Special Issue "Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Tsunemi Watanabe
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan
Interests: environmental management; risk management; project management; construction management
Dr. Lingling Wang
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Regional Design, Civil Engineering Department, Utsunomiya University, Tochigi, Japan
Interests: economic statistical analysis; risk perception; risk management; renewable energy development; construction management; i-construction; international comparison

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue comprises selected papers on development of renewable energy from the perspectives of social science. In between development of renewable energy and that of conventional, fossil energy, there seems to be one clear difference in terms of stakeholder management: active involvement of new and versatile types of actors, including citizens and lay people, who often receive costs associated with fossil energy through, for example, air pollution. In order to develop renewable energy, thus, it is important to design and manage an institutional environment where each party would be willing to accept their responsibility. To do so, economic studies including incentive mechanism design, analyses of external costs and life cycle costs, and institutional analysis and managerial studies, including stakeholder management, risk perception, risk management, and motivation are invited. Papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Prof. Tsunemi Watanabe
Dr. Lingling Wang
Guest Editors

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 papers will be 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. Sustainability 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 1900 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

  • Incentive mechanism design 
  • External cost 
  • Life cycle cost 
  • Institutional analysis 
  • Stakeholder management 
  • Risk perception 
  • Risk management 
  • Motivation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Willingness to Pay and Participate in Improved Water Quality by Lay People and Factory Workers: A Case Study of River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality, Kenya
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1934; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041934 - 11 Feb 2021
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Abstract
This paper examines the willingness to pay for and participate in volunteer activities for the restoration of the Sosiani River in Eldoret, Kenya. The willingness to pay is examined through two scenarios which differ in the organizations conducting the proposed project. The study [...] Read more.
This paper examines the willingness to pay for and participate in volunteer activities for the restoration of the Sosiani River in Eldoret, Kenya. The willingness to pay is examined through two scenarios which differ in the organizations conducting the proposed project. The study focuses on factory workers situated in textile industries and lay people living in the area, who are divided into two groups: respondents living downstream, who are situated mostly in town centers and at the mid/lower parts of the river and the respondents living upstream, mainly found at the upper parts of the River Sosiani. The study employs the double-hurdle model to identify the factors that influence the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water quality in the area. An ordinal regression model is used to analyze the willingness to participate and its influencing factors. The results of the study show that an average of 74.4% of the 279 respondents studied were willing to pay for river restoration in the area. The mean willingness to pay for the government proposed scenario was KSh 182.51 (1.66$) per household/month and KSh 169.28 (1.54$) per household/month for a non-governmental proposed project. Within the groups upstream and downstream, inhabitants had higher mean scores for a non-government project as compared to a government project, while the reverse was observed in the factory group. The empirical results of this study show that risk perception, trust and socio-demographic variables were significant factors on the stated amount and the decision to participate of the respondents. The characteristics of respondents with zero WTP, who comprised a significant amount of the respondents (25.6%), are also analyzed in depth shaping the recommendations of this study. The empirical results show that the number of years lived in the community is a major determinant on willingness to participate and pay for environmental restoration projects in the area. The results of this study could influence decision makers in general and have potential implications that can be applied in other sectors not necessarily related to water issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)
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Article
Does Haze Drive Pro-Environmental and Energy Conservation Behaviors? Evidence from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area in China
Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9972; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239972 - 28 Nov 2020
Viewed by 466
Abstract
Humans conduct themselves in relation to energy use; energy use has degraded air quality, as reflected by haze occurrence in countries such as China. Improving the population’s involvement in environmental and energy conservation necessitates understanding their motivation to behave under haze. Considering the [...] Read more.
Humans conduct themselves in relation to energy use; energy use has degraded air quality, as reflected by haze occurrence in countries such as China. Improving the population’s involvement in environmental and energy conservation necessitates understanding their motivation to behave under haze. Considering the social problems caused by haze conditions in China, this study used people’s risk perception as a basis to determine their motivations to perform pro-environmental and energy-saving behaviors. We analyzed motivation from privately and publicly oriented perspectives as well as adaptive and mitigative behavioral viewpoints. Motivation-related data were collected through face-to-face discussion and a survey of 506 respondents in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, which is one of the most heavily polluted regions in China. We conducted multiple regression analysis to determine the extent to which socio-demographic characteristics and risk perception concerning haze predict motivation and actual behavior. Results showed that these factors explain 36.8% and 30.5% of privately and publicly oriented motivations, respectively, but more strongly explain more adaptive (i.e., privately oriented; 55.0%) than mitigating (i.e., publicly oriented; 8.8%) behaviors. Although the residents are motivated to behave equally for private and public purposes in initial conservation efforts, they tend to exhibit adaptive behavior more frequently than mitigating behaviors. These results serve as a reference in encouraging China’s residents to act pro-environmentally and use energy conservatively, thereby contributing to environmental and energy saving education for the society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)
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Article
On the Economic Effects of a Res Local Industry Deployment in Morocco: A Case of Study Defining Scenarios from a Survey to Stakeholders
Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 6811; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176811 - 21 Aug 2020
Viewed by 606
Abstract
The aim of this article is to simulate the economic impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment of renewable energy sources investment in Morocco over the next 40 years. In this sense, several potential scenarios of energy component evolution have been used [...] Read more.
The aim of this article is to simulate the economic impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment of renewable energy sources investment in Morocco over the next 40 years. In this sense, several potential scenarios of energy component evolution have been used based on the results of a specific survey to sector stakeholders. We obtain accurate results, avoiding speculative/theoretical assumptions in terms of scenario design. As usual in the sector, a Dynamic Input–Output Model (DI–O) is used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of such a large investment and, avoiding the criticism of this type of model in the context of long-term simulations, the alternative of de Arce et al. (2012) is used. In this framework, substantial results derive from the three scenarios considered: the increase in Moroccan GDP as a result of this investment could be around 1.2–1.7 points and, on average, 42,000 new jobs could be created. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Renewable Energy from Perspectives of Social Science)
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