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"Green Energy Economies offers insight into the major drivers that are shaping a new future powered by clean energy sources. Assembling cutting-edge researchers as contributors, the book provides a comprehensive account of the shift underway, examining in detail the complexities and intricacies involved with such a transition. The book first details the promises and problems of a green energy transition. Next, it explores the economic benefits that a comprehensive strategy toward a green energy economy might create. Then it investigates how communities will be affected and explores the social, cultural, and other changes that are likely to result. Finally, it explores the shift toward new technologies in-depth. Green Energy Economies concludes with policy options that support a transition to a better energy, environmental, and economic future. The contributors argue that a green energy economy offers great promise, but its realization will require making hard choices, and soon. They argue for investments in renewable energy and economic systems that can deliver a sustainable and equitable future. This book makes a forceful case for a green future."--Provided by publisher.

There is broad scientific agreement (IPCC, 2013) that climate change poses a serious threat to the health of every living organisms on our planet. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are primarily responsible for climate change (Canadell et.al., 2007), and economic activities have led to the rapid growth of GHG emissions (Downie and Stubbs, 2013). Kyoto Protocol was introduced in 1997 to reduce this emission and following the introduction of this protocol, multinational corporations began to increase the volume of environmental disclosures in their annual reports (Kolk, 2008; KPMG, 2008). According to legitimacy theory, companies provide more environmental information when their legitimacy is under threat (Lindblom 1994; Deegan 2002). In order to test legitimacy theory, this study asks: â What is the impact of mandatory GHG reporting requirements on discretionary corporate environmental and GHG disclosure practices?â To answer the central question, a comparative case study was undertaken on the impact of the mandatory reporting requirements of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting [NGER] Act 2007 and the Clean Energy Act 2011 on discretionary corporate annual reporting practices, by utilising a quantitative content analysis methodology and paired t-tests. Study measured the number of environmental and GHG-specific words in the corporate annual reports of sampled companies before and after the NGER Act and Clean Energy Act, and found that environmental and GHG-related information increased significantly after each piece of legislation. Moreover, a disclosure index was developed, which shows that the number of companies providing GHG-specific disclosures increased following both pieces of legislation. Therefore, this study finds that mandatory GHG reporting requirements increased the volume of discretionary corporate environmental and carbon-related disclosures. This does not necessarily translate into a reduction in carbon emissions, but it does add weight to the theory that companies will legitimate their ...

This presentation is the estimates provided by the EPA to the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Waxman and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Markey's requests on economic impacts of the comprehensive climate legislation being developed by the committee.

UID/CPO/04627/2013, PTDC/IVC-CPO/1295/2014. ; This publication reproduces presentations made at a workshop hosted by the PortugueseNational Defense Institute (IDN), under the framework of the project Geo4GER– Geopolitics of Gas and the Future of Euro-Russian Relations. This project, funded by thePortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and developed by the PortugueseInstitute of International Relations of Nova University of Lisbon (IPRI-UNL)in partnership with IDN, aims to analyse the complex and multidimensional relationshipgeopolitics of Euro-Russian gas, and develop alternative scenarios possible on thehorizon of the next twenty years. Starting from the idea that there is an multidirectionalinteraction between international policy, security environment, and energy, the Geo4GERaims to: (1) identify the political, economic and geopolitical trends that in the comingdecades can commit or facilitate the increased consumption and production of gas inEurope and in Russia; (2) predict the impact of these geopolitical changes, their implicationsfor gas production and consumption in Europe and Russia, and their consequencesfor the gas market; and (3) assess how changes in the gas market could affect the futureof Euro-Russian relations.Given the complexity of the vectors to consider in the analyses of this complexissue, the editors invited specialists to treat, in a rigorous and synthetic way, some of theaspects which they believe to represent the basic points the project aims to develop.These authors, with very different origins, experiences and academic backgrounds,brought greater diversity and richness to the "ways of seeing" this reality. In a context ofrapid changes, we believe their contribution will assure greater and more informedinformation about one major challenge in the coming decades, that energy security andEuro-Russian relations will bring to European societies, namely in what refers to naturalgas. ; publishersversion ; published

