Set Of Plans Research Articles

EU Energy Policy: Difficulties in the Way of Implementation of Tasks

The article studies the problem of energy policy of the EU. Issues of creation of conditions necessary for realization of declared goals are considered. The features of implementation of the tasks are highlighted. It is concluded that the energy policy of the EU countries has both a number of advantages and a number of difficulties, which can become a significant obstacle to the implementation of all announced projects. The formation of European Union energy policy in recent years has been strongly influenced by external factors, such as: the emergence and development of new technologies, climate change, EU countries’ dependence on energy imports and new policy decisions. Considerable attention is being paid to renewable energy (RES) technologies, which, according to the official EU strategy, will be used for the construction of a closed energy system. Renewable energies include marine renewable energy, “green” public procurement, solar panels, alternative fuels. However, these projects pose a number of challenges for European countries, such as the need to build new infrastructure and reform the tax system. The fulfilment of all the objectives of the “European Green Deal” also involves certain risks, for example, the loss of a significant number of jobs by heavy industry workers and the loss of competitiveness of certain branches of the economy. European energy policy undoubtedly influences the policy of the Russian Federation. The global trend on renewable energy directly concerns Russia and the countries of the post-Soviet space, because this region has a high potential in this industry. This is particularly true for renewable energy sources such as wind power and hydropower. The development of renewable energy sources is undoubtedly a very important process for world politics, because energy is one of the most important resources that nations possess. It is very important to take this into account when considering the world’s political strategies.

Analysis of the Wider Potential for Heat Pump and Geothermal Energy Integration in Traditional Systems and Grids


 
 
 The current energy security crisis is primarily a heating crisis. Space and water heating accounts for almost one-third of the EU’s final energy consumption, and unfortunately, around 62% of this demand is still met by fossil fuels. In this context, heat pumps, geothermal energy, and other renewable energy sources emerge as crucial technologies offering effective solutions to enhance energy efficiency and decrease dependence on fossil fuels as well as to achieve the EU energy and climate goals.
 This article focuses on the analysis of the potential and opportunities of using heat pumps and geothermal energy in conventional heating systems and district heating networks. This topic requires an in-depth analysis of the current state, challenges, benefits, and prospects of these technologies in the EU market. By examining the possibilities for wider adoption and discussing the associated factors, the article aims to provide valuable insights into and recommendations for the advancement of heat pumps and geothermal energy in the EU, along with the presentation of some case studies in this field.
 
 

Challenges and opportunities for European energy policy and sustainable transformations in the aftermath of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine

Challenges and opportunities for European energy policy and sustainable transformations in the aftermath of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine

EU Directives on the internal governance of energy communities and their exclusionary effects

Abstract If already existing energy cooperatives and other citizen-led initiatives are to benefit from energy sharing and other privileges under the EU Internal Electricity Market and Renewable Energy Directives, their internal governance will have to adhere to the requirements set by these Directives. This contribution combines legal-doctrinal and empirical research on German energy communities to determine the extent to which different interpretations of the Directives respect established governance structures. It goes on to evaluate which interpretation creates the least disruptive incentives for communities to adapt their internal governance to the Directives. The contribution argues that the Directives should tolerate that energy communities pursue financial goals in addition to economic, environmental, or social benefits. It finds that the exclusion of energy companies, large enterprises, and non-local authorities from membership under the Renewable Energy Directive deters a desirable skill transfer. An exiting member should not be entitled to an immediate reimbursement, to preserve the financial viability of the community. The interpretation of autonomy and effective control should respect the indirect democracy in most communities with few active members leading the way and taking the most important decisions. Finally, the activities and size of the community should inform the interpretation of the proximity requirement.

