Sustainable Energy Policy Research Articles

Sustainable Energy Policy in Southeast Asia: Domestic Variation and Congruence in Policy Discourses

Southeast Asian governments have maintained “energy self‐reliance” and “energy security” as essential rationales of their macroeconomic policy. Since the availability of energy remains necessary for unabated domestic growth and development, the pursuit for “alternative” sources of energy and the resolve to build sustainable energy systems are constant priorities. Informed by the literature on policy discourse, this article draws attention to the analytical use and significance of policy discourse as a means to examine sustainable energy policies in Southeast Asia, which dominantly adopted an economic lens for “energy supply security.” Policy documents were examined to show the congruence and variation of policy discourses that prompted the governments of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore to institutionalize sustainable energy development from 2000 to 2016—a critical period for the institutionalization of sustainable energy in the region, when domestic renewable energy sectors and systems were simultaneously being established by these governments.

The Long-Run and Short-Run Effects of Ethanol Production on U.S. Beef Producers

Biofuel production has received considerable attention as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating global energy problems. The expansion of biofuel production has benefited the environment, but rising feed prices have negatively affected the livelihood of livestock producers. This study examines the direct effects of corn-based ethanol expansion on beef producers’ short-run resource transition and long-run productivity in the United States. Dynamic panel models are specified to measure farm productivity and to investigate the effects of ethanol expansion on input-use decisions and the productivity of individual beef producers. Analyses of farm-level panel data show that in the short run, ethanol expansion is associated with employment losses in the beef industry to compensate for increased costs of intermediate inputs used in the production process; however, in the long-run, it increases farm productivity. The productivity of surviving beef producers has improved because less efficient producers could not survive due to the drastic burden of rising feed prices. Given the interconnections between the agriculture and energy markets through the growth of biofuel production, our results provide important insights in developing sustainable energy policies that could harmonize both markets and reduce unintended negative effects of biofuel production.

Testing the stationarity and convergence of CO2 emissions series in MENA countries

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the stationarity and convergence of CO2 emissions series in MENA countries. The stationarity and unit root properties of per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions series are explored by an increasing amount of studies, which use different methodologies. Examining the time series properties of energy and environmental series is crucial for both researchers and the policymakers, given the close link between energy, environment and the real economy. In fact, if energy exhibits the presence of a unit root, this suggests that this series does not revert to its equilibrium level after being hit by a shock.Design/methodology/approachThe contribution of this work is twofold. First, to the author’s knowledge, a very little attention has been paid to the topics of stationarity and convergence of CO2 emissions in the case of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) member states, especially in a panel context. Convergence analyses of CO2 emissions for MENA countries can improve the knowledge of energy and environmental scenario of the area, giving some ideas for appropriate future policies. Second, this is the first study that jointly analyzed time series and panel data properties of emissions series for these countries.FindingsThe author finds that relative per capita CO2 emissions in the 19 MENA countries are a mixture of I(0) and I(1) processes and there is a weak evidence to support the stationarity of CO2 emissions. After having verified the presence of cross-sectional dependence in the series, the panel unit root tests in presence of cross-section dependence show strong evidence in favor of non-stationarity. In addition, after performing tests for ß-convergence, it is also found that per capita CO2 emissions are converging on average in 11 out of 19 sample’s countries, while s-convergence analysis reveals that the variance of per capita CO2 emissions decreased over time, which is an indication of convergence.Originality/valueImportant policy implications emerge from the empirical results. Sustainable environmental and energy policies rely heavily on the CO2 series’ properties. In this regard, determining whether shocks to CO2 emissions are permanent or transitory is important for setting feasible goals for sustainable environmental policies. Given that per capita CO2 emissions are essentially associated with a quality of life, the issues of their reduction have been the leading agenda in energy and environmental management over the past two decades.

Evolution of sustainable energy policies in India since 1947: A review.

