Embedding Preference Uncertainty for Environmental Amenities in Climate Change Economic Assessments: A “Random” Step Forward

While there is a considerable debate regarding the choice of proper discount rates for assessing climate change projects and policies, only a tiny body of literature emphasizes “what to discount”. Usually, climate change economic assessments rely on tools and methods that employ strong simplifications, assuming, among others, given and fixed preferences about the values of man-made and environmental goods. Aiming to fill a gap in the literature, this paper leaves aside the issue of discounting and focuses on the nature and impact of preference uncertainty on the economic estimates of future climate change damages on ecosystem non-market goods and services. To this end, a general random walk-based stochastic model is proposed, combining a number of parameters, e.g., the growth of income, depletion of environmental assets, the elasticity of income and demand, and the change in preferences towards the environment. The illustrative application of the model shows that the value of environmental losses is significantly affected by the change in preferences. By doing so, the model allows the analyst to visualize future paths of preference evolutions and to bring future values of damaged environmental assets realistically to the fore. If these elements are neglected when estimating climate change-related future damages to environmental goods and services, the results may be too narrow from a policy perspective

INTENSSS PA: a systematic approach for INspiring Training ENergy-Spatial Socioeconomic Sustainability to Public Authorities

The INTENSSS PA project, funded by Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation of the European Union, aims to support the local authorities involved and their stakeholders to develop an innovative integrated sustainable energy planning concept through a participatory, interdisciplinary and multilevel process. By building individual and institutional capacity of the actors involved, using the Regional Living Lab approach, the concept will be applied in order to develop seven sustainable integrated energy plans. In this first article the project activities and the results achieved so far are preliminary described, anticipating a more extensive and detailed publication on the project planned for the December edition of UPLand – Journal of Urban Planning Landscape & Environmental Design

A methodological approach for holistic energy planning using the living lab concept: the case of the prefecture of Karditsa

The development of urban and rural landscapes has entered a pioneering era with novel combinations of energy production andconsumption and related changes in the urban and rural fabric including associated socioeconomic issues. Accompanying this change isa realization that newly developing energy initiatives are more viable for development and upscaling and are less vulnerable to failure andresistance from society if they are well integrated into their local and regional contexts. However, institutional questions remain regardingthe required mechanisms and levels of integration, while simultaneously sustainable energy planning requires that the stakeholders withdiverse and conflicting objectives come to some degree of consensus. Inspired by these findings, a methodological approach for holisticenergy planning on a regional/local level was developed within the framework of the INTENSSS-PA project that is funded by HORIZON2020. The approach provides a holistic energy plan, which goes beyond a blueprint for allocating renewable technologies and is basedon the involvement of the wider community. Hence, this approach includes aspects such as the development of spatial concepts, newco-creating strategies, business cases, societal alliances and institutional changes and formats. To implement this approach, the LivingLab (LL) concept is applied. The case of Karditsa, in Greece, will be presented as evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed planningapproach

Non-CO2 generating energy shares in the world : cross-country differences and polarization.

The aim of this paper is to examine the spatial distribution of non-CO2 generating energy sources in the world for the period 1990–2009, paying special attention to the evolution of cross-country disparities. To this end, after carrying out a classical convergence analysis, a more thorough investigation of the entire distribution is presented by examining its external shape, the intra-distribution dynamics and the long-run equilibrium distribution. This analysis reveals the existence of a weak, rather insignificant, convergence process and that large crosscountry differences are likely to persist in the long-run. Next, as polarization indicators are a proper way of appraising potential conflict in international environmental negotiations, we test whether, or not, the distribution dynamics concurs with the presence of polarization. Our results indicate that two poles can be clearly differentiated, one with high and other with low non-CO2 generating energy shares. In view of these findings, and to ensure a fair transition to a sustainable energy system, the paper calls for the development of an ambitious clean energy agenda, especially in countries with low non-CO2 generating energy shares

Renewable energy sources: Jobs created, skills required (and identified gaps), education and training

As has been documented, renewables contribute significantly to employment growth, creating relatively more jobs than the fossil fuels they displace, an important fact due to the dramatic rise in unemployment experienced nowadays. The results of various studies made are presented, along with projections for the future. The jobs per installed megawatt of various renewable energy (RE) technologies are estimated for Greece and compared to conventional power production methods. Then, the variety of professions involved in each sub-sector of the RE industry (equipment manufacture and distribution, project development, construction and installation, operation and maintenance of plants) are presented, along with the recognized skills they should have to properly fulfil their tasks. Finally, selected initiatives undertaken by universities and vocational training providers aiming to address the identified skill shortages in all RE industry's parts are listed