A Novel Approach to Dynamic Line Rating Calculation

In order to adjust the electric power network to today’s trends—such as the charging of electric vehicles, design of the Internal Electricity Market (IEM), headway of renewable energy sources, etc.—the demand for flexible network solutions is increasingly significant. Dynamic line rating (DLR) technology offers a flexible solution for the uprating of overhead lines. Moreover, the DLR methodology can be used in a wider system approach in order to establish a line management system, including functions such as ice prevention subsystems or the real-time tracking of clearances. Therefore, the extension possibilities and operational features of DLR-based systems have been extensively researched in the last few years, which is also confirmed by the high number of pilot projects funded for research and development on the topic of DLR. The key question during the implementation of a DLR system is the obtainable operational safety of such a system. This mainly depends on the installation places of the field equipment and the accuracy of the line rating calculation models. The aim of this article is the comparison of the so far available international line rating calculation models and also to propose another way for the determination of the real-time line rating. Moreover, laboratory measurements and case studies are presented for the confirmation of the proposed model’s reliability.

Effects of Hydrogen, Methane, and Their Blends on Rapid-Filling Process of High-Pressure Composite Tank

Alternative fuels such as hydrogen, compressed natural gas, and liquefied natural gas are considered as feasible energy carriers. Selected positive factors from the EU climate and energy policy on achieving climate neutrality by 2050 highlighted the need for the gradual expansion of the infrastructure for alternative fuel. In this research, continuity equations and the first and second laws of thermodynamics were used to develop a theoretical model to explore the impact of hydrogen and natural gas on both the filling process and the ultimate in-cylinder conditions of a type IV composite cylinder (20 MPa for CNG, 35 MPa and 70 MPa for hydrogen). A composite tank was considered an adiabatic system. Within this study, based on the GERG-2008 equation of state, a thermodynamic model was developed to compare and determine the influence of (i) hydrogen and (ii) natural gas on the selected thermodynamic parameters during the fast-filling process. The obtained results show that the cylinder-filling time, depending on the cylinder capacity, is approximately 36–37% shorter for pure hydrogen compared to pure methane, and the maximum energy stored in the storage tank for pure hydrogen is approximately 28% lower compared to methane, whereas the total entropy generation for pure hydrogen is approximately 52% higher compared to pure methane.

Sharing Energy as Part of the Sharing Economy? New Developments in the EU Energy Transition: Legal Analysis

Abstract The global and European energy markets are changing profoundly before our eyes. The European Union (EU), wishing to achieve energy independence soon, including independence from fuel supplies, is turning its attention to renewable energy sources. It is no longer only important to achieve a high level of use of renewable energy sources, but also to maintain local energy security by supporting local energy production from renewable sources at the level of individual EU Member States. This is taking place in very different directions and through various support tools. The sharing energy phenomenon also finds support today on the regulatory side in EU law. Amongst others, there is Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market in electricity, which provide for forms of decentralised energy market and certain forms of community energy in the form of electricity prosumers and various types of energy communities. The basic research question addressed in this study is - how does the sharing energy phenomenon fit into the broader sharing economy phenomenon today? It also asks in what way does EU regulation currently support the development of the sharing energy phenomenon? The research area in this paper is narrowed down to EU law also includes references to Polish law.

The impact of employment restriction on the risk of an accident at work in the mining industry in Poland

Abstract The European Union's energy policy has necessitated a reduction in coal mining, with significant consequences for occupational safety within the industry. This study investigates the correlation between employment reduction and accident risk within Poland's mining sector during 2006-2020, a period marked by over a 40% decrease in coal extraction and a corresponding 30% decrease in mining employment. An escalation in the relative risk (RR) of accidents was observed, increasing from 1.28 to 2.33. More critically, the RR of fatal accidents rose from 2.54 to 8.22 by 2019. Analysis revealed a critical employment threshold: a fall in mining employment below 140,000 is associated with a marked increase in accident risk, particularly fatal accidents. A linear model was developed to suggest that a reduction in the RR of accidents to 0.7 is requisite to achieve a national average risk for fatal accidents (RR = 1). The findings advocate for targeted safety interventions and propose a preventive strategy model. The implications are vital for policymakers and industry stakeholders aiming to improve worker safety in response to employment changes within the mining sector.

