{"title":"Diffusion of demand-side low-carbon innovations and socio-technical energy system change","authors":"C. Hoicka, Yuxu Zhao, M. McMaster, Runa R. Das","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100034","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88168394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carlos A.A. Fernandez Vazquez , R.J. Brecha , Miguel H. Fernandez Fuentes
{"title":"Analyzing carbon emissions policies for the Bolivian electric sector","authors":"Carlos A.A. Fernandez Vazquez , R.J. Brecha , Miguel H. Fernandez Fuentes","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A transition of the Bolivian power sector towards a renewable energy dominated system has been inhibited by a series of laws and policies including heavy subsidies for power generation using domestic natural gas. Within this context, alternative techno-economic scenarios are designed based on key characteristics of the system, and a series of six policy levers are used to analyze impacts on the development of the power sector. The energy-system optimization modeling framework OSeMOSYS is utilized to analyze power sector transition pathways. Techno-economic characteristics and policies are combined to develop bracketing scenarios for the future energy system, contrasting business-as-usual with an ambitious renewable energy policy scenario.</p><p>Results from the analyzed scenarios show that achieving significant reductions of GHG emissions in the Bolivian electric system will heavily depend on:1) reducing the artificial competitiveness of thermal power plants through subsidies, but also a price on carbon emissions; 2) banning high impact power plants (mainly very large hydropower plants); and 3) defining clear long-term objectives for the participation of renewables in the system, starting with objectives in current short-term plans. By examining several scenarios, relative system costs as a function of emissions reductions are determined as well. For high penetration of variable renewable energy, addition of storage will eventually be needed as dispatchable renewable resources are limited.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100017"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000010/pdfft?md5=b5a762088db34e7321218b6d21901c20&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000010-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88426563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lingkang Jin , Andrea Monforti Ferrario , Viviana Cigolotti , Gabriele Comodi
{"title":"Evaluation of the impact of green hydrogen blending scenarios in the Italian gas network: Optimal design and dynamic simulation of operation strategies","authors":"Lingkang Jin , Andrea Monforti Ferrario , Viviana Cigolotti , Gabriele Comodi","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100022","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Blending hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>) produced from PEM electrolysis coupled to Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the existing Natural Gas (NG) network is a promising option for the deep decarbonization of the gas sector. However, blending H<sub>2</sub> with NG significantly affects the thermophysical properties of the gas mixture, changing the gas supply requirements to meet the demand. In this work, different scenarios of green hydrogen blending (Blend Ratio BR equal to 5/10/15/20%<sub>vol</sub>) are analyzed at the national level with different temporal constraints (hour/day/week/month/year) based on real gas demand data in Italy, addressing both design requirements (RES and PEM electrolyzer capacity) via Linear Programming (LP) and carrying out dynamic simulations of different operational strategies (constant or variable blend). Although H<sub>2</sub>/NG blending provides a huge opportunity in terms of deployed H<sub>2</sub> volume, higher BRs show rapidly increasing design requirements (1.3-1.5 GW<sub>e</sub>/%<sub>vol</sub> and 2.5-3 GW<sub>e</sub>/%<sub>vol</sub> for PEM electrolyzers and RES capacity, respectively) and a significative increase of the total gas mixture volume (0.83%/%<sub>vol</sub>) which hinders the CO<sub>2</sub> reduction potential (0.37%/%<sub>vol</sub>). A variable blend operation strategy (allowing a variation of BR within the analyzed period) allows to balance a variable H<sub>2</sub> production from RES. Wider temporal constraints imply several beneficial effects such as relaxing design constraints and avoiding the implementation of an external storage. The Levelized Cost Of Hydrogen (LCOH) is preliminarily estimated at around 7.3 $/kg for yearly scenarios (best-case), although shorter temporal constraints entail significant excess hydrogen which would increase the LCOH if not deployed for other applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100022"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X2200006X/pdfft?md5=9b31439c7e7745b08bd345a0c0e5b1b5&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X2200006X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91633066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A comparative study of AC and DC public electric vehicle charging station usage in Western Australia","authors":"Kai Li Lim , Stuart Speidel , Thomas Bräunl","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>DC fast-charging stations can charge an electric vehicle several times faster than Level 2 AC charging stations. Using a network of DC charging stations, it becomes possible to travel in electric vehicles for long-distance, cross-country driving with only short recharging stops. This paper examines and compares typical customer usage patterns at DC fast-charging stations (50 kW) against Level 2 AC charging stations (7 kW) to study the benefits of transitioning to DC charging for Western Australia. It includes data collected from The University of Western Australia’s AC and DC charging network in the Perth metropolitan area and stations along the highway connecting Perth to Augusta in the rural South West of Western Australia (over 300 km apart). A cost model is drawn up to calculate the local operating cost and break-even requirement across several different styles of charging stations. User behaviour and the adoption of certain charging infrastructures are crucial for the general uptake of electric vehicles. Notwithstanding, national electric vehicle charging standards and infrastructure availability have a fundamental influence on the electrification of transport.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100021"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000058/pdfft?md5=f9bc671a9e6310ed4cea580d96d48b98&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000058-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91633873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chris Briggs, Alison Atherton, Jeremy Gill, Rusty Langdon, Jay Rutovitz, Kriti Nagrath