Development of methodological framework for the assessment of environmental and social impacts from power generation

The failure of market’s mechanism to internalise the cost of important social impacts, which are derived from the production and use of energy, into electricity prices is obvious nowadays. This cost is called external because is paid by the society and correspondingly it is not taken into consideration either in the choices of consumers or in the decisions of producers and as a result it is ignored in the process of energy planning. This PhD thesis contributes to the promotion of scientific research in the field of assessment of external costs and benefits of Greek electric system through the economic valuation of impacts, which are produced during the generation of electricity and diffused influencing negatively or positively the prosperity of society. More specifically, the main axes of scientific progress in this thesis can be summarised in the following questions, which aim at the identification of: I. the external cost, which is caused by the deterioration of the quality of environment by the emissions during the generation of electricity II. the external cost, which is connected with the security of electricity supply III. the external benefit, which is derived from the increase of employment during the generation of electricity In the first question the calculation of environmental external costs is performed according to the revised methodology of ExternE program. In the second question, the development of innovative methodological framework is performed for the assessment of security of electricity supply in the interconnected system in the base of comparative evaluation of domestic and imported fuels. The assessment of security of electricity supply performed in combination with the availability of each fuel up to the units of production of electricity and the functional reliability of corresponding units of production of electricity. Finally, in the third question an original methodological approach is developed for the determination of the benefits that results from the increase of employment due to the investments in electricity sector. The proposed approach exploits the input-output methodology for estimating the direct, indirect and induced employment effects associated with the energy project in question, as well as two different valuation techniques, namely the “opportunity cost of labour” approach and the “public expenditures” approach, for expressing these effects in monetary terms. In the case of energy cycle of lignite, the environmental external cost constitutes the more important component of total external cost, while the security of electricity supply and the increase of employment are important presenting an explicit supremacy of energy cycle of lignite against the energy circle of natural gas, which however does not suffice for the inversion of their comparative evaluation. In the case of cycle of natural gas, the total external cost is characterised by a uniform distribution between environmental cost and cost of security of electricity supply, while the contribution in the creation of employment is submultiples (roughly 10%) in comparison with the cycle of lignite.Το κόστος σημαντικών κοινωνικών επιπτώσεων, το οποίο πληρώνει η κοινωνία ανεξάρτητα από το πόσο και ποια μορφή ενέργειας χρησιμοποιεί, αποτελεί ένα “εξωτερικό” κόστος στο βαθμό που δεν λαμβάνεται υπόψη στις επιλογές των καταναλωτών και στις αποφάσεις των παραγωγών, ή ευρύτερα δεν επηρεάζει τον ενεργειακό σχεδιασμό. Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή συμβάλλει στην προώθηση της επιστημονικής έρευνας στο πεδίο της αποτίμησης του εξωτερικού κόστους και οφέλους του Ελληνικού συστήματος ηλεκτροπαραγωγής, δηλαδή της εκτίμησης, σε χρηματικούς όρους, της αξίας των επιπτώσεων της ηλεκτροπαραγωγής που διαχέονται στο κοινωνικό σύνολο επηρεάζοντας -αρνητικά ή θετικά- την ευημερία του κοινωνικού συνόλου. Ειδικότερα, τα καίρια ερωτήματα, τα οποία μελετώνται είναι: I. Ποιό είναι το εξωτερικό κόστος που προκαλείται από την υποβάθμιση του περιβάλλοντος εξ αιτίας των αέριων εκπομπών από τους σταθμούς ηλεκτροπαραγωγής; II. Ποιο είναι το εξωτερικό κόστος που συνδέεται με την ασφάλεια παροχής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας; III. Ποιό