The effect of the 2022 energy crisis on electricity markets ashore the North Sea

The European internal energy market has undergone institutional redesign during the last 30 years. It has the objective to deliver secure, affordable and increasingly decarbonized energy supply. Europe experienced its first inherent energy crisis after the global oil price crisis half a decade ago. With skyrocketing energy prices during 2022, electricity generation in Europe was under extreme stress. In this paper we analyse flows and prices of electricity in six distinctive (with respect to generation portfolios) European countries from 2018 to 2022 and investigate if market signals (prices) contributed to security of supply. For a long time, sceptics have argued that liberalized markets would not be able to provide security of supply, and this has not been challenged by real world events thus far. Our empirical results suggest that electricity did indeed move along cross-border transmission lines as the theory suggests, and that cross-border transmission lines were utilized as during normal periods. This is relevant for the current debate on restructuring energy market design and protecting consumers from volatile prices.

The politics of China's policy processes: A comparative review of the Advocacy Coalition Framework's applications to mainland China

AbstractDrawing on a review of 112 Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) applications to China published during 2006–2022, this article finds that, consistent with ACF assumptions, policy processes in China are complex processes of top‐down decision making, horizontal negotiation, networked influence, and bottom‐up initiation. The review finds policy processes in many subsystems of China inconsistent with one implicit assumption of the framework: the difficulty of reconciling conflicting beliefs between warring coalitions. Compared with the results from a review of the English ACF applications to countries around the globe, policy‐oriented learning and imposition by a hierarchically superior jurisdiction were identified more frequently as pathways to policy change in reviewed applications to China. The Xi Jinping administration encourages between‐coalition learning and negotiation to pursue the ideal of building a well‐off and equitable society. At the same time, his top‐level reforms have changed the long‐time status quo in some subsystems by national policy reforms.Related ArticlesNam, Aerang, and Christopher M. Weible. 2023. “Examining Experts' Discourse in South Korea's Nuclear Power Policy Making: An Advocacy Coalition Framework Approach to Policy Knowledge.” Politics & Policy 51(2): 201–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12522.Nwalie, Martin Ike. 2019. “Advocacy Coalition Framework and Policy Changes in a Third‐World Country.” Politics & Policy 47(3): 545–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12302.von Malmborg, Fredrik. 2023. “Combining the Advocacy Coalition Framework and Argumentative Discourse Analysis: The Case of the ‘Energy Efficiency First’ Principle in EU Energy and Climate Policy.” Politics & Policy 51(2): 222–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12525.

The battle for differentiated integration in the EU energy policy

The main purpose of the article is to describe differentiated integration in the EU energy policy which concerns the exemption of the Nord Stream 2 and OPAL pipelines from European law, and more precisely from the so-called Third Energy Package. The attempt to derogate EU law in relation to these pipelines in Germany was of great economic and political importance for Central Europe as a whole. It also affected the modification of EU law and thus had systemic consequences for the entire EU. In this article, I will analyse the process aimed at derogation from the application of European law and its consequences. Furthermore, I will try to answer the question to what extent the public discussion hindered the possibilities of exemption from European law. Finally, I will turn to clarifying the reasons why exclusion from EU law in the case under review has failed. This seems to be of great importance when explaining other failed attempts to diversify integration in recent years as well; it may also help delineate what limitations there are for the very process in the future.

