Articles

Nature conservation as a driver in wind energy scenarios

Germany has set ambitious goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The decarbonisation of the energy system has been in focus. An important means to achieve this is the increased utilisation of wind energy...

Authors: Philip Gauglitz, Sven Schicketanz and Carsten Pape

Understanding the role of values in institutional change: the case of the energy transition

The current transition towards low-carbon energy systems does not only involve changes in technologies but is also shaped by changes in the rules and regulations (i.e., the institutions) that govern energy sys...

Authors: Christine Milchram, Carolin Märker, Holger Schlör, Rolf Künneke and Geerten van de Kaa

Observation-based estimates of land availability for wind power: a case study for Czechia

The availability of land for the installation of wind power turbines is restricted by numerous factors. Besides climatic conditions, the deployment of wind energy is limited by technical, social, economic, and...

Authors: Felix Nitsch, Olga Turkovska and Johannes Schmidt

Optimisation of photovoltaic and battery systems from the prosumer-oriented total cost of ownership perspective

In the context of the German energy transition, the number of domestic households covering part of their electricity consumption from their own photovoltaic system is constantly increasing. Some even use batte...

Authors: Kai Kappner, Peter Letmathe and Philipp Weidinger

Integrating policy, market, and technology for sustainability governance of agriculture-based biofuel and bioeconomic development in the US

The scaled-up production of biofuels and bioproducts in the US is likely to cause land use expansion and intensification domestically and internationally, possibly leading to undesirable environmental and soci...

Authors: Jianbang Gan, Inge Stupak and C. T. Smith

Analyzing long-term empirical interactions between renewable energy generation, energy use, human capital, and economic performance in Pakistan

The current research attempts to systematically investigate the causal interactions between renewable energy generation, aggregated energy use, human capital, and economic performance in Pakistan both in a sho...

Authors: Nousheen Fatima, Yanbin Li, Munir Ahmad, Gul Jabeen and Xiaoyu Li

Lithuanian forest biomass resources: legal, economic and ecological aspects of their use and potential

The development of bioenergy markets is beneficial from a climate perspective and helps ensure sustainable forest management both locally and globally. This study aimed to provide an overview of the current st...

Authors: Iveta Varnagirytė-Kabašinskienė, Diana Lukminė, Stasys Mizaras, Lina Beniušienė and Kęstutis Armolaitis

Sustainability governance of the Danish bioeconomy — the case of bioenergy and biomaterials from agriculture

The EU bioeconomy strategy aims to accelerate the European bioeconomy and its contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. National policies and strategies in many...

Authors: Niclas Scott Bentsen, Søren Larsen and Inge Stupak

Investigation of the trends of electricity demands in Jordan and its susceptibility to the ambient air temperature towards sustainable electricity generation

Efficient production and reliable availability of electricity requires comprehensive understanding of load demand trends to plan and match production with consumption. Although electricity demand depends on a ...

Authors: Ahmad Almuhtady, Ahmad Alshwawra, Marwa Alfaouri, Wael Al-Kouz and Ismael Al-Hinti

Integrating power-to-gas in the biogas value chain: analysis of stakeholder perception and risk governance requirements

When integrating power-to-gas (PtG) in the biogas sector (BGS), it is essential to consider how risk is perceived and handled since it influences technology uptake, acceptance, and legitimacy. In this study, w...

Authors: Johanny Pestalozzi, Claudia Bieling, Dirk Scheer and Cordula Kropp

A systematic approach for assessment of renewable energy using analytic hierarchy process

Cities around the world face a great challenge in establishing a long-term strategy for the development of energy alternatives. Previous research tried to identify renewable energy across many different cities...

Authors: Gerçek Budak, Xin Chen, Serdar Celik and Berk Ozturk

Acceptability of innovative biomass heating plants in a German case study—a contribution to cultural landscape management and local energy supply

To prevent negative effects on the cultural landscape through land abandonment or agricultural intensification, innovative solutions towards more sustainable land use are required. Local bioenergy systems usin...

