. The study examines the geographical advantages of the MENA region, such as the abundance of solar and wind energy, highlighting the success of renewable energy as well as identifying the main barriers to the implementation of renewable energy, including high upfront costs, fossil fuel subsidies, policy inconsistencies, restrictions -and public awareness. The results indicate that although this region has the potential to exploit more renewable energy sources, overcoming economic, technical and social challenges are needed for greater adoption The study provides recommendations a it is used to strengthen regional policies, encourage investment, encourage technological innovation and ends.

Utilizing Locally Available Bioresources for Powering Remote Indigenous Communities: A Framework and Case Study

We establish a framework to examine the feasibility of using local vegetation for bioenergy power systems in small-scale applications and remote settings. The framework has broad application, and we present a specific case here to demonstrate the process. Our case study is the Tiwi Islands in northern Australia, where a large Acacia mangium plantation is a potential source of biofuel feedstock. Two types of technology were considered: 1. Bio-oil from pyrolysis in diesel generators and 2. Direct combustion coupled with a steam turbine. The biomass was characterized and found to have adequate properties for an energy crop, with a lower heating value of about 18 MJ/kg and entire tree ash content of 2%. Measurements from trees that were damaged from wildfires had similar results, showing potential value recovery for a plantation after unplanned fire. In comparison to a petroleum diesel-based generator, the bio-oil system was 12% more expensive. The direct combustion system was found to be the most economical of those explored here, costing as low as 61% of the bio-oil system. Additional social and environmental benefits were identified, including local employment opportunities, improved energy security and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Our findings of high techno-economic potential of bioenergy systems, especially through direct combustion, are widely applicable to on-demand renewable energy supply in remote communities.

A review of water heating systems: A Focus on hybrid technologies prospect in Nigeria

The rising energy demand necessitates a rapid transition to renewable energy and efficient technologies. The Nigerian household sector consumes enormous energy to meet domestic needs such as water heating. Furthermore, rising electricity costs hinders the commercial use of electric water heaters. As a result, energy users rely on conventional methods of heating water. In general, over-reliance on traditional water-heating systems have resulted in envi-ronmental degradation and public health crises. Adopting energy-efficient technologies may improve energy security, mitigate energy crises, reduce costs, and further optimize household energy consumption. This paper provides a comprehensive review of existing and emerging water-heating systems with a summary of recent innovations in water- heating systems. Var-ious types of hybrid and renewable water heating systems, as well as their configurations, are examined. In addition, relevant studies on different water-heating technologies are reviewed and classified according to their contribution, study type, and technology. The review findings are well articulated, and policy recommendations for solar water heating systems are made. This review's findings identify research gaps in the hybrid water-heating technology in Nige-ria. This survey provides insight into solar and hybrid solar systems as an alternative solution to fossil-fuel-based water heating systems.

Development of economic processes utilizing solar energy

The concern of the electric utility companies to prioritize tight control on system performance is addressed in the paper as it immensely helps planning maintenance expenditure economically with customers’ expectations fully met. . The paper aims at making a comparative study of performance of the micro-grid power system with that of the interconnected micro-grid and national grid. A micro-grid that utilizes solar energy in sparse locations in hilly terrain for ensuring reliable electric supply to industrial houses engaged in product manufacturing processes has been considered. These manufacturing processes as a part of small and medium industries introduce goods and services necessary for securing economic growth and development in the country side where grid power supply is subject to frequent weather disturbances, and hence, very costly from the perspective of sustenance as well as maintenance. The solar energy trend has given scope for self-reliance and better livelihood of people who live away from cities but the products what they manufacture may be sent for consumption in the nearby cities. Thus, more and more dependence on the solar energy leads to nation’s economic growth policy. Moreover, it adds to uninterrupted and quality electric supply using clean energy in place of fossil fuels-based generation of electricity to protect environment; allows reducing health hazards and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Using reliability techniques, solar energy plant performance is quantitatively judged and compared with respect to the performance of the national grid supplying power supply to the remotely located population. The improved energy security, easy access and operational responses of the solar plant as a substitute to the grid power supply help develop economic growth of a nation.

