Impacts of COVID-19 on a Transitioning Energy System, Society, and International Cooperation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Impacts of COVID-19
2.1. Reduced Mobility, Aerosols, and GHG Emissions
2.2. International Cooperation and the Emergence of Nationalism
2.3. Achievement of Carbon Targets and the Energy Transition
3. Discussion
3.1. Policy Implications
3.2. Necessary Policy Actions and Impacted SDGs
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Liu, Y.C.; Kuo, R.L.; Shih, S.R. COVID-19: The First Documented Coronavirus Pandemic in History. Biomed. J. 2020, in press. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). Paris Agreement on Climate Change; United Nations: Paris, France, 2015. [Google Scholar]
- United Nations. The sustainable development goals report 2019. United Nations Publ. Issued Dep. Econ. Soc. Aff. 2019, 64. [Google Scholar]
- Ho, K.-F.; Lin, L.-Y.; Weng, S.-P.; Chuang, K.-J. Medical mask versus cotton mask for preventing respiratory droplet transmission in micro environments. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 735, 139510. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Cowling, B.J.; Ali, S.T.; Ng, T.W.Y.; Tsang, T.K.; Li, J.C.M.; Fong, M.W.; Liu, Q.; Kwan, M.Y.W.; Lee, L.S.; Chiu, S.S.; et al. Impact assessment of non-pharmaceutical interventions against coronavirus disease 2019 and influenza in Hong Kong: An observational study. Lancet Public Health 2020, 5, e279–e288. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Iacus, S.M.; Natale, F.; Santamaria, C.; Spyratos, S.; Vespe, M. Estimating and projecting air passenger traffic during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and its socio-economic impact. Saf. Sci. 2020, 129, 104791. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Abd El-Aziz, T.M.; Stockand, J.D. Recent progress and challenges in drug development against COVID-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)–an update on the status. Infect. Genet. Evol. 2020, 83, 104327. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- NBC News. Coronavirus Vaccine: White House Narrows Focus, a Billionaire Scientist Jumps in the Race. 2020. Available online: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/coronavirus-vaccine-white-house-narrows-focus-billionaire-scientist-jumps-race-n1225886 (accessed on 10 June 2020).
- Mesa Vieira, C.; Franco, O.H.; Gómez Restrepo, C.; Abel, T. COVID-19: The forgotten priorities of the pandemic. Maturitas 2020, 136, 38–41. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Goffman, E. In the wake of COVID-19, is glocalization our sustainability future? Sustain. Sci. Pract. Policy 2020, 16, 48–52. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fan, C.; Li, Y.; Guang, J.; Li, Z.; Elnashar, A.; Allam, M.; de Leeuw, G. The Impact of the Control Measures during the COVID-19 Outbreak on Air Pollution in China. Remote Sens. 2020, 12, 1613. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, R.; Zhang, Y.; Lin, H.; Feng, X.; Fu, T.-M.; Wang, Y. NOx Emission Reduction and Recovery during COVID-19 in East China. Atmosphere (Basel) 2020, 11, 433. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Bao, R.; Zhang, A. Does lockdown reduce air pollution? Evidence from 44 cities in northern China. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 731, 139052. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Wang, Y.; Yuan, Y.; Wang, Q.; Liu, C.; Zhi, Q.; Cao, J. Changes in air quality related to the control of coronavirus in China: Implications for traffic and industrial emissions. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 731, 139133. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Li, L.; Li, Q.; Huang, L.; Wang, Q.; Zhu, A.; Xu, J.; Liu, Z.; Li, H.; Shi, L.; Li, R.; et al. Air quality changes during the COVID-19 lockdown over the Yangtze River Delta Region: An insight into the impact of human activity pattern changes on air pollution variation. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 732. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Isaifan, R.J. The dramatic impact of Coronavirus outbreak on air quality: Has it saved as much as it has killed so far? Glob. J. Environ. Sci. Manag. 2019, 6, 275–288. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Abdullah, S.; Mansor, A.A.; Napi, N.N.L.M.; Mansor, W.N.W.; Ahmed, A.N.; Ismail, M.; Ramly, Z.T.A. Air quality status during 2020 Malaysia Movement Control Order (MCO) due to 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 729, 139022. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kanniah, K.D.; Kamarul Zaman, N.A.F.; Kaskaoutis, D.G.; Latif, M.T. COVID-19′s impact on the atmospheric environment in the Southeast Asia region. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 736, 139658. