Increasing Energy Prices Research Articles

Assessment of key financial supports for promoting zero energy office buildings investment in Thailand using sensitivity analysis

Thailand has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). Promoting all-new buildings to be net-zero energy consumption within 2030 is a strategy to achieve the goal. The previous works have revealed that policymakers and related stakeholders’ supportive strategies could significantly contribute to promoting the zero-energy buildings (ZEB) investment. Moreover, another big challenge in improving high-energy-efficient buildings is the high initial cost and uncertainties of the future costs. As far as we know, no studies have investigated an effect of such a change in economic and relevant costs on the financial benefits of the ZEB project in Thailand. Such parameters are a significant barrier to decision-making on ZEB investment. Consequently, the guidance for affordable financial feasibility and supportive measures could significantly promote ZEB projects. This study used sensitivity analysis to assess the variations of future costs, including initial cost, energy price, maintenance & operation cost, interest rate, and discount rate, influencing the project’s NPVs and the global costs of three representative office buildings. The analyses showed that the total cost was strongly sensitive to the investment cost, with a maximum reduction of 15.76% when the investment cost was reduced by 20%. The NPV was significantly influenced by energy price, with the variations ranging from 2.83% to 15.12%. ZEB development in large buildings provided more financial profitability than in small buildings. Finally, the key effective financial parameters and the key persons responsible for supporting financial measures were proposed to promote ZEB project investment in Thailand. The increase in energy prices and the decrease in initial cost, especially the cost of the air-conditioning systems, will increase investment returns. However, such increments in energy price also affect small and low-income enterprises. For future implementations of ZEB, policymakers should investigate suitable measures and financial incentives.

Evaluation and Simulation of the Effect of the Types of Glazing and the Choice of Materials on the Energy Efficiency of a Building

Tunisia is one of the pioneering developing countries in terms of energyefficiency policy initiated since the mid-1980s. Indeed, energy efficiencyhas become one of the main pillars of the country’s energy strategy,especially with the increase in energy prices. The main objective of thiswork is to give an idea of the impact that certain choices made during thedesign of a building can have on its energy balance, namely the orientationof the facades, the types of glazing and their surfaces, the choice ofmaterials, etc. The calculation of the building’s energy requirement wasdetermined using the transient systems simulation program TRNSYS(version 18) with a modular structure.

Techno-Economic Feasibility of Applying Sugarcane Waxbased Phase Change Material to Lower Photovoltaic Panel Temperature

A reduction in power output from a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel is caused by a high operating temperature resulting mitigating economic benefits. Therefore, phase change material (PCM) situated in the back of a solar panel is used to maintain the surface temperature of the panel close to ambient. This research aimed to improve solar power generation efficiency by selecting a suitable thickness of encapsulated phase change material (EPCM) based on energy efficiency and economic analysis. At the increase of the EPCM layer thickness from 4 mm to 7 mm, the maximum power generation efficiency was improved by 15.86% owing to the EPCM heat storage capacity. The efficiency of solar panels-7 mm layer EPCM module was 6% higher than the PVs without EPCM. Adding an EPCM on the back of a solar panel lasted 16 days under natural conditions. However, a net present value (NPV) over a 25-year project of solar systems with a 7 mm thick EPCM layer is negative while that of solar systems without EPCM is more profitable than that of solar systems with a 4 mm thick EPCM layer. Applying sensitivity analysis to NPV of PV-EPCM modules was studied under changes in material cost of EPCM and power feed-in tariff. The result of sensitivity analysis of PV-7 mm thick EPCM layer shows 40% reduction in material cost of EPCM or 50% increase of energy price contributes to positive profitability.