Strategic Autonomy, REPowerEU And The Internal Energy Market: Untying The Gordian Knot

The “open” strategic autonomy discourse now serves altogether as a new narrative and overarching principle of EU energy policy. This article conceptualizes EU strategic energy autonomy (SEA) as the Union’s ability to choose autonomously its own path towards a decarbonized “energy mix”. Realizing EU SEA demands a more holistic energy policy to tackle external dependence on foreign suppliers of energy commodities, technologies, and raw materials critical to the green transition. In this context, joint external action is important; but coordinated internal action is even more so, as the nature and magnitude of external constraints also depend on internal choices among the Member States concerning transition pathways. The article focuses on the internal dimension of EU energy policy. The REPowerEU plan and related emergency measures adopted under Article 122 TFEU to guarantee solidarity in tackling the impending energy crisis only brought a partial answer and once again raised the question of the EU competence to act on energy security issues. It is argued that the shared competence and related limitations foreseen in the TFEU should not prevent the EU from implementing a long-term holistic policy to pursue a resilient decarbonization policy throughout the energy value chains. The EU may well become more relevant than in the past when it comes to the energy security of Member States. New regulatory tools may be needed to support the integrity of the cornerstone of EU energy policy to date – the internal energy market – in the pursuit of an “open” SEA. The potential contribution to safeguarding “open” SEA from EU foreign direct investment screening, the forthcoming carbon border adjustment mechanism, and the new EUforeign subsidy regulation are discussed in this context.

Trends in the development of EU energy policy at the present stage

The issue of energy security and energy independence of the EU is one of the key factors in ensuring the stable development of the association. The subject of the study is the energy concepts of the European Union. The object of the study is the modern energy policy of the EU countries. The countries of the European Union are among the world's largest importers and exporters of energy resources, and therefore one of the criteria for EU energy security is the creation of secure logistics chains for uninterrupted energy supplies, since this factor has always been one of the most important problems in energy security. However, despite all the data that the European Union has, this area is a source of numerous problems for ensuring energy security that the EU faces at the current stage of its development. The methodological basis of the study is a systematic analysis and a geo-economic approach. The systematic approach was used in the work to identify the reasons for the transformation of EU energy concepts in the context of the energy crisis. The geo-economic approach allows us to qualitatively consider this issue from the point of view of economics and geopolitics of the countries of Eastern and Western Europe in the context of energy transition. The novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive analysis of the concept of energy security in the complex in the context of energy transfer. The authors pay special attention to the analysis of the energy policy of the European Union, numerous new initiatives and documents related to this area, as well as the development of the concept of green energy. The authors highlight the challenges that the EU will face on the way to building a stable and safe energy sector. The paper also examines the impact of the EU's energy policy on the concept of European unity. Attention is being paid to the EU's attempts to diversify energy supplies, which plays an important role in the context of the Ukrainian crisis and complications from the loss of Russian supplies. The authors conclude that the lack of internal unity within the EU does not allow for an effective and sustainable energy policy, since the European Union does not have a common energy legislation, and infrastructure development between the countries of Western and Eastern Europe is overly diversified, which does not allow us to talk about the transformation of energy policy in the EU countries at the present stage.

Investment Scenarios for Low Carbon Electricity in Europe

In a context of carbon emissions reduction, this article aims at widening the scope of the OECD - Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) report entitled « The interaction of Nuclear Energy and Renewable: System Effects in Low Carbon Electricity System » (2012) to the European electric supply by studying the conditions of industrial investments in low carbon technologies over the next 30 years. These conditions can be either favorable or not to, on the one hand, the renewable energies and, on the other hand, the nuclear technologies, according to 3 main dynamically quantified drivers: 1. 2. 3. "Technical change", i.e. relative evolutions of efficiency and costs of available technologies (gas, coal, wind…); "Policy", i.e. incentive framework given by European energy policies (nuclear, climate...); "Economic", i.e. structure of electricity markets (level of centralization...). A total of 24 scenarios are developed using an imaginative approach, i.e. assuming different possibilities for the future change in 3 main drivers. Finally we have found: - 2 scenarios of them prove to be the most favorable to renewable energies; - 2 scenarios favorable to both renewable and nuclear, for the interaction of nuclear and renewable in the electricity system is not necessarily favorable to nuclear investment. These scenarios are then discussed in view of the quantitative drivers mentioned above.

