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Local authorities are well placed to realise co-benefits of integrated local energy systems; however, in the UK they have no statutory energy mandate. Planning and developing clean energy are discretionary, and persistent budget reductions, combined with the lack of strategic direction from the UK government for more localised energy provision, limit local capacity, expertise and resources. Nevertheless, some local authorities have led energy initiatives but have been unable to stimulate investment at the pace and scale required to align with net zero greenhouse gas targets. Using evidence from such initiatives, this paper discusses the institutional changes needed to enable local authorities to act. It examines existing climate and local energy plans, and their integral socio-economic value. Using this evidence, investment opportunities from locally led net zero programmes are identified. EU technical assistance funds provided a particularly successful route to local energy developments: based on value of investment secured against initial funding, it is estimated that GBP 1 million technical assistance funding to every local authority would lead to GBP 15 billion investment in local energy. Other potential funding innovations are assessed and the paper concludes with recommendations for policy and resource measures needed to convert local ambition into clean energy and energy saving investment at scale.

The European Union (EU) has developed important efforts in enacting various clean energy policies in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the last decades. Both supply-side and demand-side changes are required in the energy systems in the period of 2020–2030 and going towards 2050. In this context, a better understanding of the effects of these specific clean energy actions on reducing GHG emissions may be especially of interest for allowing policymakers to know the strengths and weaknesses of various climate-related power sector policies. This paper adds to the literature by presenting the effects of both supply-side and demand-side policies and empirical evidence of the impact of these policies on the reduction in carbon emissions. This analysis was done by means of a panel data set and several regression models that contribute to explaining the link between clean energy policies applied in the EU and carbon emissions over the period of 2000–2019. The results show that while supply-side policies have shown a positive and effective impact on the reduction in GHG emissions, on the demand side, more aggressive policy efforts are needed.

Clean energy technologies have begun to transform the national economy. Growth in this sector is expected to be as high as four-fold, generating more than $2 trillion per year by 2020. Washington State has historically been a leader in the field by pursuing low-carbon energy policies, such as renewable portfolio standards and green building codes. But as competition increases, Washington needs to continue to improve to stay on top. Increasing investment in distributed generation, energy efficiency, and conservation has been identified as the future for Washington State by the Legislature, two Governors (both Gregoire and Inslee), the Washington Department of Commerce, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, and the people themselves (in passing I-937, the Energy Independence Act). To this chorus of supporting voices, we add our own. Investments in clean energy technologies promotes energy independence, creates clean tech jobs, safeguards our natural resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, protects against environmental degradation, and maintains low energy costs throughout the state. Consequently, the State should consider all manner of policies to support these investments. We have identified several policy and technical barriers to developing Washington State's clean energy economy. The following is a series of recommendations on eight policy areas that are critical to this issue: Distributed generation Energy efficient buildings Cogeneration Increasing affordability Net Metering Plug-in electric vehicles Amendments to the EIA Decoupling ; https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/techclinic/1010/thumbnail.jpg

China and India will have to radically transform their electric power systems in order to decouple economic growth from unsustainable resource consumption. While the majority of transition literature has focused on the diverse socio-technical factors that could enable such a transformation, more recently scholars have called for a deeper analysis of political economy factors. This paper contributes to this approach by studying how a ruling coalition's ability and willingness to promote a clean energy transition is shaped by societal pressures, vested interests, and its power and cohesiveness. In doing so, we identify central drivers and barriers to a clean energy transition in China and India.

