Global commitment towards sustainable energy

Energy is crucial to economic and social development and improves quality of life. However, fossil fuel energy produces greenhouse gases (GHGs) and cannot be sustained for a long time. It is essential to tackle these problems by moving towards renewable and sustainable energy. Some countries, including those in the Arabian Gulf region, are still in the appraisal stage of adopting different forms of renewable energy. This paper reviews the business potential and likely GHG reductions associated with adopting renewable energy in Oman. It is revealed that 1·9 Mt of annual carbon dioxide emissions could be cut by producing 10% of the country’s electricity from renewables. The paper further discusses the global sustainable energy commitment under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and reviews the 2030 targets of some countries that are high producers of GHGs. It is anticipated that if all these planned targets are achieved, the total sustainable energy contribution could grow by nearly 11 000 TWh by 2030. These plans provide guidance for those countries still preparing to submit their plans to the UN

The governance of urban energy transitions: A comparative study of solar water heating systems in two Chinese cities

This paper examines how urban energy transitions are unfolding in China, in relation to the deployment of solar water heating (SWH) systems in two Chinese cities, Rizhao and Shenzhen. Cities play a significant role in the energy transition in China. Scholarly efforts have looked into the translation of top-down visions into locally actionable policy. This article contributes to this body of research with an analysis of the urban governance of urban energy transitions in China, and how low carbon technologies are deployed in particular urban contexts. The comparative analysis of Rizhao and Shenzhen suggests that specific socio-spatial arrangements shape the evolutionary trajectories of urban energy transitions of SWH systems in both cities. In the case of Rizhao, policy approaches have been erratic. Nevertheless, governmental and civil society actors have worked to forge alignment among political visions, built environment constraints, and social practices. The proximity of an industrial cluster supporting SWH technology and the early uptake of this technology by households are two key factors that explain the rapid spread of SWH systems in Rizhao. In Shenzhen, the local government has promoted SWH systems through regulation and incentives in a top-down and coordinated manner. These programmes have been, however, abandoned, after they did not deliver the expected results. The two contrasting cases suggest that the urban energy transition in China is the result of the coordinated actions of multiple actors, and success depends on the fit between technologies and the urban development contexts, rather than on aggressive government-sponsored actions

The role of hydrogen and fuel cells in the global energy system

Hydrogen technologies have experienced cycles of excessive expectations followed by disillusion. Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence suggests these technologies form an attractive option for the deep decarb onisation of global energy systems, and that recent improvements in their cost and performance point towards economic viability as well. This paper is a comprehensive review of the potential role that hydrogen could play in the provision of electricity, h eat, industry, transport and energy storage in a low - carbon energy system, and an assessment of the status of hydrogen in being able to fulfil that potential. The picture that emerges is one of qualified promise: hydrogen is well established in certain nic hes such as forklift trucks, while mainstream applications are now forthcoming. Hydrogen vehicles are available commercially in several countries, and 225,000 fuel cell home heating systems have been sold. This represents a step change from the situation of only five years ago. This review shows that challenges around cost and performance remain, and considerable improvements are still required for hydrogen to become truly competitive. But such competitiveness in the medium - term future no longer seems an unrealistic prospect, which fully justifies the growing interest and policy support for these technologies around the world

Policy mixes for incumbency: the destructive recreation of renewable energy, shale gas 'fracking,' and nuclear power in the United Kingdom

The notion of a ‘policy mix’ can describe interactions across a wide range of innovation policies, including ‘motors for creation’ as well as for ‘destruction’. This paper focuses on the United Kingdom’s (UK) ‘new policy direction’ that has weakened support for renewables and energy efficiency schemes while strengthening promotion of nuclear power and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (‘fracking’). The paper argues that a ‘policy apparatus for incumbency’ is emerging which strengthens key regimebased technologies while arguably damaging emerging niche innovations. Basing the discussion around the three technology-based cases of renewable energy and efficiency, fracking, and nuclear power, this paper refers to this process as “destructive recreation”. Our study raises questions over the extent to which policymaking in the energy field is not so much driven by stated aims around sustainability transitions, as by other policy drivers. It investigates different ‘strategies of incumbency’ including ‘securitization’, ‘masking’, ‘reinvention’, and ‘capture.’ It suggests that analytical frameworks should extend beyond the particular sectors in focus, with notions of what counts as a relevant ‘policy maker’ correspondingly also expanded, in order to explore a wider range of nodes and critical junctures as entry points for understanding how relations of incumbency are forged and reproduced