Prosumers in Action: The Analysis of Social Determinants of Photovoltaic Development and Prosumer Strategies in Poland

The aim of this article is to explain the mechanisms that have increased the grassroots development of photovoltaics (PV) in Poland and to explain the motives of prosumers. Micro-installations have become a driving force for PV in Poland, thanks to which the country, whose energy industry is mostly based on hard coal and lignite, became the fourth PV growth market in Europe in 2020. Based on focus group interviews, the authors explain the motives of prosumers, the impact of investing in PV on changing their lifestyle, their readiness to switch to off-grid systems and their potential to create a prosumer social movement in Poland. The decentralisation of the energy sector and the mass prosumer response to the increase in energy price led the government to change the regulations in force in Poland from April 2022, which defined the method of settling the surplus energy given by prosumers to the grid.

ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF INCREASING THERMAL PROTECTION OF MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS TO MODERN EUROPEAN REQUIREMENTS

According to the plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Ukraine, there is a need to replace traditional energy sources and, accordingly, types of fuel. The paper highlights the main differences between the current regulatory documents in the field of energy efficiency of buildings, analyzes the dynamics of the energy demand of a public building during its thermal modernization to the normative indicators in force in Ukraine and Europe, and the regulation of the heating and ventilation schedule. The energy consumption assessment is based on the results of calculations in accordance with the current standard DSTU A.2.2 - 12:2015 and the building model in the DesignBuilder software environment. Using DesignBuilder helps evaluate new and existing building environmental performance, energy and comfort, HVAC, daylighting, cost, design optimization, CFD, BREEAM/LEED credits and reports that meet multiple national building codes and certification standards.
 The influence of the economic indicators of Ukraine and Europe on the overall sensitivity of the project to increase the thermal protection of a public building is studied, taking into account the historical increase in energy prices in the countries under consideration. The work is the basis for further analysis and development of the concept of buildings with almost zero energy consumption in Ukraine.

THE RESILIENCE OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES WITHIN THE NATIONAL ENERGY SYSTEM IN ORDER TO ENSURE ENERGY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

Energy security and implicitly the regional energy architecture composed of critical energy infrastructures (power substations and overhead lines at 400 kV), can undergo various mutations and transformations caused by a possible syncope in the extraction, transport and exploitation of energy resources and energy, due to energy dynamism. The vulnerability of these critical energy infrastructures generates a number of risks and threats to them, thus endangering societal life, creating malfunctions and generating extreme damage to the state. Critical energy infrastructures thus become indispensable to society, without which the state and its mechanisms cannot function and ensure societal well-being, and their protection becomes a major national and European objective, prompting representatives of the member states of the European Union to take action to identify and manage any risk or threat. In the face of the vulnerabilities, threats and risks Romania faces in the new dynamic, turbulent and unpredictable geopolitical context of global, regional and Euro-Atlantic security, amid the military and health crisis and amplified by the global energy crisis manifested by the unfounded and unexpected increase in energy price, the Romanian state should have a strategy for strengthening the resilience of critical energy infrastructures, based on predictability, flexibility, continuity, adaptability and resilience.

Optimum loading ratio for co-digested wastewater sludge and brewery spent yeast

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of the most widely used technologies in the world for converting solid organic waste into energy and other value-added products. In the treatment of municipal wastewater, the disposal of sewage sludge is a problem of growing importance, as it contributes significantly to the operating costs of a wastewater treatment plant. It has also been recognised as a pollutant, albeit one with energy potential. In the brewing industry, a significant proportion of the raw materials used also end up as secondary raw materials or waste. Due to increased energy prices, brewer’s yeast has attracted great interest as an energy substrate, despite its difficult degradability under anaerobic conditions. AD offers the possibility to produce biogas and digestate from sewage sludge, resulting in a reduction in sludge volume and disposal costs. However, mono-digestion of sewage sludge often yields only a small amount of biomethane. To improve the quality and quantity of biogas, co-digestion is often used, leading to an increase in the economics of AD. However, the feedstock and co-digestion ratio need to be understood and carefully selected because they can affect the optimal methane production. Therefore, this study investigates the proportion of co-substrate that can optimise biogas yield. The co-fermented samples with different loading ratios of 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 were characterised in terms of C/N ratio, total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), moisture content and pH. They were measured by the standard method. In addition, the methanogenic potential was determined based on the biomethane potential (BMP) using the AMPTS 11 test. From the study, it was found that the optimum co-fermentation ratio was 1:2 of WWS: BSY with the highest biomethane production of 338.2 NmL CH4/g VS. Consequently, it was found that co-digestion of WWS with BSY can improve biomethane production and that brewer’s waste yeast could mitigate some of the limitations associated with mono-digestion of sewage sludge.