India's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions in 2015 toward the Two‐Degree Celsius climate change goal has endorsed 15% of renewable integration in the primary energy mix by 2020. The energy space is strategy to meet the target without affecting its immediate sustainable development goals. This study documents this strategic effort by tracking the historical trajectory of energy policy planning since its independence in 1947. An objective ontological approach was adopted in reviewing the evolution of energy policy into five distinct phases. Phase I (1947–1970), focused on supply adequacy with the overall thrust on infrastructure development as the pillar of Indian economy. In Phase II (the 1970s) the focus shifted in addressing the energy access crisis. Phase III (the 1980s) was based on increment, diversification, and streamlining on supplies for energy security purposes. Phase IV (the 1990s) is the period of modernization of the overall Indian electricity system. Phase V (the 2000s) is the present phase of market transformation and climate change mitigation energy policies. A co‐assessment of India's policy to the international climate negotiations showed that India remained responsive to international climate goals. It became reactive in the planning for sustainable energy policy after its ratification of Kyoto Protocol in 2001. Since then, India has been instrumental in administering strict emission reduction norms and efficiency measures. This review concludes that the country needs to upgrade its inefficient transmission and distribution networks, which was broadly neglected. The subsidy allocations in domestic energy resources should be well‐adjusted without compromising on its social costs.

Field‐programmable gate arrays and quantum Monte Carlo: Power efficient coprocessing for scalable high‐performance computing

AbstractMassively parallel architectures offer the potential to significantly accelerate an application relative to their serial counterparts. However, not all applications exhibit an adequate level of data and/or task parallelism to exploit such platforms. Furthermore, the power consumption associated with these forms of computation renders “scaling out” for exascale levels of performance incompatible with modern sustainable energy policies. In this work, we investigate the potential for field‐programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to feature in future exascale platforms, and their capacity to improve performance per unit power measurements for the purposes of scientific computing. We have focused our efforts on variational Monte Carlo, and report on the benefits of coprocessing with a FPGA relative to a purely multicore system.

A Research on Sustainability Evaluation and Low-carbon Economy in China

This article discusses the challenges of sustainable energy in China, identifies some major paths for the sustainable development of energy, and establishes a sustainability evaluation system for sustainable energy policies in four aspects, including the integrity of the energy decision-making, energy supply security, the sustainability of energy consumption, and the energy technology and education. To formulate China’s sustainable energy policy, we need to start from two angles: energy security supply, economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and coordinate the relationship; Secondly, speeding up the development of coal based low carbon economy, improving energy market mechanism and increasing green energy consumption are the policy choices to promote sustainable energy development in China.

The Influence of Institutional Factors on Sustainable Renewable Energy Policy Development: New Evidence from the Thai Experience

Renewable energy has become the buzzword in the 21st century especially during the United Nations declarations of the Submit 21 in which world leaders renewed their efforts in achieving the seventeen sustainable development goals. One of the challenges of the developing world is achieving a reliable energy supply for industrialization and energy security. Thailand is one of the countries with the highest energy consumption within the ASEAN region and hence, several policies have been implemented to deploy a clean source of energy for both domestic and manufacturing purposes. However, there are many institutional factors that seem to impede this drive for a greener energy supply in the country. This study sought to investigate the institutional factors that support sustainable renewable energy policy development in the Thai context. The study selected 400 respondents from renewable energy producing companies in Bangkok and Ayutthaya using a survey instrument. The results were analyze using SPSS version 22.0 with multiple regression technique. The results showed that institutional variables such as stakeholder involvement, government R&D framework, regulatory procedures, and government subsidies had an influence on sustainable renewable policy development. The study recommends that future government policies should engage key stakeholders in the policy dialogue and implementation process.

