Electricity generation development of Eastern Europe: A carbon technology management case study for Poland

Energy and electricity in particular, are of unquestionable value for the welfare of all modern societies. The electricity sectors of Eastern European countries have undergone several phases of development between the post-WWII days within the CEMA and USSR frameworks and today's EU and global energy and environmental regimes. The present paper examines the progress of the Polish electricity sector throughout the last decades, providing useful information regarding not only the technical generation and distribution infrastructure but also the policies that have been and are currently implemented. The results are discussed in the context of indicators such as the electricity intensity and per capita consumption, and show that although the Polish electricity sector has gone a long way, there still are several necessary technology management steps to be taken if Poland is to adequately address the challenges of international competition, electricity supply security and environmental sustainability

Energy security vs. climate change: Theoretical framework development and experience in selected EU electricity markets

Electricity generation in different countries is based on a variety of fuel mixes compromising solid fossil fuels, oil, natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources. While in the past, national energy agendas have directed the optimal utilisation of domestic resources as a means to achieve supply security, today's environmental debates are influencing the electricity fuel mix in new directions. In this paper we examine the electricity sectors of Germany, Greece, Poland and the UK in an attempt to identify the policy and technology choices implemented in each country. The country selection is deliberately made to facilitate an extended overview of national agendas, varying domestic energy resources and industrialisation levels but still within the common EU framework. The focus is placed on policies related to two objectives, climate change mitigation and improving electricity supply security. The theoretical framework developed provides the possibility to assess the electricity sector independence at a national level using a multi-parametric analysis of the fuel mix data. Through a comparative assessment of the knowledge gained in different countries the authors provide insights and suggestions that allow for an improved understanding of the trade-offs and synergies that various policy options may introduce

Energy supply security in the EU: Benchmarking diversity and dependence of primary energy

We evaluate energy supply security in all the EU countries. For the first time a proxy indicators for diversity and concentration Shannon Wiener index and Herfindahl-Hirschman index and dependence metrics are used for the detailed primary energy fuel mix of all EU member states. The geographic coverage of this work allows for useful comparisons between countries and for a means of benchmarking against the indices. Overall, it is found that energy supply diversity in the EU has been significantly improved since 1990 by 14.2% (SWI) and 22.6% (HHI). We demonstrate the interrelations between dependence and diversity and the role of renewables on dependence and diversity. Renewable energy, particularly wind, solar and biomass has been the main driver for diversity growth and has a positive contribution to indigenous energy use; thus reducing energy import dependence. We argue that alongside renewable energy there exists a wide range of factors contributing to energy dependence and that renewable energy has had a positive contribution to almost all EU28 country's diversity

Energy and Industrial Growth in India: The Next Emissions Superpower?

India is often referred to as the next development superpower and is widely seen as a potential destination for large scale manufacturing hubs. In this work we draw comparisons between India, Indonesia and China and find that all countries have a carbon intensive energy sector. However, there is a staggering difference between industrial energy intensity between them where India and Indonesia require double the amount of energy to produce the same output as China. We look into the decomposed industrial sectors and find that iron and steel and non-metallic minerals present the highest energy intensity in India. We argue that a production transition from China to India and Indonesia would result in a dangerous global emissions growth which has to be countered with rapid adoption of innovative energy technologies and policies

Energy Supply Security in Southern Europe and Ireland

Energy supply security is of paramount importance to all countries, however, not all countries present the same capacity to respond to energy security threats. Financial wealth is one of the means that can support access to energy resources and as such countries that have been hit the hardest by the 2008 financial crisis present energy supply vulnerabilities. We focus on Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece and find that they have continuously improved their energy supply diversity. At the same time, we argue that during, and as a result of the financial crisis our focus countries reduced their exposure to expensive imported resources predominantly in the transport sector and increased the role of renewables. Overall, we find improved supply security which could be strengthened further if financial resources were directed towards innovation for renewable energy sources