The Energy Crises and Contagion from Europe to World: Evidence via Stochastic Volatility Model

The new period, which started with the increase in energy prices in Europe, turned into a crisis in a short time and had a serious negative impact on the locomotive economies of the continent. Russia's attempts to reduce the amount of supply, despite the increasing energy demand of the European economies in the recovery effort, appear as the trigger of the crisis process. In this direction, a process has emerged in which we have witnessed the increasing tensions between major European economies and Russia, especially since the second half of 2021. On the other hand, the large increases in energy prices in a short time created the effect of gasoline spilled on the fire in the increase of tensions between the parties. Therefore, the effect of the 2021 energy crisis on the global scale has become inevitable. In the light of all these, first, it was discussed the effect of the European energy crisis on the price changes in the world's leading markets . In this context, important natural gas market data of Europe was evaluated with American and Asian spot and benchmark prices. In the light of the data obtained, the existence or nature of the correlation were analyzed between the price movements in these three important natural gas markets systematically. TTF and Henry Hub are the two important markets to be covered in the analysis. In the light of all these, in the study, it was analyzed whether the process that emerged in Europe, has affected other market prices via the Stochastic Volatility Model. It was found that TTF, Henry Hub and JKM companies, which supply gas to the European market, increased their share returns between 01.12.2017 and 01.12.2021 (crisis periods).

Fossil fuel price policy and sustainability: energy, environment, health and economy

PurposeThis study aims to develop a price policy for fossil fuel consumption, as it is an effective instrument to manage the demand-side of energy economics.Design/methodology/approachThis research estimates the demand elasticities of diesel, gasoline, fuel oil and kerosene by using static, dynamic and error-correction models in log-linear form.FindingsThe findings show that fossil fuel demand responds to price changes less than income changes, as fuel price is inelastic, but income is elastic. In that respect, the impact of price change decreases constantly with increasing energy price, followed by subsidy reform. Subsidy removal and price policy reformation is the UN recommendation for subsidizing countries, including Iran, to reduce fossil fuel consumption, whose intensity depends on the price elasticities.Practical implicationsAs a result of this price policy, diesel, gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas prices should increase at least 1.8%–7.3%, 4.4%–6.4% and 7%–8.6%, respectively, and gradually within 2018–2030. The price policy improves all the pillars of sustainable development, including economy, environment and social (health). Overall, such a target can potentially save 3%–29% of diesel, 34%–56% of gasoline and 15%–20% of liquefied petroleum gas, as well as reduce 15%–40% of CO2 emissions annually, and can save potentially more than 510,000 lives annually. Thus, the energy price policy can fundamentally improve sustainability.Originality/valueThe estimated elasticities outline the required prices to decrease the fossil fuels, according to the UN mitigation targets, as price policy recommendation.Graphical abstract

Macroeconomic Policy versus Fuel Poverty in Poland—Support or Barrier

Energy and climate policies play an increasingly important role in the world in the era of climate change and rising energy prices. More often, the importance of the development of the energy sector and climate protection is seen from the point of view of the expenditures that will need to be absorbed in the economy, with the potential for increased energy prices. However, it should be remembered that this is also related to the issue of fuel poverty and the inability to meet basic energy needs by parts of society. The aim of the paper is to assess the importance of macroeconomic policy instruments in reducing fuel poverty, using Poland as an example. It will be examined whether and how the government influenced this phenomenon (directly or indirectly), through which instruments, and which instruments (fiscal, monetary or energy-climate policy) played the most important role in shaping the scale of fuel poverty in Poland, with an emphasis on the role of monetary and fiscal policy instruments. The analysis covered the period from 2004 to mid-2021. The results of the research showed that in Poland there is a lack of policy directly aimed at reducing fuel poverty, and the government affects the scale of fuel poverty indirectly mainly through macroeconomic policy instruments, i.e., fiscal and monetary policy instruments. The main and most effective instruments for reducing fuel poverty in Poland are social transfers. Other instruments that have a statistically significant impact on this poverty rate are the level of tax burdens and short-term interest rates. The analysis also revealed some opportunities for effective fuel poverty reduction policies. It was proven that in addition to fiscal policy, monetary policy, which would stimulate a decrease in short-term interest rates, is also an effective way to reduce the fuel poverty rate in Poland.