είναι το εξωτερικό όφελος που προκύπτει από τη συμβολή της ηλεκτροπαραγωγής στην αύξηση της απασχόλησης; Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής για την απάντηση στο πρώτο ερώτημα δόθηκε έμφαση στην επανεκτίμηση του εξωτερικού κόστους επιπτώσεων της αέριας ρύπανσης στην ανθρώπινη υγεία, στα υλικά και στην αγροτική παραγωγή με βάση την αναθεωρημένη μεθοδολογία του ερευνητικού προγράμματος ExternE. Για την απάντηση στο δεύτερο ερώτημα πραγματοποιείται η αποτίμηση της ασφάλειας της παροχής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας στο διασυνδεδεμένο σύστημα, στη βάση της συγκριτικής αξιολόγησης ενός εγχώριου και ενός εισαγόμενου καυσίμου. Ειδικότερα, η αποτίμηση της ασφάλειας τροφοδοσίας ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας πραγματοποιήθηκε σε σχέση με: (α) τη διαθεσιμότητα κάθε καυσίμου μέχρι τους σταθμούς παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας, η οποία αφορά στην πρόσβαση στις ενεργειακές πηγές σε επίπεδο χώρας και στην αξιοπιστία του δικτύου μεταφοράς των καυσίμων μέχρι τους σταθμούς και (β) τη λειτουργική αξιοπιστία των αντίστοιχων σταθμών παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας. Για την απάντηση στο τρίτο ερώτημα αναπτύσσεται επίσης μία πρωτότυπη μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση για τον προσδιορισμό του οφέλους που προκύπτει από την αύξηση της απασχόλησης στον τομέα ηλεκτροπαραγωγής. Προσδιορίζεται η άμεση, έμμεση και συνεπαγόμενη απασχόληση που δημιουργείται στο πλαίσιο των εξεταζόμενων δραστηριοτήτων σε φυσικούς όρους και στη συνέχεια υλοποιείται η οικονομική αποτίμηση των ωφελειών που προκύπτουν από την αύξηση της απασχόλησης εφαρμόζοντας τόσο την προσέγγιση του κόστους ευκαιρίας της εργασίας από τη μεταπήδηση από μια κατάσταση ανεργίας σε φάση απασχόλησης, όσο και την προσέγγιση, η οποία βασίζεται στο κόστος υλοποίησης προγραμμάτων δημιουργίας νέων θέσεων εργασίας. Στην περίπτωση του λιγνιτικού ενεργειακού κύκλου, το περιβαλλοντικό εξωτερικό κόστος αποτελεί τη σημαντικότερη συνιστώσα κόστους, ενώ τόσο η ασφάλεια παροχής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας όσο και η συμβολή στην απασχόληση αποτελούν τα ισχυρά σημεία του λιγνιτικού κύκλου εμφανίζοντας μία σαφή υπεροχή έναντι του κύκλου του φυσικού αερίου, η οποία όμως δεν επαρκεί για την ανατροπή της μεταξύ τους συγκριτικής αξιολόγησης. Στην περίπτωση του κύκλου του φυσικού αερίου, το εξωτερικό κόστος εμφανίζει μία πιο ομοιόμορφη κατανομή μεταξύ περιβαλλοντικού κόστους και κόστους ασφάλειας παροχής, ενώ η συμβολή του στη δημιουργία απασχόλησης είναι υποπολλαπλάσια (περίπου 10%) του οφέλους του λιγνιτικού κύκλου

Quantification and monetization of employment benefits associated with renewable energy technologies in Greece

This paper formulates and implements an integrated approach for estimating the employment benefits associated with the exploitation of renewable energy sources (RES) in the power sector. It builds up on well-known techniques and makes all the necessary modifications in order to take into account the specific conditions of the RES market. More specific, the proposed approach exploits the input-output methodology for estimating the direct, indirect and induced employment effects associated with the energy technologies in question and the "opportunity cost of labour" approach for expressing these effects in monetary terms. This framework has been implemented to estimate the employment benefits resulting from the development of different RES technologies in Greece, taking into account both the construction and operation phases of the relative projects. The results of the analysis clearly show that the exploitation of RES in the Greek power sector presents significant employment benefits, which are at the same order of magnitude or in several cases even higher compared to the corresponding benefits attributed to the operation of fossil-fueled power plants (e.g. lignite and natural gas). Therefore, the fulfillment of the national target for increasing the penetration of RES into the Greek power sector from approximately 12% today to 40% in 2020, will contribute, apart from the significant environmental improvements, to the overall economic development and the increase of the employment.Employment benefits Renewable energy sources Input-output analysis