The largest short-term reduction in energy use and largest short-term reduction in energy use and carbon emissions in a lifetime is a result from the Covid-19 pandemic and are still in the process of being assessed. This had led to significant changes in people’s day to days lives that are unparalleled in the last few decades.
Climate action
113 articles
Sort by
Renewable energy cooperation can play an important role in the energy transition in the European Union through international trade, safeguarding security of energy supply, coordinated climate adaptation measures, and optimizing the cost-effectiveness of actions. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) could play a useful role, e.g. contributing to achieve climate goals in certain countries, or supporting the energy system with dispatchable electricity, they also believe that this role could be filled by realizing other options.
The European climate change strategies key element is the transition of the energy system towards a more sustainable energy supply, and the decarbonisation of the electricity sector through the deployment of renewable energy technologies. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), as a dispatchable renewable energy technology combined with thermal energy storage, could contribute to the deep decarbonisation of the European Energy system by providing sustainable electricity and adding to system flexibility.
Individual behaviour could also play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This research explored the impact a range of behaviour changes across mobility, food, heating, leisure, and waste would have on Greenhouse Gas emissions. The results show that individuals’ moderate to rigorous behaviour change in the EU could reduce per capita carbon footprint by 6-16%. Three behavioural profiles were used to estimate emission impact from changes in behaviour: Enthusiast, Conscious and Convenient profiles. The benefits from behaviour change would be significant emission reductions and a variety of co-benefits for public health, land use, and regional ecology.
The business case for CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) is difficult to establish for importer countries as well as exporter countries and its impacts. Although the impacts of the energy transition have recently emerged in the geopolitics, CSP, is almost absent from both the academic and the policy-oriented geopolitical literature. This post further discusses the context of policies for CSP deployment by renewable energy cooperation in the EU.
Different Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects has pros and cons for cooperation, so the policy goals in the importing and exporting countries, which partially depend on the context conditions in these countries, should be considered. This post discusses and derives policy implications from CSP projects and how this effects cooperation.
Renewable energy cooperation is expected to play a role to ensure an effective and affordable energy transition in the EU. Besides cost savings in meeting the RES targets, there are multiple factors that determine a Member States’ willingness to engage in a cooperation agreement. Regarding CSP deployment in the past and potential obstacles to the use of cooperation mechanisms, several barriers stand out for cooperation discussed in this post.
There is no uniform format in the energy sector of the EU, although there are some initiatives for regional cooperation leading to intense cooperation between governments in specific parts of Europe. The main asset of regional cooperation lies in the ability of the involved actors to co-ordinate more efficiently. More work is required to address issues related to the further deployment of RES from 2020 to 2030 e.g., the most efficient use of RES potential.
No business model is the same for CSP due to the complexity of projects in terms of engaged actors across the different stages. MUSTEC project team investigated the CSP industry to identify the existing business models and found that the CSP industry has been forced to adjust its original business models. This post further discusses risks and barriers for the CSP industry but also financing opportunities.
The Paris Agreement requires a global decrease in Green House Gas emissions by 2050 which requires input from cities. Research and Innovation (R&I) in European cities is described in this paper and explains the critical R&I actions in cities based on three pillars.