Energy Security in the Context of Geopolitical Instability

Problem setting. Energy is the main resource, and therefore acts as an object of strategic interest and policy. There are many uncertainties in modern energy governance, as it is influenced by many political positions that have different approaches to how best to achieve the desired future and avoid undesirable developments in the energy market. The energy transition should be recognised as one of the main pressures that increasingly complicate and restructure energy supply pathways. The shifts it generates are not only purely technical, but also social, conceptual and political. Obviously, energy supply is in some way linked to national identity, the position a state takes in international relations, and technological development. However, as energy markets and resource supply chains are becoming increasingly global, national approaches to energy security (security of supply) are responding to international developments, in particular the Russian aggression against Ukraine, to varying degrees. Аnalysis of resent researches and publications. In the scientific literature, energy security, as well as energy sovereignty, are defined differently, since there is no clear consensus among researchers on these phenomena, but there are some dominant approaches. Over the past decade, domestic authors have devoted a lot of attention to the study of the conflict of ensuring energy security of Ukraine in the context of the need to make geopolitical choices. However, the problem of ensuring energy security in martial law and the post-war period is only being raised in scientific research, which determines its relevance. The target of the research is to determine the priority directions of energy policy to improve energy security based on the analysis of the problems of functioning of national energy security systems, as well as current threats to vital national interests in this area. Article’s main body. The issue of energy security is one of the cornerstones of the energy policy of modern states. The Russian-Ukrainian conflicts that began in 2006, in the phases of their greatest aggravation (2014 and 2022), significantly affect gas supplies, which have a very negative impact on the functioning of the EU and impede the implementation of the course of the global energy transition to a low-carbon economy. The concept of energy security has been studied by various authors and, although there is no consensus on its content, it is important for both individual states and regions, in particular Europe. An expanded concept of energy security based on three aspects should be considered optimal: sovereignty, reliability and sustainability. Conclusions and prospects for the development. An indicator of the effectiveness and balance of the national energy strategy is the moderate dependence of the state on imports of foreign energy resources. From the point of view of economic security, there is a need to build a balanced diversified structure of energy imports to avoid dependence (dictate) on individual exporting countries. The imbalance of foreign economic strategy in the energy sector is one of the reasons for the acute energy crisis in most European countries. The energy-related causes of the crisis are the inability of most states to significantly reduce energy consumption and increase the innovative component of technological renewal of the fuel and economic complex. Prevention of such crises requires a transition from the traditional paradigm of ensuring economic growth through the import of cheap energy to the strategy of energy saving and increasing the use of renewable energy sources, which is in line with the principles of sustainable development.

Technical and economic feasibility of using agricultural biomass (grain straw and oilseeds) for heat production in Kazakhstan

A steady trend of recent decades is the search and implementation of efficient, rational and renewable sources of thermal energy to reduce environmental pollution. Agricultural biomass pellets can be used as biofuels. Purpose – issues of development of bioenergy in Kazakhstan, economic feasibility of using this technology by managing supply chains of grain straw and oilseeds from the field to the consumer are considered. Methods – analysis of logistics audit, which examined the characteristics of supply chains from raw materials to energy resources, taking into account each stage of logistics: harvesting, storage, transportation, associated costs and the flow of information through logistics channels. Results – main logistics chains for the delivery of this organic energy carrier, its cost and complex logistics operations in production and use of energy, as well as losses at each stage, are determined. It has been determined that potential amount of waste varies for various crops and regions of the republic. Recommendations have been developed for functioning of logistics system for the supply of waste materials of agricultural production as fuel for boiler house and directions for improving the efficiency of logistics means of communication based on existing and potential ways of importing biomass are shown. Conclusions – agro-industrial complex will receive significant benefits from the use of renewable energy sources (RES) through "green" technologies. In addition to environmental benefits, renewable energy will reduce operating costs and improve energy security of the enterprise. Renewable energy production will help diversify the income of economic entities in agro-industrial complex through the sale of surplus electricity produced, as well as various types of biofuels – promising type of renewable energy resources with high calorific value.

Alternative Transportation Fuels

Energy is a necessity for economic development. Energy is used extensively in transportation and power generation. Human civilization would not have advanced to modern living standards without the transportation of millions of personalized and mass transport vehicles and the availability of 24x7 power. The global economy and society are heavily reliant on energy availability because it touches every aspect of human life and activity. Because of the rising population and urbanization, energy demand has skyrocketed. Thus, growing energy consumption has resulted in the world becoming increasingly reliant on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. Therefore, a sustainable energy path must be developed. Fossil fuels provide more than 80% of global consumption and more than 95% of global transportation energy. While global fossil fuel reserves are depleting, global energy demand is rising due to the evolution of energy-intensive lifestyles. To improve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical to investigate alternative fuels for the transportation sector. This paper summarizes the information on current transportation fuels and the potential use case of alternative transportation fuels.

Overview of Green Energy as a Real Strategic Option for Sustainable Development

The global renewable energy landscape is changing rapidly. Green energies reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diversify the energy supply, and lower dependence on volatile and uncertain fossil fuel markets. The future looks promising for green energy sources, which are taking on an increasingly important role, especially in the current context, as governments are trying to identify viable solutions to the energy crisis and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Worldwide, there is a growing interest in and support for green energy sources, a factor that could help accelerate the current energy transition. Despite these positive developments, much remains to be done globally to make the energy transition a reality. In this respect, the European Union member states have committed to a wide neutrality target by establishing an increase in the total share of energy from renewable sources to 55% (by 2030) and, at the same time, reducing the net greenhouse gas effect emissions by at least 55% until 2030 to reach the neutrality target by 2050. Green energy sources are essential for long-term efforts to mitigate climate change and will play an important role in improving energy security and accessibility. The efforts of every country to strengthen the energy sector through the development of green energies will reduce geopolitical risks and disproportionate external costs for society. The large-scale use of green energies will contribute to sustainable development. The objective of our research is to review the literature on green energy in the context of sustainable development by analyzing research conducted by various authors and international organizations on these topics. The period considered for this study is 2011–2020. Our research focused on the EU 27, but the review also took into account the results obtained by other countries worldwide, such as China, the USA, Norway, and Iceland. The main research method used was the analysis of scientific papers, studies developed by international organizations, and a wide set of agreements and political commitments assumed by different states for developing green energy as a solution for sustainable development. The obtained results show an interesting international debate about green energies and how they can contribute to sustainable development. This paper’s results also show that in 2019 at the global level, low-carbon energy sources, including nuclear power and renewable energy, accounted for 15.7% of primary energy (solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal and wave and tidal), while in 2021, for the EU 27, the share of energy from renewable sources reached 22%. According to international statistics, more than 90% of the governments of many countries are making investments to efficiently capitalize on green energy sources and to design new models of sustainable economic and social development, in order to lower pollution levels, reduce the dependence on fossil fuel imports and limit the climate change impact.

