scholarly journals Challenges for Energy Transition in Poverty-Ridden Regions—The Case of Rural Mixteca, Mexico

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2596
Author(s):  
Laura-Patricia Oviedo-Toral ◽  
Davi Ezequiel François ◽  
Witold-Roger Poganietz

This paper presents distinct scenario pathways and their storylines resulting from an analysis of interdependencies. We identified the main drivers of a proposed renewable energy transition in rural Mixteca-Puebla, Mexico. By analyzing the main factors involved in alleviating impoverished communities in the rural region, we show the varying degrees to which these drivers influence, support, or hinder a promising energy transition. A Cross-Impact Balance Analysis was conducted to explore the multiple inter-relationships among a set of conditions. This methodology allowed us to evaluate the relationships between social, political, cultural, and environmental variables. The main drivers were identified as clusters of several elements, in which the uncertainties in governance and the legal system trigger the inter-relationship of forces in the area. The focus of this paper is to show how the societal aspects affect the structural energy transformation and its capacity for adaptation in future trends envisioned for the area. This research contributes to the use of technological transformation as a means to alleviate poverty in a rural area. These outcomes give insights regarding the conditions to be considered, in respect to possible–encouraging, but also pessimistic pathways for the region in coming decades.

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 891-900
Author(s):  
Iban Lizarralde ◽  
Audrey Abi Akle ◽  
Mikhail Hamwi ◽  
Basma Samir

AbstractCurrent development of renewable energy systems (RES) is characterised by an increasing participation of citizens in the upstream decision-making process. These citizens can be future users of the RES but also members of a Renewable Energy Community that develop RES. They can be at the same time Renewable Energy producer, investor and consumer. Moreover, several type of businesses and terms are used to cope with social innovations within the energy sector: local renewable projects, sustainable energy communities or community of renewable energy production. So, actors' engagement opens new solutions for designers who are induced to share alternatives before making decisions. They usually impose constraints since the early phases of the design process. This approach implies for designers to consider new criteria related to citizens motivations and barriers. This paper presents a study to define the main factors that drive people to contribute in social innovation schemes for clean-energy transition. After a state of the art, a survey about 6 main factors and 18 criteria is presented. The analysis based on the responses from 34 participants (i.e. experts) reveals 2 most important factors of motivation and 2 principal barrier sources.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5266
Author(s):  
Bożena Ryszawska ◽  
Magdalena Rozwadowska ◽  
Roksana Ulatowska ◽  
Marcin Pierzchała ◽  
Piotr Szymański

Successful energy transformation is interconnected with greater citizenry participation as prosumers. The search for novel solutions to implement the transition to renewable energy that will neutralize the barriers to this process, e.g., the reluctance of citizens to get involved, lack of trust in decision-makers and lack of co-ownership of energy projects, is inevitable as a part of the bottom-up process. Energy communities have vast potential to scale up Renewable Energy projects. Due to the fact that in Poland, establishing citizen energy communities in the cities is not allowed, the key success factor of energy transformation is to engage housing cooperatives and other housing communities in this process. A similar legal framework prevents communities from establishing themselves in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The research problem of this paper is to identify determinants of the co-creation process in Renewable Energy project activation at the housing cooperative level. The aim is to identify key conditions that housing cooperatives should establish in order to successfully undertake Renewable Energy project implementation using a co-creation approach. The literature study shows that the term “co-creation” is not often used in energy transition projects, although many local energy transitions are indeed co-created, unfortunately not in a structured methodical manner. In the research, we apply the DART (Dialogue, Access, Risk, Transparency) model as the framework to conduct the analysis. The study has been carried out using quantitative and qualitative research methods and based on primary and secondary data. Our findings indicate that considering the different areas of the DART model, co-creation was most visible in the area of dialogue-communication between cooperative authorities and its members, while it was least visible in the area of transparency. Based on the results pertaining to the implemented project, the researchers postulate the inclusion of factors beyond the DART model that further shape the co-creation process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadeta Baran

This article aims to analyze the process of energy transformation in Germany and renewable energy state support as an example of a strategic and effective policy. Energy transition in Germany, which leads to replacement of conventional energy with renewable sources and increase of energy efficiency is a long-term project requiring a strong state intervention. This project is supported with European Union green energy policy giving favorable legal and institutional framework for green technologies development. The process of energy transformation in Germany started more than two decades ago and nowadays this economy benefits from growing number of new jobs and export of high-tech products. The article analyzes the concept of "green growth" in the EU, which is both determinant and the effect of energy transformation in Germany. It discusses support mechanisms and instruments for German green energy sector, transformation goals in that area, financing sources and the most important economic effects.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (24) ◽  
pp. 8221
Author(s):  
Bartłomiej Iglinski ◽  
Karol Flisikowski ◽  
Michał Bernard Pietrzak ◽  
Urszula Kiełkowska ◽  
Mateusz Skrzatek ◽  
...  

