scholarly journals What Characterizes a System Builder? The Role of Local Energy Companies in Energy System Transformation

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Palm ◽  
Magdalena Fallde
Keyword(s):  
Energy System ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Energy Companies

scholarly journals A Breath of Fresh Air for the European Green Deal: Energy Efficiency and Climate Neutrality Factors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinis Āzis
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Energy System ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Climate Targets ◽  
Multiple Threads ◽  
Climate Transition ◽  
Climate Neutrality

The topics covered and the research framework as such provide multiple level takeaways regarding energy efficiency and climate neutrality. The research, therefore, elaborates on concepts central to the academic debate at the time of the writing and undercuts patterns and proposals relevant for multiple actors within the local and global energy market. In fact, the research develops broader discussion regarding any strategic energy-efficiency related goal and the complexity and multiple threads that meeting such a goal would entail. The research also explicitly elaborates on the role of energy efficiency in both climate transition and energy system transformation. In addition, it uncovers the scope of various policies implemented on a local level and discusses their role in meeting the climate targets in medium and long-term. Furthermore, the research also elaborates on the role of bioeconomy and climate neutrality.

Disconnected Policy: The Shaping of Local Energy Management

1996 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Guy ◽  
S Marvin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Energy Management ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
Regional Energy ◽  
Energy Flows ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Energy Companies

Around half of all the CO2 emissions relate to the energy consumed in buildings. Management of energy demand is, therefore, a central concern of environmental policymakers. But how does local environmental policy actually shape local energy-management practices? Rather than analysing how the intensity of energy flows are shaped by institutions and regulatory forces, makers of local environmental policy have tended to adopt a ‘rational’ modelling approach, increasingly divorced from the operational realities of the restructured energy sector. Such an approach misses the way in which privatised utility companies are now reaching ‘beyond the meter’ in order to manage local energy consumption actively. In this way privatised utilities are emerging as important regulators of energy flows in the territories they serve. Local environmental policy is largely bypassed in this process. Policymakers therefore need to acknowledge the role of regional energy companies as key energy managers and to coordinate local energy policy accordingly.

scholarly journals Regional Electricity Models for Community Energy in Germany: The Role of Governance Structures

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2241
Author(s):  
Moritz Ehrtmann ◽  
Lars Holstenkamp ◽  
Timon Becker
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Sustainable Innovation ◽  
Value Propositions ◽  
Energy Companies ◽  
Desk Research

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.

scholarly journals The Deltah Lab, a New Multidisciplinary European Facility to Support the H2 Distribution & Storage Economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3272
Author(s):  
Sara Stelitano ◽  
Alberto Rullo ◽  
Luigi Piredda ◽  
Elisabetta Mecozzi ◽  
Luigi Di Vito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Life Tests ◽  
Storage Methods ◽  
Complementary Techniques ◽  
H2 Effect ◽  
Empty Condition ◽  
New Facility

The target for European decarburization encourages the use of renewable energy sources and H2 is considered the link in the global energy system transformation. So, research studies are numerous, but only few facilities can test materials and components for H2 storage. This work offers a brief review of H2 storage methods and presents the preliminary results obtained in a new facility. Slow strain rate and fatigue life tests were performed in H2 at 80 MPa on specimens and a tank of AISI 4145, respectively. Besides, the storage capacity at 30 MPa of a solid-state system, they were evaluated on kg scale by adsorption test. The results have shown the H2 influence on mechanical properties of the steel. The adsorption test showed a gain of 26% at 12 MPa in H2 storage with respect to the empty condition. All samples have been characterized by complementary techniques in order to connect the H2 effect with material properties.

scholarly journals Decomposition Analysis of the Evolution of the Local Energy System as a Tool to Assess the Effect of Local Actions: Methodology and Example of Malmö, Sweden

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Isabel Azevedo ◽  
Vítor Leal
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
Total Change ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Change Mitigation

This paper proposes the use of decomposition analysis to assess the effect of local energy-related actions towards climate change mitigation, and thus improve policy evaluation and planning at the local level. The assessment of the impact of local actions has been a challenge, even from a strictly technical perspective. This happens because the total change observed is the result of multiple factors influencing local energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, many of them not even influenced by local authorities. A methodology was developed, based on a recently developed decomposition model, that disaggregates the total observed changes in the local energy system into multiple causes/effects (including local socio-economic evolution, technology evolution, higher-level governance frame and local actions). The proposed methodology, including the quantification of the specific effect associated with local actions, is demonstrated with the case study of the municipality of Malmö (Sweden) in the timeframe between 1990 and 2015.

scholarly journals Changing Technology or Behavior? The Impacts of a Behavioral Disruption

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5861
Author(s):  
Marianne Pedinotti-Castelle ◽  
Pierre-Olivier Pineau ◽  
Kathleen Vaillancourt ◽  
Ben Amor
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transition ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Behavior Changes ◽  
Ghg Emission ◽  
The North ◽  
Behavioral Disruption ◽  
Transportation Sector ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Additional Costs

