Search Results (8)

This review analyzes the complex relationship between climate change and energy security and their joint impact on global development. It emphasizes the need for sustainable energy solutions to tackle increasing global warming effects and energy demands. A thorough literature analysis highlights the link between energy policies, climate goals, and sustainable development aspirations. Moreover, it examines the effectiveness of energy policies in various national contexts in promoting environmental sustainability and emphasizing regional dynamics, socio-economic factors, and diverse energy planning approaches. The review explains the multifaceted relationship between climate change, energy security, and environmental protection. Key recommendations related to renewable energy transitions are provided as crucial means to address global energy demand and resource constraints while reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The analysis underscores renewable energy’s key role in aligned energy strategies that balance security and sustainability for a low-carbon future. It emphasizes the critical need for coordinated policies, technological innovation, and collaborative action between academia, industry, and policymakers to advance integrated energy systems and thermal storage solutions. Full article

The UN vision of climate resilience contains three independent outcomes: resilient people and livelihoods, resilient business and economies, and resilient environmental systems. This article analyzes the positive contributions of low-carbon energy technologies to climate resilience by reviewing and critically assessing the existing pool of studies published by researchers and international organizations that offer comparable data (quantitative indicators). Compilation, critical analysis, and literature review methods are used to develop a methodological framework that is in line with the UN vision of climate resilience and makes it possible to compare the input of low-carbon energy technologies climate resilience by unit of output or during their lifecycle. The framework is supported by the three relevant concepts—energy trilemma, sharing economy/material footprint, and Planetary Pressures-Adjusted Human Development Index. The study identifies indicators that fit the suggested framework and for which the data are available: total material requirement (TMR), present and future levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) without subsidies, CO₂ emissions by fuel or industry, lifecycle CO₂-equivalent emissions, and mortality rates from accidents and air pollution. They are discussed in the paper with a focus on multi-country and global studies that allow comparisons across different geographies. The findings may be used by decision-makers when prioritizing the support of low-carbon technologies and planning the designs of energy systems. Full article

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for any nation has become more of an urgent priority in the global agenda than at any time before, especially under the light of recent disrupting events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the alarming food–water–energy trilemma, and the geopolitical upheavals impacting the supply chain of vital commodities. Assessing the sustainable progress of a country over time can help policy makers establish and develop robust strategies by identifying their strengths and weaknesses, allocating adequate resources, and understanding how far the country is from achieving the SDGs. No prior research has evaluated the SDGs performance composite index in Morocco. Hence, this study evaluates the national level of SDG progress by analyzing 13 out of 17 SDGs, including 46 available economic, social, and environmental indicators from 2001 to 2018, to provide factual data that can be used as a decision-making basis. The selection of indicators is established based on the framework adopted by the UN General Assembly. A composite index was created and quantified using the min–max normalization technique, the geometric product aggregation, and the overall scores of Morocco’s SDG performance and the different dimensions were calculated. The results show that economic performance was the worst among the other dimensions. Morocco is progressing to achieve the environmental and social targets, but more effort is required to absorb the needs linked with population growth and improvement of living standards. The developed framework could be of great interest for scientists and researchers to assess the national SDG progress of other countries. Full article

To achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), it is necessary to solve the problem of assessing and measuring energy sustainability performance. A popular indicator used for this purpose is the World Energy Council (WEC) energy sustainability index, or the Energy Trilemma Index, which is based on such key metrics as energy security, energy equity, environmental sustainability, and country context. Each of the four metrics, or dimensions, includes many indicators that depend on both internal and external factors. By combining a variety of indicators into integral ones, WEC ranks countries in terms of energy sustainability. However, what is not taken into account is how countries differ in terms of economic development, income, energy mix, renewables use, ownership in the energy sector, and other factors, and neither is the methodology itself disclosed by the developers. As a provider for all other sectors of the economy, the energy sector plays an important role in developing countries. Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, being members of the Andean Community, are neighbors and have similar economic conditions but lack transnational power grid interconnections, which hinders the development of a common energy market. In terms of energy sustainability, these countries’ ranks range from 45 to 101, according to the Energy Trilemma Index. The aim of the study is to develop a new methodology for assessing energy sustainability performance that will factor in the specific features of developing countries with a high share of hydroelectricity generation, and to calculate energy sustainability index indicators taking into account contemporary requirements for sustainable development, which include developing green and renewable energy and fostering decarbonization. This research reveals whether the countries’ energy sustainability indices correspond to their actual performance in energy development and identifies the factors influencing the values of the metrics in the Energy Trilemma Index. The methodology can be used to integrate the energy sectors of countries, as it allows for evaluating the state of the energy sector of several countries (for example, those of the Andean Community) as a whole. Full article