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sharma, S.; Zhang, M.; Anshika Gao, J.; Zhang, H.; Kota, S.H. Effect of restricted emissions during COVID-19 on air quality in India. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 728, 138878. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sicard, P.; De Marco, A.; Agathokleous, E.; Feng, Z.; Xu, X.; Paoletti, E.; Calatayud, V. Amplified ozone pollution in cities during the COVID-19 lockdown. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 735, 139542. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rugani, B.; Caro, D. Impact of COVID-19 outbreak measures of lockdown on the Italian Carbon Footprint. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 737, 139806. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bashir, M.F.; Bilal, B.M.; Komal, B. Correlation between environmental pollution indicators and COVID-19 pandemic: A brief study in Californian context. Environ. Res. 2020, 187, 109652. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dantas, G.; Siciliano, B.; França, B.B.; da Silva, C.M.; Arbilla, G. The impact of COVID-19 partial lockdown on the air quality of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 729. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Kerimray, A.; Baimatova, N.; Ibragimova, O.P.; Bukenov, B.; Kenessov, B.; Plotitsyn, P.; Karaca, F. Assessing air quality changes in large cities during COVID-19 lockdowns: The impacts of traffic-free urban conditions in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 730, 139179. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Otmani, A.; Benchrif, A.; Tahri, M.; Bounakhla, M.; Chakir, E.M.; El Bouch, M.; Krombi, M. Impact of Covid-19 lockdown on PM10, SO2 and NO2 concentrations in Salé City (Morocco). Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 735, 139541. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Helm, D. The Environmental Impacts of the Coronavirus. Environ. Res. Econ. 2020, 76, 21–38. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Muhammad, S.; Long, X.; Salman, M. COVID-19 pandemic and environmental pollution: A blessing in disguise? Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 728, 138820. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lal, P.; Kumar, A.; Kumar, S.; Saikia, P.; Dayanandan, A.; Adhikari, D.; Khan, M.L. The dark cloud with a silver lining: Assessing the impact of the SARS COVID-19 pandemic on the global environment. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 732, 139297. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Le Quéré, C.; Jackson, R.B.; Jones, M.W.; Smith, A.J.P.; Abernethy, S.; Andrew, R.M.; De-Gol, A.J.; Willis, D.R.; Shan, Y.; Canadell, J.G.; et al. Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement. Nat. Clim. Chang. 2020, 248, 1–7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Todd, B. Where Are the Masks? Am. J. Nurs. 2020, 120, 18–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rowan, N.J.; Laffey, J.G. Challenges and solutions for addressing critical shortage of supply chain for personal and protective equipment (PPE) arising from Coronavirus disease (COVID19) pandemic–Case study from the Republic of Ireland. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 725, 138532. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shokrani, A.; Loukaides, E.G.; Elias, E.; Lunt, A.J.G. Exploration of alternative supply chains and distributed manufacturing in response to COVID-19; a case study of medical face shields. Mater. Des. 2020, 192, 108749. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Flanagan, S.T.; Ballard, D.H. 3D Printed Face Shields: A Community Response to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Acad. Radiol. 2020, 27, 905–906. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Blomberg, N.; Lauer, K.B. Connecting data, tools and people across Europe: ELIXIR’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 2020, 28, 719–723. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- World Health Organization. Draft Landscape of COVID-19 Candidate Vaccines–15 May 2020. Who 2020. Available online: https://www.who.int/who-documents-detail/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines (accessed on 12 June 2020).
- Mukherjee, R. Global efforts on vaccines for COVID-19: Since, sooner or later, we all will catch the coronavirus. J. Biosci. 2020, 45. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- CNN. The US Government’s Supply of Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir Runs Out at the End of the Month 2020. Available online: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/health/remdesivir-donation-runs-out-coronavirus/index.html (accessed on 12 June 2020).