Authors: Maria Busse, Rosemarie Siebert and Nico Heitepriem

Community acceptability and the energy transition: a citizens’ perspective

Every energy transition has had its winners and its losers, both economically and in terms of social justice and community cohesion. The current transition is no different given the complex, intersecting matri...

Authors: Breffní Lennon, Niall P. Dunphy and Estibaliz Sanvicente

Exploring the link between energy security and subjective well-being: a study of 22 nations

Energy has long been recognized as foundational for well-being, and recent work, has documented a link between access to energy services and health. In this analysis, we ask how worries about the energy system...

Authors: Adam Mayer and E. Keith Smith

Implementation of voluntary verification of sustainability for solid biomass—a case study from Denmark

Renewable energy and biomass are becoming increasingly important energy sources to help mitigate climate change and meet national renewable energy targets. This will lead to a substantial growth in solid bioma...

Authors: Søren Larsen, Niclas Scott Bentsen and Inge Stupak

Evaluation of co-firing as a cost-effective short-term sustainable CO₂ mitigation strategy in Germany

In order to achieve the German greenhouse gas reduction targets, in particular, CO₂ emissions of coal-fired power plants must be reduced. The co-incineration of biomass-based substitutes, here referred to as co-f...

Authors: Steffen Knapp, Almut Güldemund, Steffi Weyand and Liselotte Schebek

Supply optimization based on society’s cost of electricity and a calibrated demand model for future renewable energy transition in Niger

In an attempt to realize the most beneficial and optimal mix of electricity generation in Niger, a society’s cost of electricity (SCOE) as the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) plus the cost of climate chan...

Authors: Fitsum Bekele Tilahun, Ramchandara Bhandari and Mengesha Mamo

Maximizing social benefit from finite energy resource allocation

Since the industrial revolution, human population and fossil energy consumption have steadily increased. With concerns over fossil energy impact on air quality and global climate, there is increasing interest ...

Authors: Jenifer L. Wightman and Peter B. Woodbury

Theory and practice of European co-operative education and training for the support of energy transition

European visions such as the European Commission’s Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan and the SET Plan Roadmap Education and Training encourages higher education institutions (HEI) and business to establis...

Authors: Stephan Maier, Michael Narodoslawsky, Lidia Borell-Damián, Maarten Arentsen, Marlene Kienberger, Wolfgang Bauer, Maria Ortner, Nigel Foxhall, Gerhard Oswald, Joan-Marc Joval, Yoram Krozer, Theresa Urbanz, Christian Sakulin, Sebestyen Tihamer-Tibor and Viktorija Dobravec

A spatially explicit approach to modeling biological productivity and economic attractiveness of short-rotation woody crops in the eastern USA

Over the past two decades, the United States government conducted detailed analyses of the potential of a biobased national energy strategy that produced four unified studies, namely the 2005–2016 US Billion-T...

Authors: John A. Stanturf, James H. Perdue, Timothy M. Young, Xia Huang, Zhimei Guo, Derek Dougherty and Michael Pigott

Adapting the theory of resilience to energy systems: a review and outlook

Sustainable systems must maintain their function even in the event of disruptions in order to be considered truly sustainable. The theory of resilience concerns the behavior of systems during and aftershocks. ...

Authors: Bernhard-Johannes Jesse, Heidi Ursula Heinrichs and Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs

Promoting adoption while avoiding rebound: integrating disciplinary perspectives on market diffusion and carbon impacts of electric cars and building renovations in Austria

Many countries state ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions. Their policy strategies emphasize energy efficiency by means of technological innovations. However, these strategies are at risk of severe ...

Authors: Sebastian Seebauer, Veronika Kulmer and Claudia Fruhmann

Factors influencing the environmental and economic feasibility of district heating systems—a perspective from integrated spatial and energy planning

District heating systems have been gaining importance in the last years. However, local circumstances, e.g. regarding heat demand and available heat sources, are diverse and new technologies especially in the ...

Authors: Franz Zach, Susanna Erker and Gernot Stoeglehner

Geothermal energy for desalination to secure food security: case study in Djibouti

By the year 2025, nearly 3.5 billion people in the world will have no water, including 900,000 from Djibouti. The economic losses caused by the 2000–2012 drought pushed the country to a state of disaster. This...