Prioritization of Bioethanol Production Systems from Agricultural and Waste Agricultural Biomass Using Multi-criteria Decision Making

In this paper, the problem of sustainability assessment of various types of bioethanol plants is addressed. This represents the first evaluation of 30 bioethanol systems fed by agricultural and waste agricultural biomass in Iran, using multi-criteria decision analysis relying on seven sustainability criteria (total cost, benefit, fossil energy ratio, energy use efficiency, greenhouse gas [GHG] emission, land use, and production yield) and five representative decision-maker preference scenarios. The results show that most agricultural systems are not feasible in terms of economics, energy, and the environment. However, agricultural wastes are attractive feedstocks for bioethanol production, since they are cost-effective, renewable, and abundant. The results across several preference scenarios for waste crops indicate that producing bioethanol from sugarcane currently scores highest in sustainability for Iran. Barley and strawberry have the lowest ranks in most scenarios due to their high GHG emissions and low production yield. In addition to sugarcane, potato and sugar beet are the most beneficial from the energy and environmental perspectives. Pear and apple also have high-middle status among the considered scenarios for Iran. These results suggest that design policies promoting the use of agricultural wastes for energy production may appeal to decision makers with a diverse range of economic, environmental, and energy preferences. Finally, this type of research can provide arguments to support decisions tending toward a more structured and strategic approach in implementing sustainable energy policies.

The rise and fall of green growth: Korea's energy sector experiment and its lessons for sustainable energy policy

The idea of “green growth” has received international attention for more than a decade as a promising solution to a distinctly modern problem: a century of unparalleled increases in wealth based on equally unparalleled innovations in energy technology accompanied by global environmental threats such as climate change and persistent socioeconomic inequality. The green growth premise is that this problem can be solved without surrendering continued economic growth by a redirection of human effort to invent green energy technology, green energy markets, and green energy choice. Proponents have argued that green‐energy based economic growth represents a paradigm shift bringing forth sustainable and equitable relations between environment, economy, and society. The paper reviews a decade of green energy growth strategies and practices. The Korean Green Growth Initiative (KGGI) is investigated as a case study of green energy growth operationalization. Korea’s experiment was widely hailed by international bodies such as The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) for its bold attempt at paradigm shift, with the hope that, if it succeeded, countries currently on the periphery of modern development would be able to overcome conditions of poverty, environmental degradation, and political dependency. But our analysis of the Korean case questions the idea and ideology of green energy growth, demonstrating instead that KGGI was quickly coopted by the paradigm it was supposed to supplant. In this respect, one contradiction in the strategy and practice of green energy growth has been its promise to change the trajectory of modern development without requiring serious changes in modern values and ideology.This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy Energy and Development > Climate and Environment Energy and Development > Economics and Policy

Thermal performance characterisation of a reverse-flow energy recovery ventilator for a residential building application

The European Union’s 2020 and 2030 sustainable energy policies seek significant reductions in both energy consumption and carbon emissions. These policies demand a greater use of energy efficient technologies and a transition away from fossil fuels. This paper studies one such technology, an indoor climate control system with a reverse-flow enthalpy recovery ventilator, capable of recovering both sensible and latent heat. The thermal performance characteristics are established using an experimental facility and calculation methods defined by European Standard EN 13141-7:2010. This involves measurement of temperature, humidity, pressure and volumetric air flow rates over a range of operating conditions. Total thermal energy recovery rates ranged from 0.63 kW to 2.2 kW, with energy recovery efficiency of 72.8 % to 88.6 %. The recovery efficiency ratio, which reflects the capacity of the indoor climate control system to recover thermal energy relative to its power consumption ranged between 6.87 to 19.97. Due to the unique reverse-flow defrost function, the system demonstrates operation down to -7 °C without frost formation. These results highlight the potential that this system can make towards the EU goals of reducing energy consumption, operating costs and carbon emissions associated with indoor climate control.