Solvent extraction and characterization of Brassica carinata oils as promising alternative feedstock for bio-jet fuel production.

As a fossil fuel substitute, bio-jet fuel derived from inedible oilseed crops has the potential to improve energy security, decrease carbon footprint, and promote agricultural economy and social development. The efficient production of bio-jet fuels depends on the identification and characterization of eco-friendly and sustainable feedstocks. Brassica carinata (Arun Braun) cultivars are among the most significant industrial oilseeds that can be utilized as alternative feedstocks in the aviation industry. The study thoroughly evaluated four non-food Brassica carinata cultivars that are indigenous to Ethiopia to determine their suitability as substitute feedstocks for the production of bio-jet fuel. The effects of solvent extraction parameters were studied using response surface methodology with Box-Behnken design in an isothermal batch reactor. Physicochemical characterization, fatty acids profiling, ultimate analysis, analysis of metals and phosphorus concentration, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy characterization, and calorific value analyses were performed to characterize the properties of oils. Accordingly, oil yields ranged from 35.93 to 45.25%. Erucic acid (EA) was the most predominant fatty acid in all oils, accounting for 42-50%, of Derash and Yellow Dodolla oils, respectively, making Yellow Dodolla oil a super-high erucic acid oil. In comparison to the other oils, Yellow Dodolla was observed to be the least oxygenated oil, with a 7.80% oxygen content and oxygen to carbon ratio of 0.07, which may enable it to consume a very limited amount of hydrogen gas during hydrodeoxygenation in bio-jet fuel production. It was determined that, except for calcium and phosphorous levels in Tesfa, the concentrations of the metals and phosphorous were very small. Alkanes, alkenes, carboxylic acids, esters, alcohols, aromatics, and olefins were among the most significant and main functional groups identified. Our extraction and characterization results revealed that the Brassica carinata cultivars have very high oil contents, better physicochemical properties, excellent fatty acid profiles, and very low concentrations of heteroatoms (nitrogen, sulfur), metals and phosphorous concentrations, and very low level of oxygen to carbon ratios, making the oils, notably Yellow Dodolla oil, very high quality and promising alternative feedstocks for upgrading of the oils into bio-jet fuels through hydroprocessing pathway.

THE MAIN CHALLENGES OF ENERGY INDEPENDENCE OF GEORGIA

Ensuring energy independence is the most significant challenge for the economy of Georgia. In order to overcome the problems related to energy independence and energy security, special importance is attached to the use of renewable energy resources. The research aims to assess the potential of renewable energy resources and determine the possibilities of their use for the sustainable economic development of Georgia. In the research process, statistical data analysis and comparative analysis were carried out; qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. As a result of the research, the main problems and challenges related to the energy independence of Georgia were highlighted, and all the positive and negative aspects related to the use of renewable energies were emphasized. The research presents possible ways of overcoming the challenges related to energy independence: improving the infrastructure of the energy sector; Improving the energy policy: improving the investment environment; creating a transparent and non-discriminatory legal framework; Deepening trade relations with the energy markets of the European Union, implementation of scientific research projects, etc., which in turn will contribute to the increase of energy independence and energy efficiency of the country, improvement of energy security and sustainable economic development.

The impact of climate action on energy security in West Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria

AbstractThe study investigates the impact of climate action on energy security in West Africa using an autoregressive distributed lag and an error correction model. Empirical results for Burkina Faso showed that total carbon emissions and climate finance improved energy security performance in the country in the short and long run, while capacity building and energy efficiency impaired energy security performance in the short run. In the long run, capacity‐building efforts are estimated to improve energy security performance in Burkina Faso. For Ghana, results showed that total carbon emissions improved energy security performance in Ghana while energy efficiency impaired energy security performance in the short run. Results for climate finance and capacity building are found to be insignificant, and no long‐run results are found for Ghana. Lastly, results for Nigeria showed that total carbon emissions improved energy security performance in the long run. The short‐run result for total carbon emissions and climate finance is found to be insignificant, while capacity building and energy efficiency impaired energy security performance in the long and short run. Considering the need to reduce carbon emissions during full implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions, policies should aim at decoupling carbon emissions from energy security by exploring options for low‐carbon energy development.