International cooperation in support of a global energy transition is on the rise. Initiatives and venues for multilateral cooperation are complemented by growing bilateral engagement to foster international lesson-drawing and exchange. Official development assistance (ODA) in the energy sector is increasingly being directed to renewable energy sources. Despite these promising developments, it is widely acknowledged that investment towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 on clean and affordable energy is insufficient. A recent report by SE4ALL estimates annual investments in support of SDG7 at USD 30 billion. This is well below the USD 52 billion that would be needed (SE4ALL and Climate Policy Initiative, Energizing finance: Understanding the landscape 2018, 2018). Moreover, investment in clean energy remains heavily concentrated in a small number of frontrunner countries. In terms of technologies, investments in clean energy still overwhelmingly target grid-connected electricity generation. Despite their proven ability to provide rapid and affordable access to clean energy in many country contexts, off-grid technologies account for only 1.3 percent of investments (SE4ALL and Climate Policy Initiative, 2018). Worryingly, a significant share of international public sector financing, most notably by export-credit agencies, is still allocated to coal and other fossil-based technologies. Against this background, this paper makes three recommendations for strengthening international cooperation in support of a global energy transition: 1) Promote investment in clean energy and end support for coal-based energy infrastructure. 2) Tackle the socio-economic dimension of the global energy transition. 3) Provide early market support to promote challenge-based energy innovation.

International cooperation in support of a global energy transition is on the rise, and official development assistance (ODA) in the energy sector is increasingly being directed to renewable energy sources. Nevertheless, it is widely acknowledged that investment towards achieving the SDG 7 on clean and affordable energy is insufficient. Moreover, investment in clean energy remains heavily concentrated in a small number of frontrunner countries and overwhelmingly targets grid-connected electricity generation. Worryingly, significant share of international public sector financeing, most notably by export-credit agencies, is still allocated to coal and other fossil-based technologies. Against this background, this paper makes three recommendations for strengthening international cooperation in support of a global energy transition. (1) Promote investment in clean energy and end support for coal-based energy infrastructure. OECD and G20 countries should lead the way by discontinuing all public investment support for new coal-based energy infrastructure and establish guidelines for support to other fossil-based investments. (2) Promote evidence-policy dialogue on the socio-economic dimension of the global energy transition. International cooperation should play an active role in mobilising socio-economic benefits and address potential risks by supporting evidence-based policy dialogue based on robust assessments at both the country and global levels. (3) Provide early market support to promote challenge-based energy innovation. SE4ALL or Mission Innovation should create multi-stakeholder, challenge-based initiatives to promote clean energy innovation in developing and emerging economies and foster early market demand for related products or services.

This volume provides an overview of the political economy of coal in diverse country contexts.Coal is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, accounting for about 40 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions. Continued construction of coal-fired power plants could make the climate targets of the Paris Agreement infeasible to achieve. In spite of sharply declining costs for renewable energy sources, many countries still heavily rely on coal to meet their energy demand. The predominance of coal can only be adequately understood in light of the political factors that determine energy policy formulation. To this end, this edited volume assembles a wide variety of case studies exploring the political economy of coal for across the globe. These includes industrial and developing nations, coal importers and exporters as well as countries that are either substantial coal users, are just beginning to ramp up their capacities, or have already initiated a coal phase-out. Importantly, all case studies are structured along a unifying framework that focuses on the central actors driving energy policy formulation, their main objectives as well as the context that determines to what extent they can influence policy making. This large set of comparable studies will permit drawing conclusions regarding key similarities as well as differences driving coal use in different countries.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy, climate change, resource management, and sustainable development. It will also appeal to practitioners and policymakers involved in sustainable development.

The dormant Commerce Clause has long been a thorn in the side of state policymakers. The latest battleground for the clash between federal courts and state legislatures is energy policy. In the absence of a decisive federal policy response to climate change, nearly thirty states have created a new type of securities—clean energy credits—to promote low-carbon renewable and nuclear power. As more and more of these programs come under attack for alleged violations of the dormant Commerce Clause, this Article explores the constitutional constraints on clean energy credit policies. Careful analysis of recent and ongoing litigation reveals the need for better differentiation between constitutionally questionable market segmentation and constitutionally sound subsidization policies—in clean energy policy and beyond. Many observers view the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine as a major threat to state-led efforts to combat climate change. Pushing back against widespread scholarly skepticism and recent precedent, this Article makes the case that state policymakers can use clean energy credits to simultaneously promote global environmental and local economic causes without running afoul of the dormant Commerce Clause. Critics and courts alike fail to recognize that not all energy credit programs are created equal. When states use energy credits as compliance instruments for their renewable portfolio standards—requirements that electric utilities source a percentage of their electricity sales from solar, wind, and other renewables—they partition power markets into renewable and nonrenewable segments. Such segmentation policies cannot follow state boundaries or other geographically defined lines without violating the dormant Commerce Clause. A few pioneering states have begun to use energy credits as a vehicle for subsidies that operate independently of sourcing requirements. Unlike their market segmentation counterparts, these subsidization policies raise no concerns under the dormant Commerce Clause even when subsidies are ...