The Role of CCUS in T&T's Future Energy System

Developing and emerging economies face a twofold energy challenge in the 21st century: meeting the needs of billions of people who still lack access to basic, modern energy services while simultaneously participating in a global transition to clean, low-carbon energy systems. Historic rates of progress toward increased efficiency, decarbonization, greater fuel diversity and lower pollutant emissions need to be greatly accelerated in order to do so. The perceived adverse effects of climate change, felt by many and due to the anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases (GHG), and in particular Carbon Dioxide (CO2), are generating immense attention worldwide. Though this is a potential global issue, it is appreciated that small- island states like Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) may face greater risks than most, resulting from the associated rising sea level and land reclamation. The 2017 hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean is empirical evidence of this, with two category 5 storms that brought near to total devastation in Dominica, Barbuda and Saint Martin (all SIDS and neighbours of T&T). These events are evidence that the cash flows associated with GHG mitigation should not be limited in sight to mitigating investments alone, but should also consider the cost incurred when these investments are not made. In addition to be a SIDS with possible increase vulnerability to climate change, T&T registers high levels of CO2 emissions on a per capita and per GDP basis due to its relatively small population size and low carbon efficiency. Though the nation’s absolute CO2 emissions are relatively insignificant, from a sustainability viewpoint, emission management is needed to address the increasing volumes of anthropogenic emissions within. For T&T’s energy climate, the issue of depleting energy resource and that of disproportionate GHG emissions with respect to the country’s population and GDP create an opportunity for the proper utilisation of this waste product. Globally, policies are being designed to increase energy efficiency and renewable production as a means to manage emissions. During the Kyoto Protocol’s period and now with the Paris agreement, the ultimate goal was to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at a level needed to mitigate future climate change by providing a framework for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations. These reduction targets can have negative economic impacts that will affect not only the industrialized countries but also other developing countries around the world. In this paper, the authors tackle these issues for T&T through a nationally appropriate mitigation action that can potentially contribute to economic growth via EOR and CCS projects. Though related work has been previously executed for T&T, the major novelty addressed in this paper will be the current price barriers to make this technology appealing to T&T. These include maximum CO2 price (either as a tax or trade commodity) and related minimum oil price of carbon dioxide. It is expected that this work will help policy makers in generating sustainable energy policies that are more likely to succeed if they also contribute toward other societal and economic development objectives. This is important as it only seems logical for a nation with over 100 years’ experience in oil and gas to persist with an energy system that continue to operate in the midst of climate change via related CCUS policies. CCUS can be the transition pillar as the nation gradually move towards renewable energy as it was found that: It was most economical to use CO2 sources from the ammonia plants; It was more economical to transport the CO2 via trucking (especially at low flow rates and in the earlier years of the project life); As the CO2 flow rates increased, the pipelines started to be more economical, in particular, once 2 MT/year was exceeded, the pipeline was the more economical option and especially so for later years in the project; It is possible to sequester approximately 7.3-17.2 MTCO2 over a ten (10) year period based on CO2 utilization rates reported of 4-14.5 Mscf/bbl; Suitable CCUS sinks are located no more than 55km from the CO2 sources in mature oil fields south Trinidad; The minimum oil price for economic viability was 55 USD/bbl; and The maximum CO2 purchase price for economic viability was 35 USD/t.

Supply chain for sustainable renewable energy from biomass

A sustainable-energy policy requires the development of economical and sustainable renewable energy systems. This research focuses on the feasibility of developing a sustainable resource supply chain plan, by using available biomass as a resource for producing electricity in the Loei province, Thailand. A mathematical model has been proposed to determine suitable locations for the biomass power plants, the optimal biomass production, and supplier allocation that result in the lowest operating cost to meet the electricity demand. The availability of different types of biomass, different modes of transportation, and electricity consumption in the Loei province is used to develop the optimisation model. An extended model is also proposed to deal with the perishability of biomass. The proposed models can be used and applied by decision makers to perform different types of analysis in order to assist decision making on the location of biomass plants as well as in the distribution plan.

Is the expansion of sugarcane over pasturelands a sustainable strategy for Brazil's bioenergy industry?

