Taxonomic Analysis of the Diversity in the Level of Wind Energy Development in European Union Countries

The strategy for developing wood pellets as sustainable renewable energy in Indonesia

Concerns about carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels are felt globally. In order to support sustainable energy in the future, efforts to reduce emissions are carried out by developing wood pellets as renewable energy. The Indonesian government is also concerned about advancing renewable energy technology to supply the country's industries and residents with electricity. Several factors and substitute sources hamper the growth of wood pellets as a renewable energy source in Indonesia. Studies from the past point to four obstacles to low-carbon development: sociocultural, economic, technological, and governmental. Therefore, this article aims to determine the inhibiting factors and seek the best decisions for developing wood pellets as a renewable energy source. Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) procedures were applied to determine the best strategy for developing wood pellets in Indonesia. This study recruited several vital informants to identify factors and assess each alternative. The results of the analysis using ISM provide information that the Raw Materials (D11) and Standard Products (D6) sub-factors are vital in developing wood pellets as one of the renewable energies in Indonesia. Furthermore, the analysis of selecting the best alternative using TOPSIS shows that Alternative A1 (Government Incentives), with a weight of 0.825, has the longest distance. A more thorough evaluation of the articles is still needed to produce more accurate findings.

The energy transition in Europe-a solution for net zero carbon?

Climate change has generated intense concerns from public authorities and international institutions with regard to shaping the behavior of companies, consumers, investors, and other stakeholders so as to manage this challenge as efficiently as possible. In order to address the climate emergency in the post-pandemic era, recovery plans need to trigger decarbonization, and a green transition, including specific investments and providing a more adaptive structure of the sources of energy in different regions, able to meet the need for a systemic shift towards a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. The main measurable effect of energy production and consumption is by far represented by carbon emissions. In the present paper, we aim to identify the statistical significance of several factors influencing the carbon dioxide emission per capita in the European countries-level of economic development, level of globalization, trade openness, and the intensity of energy transition measured by the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption. The results show an increased interest of the experts in energy consumption model shift through green energy increased share, with relatively high differences among the 42 European countries analyzed. The analysis was conducted for the period 1990-2018 and policy differences depending on variables (GDP/capita, globalization index, trade openness, and renewable energy share in total energy consumption) were identified. The results showed that the carbon dioxide emission per capita evaluation designed model is representative of the European countries. The fact that the targets set by European non-EU member states for reducing CO2 emissions are lower than for the EU is influencing the dynamics of the energy transition, with implications for the size and destination of funds to finance the development of renewable energy.

Assessing sustainable energy development in the central and eastern European countries and analyzing its diversity

The growing social awareness of environmental protection entails that the assumptions of the sustainable development idea are being implemented in various economic sectors at an increasingly fast pace. One of them is the power industry, the sustainable development of which is now becoming a priority in economic policy for many countries. The paper refers to this issue by developing methodology for both studying and assessing the level of sustainable energy development in the Central and Eastern European Countries. The study involved 21 indicators characterizing the sustainable energy development of these countries in the areas of energy, environmental, economic, and social security for 2008 and 2018. When considering the complexity of the subject matter and the wide scope of the research, four methods of multi-criteria data analysis (TOPSIS, VIKOR, MOORA and COPRAS) were used. For each of them, based on the adopted criteria, synthetic indicators were determined, which allowed for the assessment of the level of sustainable energy development in the CEE countries. Weights for the adopted indicators were identified based on the Shanon's Entropy method. Afterwards, an unambiguous assessment of the level of sustainable energy development of the CEE countries was performed. The results showed that in 2008 and 2018, the best ranking position was held by Latvia and Croatia, and the worst ranking position was held by Poland and Bulgaria. The method of multidimensional scaling made it possible to determine the positions of studied countries on scatter plots in two-dimensional space, which showed differences between individual CEE countries. All in all, the applied methods allowed for a considerably broad assessment of the level of sustainable energy development of the CEE countries.