Economic analysis and investment in fuel industry considering risk management by analytical hierarchy process

Natural Gas production and distribution network plans are one of the most common ways to increase energy consumption efficiency. Due to the uncertainty of the economic parameters, the economic justification of this system is very difficult. In this research, the economic risk of investing in urban gas distribution systems has been done with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). With the development and condensation of urban gas supply networks, accidents caused by gas leaks and other external factors have also increased. Therefore, in recent years, the issue of safety and risk analysis of urban gas networks has received special attention from responsible companies and other urban and safety experts. Gas distribution lines often pass in the vicinity of crowded areas and buildings, so any accident for these lines will lead to a lot of human and financial losses. In the present study, in order to improve the gas supply situation and reduce the risk of failure in Indonesia, urban gas pipelines have been studied to reduce the costs. In this paper, multi-criteria decision making method analysis is used to identify and evaluate the hazards of urban gas pipelines and the risk of occurrence of each hazard is calculated. There was a meaningful relationship based on economic-financial theories between economic factors and investment risk in the gas industry, which emphasizes the greater and more significant effect of exchange rate, failures and inflation rate variables in comparison with other research variables in the matter of controlling investment risk in the gas industry. The effects of changes in energy prices and the economic environment in explaining the behavior of investment risk in this industry have placed the next level of importance. The results showed that with the increase in energy prices, the economics of gas production and distribution risk management plans have improved and the regular trend of energy price increases can guarantee the profitability of fuel consumption optimization plans.

Barriers for Homeowners in Decisions to Undertake Government-Led Energy Efficiency Renovation Projects in Northern China

The Chinese government has taken actions to promote energy efficiency through the renovation of residential buildings in the Northern Heating Region. Homeowners have been encouraged to undertake government-led energy efficiency renovation; however, their decisions to undertake the renovation are affected by several barriers. The lack of participation from homeowners has brought difficulties in execution and financing. This study empirically investigated the barriers facing homeowners when undertaking the renovation, including barriers generated from the homeowner’s cognitive biases. The results show that barriers associated with capital cost, unbalanced financial plan, unclear process, comfort, and increased energy prices are the most widely considered when homeowners make decisions about undertaking renovation projects. An adverse decision is most likely to be generated when: (1) when homeowners perceive the financial plan as unfair, (2) when they have already done renovation at their own expense, or (3) when they have the feeling of losing initiative. Among all the individual factors, the homeowners’ gender, age, education level, and building type are significant in predicting their decisions. By drawing on insights from behavioral economics, we analyzed the mechanisms behind these barriers. The findings can help policymakers to design more cost-effective policy instruments to mitigate the barriers.

Energy Justice, Decarbonization, and the Clean Energy Transformation

Addressing climate change will require significant reductions in carbon emissions. Decarbonization will likely lead to increases in energy prices, which are regressive. Poorer households spend a higher percentage of income on energy and also have less access to energy efficient options in housing, transportation (including electric vehicles), and household durables. This review summarizes the state of knowledge on the energy justice implications of the clean energy transformation along four dimensions—production of energy, energy insecurity/energy poverty, access to clean energy technologies, and impacts of policy instrument choices for achieving decarbonization. Along each dimension there is evidence of greater negative impacts on lower-income households and on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) households, even controlling for income. But there is also evidence that these impacts can be mitigated through policy choices. Together these findings highlight that centering justice concerns in policy debates is critical for a just and clean energy transformation.