It is next to impossible to present an exhaustive analysis of the comprehension of the concept of culture, which results from the fact that it is used in a variety of spheres and branches of science. The definitions of the concept of "culture" that are usually mentioned are of a postulative (i.e. operative) character, but – despite the multi-layered discourse on the subject – it is possible to point to several main directions or elements that matter. In the first place, attention should be drawn to the approaches to culture as a process and form of resource transformation, as well as the impact of the transformation on reality. Subsequently, culture can be approached as a special kind of the sphere of social awareness (Cf. Kłosowska, 1969; Kłosowska 1972; Keesing, 1974, pp. 73-94; Nowicka, 1991, pp. 55-88; Burszta, 1998, pp. 35-57; Gajda, 2008, pp. 17-60; Strinati, 1998, pp. 15-49). Hence, culture can be understood as all of the tangible and intangible effects of human activity. Noteworthily, such aspects of the phenomenon of culture as normativity, functionality, structurality, adaptiveness can be pointed out. As regards the research into the energy culture, the two above-mentioned ways of approaching culture come to be reflected in the methods and techniques of the research into the issue. The first direction of research into energy culture is related to the way resources are transformed. In the case in question, it is a presentation of the characteristic features connected with production of "energy" sensu lato. Most frequently, this approach is expressed in the presentation of analyses concerned with: (1) energy production (and its diversification), (2) energy consumption (and its diversification), (3) import dependence, (4) development of new energy technologies, (5) energy use-related pollution. The other direction of research presents analyses concerned with a particular kind of awareness on the part of individuals and social groups, which can be exemplified by research into environmental awareness within the context of energy generation problems. As regards the analyses concerned with a special kind of energy production, consumption and conversion practices, there are both qualitative and quantitative research projects. The qualitative research is usually based on the presentation of descriptive analyses that synthesise and generalise energy cultures. Such research results in synthetic "models" exposing dominant features of energy structures in individual states and/or groups of states (Łucki, Misiak, 2010, pp. 47-50, 72-78; Frączek, 2014, pp. 443-449). The quantitative research concerned with energy production and consumption practices can be exemplified by analyses conducted on the basis of a variety of classification algorithms. This kind of research will include the studies involving the Ward's method and the k-means method (Tapio et al., 2007, pp. 433-451; Pach-Gurgul, 2012, pp. 160-202; Pach-Gurgul, Soliński, 2013, pp. 17-30; Frączek, Majka, 2015, pp. 215-223; Rosicki, 2016, pp. 225-237). As regards the second current of research into energy cultures, that is the ones concerned with the research into awareness, environment-friendly behaviour and attitudes towards energy saving, quantitative research based on survey techniques and qualitative research based on various forms of open interviews are the most representative ones. The scientific research within this scope concerns such issues as the construction of the "model" of behaviour patterns and habits (frequently behaviour patterns among individual energy users). Furthermore, this current also features the results of the survey research targeted at a specified statistical sample selected from the population with a view to establishing the awareness, behaviour and habits concerned with the use of energy. With this goal in mind, in-depth analyses are conducted as regards the influence of socio-demographic and psychological factors on awareness, behaviour patterns and practices among energy users (Cf. Stern, Gardner, 1981, pp. 329-342 ; van Raaij, Verhallen, 1981, pp. 253-257; van Raaij, Verhallen, 1983a, pp. 39-63; van Raaij, Verhallen, 1983b, pp. 85-106; Stern, 2000, pp. 407-424; Lindén, Carlsson-Kanyama, Eriksson, 2006, pp. 1918-1927; Papuziński, 2006, pp. 33-40; Tuszyńska, 2007, pp. 233-236; Hłobił, 2010, pp. 87-94; Frederiks, Stenner, Hobman, 2015, pp. 573-609). In the case of the research presented in the text, a statistical analysis of the energy cultures in the European Union member states will be employed. Such an approach to the issues does not obviate the need to present the content of the concept of "clean" and "dirty" energy cultures. If we assume that an energy culture is a special kind of energy production, consumption and conversion practices, then belonging to either "clean" or "dirty" energy cultures will be determined by the values of parameters of individual indexes characterised by individual diagnostic features of energy cultures. The diagnostic features characteristic of the "clean" or "dirty" energy use have been recognised as: (1) emission performance, (2) energy production structure, (3) energy efficiency, (4) transport fuel structure. For instance, the clean energy culture will be determined by low GHG emissions, a considerable share of renewable sources in the energy production structure, a high level of energy efficiency, as well as a considerable share of renewable sources in transport fuels. The "dirty" energy cultures will be marked by opposite tendencies. ; The object of analysis in the text are "energy cultures" in the member states of the European Union (EU-28). The text attempts to verify the legitimacy of the statements pointing to the possibility of grouping the European Union member states according to a special kind of energy use practices. In order to elaborate the research problem the text features the following research questions: (1) Is it legitimate to claim that within the EU-28 there are special "energy cultures"?, (2) If the claim of the existence of special "energy cultures" is legitimate, what features determine the division among the EU-28 countries? These questions should be associated with the intention to establish the existence of the division of the EU-28 states into "clean" and "dirty" energy cultures. Such a division can be substantiated by individual features of the EU-28 member states, related to energy production, consumption and conversion, e.g. GHG emissions and the commitment to the coal sector. For the adopted premises to be verified, the analysis employed one of the agglomerative methods (i.e. the Ward's method) and one of the methods for optimising a given group of objects (i.e. the k-means method). Besides, with the aid of individual tests, the differences in the level of parameters between the isolated clusters of countries were analysed. Furthermore, with the aid of the principal component method groups of independent factors were isolated, and the scope of essential differences in the level of the isolated factors between the grouped EU-28 member states was determined. ; 11 ; 383 ; 398 ; Rocznik Integracji Europejskiej