{"title":"Building a ‘Fair and Fast’ energy transition? Renewable energy employment, skill shortages and social licence in regional areas","authors":"Chris Briggs, Alison Atherton, Jeremy Gill, Rusty Langdon, Jay Rutovitz, Kriti Nagrath","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100039","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Within techno-economic models for climate and energy scenarios, labour is assumed to be available just-in-time – even as cost-optimisation electricity system modelling typically generates development profiles with sharp peaks and troughs which would make labour supply and management very challenging. Local job creation is often framed as a key benefit for regional communities and important for building social licence in host regions to enable rapid, large-scale renewable energy development. Yet, whilst there is a large body of studies projecting employment volumes under climate and energy transition scenarios, there has been limited empirical research on the challenges, opportunities and solutions for labour supply and workforce development within local and regional labour markets.</p><p>Through a study of five renewable energy zones being established within an electricity system dominated by coal generation in New South Wales (Australia), our study contributes to the understanding of the employment constraints that could emerge and need to be addressed for a ‘fair and fast’ energy transition. As the global transition to renewable energy accelerates, local workforce development will become more important as competition for labour intensifies. However, significant barriers to building a regional workforce for renewable energy are identified including ‘boom-bust’ development cycles, the depth of regional labour markets in key occupations, competition for labour across inter-connected sectors, the concentration of socially disadvantaged communities in under-employed populations and demographic changes, especially population ageing.</p><p>Based on the case study, four key policy implications are identified for other jurisdictions. Firstly, ‘smoothing’ the development profile to avoid boom-bust cycles can be implemented consistent with renewable energy targets aligned with the Paris Climate agreement. Secondly, there needs to be a coordinated approach between government, industry and training providers to build training capacity – market-led approaches are unlikely to work for renewable energy in regional areas. Thirdly, training and employment pathways need to be built for diverse labour market segments to develop a regional workforce, including disadvantaged groups outside the workforce. Fourthly, renewable energy should be managed as part of an ‘ecosystem’ to develop a workforce that can move between renewable energy and adjacent sectors such as resources, infrastructure and manufacturing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100039"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X2200023X/pdfft?md5=6789d4b7173d95f61dbf474b04ee82a6&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X2200023X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136551694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modelling electric vehicles uptake on the Greek islands","authors":"Eleni Zafeiratou, Catalina Spataru","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100029","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>For decades, the Greek islands have been facing challenges in terms of quality of power supply, increased carbon dioxide equivalent (CO<sub>2eq</sub>) emissions, and costs due to their reliance on oil-fired generation subsidised by the Greek state. In light of the recent reforms to decarbonise the islands' region while enhancing their local grids, this study investigates the impact of electromobility considering an autonomous electricity system supported by storage versus an interconnected one. Two Electric Vehicles (EVs) deployment scenarios coupled with several charging strategies have been modelled using the PLEXOS energy systems model. The results highlight that the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) scenarios demonstrate the most evident benefits for the islands' electricity systems, performing adequately under both the Autonomous and Interconnection scenarios concerning the economic and environmental impact. Such scenarios have the potential to reduce emissions by 8.5% while dropping costs up to 20% by 2040, when combined with the required renewables expansion plan. From the security of supply perspective, the results demonstrate improvements under the interconnected context accompanied by thermal generation restrictions without however eliminating power shortages recorded already in a non-EV case. The analysis also showcases an escalated impact on power shortages and curtailments during the maximum week, particularly when combined with an ambitious EV deployment. Yet, V2G may increase renewables share up to 7% in 2040. In this context, EVs could mobilise the additional deployment of 600 MW renewables by 2040 if interconnections with the mainland are realised. Assuming islands continue operating as autonomous electricity systems, the additional capacity to accommodate may reach 720 MW.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100029"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000137/pdfft?md5=4a4c5237f92312a59a6165ee6965afd6&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000137-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91633864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Ethiopian energy sector and its implications for the SDGs and modeling","authors":"Amsalu Woldie Yalew","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The level and mix of energy supply and consumption have substantial roles in shaping the sustainable development pathway of a country. This is particularly important in developing regions where access to modern energy sources remains limited. This paper gives a narrative overview of the energy sector in Ethiopia. It presents the key historical trends and outstanding issues in the energy sector. It also explores the ways through which energy transition could support achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country. The review shows that energy supply and consumption in Ethiopia are dominated by bioenergy (88%) and by households (88%), respectively. Electricity barely accounts for 3% of the total energy supply although its generation has increased by more than four times between 2004/05 and 2018/19. Furthermore, the dominance of bioenergy source and households demand is projected to continue until the middle of the century. This study identifies research gaps, particularly, in terms of linking the energy sector with the rest of the economy and the environment using multi-sectoral economic models. Such advanced modeling is constrained by the lack of centrally coordinated energy data source among others. Creating an open platform that facilitates information exchange between energy planning institutions and academic researchers could be a crucial step in this regard.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100018"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000022/pdfft?md5=e8f65cf6e6c2d89c79cf5d2444f05a50&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000022-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86400838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jaise Kuriakose , Chris Jones , Kevin Anderson , Carly McLachlan , John Broderick