Utilization of Banana Stem Waste Extracts Assisted by Electrode of Cu/Mg as an Environmentally Friendly Electricity Producer

The high consumption of electricity from year to year and the depletion of the availability of fossil energy have triggered an increase in energy prices and scarcity of fossil resources. This problem gives a strong impetus to seek alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly. One of the recent technologies is the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) on banana stem, which can convert chemical energy into electrical energy. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of banana stem waste extract assisted by Cu/Mg electrodes as a source of electricity as well as how the manufacturing and testing methods, and the effect of variations in the volume of banana stem extracts on the performance of electrical energy. The used steps were electrode preparation and banana stem waste preparation, then incubating the banana stem waste for 7 days, assembling the construction for research on the potential of the banana stem waste as a power producer, and research with variations in the volume of the extract and testing its strength, electric current, electric voltage, and power density. Based on the research, it was found that the greater the volume of the extract of banana stem, the greater the power density, electric voltage, and also the strong electric current produced. The volume variation of 130 mL produced a voltage of 500 mVolt, a strong current of 0.86 mA, and a power density of 84 (mW/cm 2 ). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v14i1.1677

Building Energy Consumption Prediction Using Neural-Based Models

In the recent years digital transformation became one of the most used approaches in building energy consumption optimization. Increased interest in improving energy sustainability and comfort inside buildings has created an opportunity for digital transformation to build predictive tools for energy consumption. By retrofitting or implementing new construction technologies nowadays the quantity and quality of the operational data collected has reached unprecedented levels. This data must be consumed by implementing powerful predictive tools that will provide the needed level of certainty. Adopting Six Sigma's Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) cycle as predictive analytics framework will make this paper accessible for both professionals working in energy industry and researchers that are developing models, creating the premises for reducing the gap between research and real-world business, guiding the use of data. Moreover, the selected strategy for preprocessing and hyperparameter selection is presented, the final selected models showing scalability and flexibility. At the end the architectures, performance and training time are discussed and then coupled with the thought process providing a way to weigh up the options. Building energy consumption prediction, it is a relevant and actual topic. Firstly, on European level, meeting the targets set by the new European Green Deal for buildings sector is relying heavily on digitization and therefore on predictive analytics. Secondly, on Romania level, the liberalization of the Energy market created an unpreceded energy price increase. The negative social impact might be diminished not only by the price reduction, but also by understanding how the energy is consumed.

INFLUENCE OF THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM ON THE FORMATION OF MARKETING STRATEGIES OF TOURIST COMPANIES

The article examines the impact of the modern trend of strengthening the concept of sustainable development of tourism on the formation of marketing strategies of tourism companies, on updating tourism marketing tools that are becoming more personalized, inclusive, “smart”, digitized, partnership and ecological. It is noted that the marketing strategies of sustainable tourism are formed in the direction of achieving changes that ensure the transition to a higher level of balance of the economic, social and environmental development of the tourism industry. The changes accompanying the post-Covid sustainability trends of the tourism industry are considered. It was emphasized that despite the importance of travelers’ health and safety, price transparency, value, environment and environment of service provision, gastronomy, emotions, accessibility, inclusiveness and barrier-freeness have gained importance. positive consumer experience and sustainable business practices. It is noted that when choosing a place of rest and travel, tourists rarely refer to ratings and assessments of competitiveness, they go where they feel comfortable, where they can get the impression of rest. Important indicators of the tourist reputation of a country are the ratings of the world’s authoritative Internet aggregates working in the field of tourism. It is noted that the decisive factor in the choice of a travel destination and the formation of tourist flows is the attractiveness and hospitality of local residents, therefore formal and informal ratings of countries and territories with the friendliest residents are updated. Attention is focused on the popularity of the new concept of travel – “slow tourism”, on the formation of new models and trends in the tourism sector in the long and short term: increasing the role of national and regional tourism; increased attention to sustainable development and responsible tourism; technology and digitalization of the tourism sector; “smart tourist destinations”, cognitive tourism; new generations of consumers. It was concluded that the marketing strategies of tourism companies will be influenced by: growing economic and geopolitical challenges; consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic; war in Ukraine; the rapid increase in energy prices and the increase in the price of tourist packages; the growing role of inclusivity, the concept of accessible tourism, sustainability in the recovery of the sector, the sustainability of supply chains and the ecosystem of the tourism and travel industry; investments in digital solutions and technologies; the influence of social networks on the choice of place, time and format of travel.