Biofuels are fundamental for meeting societal energy needs within the next few decades, but the sustainability of large-scale land use conversions to supply feedstock crops remains unclear. Quantitative data documenting how biofuel crop expansion will affect ecosystem services (ES) is needed to develop sustainable energy policies. Using pairwise comparisons of published and novel environmental, social and economic indicators, we quantitatively assessed the provision of critical ES related to key aspects of the sustainability of pasture-to-sugarcane transitions in Brazil. We found that with the exception of maintaining biodiversity, conversion of pasturelands to sugarcane fields enhanced many ES. Based on the Sustainability index, aimed to capture changes on key sustainability aspects by considering multiple ES and properly integrating them, we concluded that pasture to sugarcane transitions would increase the sustainability by 78% in south-central Brazil. Our results provide science-based empirical evidence that the expansion of sugarcane into degraded pasturelands is a suitable strategy to enhance Brazil's biomass feedstock supplies for producing bioenergy. Moreover, facing the complex and multidimensional concept of sustainability, our study also illustrates the importance of considering holistically land use change effects rather than individual ESs when establishing sustainable land management practices and bioenergy policies.

Civil society perspectives on green jobs in sustainable energy: The case of European Malta

The objective of this paper is to analyse the perspectives of civil society actors in Malta about the country’s sustainable energy policy and its impact on green jobs. Perspectives of 11 civil society actors comprising employers, trade unions and non-governmental organisations are analysed to provide a broad reflexive analysis of the policy process in question. Findings illuminate a broad consensus within civil society that the policymaking process in the field of sustainable energy should incorporate different voices from civil society – such as employers, trade unions and environmental non-governmental organisations – apart from experts in energy, economics and other areas. Indeed, this study’s findings include civil society’s reviews on how commercial viability, workers’ rights, environmental protection and sustainability interact with and within the sustainable energy sector and related green jobs. Nonetheless, this study signals that within Maltese civil society, sharing of knowledge and good practice and effort coordination lack. Different interests and sectarianism testify to inconsistently interacting and competing human local networks. This broadens the discourse on effective sustainable energy policy and creation of related green jobs, also making it more complex. Indeed, the direction of such discourse bears potential for sporadic development. Whilst challenging vertical trajectories, institutionally centred and technical transitions in the area of environmental sustainability, the primary data gained from this study highlight need for policy to address the identified challenges through projects, funding and incentives that foster coordination between different types of civil society organisations.

A Comparative Study on the RFS Program of Korea with the US and UK

In 2016, the global environmental impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was 49.3 gigatons CO2 equivalent. Worldwide, the transportation sector is responsible for 14% of GHG. Electric vehicles (EV) powered by less-polluting energy sources are one way to reduce the environmental impact of the transportation sector, but immediate transportation demands cannot be met by existing EV technology. Use of less polluting biofuel in place of petroleum-based gasoline or diesel fuel to power the existing transportation fleet is a widely accepted transitional solution, including in the Republic of Korea. The purpose of this research is to investigate approaches to biofuels in the US and the UK in order to evaluate Korea’s current energy policies related to use of biofuels and to make recommendations for strengthening Korea’s energy policy. This article addresses only policies for use of biodiesel rather than ethanol (widely used in the US) because ethanol is not used in Korea. This research shows that Korea calculates GHG using the principle that biofuel is carbon neutral, but energy policies in the US and the UK treat biofuel as not entirely carbon neutral. Korea should examine how to calculate GHG from biodiesel according to the standard set by the UK in order to work toward a more environmentally sustainable energy policy.

Approaching Sustainable Energy Transitions Through Bringing Disciplines Together: an examination of Carleton University’s graduate cross disciplinary course in sustainable energy

Complex challenges in sustainable energyrequire innovation: new ways of approaching problemsand new ways of collaborating. Bridging disciplinesthrough teamwork is one way to address issues effectively. Drawing from the experiences of a graduate level crossdisciplinary course involving engineering and public policy at Carleton University, this paper seeks to provide insights on the practical side of bridging disciplines in the classroom. Offered since 2011, this is a core course of Carleton’s Master’s program in Sustainable Energy Engineering and Policy. Working in groups, students envision and develop plans for novel sustainable energy projects. Through our experiences we posit the following three suggestions for successful interdisciplinary teamwork. First, ensuring that students embarking on a course share a similar foundation. Second, lessons from literature regarding team dynamics can be applied to group project work. Thirdly, that group work, challenging at times, may later be found valuable in life beyond the classroom