Energy Supply Sustainability For Island Nations: A Study on 8 Global Islands

Energy supply sustainability is a multifaceted challenge for all countries and especially for small island nations that might have limited adaptive capacity. Previous studies showed that islands experience energy scarcity and isolation from energy markets due to their remote location. Our focus is on a range of islands spread out globally: Malta, Cyprus, Curacao, Mauritius, Iceland, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Bahrain. They are selected for their varying energy development paradigms that facilitate cluster elicitation. For the first time, we combine the estimation of fuel mix diversity and energy import dependence with established metrics Shannon-Wiener index (SWI), Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) and Energy Import Dependence to assess energy supply security. SWI and Energy Import Dependence are then presented against carbon intensity to highlight two angles of sustainable energy supply. We argue that islands are clustered to those that have fossil fuel reserves and are locked in low diversity, low dependence and high carbon intensity, those that rely almost exclusively on imported fossil fuel reserves and have low diversity and high dependence and high carbon intensity and finally those that have entered a decarbonization trajectory that allows them to reduce their fossil fuel import dependence, increase their diversity and reduce their carbon intensity

Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from power generation in China's provinces in 2020

Carbon intensity of power generation is an important indicator to show the direct competitiveness of electricity against the combustion of fossil fuels. In this study, we estimate the carbon intensities of power generation in China's provinces. Most provinces are likely to have a carbon intensity per unit of power generation between 500 and 700 g CO2/kWh in 2020, which justifies the progress of electrification from the power generation perspective. With the growing share of low carbon power generation, most provinces show trends of decline in carbon intensity between 2015 and 2020. However, some provinces are expected to see increase in carbon intensity due to increasing share of coal power generation in their power mixes. Coal is still a major growth contributor in most provinces, despite significant growths of low carbon energy sources. Furthermore, renewable energy sources can help reduce the carbon intensity of power generation, but a better coordination among provinces is required, alongside with strong government support and direction

ICT entertainment appliances’ impact on domestic electricity consumption

Increased electricity consumption and environmental impacts of Information Communication Technology (ICT) have been subjects of research since the 1990s. This paper focuses on consumer electronics in households, in particular TVs, computers and their peripherals. ICT accounts for almost 15% of global domestic electricity use, including waste energy from devices left on standby which is estimated in the EU-27 to contribute 6% of residential energy demand. In Europe, the household electricity consumption from small electronic appliances, including ICT, increased by 2.5 times in 2011 compared to 1990. Similarly, in the UK, energy demand from electronic devices accounted for 23% of total household electricity use in 2012, compared to 12% in 1990. This is an outcome of the market saturation of new, cheaper ICT entertainment devices, facilitated by marketing strategies which identify new needs for consumers, as charted by the review of market growth in this paper. New increasingly portable laptops, smart phones and tablets with wireless connectivity allow householders to perform a wider range of activities in a wider range of locations throughout the home, such as social networking while the television is active. We suggest that policies which consider how to increase the energy efficiency of ICT devices alone are unlikely to be successful since effective strategies need to address how the drivers which have developed around the use of ICT can be adapted in order to conserve electricity in households. A range of policy solutions are discussed, including feedback, public information campaigns, environmental education, energy labelling, bans of, or taxation on the least efficient products as well as the use of a TV as central hub to perform the existing functions of multiple devices

Innovative technology in the Pacific: Building resilience for vulnerable communities

Transitioning to sustainability will require innovation, not just in technological and economic terms but also in governance and culture. The work presented here sought a remote, vulnerable island context (Fiji, South Pacific) to enable further insight into the innovation process related to resilience and sustainability. The innovation targeted by this work was off-grid solar renewable energy (RE) systems framed as a development instrument to promote local, community-based resilience to climate change through increased livelihood security and reduction of climate change effects. Applying a local-level resilience framework to solar technology use, we conclude that the RE system can improve resilience, however, unintended consequences included a rush for energy usage causing a “tragedy of commons” of finite stored energy and subsequently increased supplementary fossil fuel use. This suggests that there are still missed resilience opportunities in the way that the innovation is implemented in developing countries and remote areas in particular. Further analysis demonstrated that improved planning at the socio-technological interface has the potential to strengthen communities’ resilience. With significant RE investments required for a transition to a low-carbon future in many developing countries, there is a pressing need to effectively introduce innovative uses of technologies. Existential threats to many local communities, and some nations in the Pacific may mean that sub-optimal innovation will not be enough