Analysis of the main socio-economic impacts of wind energy in Europe

The large increase in renewable energy sources (RES-E) penetration in the European Union (EU) has raised the concern of policy makers about the costs of public promotion of RES-E, in spite of the commitment of the European Commission to the deployment of RES-E in the last years. This paper is focused on wind energy, because it is the renewable technology with the highest contribution to electricity mix in Europe (excluding hydro). An economic analysis of wind energy contribution should not only take into account the policy costs of the deployment, which are finally paid by electricity consumers, but also its benefits, particularly those related to climate change mitigation and the reduction of fossil fuel dependence distributed among citizens. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap and evaluate the policy costs and the most relevant benefits of wind energy deployment in the EU28 (28 Member States) using 2013 data. For this purpose, an innovated methodology internationally validated has been used. The results show that the benefits considered are relevant and should be taken into account when support costs are assessed and in the future development of energy policies in Europe.

Introduction of Electricity Storage and Photovoltaics for an Adequate Self-Sufficiency in Large Building Complexes

Energy usage in large-scale premises exhibits a distinctive pattern, encompassing both thermal energy and electricity. As a result of the recent energy crisis, the operational expenditures associated with these demands have markedly risen. In line with EU Energy Policies, one of the future goals is the transition towards energy-wise self-sufficient buildings powered by renewable energy sources (RES). Nowadays, a combination of contemporary energy management systems, electricity storage and RES are proposed to achieve nearly zero emission-producing energy consumption in buildings. This paper examines the energy consumption patterns of a hotel situated on the Mediterranean, in order to investigate the potential of RES-induced independence and forecast future expansion prospects. An algorithm has been introduced to both optimize and enhance the self-sufficiency of the hotel under consideration. The proposed algorithm successfully enhances the hotel's energy self-sufficiency, achieving a remarkable 99% rate through the dimensions of PV power and corresponding battery capacity for all years under examination, yielding the corresponding financial and environmental conclusions.

Solidarity as a Principle and a Value: Problems of Practical Implementation in EU Energy Policy

Solidarity as a Principle and a Value: Problems of Practical Implementation in EU Energy Policy

Problems of implementing the principle of solidarity in the EU energy policy

Problems of implementing the principle of solidarity in the EU energy policy

Research Handbook on EU Energy Law and Policy, 2nd edition (Introduction)

Research Handbook on EU Energy Law and Policy, 2nd edition (Introduction)

Energetska tranzicija u domaćinstvima: analiza usaglašenosti Srbije sa paketom „Čista energija za sve Evropljane“

Due to its complexity and heterogeneity, the household sector represents an essential point in energy transition policies. In the European Union, household energy consumption accounts for about 26% of final energy consumption, while in Serbia, this sector has the largest share in final consumption, accounting for about one-third of final consumption. By implementing energy efficiency measures, significant energy savings can be achieved, which, together with the reduction and substitution of the use of fossil fuels, contribute to a lesser impact on climate change and significant reduction in air pollution. The package of legislative measures "Clean Energy for All Europeans" is a comprehensive set of laws defining European climate and energy policy after 2020. This package encompasses and links a series of topics related to the household sector. Through this package, member states are required to set high goals for energy efficiency and decarbonisation in the construction and revitalization of residential buildings, while simultaneously implementing measures concerning households affected by energy poverty. The Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive, the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, and the Regulation on the Establishment of a Framework for Achieving Climate Neutrality cover the main issues related to energy transition policy in households in the European Union. As a member of the Energy Community and a candidate for membership in the European Union, Serbia has committed to harmonizing its energy policy and legislation, accepting technical assistance and support in implementing reforms to adapt the national energy system to European standards. The aim of this paper is to present the regulatory and strategic framework "Clean Energy for All Europeans" in the part related to the household sector and to analyse its transposition into key legal provisions dealing with this topic in the Republic of Serbia