Modelling the Heat Loss of a Building

The aim of this paper is to calculate the heat loss and annual energy demand for heating of an administrative building for three variants of thermal-technical design and their evaluation. The heat losses were determined according to the legislation in force and in accordance with the normative requirements. The calculations made can be used in the next phase for the design of the heat source and heating system for heating and for the design of forced ventilation with heat recovery. Based on the optimum choice of technical equipment, it is also possible to evaluate the investment and operating costs for the installation of the different heating and ventilation concepts. Given the current significant increase in energy prices, the present topic is very topical.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Energy Expenditures of Local Self-Government Units in Poland

Measures taken by the public administration to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to drastic consequences for the economy. The full identification of its effects is hindered due to the delay in publishing the results of public statistics. The use of financial reports prepared by self-government authorities of all municipalities in Poland made it possible to obtain preemptive information in relation to the public statistics regarding the impact of COVID-19-related limitations on the energy expenditures incurred by local government units (LGUs), as well as an assessment of to what extent the LGUs had rationalized the energy consumption. By contrast, data from reports of energy companies made it possible to determine the impact of restrictions arising from the pandemic on the amount of energy sold and revenues from sales made by these companies. The analyses use indexes of the dynamics of changes in energy prices as well as indexes of the dynamics of changes in energy expenditures incurred by LGUs. Additionally, distributions of these indexes for the populations of municipalities are analyzed. To assess the effect of economic activity on energy expenditures incurred by LGUs, classification trees are utilized. It is established that the total production and sales of energy in Poland, in volume, in each quarter of 2020 were lower than in the corresponding period of the preceding year. However, as a result of an increase in energy prices by approximately 25%, the sales of electric power generating companies, in amounts, were higher in 2020 than in 2019. The increase in energy prices was also a cause of slightly increased total expenditures for purchasing energy in LGUs in Poland, which increased by 2.15% in 2020 compared to 2019. However, a substantial diversity in expenditure indexes was observed. That concerned both total expenditures and expenditures within individual sections of the budgets of municipalities.

Energy poverty trends and determinants in Pakistan: Empirical evidence from eight waves of HIES 1998–2019

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have incorporated clean and affordable fuel access as the 7th goal because energy is crucial for economic development and well-being. However, the increase in energy prices, volatility, removal of subsidies, fiscal burden and limited access to modern fuel, and financial burden on the households have led to an increase in energy poverty. Although energy poverty is widely prevalent worldwide, it is more pervasive in developing countries. Yet, there is limited research on energy poverty in developing countries, and the government policy and program do not focus on energy poverty. Therefore, this study examines the energy poverty trend and factors influencing energy poverty in Pakistan using eight rounds of nationally representative Household Income and Expenditure (HIES) survey data collected during 1998–2019. This research adopted two different measures of energy poverty, namely ten percent and double median. The result shows that despite significant economic progress, energy poverty has increased during the last two decades. The study further investigated the determinants of energy poverty in Pakistan using the Probit model, and the results revealed that households with a low endowment, less education, and female-headed families are more likely to be energy poor. Given Pakistan's current energy poverty situation, it is challenging to meet SDG 7 of providing clean and affordable energy access to all by 2030. Therefore, sizeable clean energy programs targeting the poor with low education, families living in rural areas, and female-headed households are needed.

Support for struggling families

The coming increases in energy prices and interest rates will lead to difficult choices for many. Crystal Oldman discusses the role of health visitors in raising the issue of families in poverty with their MPs