{"title":"What does the Paris climate change agreement mean for local policy? Downscaling the remaining global carbon budget to sub-national areas","authors":"Jaise Kuriakose , Chris Jones , Kevin Anderson , Carly McLachlan , John Broderick","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100030","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Following high-profile United Nations climate summits in Glasgow and Paris, sub-national regions and cities are increasingly seeking to set climate targets and policies in line with the Paris Agreement's goals. Downscaled carbon budgets are a useful framework for setting local mitigation targets related to a specific global temperature change. However, doing so presents a range of methodological issues, including: choices on the appropriate goals to set, the scope of emissions and sectors, the allocation approaches to apply, whether offset credits and/or carbon dioxide removals are acceptable and, if so, to what extent. This paper details a novel and transparent methodology for downscaling a Paris-aligned global carbon budget to sub-national areas, focusing on emissions from energy (power, heat, cooling, surface transport and industry). The effects of different global carbon budgets, various net zero targets and allocation methods on the size of sub-national budgets and associated mitigation rates are explored. The resulting budgets and annual emission reduction rates vary significantly, reflecting the implications of both high-level methodological choices and local factors, including economic activity, energy-system structure and population. Recent historical emissions (grandfathering) are found to be more appropriate for allocating national carbon budgets to sub-national areas than capability or egalitarian allocations. In the UK case study presented, adopting a grandfathering approach, the annual mitigation rates range from 7% to 16% between different sub-national areas. The analysis concludes that establishing agreed sub-national allocation approaches and boundaries are crucial to developing coherent national strategies consistent with the Paris Agreement's temperature and equity commitments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100030"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000149/pdfft?md5=45fc2017c5bafac34a290bbdfe9dce97&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000149-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91633865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cleaner the better: Macro-economic assessment of ambitious decarbonisation pathways across Indian states","authors":"Surabhi Joshi , Kakali Mukhopadhyay","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100027","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In first of its kind, this study evaluates socio -economic impacts of two ambitious decarbonisation pathways for India (i) aligned with India's Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) negotiated through Paris agreement in 2015 and (ii) more ambitious NDC plus decarbonisation trajectory aligned with India's recent COP26 commitments at subnational level. The analysis uses a newly developed dynamic macro-econometric regional simulation model - E3-India to evaluate changes in key economic and emission parameter due to energy transition at both national and state level for India. Impacts on emission intensity of the economy, GDP, employment and income are assessed to highlight the larger macro-economic and regional distributive impacts of existing NDC targets for India . The results provide three key insights, (i) overall socio-economic impacts of committing to an ambitious decarbonisation trajectory primarily articulated through NDCs for India will be positive, but the transition trajectory will have unequal distributive impacts across states and sectors. (ii)The NDC trajectories will have an expansive impact on the harder to abate construction sector so along with decarbonisation of energy sector, steel and cement sector would also need focussed decarbonisation measures. (iii) In absence of policies promoting ‘Just transitions’ smaller coal bearing states will be worst off, stuck with expansion of only primary and extractive mining sectors while high renewable energy potential states will show expansion in technology focussed sectors and high skilled sectors</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100027"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000113/pdfft?md5=1cc4f77f8e0824e38f16d6978b5c03ea&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000113-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91633871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Equitable energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean: Reducing inequity by building capacity","authors":"Nora Hampl","doi":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rset.2022.100035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The study evaluates links between the unfolding energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean and sustainable development goals (SDGs) relating to innovation (SDG 9), equality (SDG 10), and institutions (SDG 16). The study argues that if energy technology choices in the region continue to be driven by techno-economic rationality, many demands put upon the energy transition will remain unmet, namely, solving the pre-existing challenges (SDGs 9, 10, and 16). Unequal access – to education, training, and capabilities that could make local livelihoods more resilient, will preclude synergies between the latest renewable energy science, cross-sectoral innovation, and equitable institutions, in the end compromising local and regional potential, creativity and productivity. Additionally, given the unique, biodiversity-rich contexts of Latin America, energy technology choices need to account for context-specific climate and ecological imperatives. For the energy transition to be equitable and climate-compatible, the study concludes that new ways of integrating and acting on inter- and transdisciplinary knowledge need to be conceptualized and implemented in practice. This entails creating an interface between local communities (Indigenous and community knowledge), research community (local and international climate-energy knowledge), and policy-makers (policy knowledge).</p><p>The proposed concept of Research & Training Centers (RTCs) fills the gap, as it serves as an umbrella institution for collaborative learning across a spectrum of disciplines, transdisciplinary collaborations, and implementation of specific climate-compatible solutions. RTC's integrative forms of research can be directed to help overcome pre-existing gaps and vulnerabilities, and simultaneously promote equitable energy transition and decarbonization pathways compatible with the region's ecological systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101071,"journal":{"name":"Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition","volume":"2 ","pages":"Article 100035"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X22000198/pdfft?md5=511c6cc9c5fe6cd8bd93cf3769547535&pid=1-s2.0-S2667095X22000198-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91111773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}