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Energies
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New and Future Progress for Low-Carbon Energy Policy
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New and Future Progress for Low-Carbon Energy Policy

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "C: Energy Economics and Policy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 June 2025) | Viewed by 13256

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Effrosyni Giama

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Process Equipment Design Laboratory, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: building energy upgrade; environmental impact analysis; renewable energy systems; carbon footprint analysis; life cycle analysis; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a clear target for carbon neutrality by 2050 in all sectors. In order to support this vision and achieve the 80 to 95% overall GHG reduction objective by 2050, there is an urgent need to design, implement and monitor climate change mitigation policies. This commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, with an intermediary target of a 55% reduction from the 1990 baseline year by 2030, puts pressure on the industry, agriculture, transportation, and buildings sectors. The current geopolitical situation and impact on energy costs and delivery have further exacerbated the need to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. New technologies that are efficient, cost effective, resilient and sustainable will play a key role in the low carbon vision. A strategic energy technology plan is crucial in all sectors (buildings, industry, transportation, etc.), countries and regions promoting the transition to a low-carbon economy, also taking into consideration the social acceptability of the measures and the technologies suggested. Low-carbon energy policies should also be supported by tools, certifications, methodologies and standardization and ensure collaboration with the circular economy perspectives.

Dr. Effrosyni Giama
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate change mitigation policies
  • low-carbon economy
  • circular economy
  • energy technology plan

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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32 pages, 954 KiB  
Article
LightGBM-, SHAP-, and Correlation-Matrix-Heatmap-Based Approaches for Analyzing Household Energy Data: Towards Electricity Self-Sufficient Houses
by Nitin Kumar Singh and Masaaki Nagahara
Energies 2024, 17(17), 4518; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174518 - 9 Sep 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4221
Abstract
The rapidly growing global energy demand, environmental concerns, and the urgent need to reduce carbon footprints have made sustainable household energy consumption a critical priority. This study aims to analyze household energy data to predict the electricity self-sufficiency rate of households and extract [...] Read more.
The rapidly growing global energy demand, environmental concerns, and the urgent need to reduce carbon footprints have made sustainable household energy consumption a critical priority. This study aims to analyze household energy data to predict the electricity self-sufficiency rate of households and extract meaningful insights that can enhance it. For this purpose, we use LightGBM (Light Gradient Boosting Machine)-, SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations)-, and correlation-heatmap-based approaches to analyze 12 months of energy and questionnaire survey data collected from over 200 smart houses in Kitakyushu, Japan. First, we use LightGBM to predict the ESSR of households and identify the key features that impact the prediction model. By using LightGBM, we demonstrated that the key features are the housing type, average monthly electricity bill, presence of floor heating system, average monthly gas bill, electricity tariff plan, electrical capacity, number of TVs, cooking equipment used, number of washing and drying machines, and the frequency of viewing home energy management systems (HEMSs). Furthermore, we adopted the LightGBM classifier with ℓ1 regularization to extract the most significant features and established a statistical correlation between these features and the electricity self-sufficiency rate. This LightGBM-based model can also predict the electricity self-sufficiency rate of households that did not participate in the questionnaire survey. The LightGBM-based model offers a global view of feature importance but lacks detailed explanations for individual predictions. For this purpose, we used SHAP analysis to identify the impact-wise order of key features that influence the electricity self-sufficiency rate (ESSR) and evaluated the contribution of each feature to the model’s predictions. A heatmap is also used to analyze the correlation among household variables and the ESSR. To evaluate the performance of the classification model, we used a confusion matrix showing a good F1 score (Weighted Avg) of 0.90. The findings discussed in this article offer valuable insights for energy policymakers to achieve the objective of developing energy-self-sufficient houses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New and Future Progress for Low-Carbon Energy Policy)
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20 pages, 834 KiB  
Article
Towards Energy Equity: Understanding and Addressing Multifaceted Energy Inequality
by Lina Volodzkiene and Dalia Streimikiene
Energies 2024, 17(17), 4500; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17174500 - 8 Sep 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2073
Abstract
Given the pressing necessity to mitigate the consequences of climate change, it is of the utmost importance to establish a carbon-neutral society. Nevertheless, sustainability is significantly impeded by energy inequality. It is the term used to describe the unequal distribution, access, and utilization [...] Read more.
Given the pressing necessity to mitigate the consequences of climate change, it is of the utmost importance to establish a carbon-neutral society. Nevertheless, sustainability is significantly impeded by energy inequality. It is the term used to describe the unequal distribution, access, and utilization of energy resources among demographic groups, which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic and geopolitical tensions. This research aims to conceptualize and quantify energy inequality in Lithuania and compare it with EU data in order to bolster the ambitious objective of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. This article elucidates the intricacy of energy inequality by utilizing a Lithuanian population survey and a literature review, which are supplemented by an EU macroeconomic analysis. The findings underline the necessity of locally tailored solutions and underscore the significant disparities in energy access between Lithuanian regions and demographic groups. Targeted policy measures are necessary to overcome economic, technological, and socio-political obstacles that impede progress toward a climate-neutral society. The necessity of a multidimensional approach and global cooperation is underscored by a comparative analysis of EU statistics, which reveals variable progress in addressing energy inequality. Theis research is a pertinent contribution to the discourse on sustainability and social justice, and it offers policy-makers, practitioners, and stakeholders guidance for a more inclusive and sustainable energy future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New and Future Progress for Low-Carbon Energy Policy)
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23 pages, 4254 KiB  
Article
Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) as a Decision-Making Tool for Low Carbon Buildings
by Konstantinos Chatzikonstantinidis, Effrosyni Giama, Paris A. Fokaides and Agis M. Papadopoulos
Energies 2024, 17(6), 1406; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17061406 - 14 Mar 2024
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4701
Abstract
According to the European Energy Efficiency Directive for Buildings, member states are required to develop long-term strategies to adopt more sustainable, secure, and decarbonized energy systems in buildings by 2050. In this line of approach, an optional common regime has been established to [...] Read more.
According to the European Energy Efficiency Directive for Buildings, member states are required to develop long-term strategies to adopt more sustainable, secure, and decarbonized energy systems in buildings by 2050. In this line of approach, an optional common regime has been established to define and calculate the smart readiness of buildings and assess their ability to adapt their operation to the needs of the occupants and the network. Thus, the smart readiness indicator (SRI) emerged, which assesses technological readiness by examining the presence and evaluation of the functionality level of various smart services, aiming at energy savings, the ability of the building to respond to users’ needs, and energy flexibility. This paper focuses on examining the SRI calculation methodology’s application to an office building, which is currently being deeply renovated. Initially, there is an analysis of the SRI, its calculation methodology, and its goals. This is followed by the practical calculation part of the SRI for a typical office building located in Greece and belonging to the climate zone of southern Europe. The results indicate that the SRIs application is not a straightforward issue since parameters that need to be considered are not regulated to the same degree. On the other hand, SRI can provide a stimulus for exploiting the renovation potential of buildings, precisely by integrating the various aspects and linking those to the use of innovative technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New and Future Progress for Low-Carbon Energy Policy)
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Review