- Yu, D.E.C.; Razon, L.F.; Tan, R.R. Can global pharmaceutical supply chains scale up sustainably for the COVID-19 crisis? Res. Conserv. Recycl. 2020, 159, 104868. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Gurvich, V.J.; Hussain, A.S. In and Beyond COVID-19: US Academic Pharmaceutical Science and Engineering Community Must Engage to Meet Critical National Needs. AAPS PharmSciTech 2020, 21, 153. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fagan, J.J.; Cairncross, L.; Biccard, B.; Fieggen, G.; Maswime, S. COVID-19 exposes health worker shortages in the USA and UK, but nationalism and self-interest must not exploit medical workforces from low- and middle-income countries. S. Afr. Med. J. 2020, 110, 335. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Liu, W.; Yue, X.G.; Tchounwou, P.B. Response to the covid-19 epidemic: The chinese experience and implications for other countries. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 2304. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- World Health Organization (WHO). Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 2020. Available online: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf (accessed on 12 June 2020).
- Haffajee, R.L.; Mello, M.M. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally—The U.S. Response to Covid-19. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020, 382, e75. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Saglietto, A.; D’Ascenzo, F.; Zoccai, G.B.; De Ferrari, G.M. COVID-19 in Europe: The Italian lesson. Lancet 2020, 395, 1110–1111. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hunter, D.J. Covid-19 and the Stiff Upper Lip—The Pandemic Response in the United Kingdom. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020, 382, e31. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Korhonen, J.; Granberg, B. Sweden Backcasting, Now?—Strategic Planning for Covid-19 Mitigation in a Liberal Democracy. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4138. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Undela, K.; Gudi, S.K. Assumptions for disparities in case-fatality rates of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) across the globe. Eur. Rev. Med. Pharmacol. Sci. 2020, 24, 5180–5182. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Musinguzi, G.; Asamoah, B.O. The Science of Social Distancing and Total Lock Down: Does it Work? Whom does it Benefit? Electron. J. Gen. Med. 2020, 17, 17–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Hosseini, S.E. An outlook on the global development of renewable and sustainable energy at the time of COVID-19. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 2020, 68, 101633. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Steffen, B.; Egli, F.; Pahle, M.; Schmidt, T.S. Navigating the Clean Energy Transition in the COVID-19 Crisis. Joule 2020, 47, 1–5. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rosenbloom, D.; Markard, J. A COVID-19 recovery for climate. Science (80-) 2020, 368, 447. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smith, D.C. COVID-19 and the energy and natural resources sectors: Little room for error. J. Energy Nat. Res. Law 2020, 38, 125–129. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- International Energy Agency (IEA). Put Clean Energy at the Heart of Stimulus Plans to Counter the Coronavirus Crisis. 2020. Available online: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/put-clean-energy-at-the-heart-of-stimulus-plans-to-counter-the-coronavirus-crisis (accessed on 15 June 2020).
- Graff, M.; Carley, S. COVID-19 assistance needs to target energy insecurity. Nat. Energy 2020, 5, 352–354. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- CarbonTracker. COVID-19 and the Energy Transition: Crisis as Midwife to the New 2020. Available online: https://carbontracker.org/covid-19-and-the-energy-transition/ (accessed on 15 June 2020).
- Power_Technology. Covid-19 Response Accelerates the Renewable Transition, According to Wärtsilä. 2020. Available online: https://www.power-technology.com/news/covid-19-response-accelerates-the-renewable-transition-according-to-wartsila/ (accessed on 15 June 2020).
- Roston, E.; Rathi, A.; Biggest Fall in Global Emissions Shows the Limits of Individual Action. Bloomberg Green. 2020. Available online: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-19/how-has-covid-19-affected-climate-change-co-emissions (accessed on 11 June 2020).
- United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Emissions Gap Report. 2019. Available online: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30797/EGR2019.pdf (accessed on 11 June 2020).