The disappearance of Rwanda' forests and attendant change in climatic conditions prompted the government to explore clean energy alternatives such as biogas. Unlike at any other time in Rwanda's history, more and more Rwandans in rural areas are becoming owners of cattle because of Government of Rwanda's agricultural direct assistance and poverty reduction programme known as Girinka. This paper focuses on the various strategies employed by the government of Rwanda in achieving increased biogas use among the rural poor Girinka beneficiaries who use cow dung for their domestic biogas plants. Conditions necessary for successful implementation of clean energy pro-poor reforms in rural communities are explored.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) ; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) ; Portuguese FCT Funding Agency ; EU ERDF (FEDER) ; Spanish Government ; CAPES: 88881.132671/2016-01 ; CNPq: 141257/2014-8 ; Portuguese FCT Funding Agency: PEst-OE/QUI/UI0100/2013 ; Spanish Government: TEC2014-51940-C2-R ; The electrodeposition of metals generally employs several additives to avoid the formation of undesirable byproducts such as oxides and hydroxides. Although the deposition of metals is still the main goal in the most metals electroplating, the applicability of these byproducts might be an interesting field which is not explored in detail so far. In this work, the significance of water splitting reaction in clean energy production, employing NiFe hydroxides formed during the metals electrodeposition, is demonstrated for oxygen evolution reaction. The synthetized materials are composites of three components easily prepared in one-step by means of electrodeposition. Specifically, a granular NiFe alloy is obtained over which local pH variation and chloride presence induce the formation of a layered double hydroxide structure. The study of the influence of solution composition, deposition time, and deposition potential on the catalytic properties of the composites with respect to the oxygen evolution reaction are analyzed. Deposition times of few seconds, deposition potentials in the range -1.4 to -1.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KCl3M, and solutions containing Fe(II), Ni(II) and high chloride concentrations, lead to the best catalysts, showing an eta(10 mA cm 2) about 0.280 V. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In December 2015 the landmark Paris Climate Agreement was signed by 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties(COP21). Covering the period from 2020 it obligates all parties to take action to limit global temperature rise to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.To help deliver on this target world leaders established Mission Innovation (MI), an agreement between 21 regions to double their public 'clean energy' research and development (R&D) investment by 2021. Through international collaboration and coordination MI aims to usher in the next generation of clean energy technologies capable of mitigating catastrophic climate change. Whilst it represents a timely and much-need initiative MI is still at an early stage and faces a number of important challenges that policy makers need to address if it is to be a success. First, a doubling of clean energy R&D investment within 5 years during a period of declining R&D public investment represents an unprecedented challenge. Its success will rely on MI members sharing best-practice in energy innovation policy to ensure not only that this increase is achieved but that it is delivered effectively, leading to high-quality innovation outputs. Second, the political credibility and durability of anon-legally binding scheme is questionable when it demands all countries to double their total clean energy R&D investment despite some already committing significantly more investment as a proportion of their wealth than others (i.e.$ R&D per GDP). Third, a clear enabling framework must make clear the scale and type of benefit each MI member will receive as proportion of their investment from multi-partner international R&D collaboration. Fourth, a combination of international and cross-sectoral coordination of R&D investment is critical to ensuring a balanced distribution of investment across different clean energy priorities and stages of innovation. Fifth, MI members need to carefully consider the carbon emissions reduction potential of ...