In the era of globalization and rapid economic growth, affecting most world economies, increased production and consumption are leading to higher levels of energy production and consumption. The growing demand for energy means that energy resources from conventional sources are not sufficient; moreover, its production generates high costs and contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases and waste. In view of the above, many countries have opted to implement an energy transformation. The energy transition allows the transition from an energy system based on conventional fuels to an energy system based mainly on renewable energy (RE) and low-emission sources. In the EU, the development of a “green economy” has become a strategic goal in the fight against climate change. The development of RE offers the possibility to improve the energy security of a given country and the entire EU. New, innovative technologies of RE also increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of the economies of the Member States. In line with the EU strategy, the activities carried out aim to achieve a situation in which, in 2050, the activities of economies will not endanger the environment. The main purpose of this article was the assessment of the RE sector in the Pomerania region in the context of energy transformation. To achieve this goal, PEST analysis regarding the functioning of the RE sector in the selected Polish region was used and the potential of the RE sector was determined using GIS tools on the basis of physical conditions. The article presents the research hypothesis that the RE sector within the Pomerania Voivodeship possesses appropriate energy potential, which will allow this Voivodeship to become an energy self-sufficient region based on the use of these energy sources (according to EU strategy). The implementation of the goal set in the article allowed for the verification of the research hypothesis, where the determined energy potential from the RE sector would cover the Voivodeship’s needs due to the use of electricity and heat. The conducted research shows that the RE sector in these regions has high energy potential to meet the criteria outlined in EU legal documents and to implement them successfully within the intended period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-173
Author(s):  
Andrzej Lorkowski ◽  
Robert Jeszke

The whole world is currently struggling with one of the most disastrous pandemics to hit in modern times – Covid-19. Individual national governments, the WHO and worldwide media organisations are appealing for humanity to universally stay at home, to limit contact and to stay safe in the ongoing fight against this unseen threat. Economists are concerned about the devastating effect this will have on the markets and possible outcomes. One of the countries suffering from potential destruction of this situation is Poland. In this article we will explain how difficult internal energy transformation is, considering the long-term crisis associated with the extraction and usage of coal, the European Green Deal and current discussion on increasing the EU 2030 climate ambitions. In the face of an ongoing pandemic, the situation becomes even more challenging with each passing day.


2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna J. Chwedorzewska

ABSTRACTThe geographic position, astronomic factors (e.g. the Earth’s maximum distance from the Sun during winter), ice cover and altitude are the main factors affecting the climate of the Antarctic, which is the coldest place on Earth. Parts of Antarctica are facing the most rapid rates of anthropogenic climate change currently seen on the planet. Climate changes are occurring throughout Antarctica, affecting three major groups of environmental variables of considerable biological significance: temperature, water, UV-B radiation.Low diversity ecosystems are expected to be more vulnerable to global changes than high diversity ecosystems


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2241
Author(s):  
Moritz Ehrtmann ◽  
Lars Holstenkamp ◽  
Timon Becker

Community energy actors play an important role in the energy transition, fostering the diffusion of sustainable innovation in the renewable energy market. Because market conditions for business models in the renewable energy sector are changing and feed-in-tariff (FiT) schemes expiring, community energy companies are in the process of innovating their business models. In recent years, several community energy companies in Germany have entered the electricity retail market selling locally generated electricity from their renewable energy installations to customers in their region. We explore the evolving regional electricity business models for community energy companies in Germany, related governance structures, and the role they play for a sustainable energy transition. In order to implement these complex business models, community energy companies cooperate with professional marketing partners (intermediaries), which are capable of taking over the tasks and obligations of electricity suppliers. Through a series of expert interviews and desk research, we identify three distinctive regional electricity business models and examine opportunities and challenges to their implementation. Results show that there are different forms of cooperation, leading to specific governance structures and creating a set of new value propositions. Through these forms of cooperation, business networks emerge, which can function as incubators for sustainable innovation and learning for the post-FiT era.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2212
Author(s):  
Ewelina Kochanek

The aim of the research is to analyse the energy transition in the Visegrad Group countries, because they depend on the production of energy from the burning of fossil fuels, and transition is a huge challenge for them. The diversity of the energy transformation in the V4 countries was examined by using two qualitative methods, including literature analysis and comparative analysis. The timeframe of the study was set for the period from 2020 to 2030, as these years are crucial for the implementation of the European Green Deal Programme. Four diagnostic features were taken into account in the analysis: the share of RES in final energy consumption, reduction of CO2 emissions in the non-Emissions Trading System (ETS) sector, date of withdrawal of coal from the economy, and energy efficiency. The analysis shows that the V4 countries have different approaches and levels of energy transformation in their economies. Poland is in the most difficult situation, being the most dependent on the production of electricity from coal, as well as having the largest number of employees in the coal and around coal sector. The other countries of the group can base their transformation on nuclear energy, as each of them has at least four such power units. The increased use of biomass for energy and heat production is the most important stimulus for Renewable Energy Sources (RES) growth in the analysed countries. The ambivalent attitude of the political elite to unconventional sources in the four analysed countries significantly hinders the development of certain forms of green energy. However, it has been observed that an increasing proportion of the population, especially those living in regions of the country where there is no fossil fuel mining industry, has a positive attitude towards energy transformation. The study is the first that shows the state of involvement in the process of systemic change of the Visegrad Group countries. The results can serve as a starting point for understanding the reticence of this group of European countries towards the transformation phenomenon, as well as contributing to further research on the implementation of closed-circuit economies in the Visegrad Group countries.


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