Authors: D. Chandrasekharam, A. Lashin, Nassir Al Arifi, Abdulaziz M. Al-Bassam and C. Varun

How and to which extent can the gas sector contribute to a climate-neutral European energy system? A qualitative approach

Mitigating climate change requires fundamentally redesigned energy systems in which renewable energy sources ultimately replace fossil fuels such as natural gas. In this context, the question how and to which ...

Authors: Christian Lebelhuber and Horst Steinmüller

Quantification and characterization of cocoa pod husks for electricity generation in Uganda

Due to limited coverage, the electricity power supply in Uganda is an obstacle to the country’s economic development. Utility firms in Uganda either lack the financial capacity to expand their grids to isolate...

Authors: George Kilama, Peter O. Lating, Joseph Byaruhanga and Saphina Biira

Biogas production from submerged macrophytes—a case study of regional biomass potentials in Germany

Utilization of energy crops for biogas production has been controversially discussed in Germany due to negative environmental effects and the “food vs. fuel” debate. This led to a search for alternative substr...

Authors: Markus Röhl, Sandra Roth, Wolfgang Schütz, Andreas Zehnsdorf and Carsten Herbes

Households’ energy preference and consumption intensity in Kenya

There have been notable joint efforts from the private and public sectors in promoting households’ access to clean and efficient energy sources. Despite the noteworthy progress realized over the years, the con...

Authors: Charity Kageni Mbaka, Joseph Gikonyo and Oscar Masika Kisaka

The impact of different GHG reduction scenarios on the economy and social welfare of Thailand using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model

The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of Thailand intends to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 to 25% from the projected business as usual level by 2030 with the deployment of renewable energy...

Authors: Salony Rajbhandari, Bundit Limmeechokchai and Toshihiko Masui

An assessment of threats to the American power grid

Concern has been raised that the electrical grid of this nation is vulnerable to prolonged collapse. The postulated mechanisms are geomagnetic storms, electromagnetic pulse attacks (EMP) via a high altitude nu...

Authors: Matthew Weiss and Martin Weiss

Transition governance for energy efficiency - insights from a systematic review of Swedish policy evaluation practices

The transition towards a more sustainable energy system is urgent for addressing global environmental and social challenges, and will require transformative changes including improved energy efficiency in the ...

Authors: Sofie Sandin, Lena Neij and Per Mickwitz

Off-grid opportunities and threats in the wake of India’s electrification push

In pursuing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy access for all, India’s electrification efforts are dominated by a central electricity grid, ...

Authors: Anthony P. Heynen, Paul A. Lant, Simon Smart, Srinivas Sridharan and Chris Greig

Analysis of the pattern of energy consumptions and its impact on urban environmental sustainability in Jordan: Amman City as a case study

The energy sector plays an important role in the economic growth in Jordan due to the fact that Jordan imports around 97% of its needs from primary energy. The purpose of this study is to explore the pattern o...

Authors: Rami Nabil Dar-Mousa and Zeyad Makhamreh

Network governance and the Urban Nexus of water, energy, and food: lessons from Amsterdam

Silo-thinking stands for one-dimensional and sectorial policy and decision-making in which natural resources managers do not reflect on interrelations between different sectors involved in the management of resou...

Authors: Moises Covarrubias, Gert Spaargaren and Ingrid Boas

Possibilities for using mine waters in the context of the construction of heat energy clusters in Poland

Non-renewable energy continues to remain the main link in energy production in Poland. At the end of 2016, fossil fuels (hard coal and lignite) accounted for around 82% of gross domestic energy production. Red...

Authors: Justyna Woźniak and Katarzyna Pactwa

Future compatibility of district heating in urban areas — a case study analysis in the context of integrated spatial and energy planning

District heating is widely used for thermal energy supply and offers a broad range of benefits like the possibility to integrate decentral heat supply technologies or to foster the utilisation of renewable ene...