In little more than two centuries the United States has transformed itself from a fledgling nation built on an agrarian economy to the strongest industrial power the world has ever seen. One of the major reasons why the country was able to undergo such a change so rapidly was the high availability of cheap energy. This energy was almost exclusively in the form of fossil fuels: oil, gas and coal. While this system created great economic and industrial success, many problems have been detected in the past few decades regarding the use of fossil fuels. These issues include limited supply, increased cost, higher dependence on erratic foreign nations and most notably, effects on climate. Some of these problems are more immediate than others, but all of them have prompted lawmakers, corporations and nonprofits to take a closer look at how to best combat the American reliance on fossil fuels. Proposals for change include a wide array of suggested solutions, ranging from simply making current technologies as energy efficient as possible to implementing alternative energy sources across the country. This thesis seeks to address the changes that should be made, and the role the government should play in inducing change, in a transition away from fossil fuels.

SIE ist ein zentrales Element in unserem Alltag. Täglich werden wir in unserem Umfeld und in unseren Aktivitäten mit ihr in Verbindung gebracht. Wärme und Licht gäbe es nicht ohne SIE. Sämtliche Geräte sind darauf angewiesen und jeder Tag wird von IHR beeinflusst. DIE ENERGIE. Sie ist ein Kernelement unserer Existenz und daher sollte jeder das Recht haben, an Entscheidungen mitzuwirken, in denen es um die Deckung des Energiebedarfs oder deren wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt geht. Verbraucher müssen durch die vier Kernbereiche - Zuverlässigkeit, Bezahlbarkeit, Einfachheit und Schutz und Stärkung der Handlungskompetenz der Verbraucher - geschützt sein. In dieser Arbeit werden die gültigen Rechtsgrundlagen des Verbraucherschutzes im Energierecht sowohl auf europäischer, wie auch auf nationaler Ebene erläutert, um einen Überblick über die aktuelle Rechtslage zu geben. Zudem werden die künftigen Änderungen durch das "Smart and Clean Energy Package" vor allem im Hinblick auf den Verbraucherschutz beschrieben. Abschließend soll eine Beurteilung dieses Paketes mit einer anschließenden Prognose über die künftige Entwicklung des Verbraucherrechtes informieren. ; eingereicht von Lisa-Marie Helbok ; Universität Linz, Diplomarbeit, 2018 ; (VLID)2581981

Renewable energy communities (RES communities) are a growing and extraordinarily multifaceted phenomenon which involves a range of possible activities around renewable energy (notably, production, supply, distribution, sharing and consumption) collectively carried out by citizens, often in partnership with small and medium enterprises and local public authorities. The Clean Energy Package (CEP) is expected to represent a turning point for the development and diffusion of RES communities in Europe, as for the first time both their very existence and their potential role in the energy transition receive legal recognition at the EU level. By 2021, all Member States will have to transpose the CEP's Directives into national legislation, thus including the definition of an enabling framework that promotes RES communities. However, substantial room for manoeuvre is left to Member States in accomplishing the task. The present report analyses the phenomenon of RES communities in Europe and identifies plausible (qualitative) scenarios for their possible development over the next decade, at this very special time. It does so by carefully reviewing the socioeconomic literature on RES communities (Chapter 1), by carrying out three case studies of different types of RES communities (Chapter 2), and by analysing how the CEP provisions may be implemented by Member States and so affect the uptake of RES communities (Chapter 3).

In the ten years since committing to clean energy transition, China has formulated a large number of policies and programs to achieve some very ambitious targets. This paper argues that the dearth of empirical studies concerning the implementation of these new policies and programs has created a knowledge gap between official policy documents, which are vague and lacking in specifics, and official policy outcomes, which are unreliable. In particular, the merits and limitations of flexible implementation with regard to desirable outcomes need to be debated and clarified. This paper calls for more empirical investigation in four areas as a starting point: (1) the nature and extent of flexibility in the implementation ; (2) implementation strategies and their impacts ; (3) factors that shape the behavior of local officials responsible for implementation ; and (4) the relationship between the central-local relation and policy implementation.