Transportation is a key factor in the fight against climate change. Consumer behavior changes in transportation are underrepresented in energy policies, even if they could be essential to achieve the fixed GHG emission reduction targets. To help quantify the role of behaviors in energy transition and their implications on the dynamics of an energy system, this study is conducted using the North American TIMES Energy Model, adapted to Quebec (Canada). A behavioral disruption scenario (an increase in carpooling) is introduced in the model’s transportation sector and is compared to a massive electrification scenario. Our results highlight the fact that a behavioral disruption can lead to the same GHG emission reductions (65%) by 2050 as an electrification policy, while alleviating different efforts (such as additional electrical capacity and additional costs) associated with massive electrification. Moreover, the results are sensitive to behavior-related parameters, such as social discount rates and car lifetimes.

A network of networks

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Iedema ◽  
Raj Verma ◽  
Sonia Wutzke ◽  
Nigel Lyons ◽  
Brian McCaughan
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Health System ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
System Reform ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Networks ◽  
Network Of Networks

Purpose To further our insight into the role of networks in health system reform, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how one agency, the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI), and the multiple networks and enabling resources that it encompasses, govern, manage and extend the potential of networks for healthcare practice improvement. Design/methodology/approach This is a case study investigation which took place over ten months through the first author’s participation in network activities and discussions with the agency’s staff about their main objectives, challenges and achievements, and with selected services around the state of New South Wales to understand the agency’s implementation and large system transformation activities. Findings The paper demonstrates that ACI accommodates multiple networks whose oversight structures, self-organisation and systems change approaches combined in dynamic ways, effectively yield a diversity of network governances. Further, ACI bears out a paradox of “centralised decentralisation”, co-locating agents of innovation with networks of implementation and evaluation expertise. This arrangement strengthens and legitimates the role of the strategic hybrid – the healthcare professional in pursuit of change and improvement, and enhances their influence and impact on the wider system. Research limitations/implications While focussing the case study on one agency only, this study is unique as it highlights inter-network connections. Contributing to the literature on network governance, this paper identifies ACI as a “network of networks” through which resources, expectations and stakeholder dynamics are dynamically and flexibly mediated and enhanced. Practical implications The co-location of and dynamic interaction among clinical networks may create synergies among networks, nurture “strategic hybrids”, and enhance the impact of network activities on health system reform. Social implications Network governance requires more from network members than participation in a single network, as it involves health service professionals and consumers in a multi-network dynamic. This dynamic requires deliberations and collaborations to be flexible, and it increasingly positions members as “strategic hybrids” – people who have moved on from singular taken-as-given stances and identities, towards hybrid positionings and flexible perspectives. Originality/value This paper is novel in that it identifies a critical feature of health service reform and large system transformation: network governance is empowered through the dynamic co-location of and collaboration among healthcare networks, particularly when complemented with “enabler” teams of people specialising in programme implementation and evaluation.

scholarly journals The Role of Demand Response in the Future Renewable Northern European Energy System

Energy ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 121336
Author(s):  
J.G. Kirkerud ◽  
N.O. Nagel ◽  
T.F. Bolkesjø
Keyword(s):  
Demand Response ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Northern European ◽  
The Future

Environmental impacts of smart local energy systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Robinson ◽  
Alona Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Simulation Modelling ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Degraded Ecosystems

<p>Energy systems around the world are rapidly transitioning towards decentralised and digitalised systems as countries aim to decarbonise their economies. However, broader environmental effects of the upscaling of these smart local energy systems (SLES) beyond reducing carbon emissions remain unclear. Land-use change associated with increased deployment of renewables, new infrastructures required for energy distribution and storage, and resource extraction for emerging energy technologies may have significant environmental impacts, including consequences for ecosystems within and beyond energy system project localities. This has major implications for biodiversity, natural capital stocks and provision of ecosystem services, the importance of which are increasingly recognised in development policy at local to international scales. This study assessed current understanding of the broader environmental impacts and potential co-benefits of SLES through a global Rapid Evidence Assessment of peer-reviewed academic literature, with a critical evaluation and synthesis of existing knowledge of effects of SLES on biodiversity, natural capital and ecosystem services. There was a striking overall lack of evidence of the environmental impacts of SLES. The vast majority of studies identified considered only energy technology CO<sub>2</sub> emissions through simulation modelling; almost no studies made explicit reference to effects on ecosystems. This highlights an urgent need to improve whole system understanding of environmental impacts of SLES, crucial to avoid unintended ecosystem degradation as a result of climate change mitigation. This will also help to identify potential techno-ecological synergies and opportunities for improvement of degraded ecosystems alongside reaching decarbonisation goals.</p>

Dialectic tensions driving niche creation – A case study of a local energy system

2022 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 99-111
Author(s):  
Jussi Valta ◽  
Saku J. Mäkinen ◽  
Johanna Kirjavainen
Keyword(s):  
Energy System ◽  
Local Energy
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