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23 pages, 370 KiB  
Review
Circularity and Decarbonization Synergies in the Construction Sector: Implications for Zero-Carbon Energy Policy
by Manvydas Mikulėnas and Lina Šeduikytė
Energies 2025, 18(5), 1164; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18051164 - 27 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 995
Abstract
This literature review explores the synergies between circularity and decarbonization principles in the construction sector, focusing on their potential to accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral future. Through analysis of 61 studies, critical barriers are identified, such as data gaps, insufficient recycling infrastructure, [...] Read more.
This literature review explores the synergies between circularity and decarbonization principles in the construction sector, focusing on their potential to accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral future. Through analysis of 61 studies, critical barriers are identified, such as data gaps, insufficient recycling infrastructure, and regulatory fragmentation, that hinder the integration of circular and low-carbon strategies. Regional disparities reveal that developed regions, supported by robust policies and infrastructure, lead in circularity adoption, while developing regions face systemic challenges, including limited material recovery networks and technological barriers. Previous studies have largely examined circularity and decarbonization separately, whereas this review provides a synthesis of their interdependencies, focusing on implementation challenges and regional disparities, highlighting synergetic solutions such as fiscal incentives, material passports and stricter end-of-life waste regulations, biobased and carbon-negative material innovations, and digitalization through tools like Building Information Modeling (BIM) and/or digital twins. However, complexity of circular solutions and lack of interdisciplinary collaboration forms a barrier against integration. This review emphasizes the need for standardized frameworks, cross-sectoral coordination, and targeted investments to ease integration of circularity and decarbonization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New and Future Progress for Low-Carbon Energy Policy)
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