Expanding versus greening? Long-term energy and emission transitions in Mozambique

Mozambique is rapidly emerging as one of the leading energy producers in Africa. We develop a comprehensive scenario analysis to review the energy revolution in Mozambique. Like much of Africa, Mozambique features a competition between development of its vast reserves of renewable energy and fossil fuels. We assess the implied energy and emissions transitions as well as the potential impact of a range of sustainable policy options. Our analysis reveals an emerging ‘energy dichotomy’, where a spectacular expansion of energy production goes together with an only gradual energy consumption transition. We find that over time the share of modern renewable energy sources tends to marginalize in the energy production mix while remaining stable in the energy consumption mix. About one-third of the GHG emissions associated with energy production can be linked to energy export. Also, we find that sustainable energy policies at the supply side lead to far higher cumulative emission reductions than demand-side policies. Finally, we show that even in the long run, a complete ban on thermal electricity generation capacity in Mozambique would by no means lead to shortages in the domestic electricity market but only slightly limit potential electricity export.

Energy sector of Cameroon

ABSTRACTAs energy issues are at the top of the national policy agenda, policy-makers increasingly need better decision-supporting processes to assist them in fostering a sustainable energy policy. This article aims at supporting the development of energy policy by evaluating the potential, limits and efficiency of energy in Cameroon. The method used is based on the analysis of different forms of energy in Cameroon, through the past trend of energy production and consumption to the current status of Cameroon energetic system. Total energy production and consumption capacity in the country is up to 8.85 Mega tons of oil equivalents (Mtoe) and 5747 kilo tons of oil equivalents (ktoe) respectively. Energy consumption in Cameroon is highly dominated by biomass, followed by petroleum products and electricity; nevertheless, renewable energy is still marginal. Our opinion would be to develop new strategies to shift the energy situation from its present condition to the desired status.

Financial Feasibility and Social Acceptance for Reducing Nuclear Power Plants: A Contingent Valuation Study

Social acceptance of nuclear power has become a decisive factor in framing a sustainable energy policy. This study examines social acceptance for cancelling the construction of planned nuclear power plants (NPPs) and replacing them with other energy sources. The contingent valuation method (CVM) and cost–benefit analysis (CBA) are used to access the social acceptance and financial feasibility of such projects. Empirical analysis is based on the case of South Korea, where a similar policy is in progress under the new government. The CVM results show that a Korean household was willing to pay an additional KRW 1922.45/month (USD 1.80/month) for replacing seven 1-Gigawatt NPPs with other energy sources, which is about 3.5% of a household’s current electricity bill. The CBA suggests that the annual costs of replacing this amount of nuclear power capacity with renewables or liquefied natural gas is KRW 1291.40 billion (USD 1.21 billion) or KRW 1180.38 billion (USD 1.11 billion) larger than its benefits, which amounts to about 3% of total annual electricity generation costs in South Korea. As the additional costs of nuclear power replacement cannot be fully covered by the mean willingness-to-pay of the current acceptance level, moderate levels of social resistance are expected if all the additional costs are passed on to the end-users.

Assessment of energy‐efficient appliances: A review of the technologies and policies in India's residential sector

The promotion of energy efficiency has been at the forefront of the energy policy agenda. New technological inventions and increasing environmental concerns related to contemporary energy policy are the main drivers of the adoption of more energy‐efficient appliances in the domestic sector. Additionally, the mandatory star labeling program and incentive design mechanisms are also raising awareness and motivation for their use, thus contributing to the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable energy policies generally pursue programs aiming for energy efficiency among domestic appliances. In India there are currently nine domestic electrical appliances/end‐uses certified with star labeling programs, in particular lighting sources, refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters, televisions, computers, washing machines, ceiling fans, and water pumps. This study reviews main issues affecting selection of energy‐efficient technologies in India's domestic sector highlighting the main challenges impacting design of energy efficiency policies and programs in the country.This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy Energy Efficiency > Economics and Policy Energy and Development > Systems and Infrastructure