- Seposo, X.; Ueda, K.; Sugata, S.; Yoshino, A.; Takami, A. Short-term effects of air pollution on daily single- and co-morbidity cardiorespiratory outpatient visits. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 729, 138934. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rogelj, J.; Shindell, D.; Jiang, K.; Fifita, S. IPCC Report: Mitigation Pathways Compatible with 1.5 °C in the Context of Sustainable Development; Chapter 2, Glob Warm 15 °C An IPCC Spec Rep; IPCC: Geneva, Switzerland, 2018. [Google Scholar]
- Van Vuuren, D.P.; Stehfest, E.; Gernaat, D.E.H.J.; Van Den Berg, M.; Bijl, D.L.; De Boer, H.S.; Daioglou, V.; Doelman, J.C.; Edelenbosch, Y.O.; Harmsen, M.; et al. Alternative pathways to the 1.5 °C target reduce the need for negative emission technologies. Nat. Clim. Chang. 2018, 8, 391–397. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Van Barneveld, K.; Quinlan, M.; Kriesler, P.; Junor, A.; Baum, F.; Chowdhury, A.; Junankar, P.N.; Clibborn, S.; Flanagan, F.; Wright, C.F.; et al. The COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons on building more equal and sustainable societies. Econ. Labour. Relat. Rev. 2020, 31, 133–157. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- United Nations (UN). Sustainable Development Goals. 2019. Available online: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs (accessed on 10 June 2020).
- Chapman, A.; Shigetomi, Y. Developing national frameworks for inclusive sustainable development incorporating lifestyle factor importance. J. Clean Prod. 2018, 200, 39–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Sustainable Development Report Dashboards. 2019. Available online: https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/ (accessed on 19 June 2020).
Post-COVID-19 Proposed Approaches | Potential Future Impacts |
---|---|
Glocalization: the localization of production and reduction of travel. | ➢ Reduce the impacts of the pandemic ➢ Address economic and environmental crises |
Government financial support: reduce interest rates, prioritization, and additional investment in renewables | ➢ Reduce investment costs for renewable and low-carbon technologies ➢ Meet long-term environmental goals |
Capitalize on carbon emission and pollutant downturns | ➢ Identify the need to restructure the energy system |
Principled approach to recovery | ➢ Avoid overreaction to exogenous impacts ➢ Leverage opportunities to progress the energy transition ➢ Develop future policy which is resilient |
Focusing on incumbent industries | ➢ Stimulate the economy by repealing environmental regulations ➢ Exacerbate climate change |
Prioritizing the ‘Green Deal’ suite of policies: harnessing the disruption caused by COVID-19 | ➢ Progress the energy transition to a more sustainable energy system |
Prioritizing funding to energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors | ➢ Sustain strong job growth ➢ Engender a successful transition |
Link financial aid to fossil fuel energy providers with regulations and efficiency requirements, coupled with low-cost, low-carbon alternatives | ➢ Encourage a restructuring of the energy system toward a sustainable future system |
Identified Issues | Specific Factors | Impacted SDGs |
---|---|---|
Air quality changes | NO2, SO2, PM decrease, O3 increase | |
Reduced GHG emissions | Reductions in CO2 due to reduced mobility and work from home | |
Changes in consumption behavior | Work from home, avoiding shopping in person | |
Supply chain disruption | Short-term negative impacts on renewable energy industries, shifts to alternative production methods | |
Unemployment due to economic downturn | Loss of jobs that do not adapt to work from home, focus on job growth in economic restart | |
International cooperation and nationalism | Material shortages, hoarding, various mitigation approaches, research and development cooperation or silos | |
Shifting to alternative economic and industrial approaches post-COVID-19 | Glocalization, fiscal easing, revising of supply chains | |
COVID-19-induced social transitions | Favoring incumbent industries or encouraging restructuring to engender energy transitions | |
Technological and social structures | Meeting climate change through more aggressive technological intervention and/or through lifestyle changes |
Nation | SDGs on Track for Achievement by 2030 | SDGs with Moderately Increasing Scores yet Insufficient Progress | SDGs with Stagnating or Decreasing Scores |
---|---|---|---|
China | |||
USA | |||
UK | |||
Italy | |||
Spain | |||
Brazil |
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Chapman, A.; Tsuji, T. Impacts of COVID-19 on a Transitioning Energy System, Society, and International Cooperation. Sustainability 2020, 12, 8232. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198232
Chapman A, Tsuji T. Impacts of COVID-19 on a Transitioning Energy System, Society, and International Cooperation. Sustainability. 2020; 12(19):8232. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198232
Chicago/Turabian StyleChapman, Andrew, and Takeshi Tsuji. 2020. "Impacts of COVID-19 on a Transitioning Energy System, Society, and International Cooperation" Sustainability 12, no. 19: 8232. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198232