Authors: Peter Lichtenwoehrer, Susanna Erker, Franz Zach and Gernot Stoeglehner

Interdisciplinary decision support model for grid-bound heat supply systems in urban areas

In the past two centuries, energy consumption per capita has significantly increased. At the same time the fundamentals of energy provision have continuously developed towards fossil energy sources. This exten...

Authors: Susanna Erker, Peter Lichtenwoehrer, Franz Zach and Gernot Stoeglehner

Development aid for energy in Small Island Developing States

Energy is given high priority in the national development agendas of most Small Island Developing States (SIDS) because it is intertwined with social, economic and environmental challenges. Many SIDS experienc...

Authors: Aaron Atteridge and Georgia Savvidou

Valorisation of energy services: essay on the value addition due to renewable energy

The shift from fossil fuels and traditional renewable energy to costlier modern renewable energy based on geothermal wind and solar resources is explained.

Authors: Yoram Krozer

Potential of microfinanced solar water pumping systems for irrigation in rural areas of Burkina Faso

The population in Burkina Faso is rapidly adopting irrigation to adapt to negative impacts of climate change like prolonged drought, rainfall variability and desertification. The solar water pumping systems (S...

Authors: Daniel Yamegueu, Yunus Alokore and Giulia Corso

How to keep renewable energy enterprises to reach economic sustainable performance: from the views of intellectual capital and life cycle

Intellectual capital can not only help companies to obtain sustainable competitive advantage, but also serve as a key factor in corporate performance improvement and value creation. For knowledge-intensive and...

Authors: Xin-long Xu and Cheng Kun Liu

Exploring the potential for biomethane production by willow pyrolysis using life cycle assessment methodology

Biomethane, as a potential substitute for natural gas, reduces the use of fossil-based sources, promoting bioenergy applications. Biomethane for energy use can be produced using a variety of biomass types and ...

Authors: Elham Ahmadi Moghaddam, Niclas Ericsson, Per-Anders Hansson and Åke Nordberg

Deconstructing networks, unearthing consensus: Diffusion of “cleaner” cookstoves in rural Himalayas of India

Both social structures and people’s beliefs affect the diffusion of innovations, but few studies have been able to understand how these dual influences operate simultaneously. Understanding this simultaneity i...

Authors: Arundhati Jagadish and Puneet Dwivedi

Review of the United States energy system in transition

This review article provides a synthesis of the most significant transitions taking place in the energy systems of the USA in 2018. These include the leveling off of the total consumption of primary energy and...

Authors: Peter D. Saundry

From the economist’s point of view—a review of the “The German energy transition: Design, implementation, cost and lessons” by Thomas Unnerstall

Authors: Gerhard Fuchs

Sustainability of community-owned mini-grids: evidence from India

Community-owned solar mini-grids (SMGs) are increasingly promoted to provide communities access to reliable electricity, empowering local actors as they become active stakeholders in projects. However, early f...

Authors: Aparna Katre, Arianna Tozzi and Subhes Bhattacharyya

Morocco’s sustainable energy transition and the role of financing costs: a participatory electricity system modeling approach

Morocco is facing major challenges in terms of its future energy supply and demand. Specifically, the country is confronted with rising electricity demand, which in turn will lead to higher fossil fuel import ...

Authors: Thomas Schinko, Sönke Bohm, Nadejda Komendantova, El Mostafa Jamea and Marina Blohm

Intercomparison between Switch 2.0 and GE MAPS models for simulation of high-renewable power systems in Hawaii

New open-source electric-grid planning models have the potential to improve power system planning and bring a wider range of stakeholders into the planning process for next-generation, high-renewable power sys...

Authors: Matthias Fripp

An empirical analysis of rural and urban populations’ access to electricity: evidence from Pakistan

This study explores the electricity access to rural and urban populations and its impact on the economic growth in Pakistan.

Authors: Abdul Rehman, Zhang Deyuan, Abbas Ali Chandio and Imran Hussain

Exploring governance for sustainability in contexts of violence: the case of the hydropower industry in Colombia

The hydropower industry in Colombia is developing in contexts of violence because of armed conflict. The companies that drive hydropower development are usually large and benefit today from lessons that have b...

Authors: Jorge-Andrés Polanco