This study aims to provide established knowledge of the multi-dimensional concept of energy security through engaging stakeholders and experts. Energy security policy implications have been suggested in this study to address and mitigate energy security challenges. A total of seven emerging themes from semi-structured interviews have been discussed in-depth to understand the role of each theme and their interactions with energy policies. There is an urgent need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and to look for alternative fuel options from renewable sources. At the same time, energy-efficient technology plays a significant role in improving overall efficiency and leading to reduced wastage of energy. This would, in turn, improve the availability and affordability of energy in Malaysia. Energy equity gets the most emphasis in the energy trilemma of Malaysia; however, equal importance should be attached to the nation’s energy security alongside environmental sustainability. The final decision of the trilemma balance and the energy policies that govern the energy use framework depends on the ministries and the regulatory bodies. An indicator mapping process has been recommended for these themes to quantify energy security by developing an energy security index. The thematic results discussed in this study have the potential to facilitate policymakers and energy analysts of countries with similar energy outlooks to design data-driven energy security policies. Full article

The energy sector is an essential element in an economy’s infrastructure, so a deficit of national mineral resources makes the energy sector dependent on imports of raw materials, which in turn can negatively affect a country’s energy security. The sustainable development of the energy sector for countries with transitioning economies should be based on the energy trilemma. Four principles are proposed: diversification of energy resources and energy generation sources, ensuring energy efficiency, ensuring energy affordability, and green energy production. Based on a comparative analysis of the economic and energy indicators (for the years 2014 to 2019) of European countries that are not members of the European Union, the situation in the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova is classified as critical and its fundamental issues are identified (107th place in the World Energy Trilemma Index). The main objectives of the study are: (1) To analyze energy and economic efficiency as well as the conditions for and problems of the functioning of the energy sector in countries with transition economies (using non-European Union countries as an example); (2) To present a substantiation of the directions for development of the energy sector in countries with transition economies that lack energy resources (using the Republic of Moldova as an example), taking into account the identified factors and principles of sustainable development; (3) To develop an economic and mathematical model for assessing the directions for the development of the energy sector in countries with transition economies using multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Decision-making methods can be used to select strategic development alternatives, particularly in the energy sector. MCDA has several advantages and uses in the following situations: comparing several alternatives; identifying the most preferable and unacceptable alternatives; comparing alternatives based on several (sometimes conflicting) criteria; looking for a compromise in a situation where different stakeholders have conflicting goals or values. A methodology including a system of 7 indicators and an economic and mathematical model for assessing development paths for the energy sector in countries with transition economies were developed that are based on multiple-criteria decision analysis. An algorithm and a computer program were developed to carry out MCDA and select the best development path for the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova. The article presents a rationale for choosing the best option regarding the development of the energy sector of the Republic of Moldova, which is a country with a deficit of its own energy resources. Full article

As system thinking is a recognized approach to the comprehension and realization of energy sustainability, this paper applies a holistic representation to the World Energy Trilemma Index (WETI) key indicators using Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) to illuminate the probabilistic information of their influences in Saudi Arabia’s context. The reached realization is suggested to inform the policies to improve energy sustainability, and thus the country’s rank in the WETI. The analysis used two groups of learning cases, one used the energy statistics of the period from 1995 to 2019 to show the outlook of the Business as Usual path, and the other addressed the projected data for the period from 2018 to 2037 to investigate the expected impact of the new policies. For both BAU and new policies, the BBN calculated the improvement, stability, and declining beliefs. The most influential factors on energy sustainability performance were the electricity generation mix, CO₂ emissions, energy intensity, and energy storage. Moreover, the interlinkage between the influential indicators and their causes was estimated in the new policies model. A back-casting analysis was carried out to show the changes required to drive the improvement belief to 100%. The compiled BBN can be used to support structuring policymaking and analyzing the projections’ outcomes by investigating different scenarios for improvement probabilities of energy sustainability. Full article

Cities are at the center of the transition to a decarbonized economy. The high consumption of electricity in these urban areas causes them to be the main focus of greenhouse gas emissions. However, they have a high margin of capacity to increase energy efficiency and local energy generation. Along these lines, the smart urban management model has been proposed as a solution to the unsustainability of cities. Due to the global trend of population concentration in urban areas, cities tend to be representative of the population, energy consumption, and energy sustainability of their countries. Based on this hypothesis, this paper studied the relationship between the smart city model and the concept of energy sustainability. First, the research analyzed the relationship between urban population growth and energy sustainability; and then the self-consumption capacity of photovoltaic electricity of the main cities of the countries classified in the energy sustainability indicator (Energy Trilemma Index 2017) of the World Energy Council was analyzed. According to the results, the scope of action for self-consumption of photovoltaic electricity is broad and cities have the capacity to contribute significantly to the energy sustainability of their countries. Following the approach of other authors, the development of energy sustainability objectives and the installation of smart systems in distribution grids must be aligned with national objectives. Full article