The Problem of Non-Typical Objects in the Multidimensional Comparative Analysis of the Level of Renewable Energy Development

The development of energy from renewable sources is one of the most important aspects of today’s energy industry. The level of this development (production of green energy) is determined by the use of a variety of methods, e.g., the methods of multicriteria and multivariate analysis. The effectiveness of these methods is affected by many factors, and one of them is the appearance of non-typical objects (outliers). This paper investigates the effectiveness of selected methods (TOPSIS, VIKOR, VMCM) in terms of computational robustness to outlier objects. The most effective method in this respect (VMCM) is then applied to study the level of development of renewable energy sources in European countries. The presented research provides the opportunity to carry out a dynamic analysis (for selected base years) of the level of energy generation from diverse renewable sources in reference to the adopted patterns and anti-patterns (European countries). The obtained results are discussed, thus confirming the effectiveness of the proposed methodological approach.

The Consumption of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) by the European Union Households between 2004 and 2019

The paper provides the analysis of fuel and energy transition in households sector and its sustainable development in the period 2004–2019. The main purpose of the paper is to determine the development trends in the use of renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU countries household sector in 2004–2019, to recognize the state of development and functioning of the studied area as well as to indicate their successes and shortcomings in observed reality. The article employs the results of Energy balance sheets from Eurostat. The research entity were households from 28 European Union countries, with particular emphasis on households from Poland and selected neighboring countries. The research subjects there were different sources of renewable energy used by households, i.e., solar thermal system, geothermal technologies, primary solid biofuels, charcoal, biogases, blended biogasoline, blended biodiesels, ambient heat (heat pumps). To achieve the research objective a number of statistical measures ands methods, including cluster analysis and linear trend indicator applied. In the analyzed 16 years, an absolute and relative increase in the use of RES in the household sector was noticed. Taking into account the specificity of using RES in households, 6 clusters of countries were distinguished. In Poland, it was noted that there was a significant increase in the use of RES in households, with stagnation in the use of non-renewable energy sources, such as, for example, hard coal.

Assessing the Level of Renewable Energy Development in the European Union Member States. A 10-Year Perspective

The global economic development is, to a great extent, dependent on access to large amounts of cheap energy sources. The growing social awareness of ecology and the enormous damage to the Earth’s ecosystem due to the production of energy from conventional sources have forced fundamental changes in the energy sector. Renewable energy is considered to be an opportunity for such changes. The current state of the art allows such changes to be made without restricting economic development. Therefore, activities related to the energy transition are being taken all over the world. The European Union has definitely managed to achieve the most tangible effects in this regard. This article presents the findings of the research aimed at presenting the current state of renewable energy in the European Union and analyzing the changes reported in this sector in the last decade. The research was carried out using a selected set of 11 indicators characterizing renewable energy in individual countries. These indicators were selected on the basis of literature review and own studies of the state of renewable energy and its development prospects. Based on these indicators, changes in the energy structure of individual European Union countries between 2008–2018 were determined. The study is divided into two main stages. The principal components analysis (PCA) was used for the first analysis. In turn, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was adopted to assess the level of renewable energy development in the European Union countries. Both these methods and the extended statistical analysis were applied to determine the state of renewable energy development in the European Union countries in the studied period and to divide the Member States into classes with different levels of development. The results of the study showed that the EU countries are characterized by significant differences in the development of RES during the period in question. The unquestionable leaders in this respect are Sweden, Austria, Finland, and Latvia. Based on the findings, it is possible to evaluate the effects of activities related to renewable energy development and to prepare assumptions for future activities. Additionally, both the research and its findings broaden the knowledge of the directions of renewable energy development in individual European Union countries. This is particularly important in the context of changes related to the need to reduce harmful substance emissions and the implementation of the European Green Deal idea.

Assessing the Level of Energy and Climate Sustainability in the European Union Countries in the Context of the European Green Deal Strategy and Agenda 2030

The concept of sustainable development integrates activities in the economic, environmental and social areas. Energy policy, which is very closely linked to climate protection, is of key importance for achieving the goals of the concept in question. All these elements are connected by the European Green Deal strategy and Agenda 2030. Their implementation requires the evaluation of previous actions undertaken within the framework of sustainable development and the diagnosis of the current state. Therefore, this article presents the results of such research in relation to the key industry connected with this process, which is the energy sector. The research methodology was based on the analysis of 14 indicators that characterize four basic areas (dimensions) related to energy and climate sustainability. These indicators concern energy and climate as well as social and economic issues. This approach makes it possible to comprehensively assess the actions taken so far in the implementation of sustainable economic development in the energy and climate area in the European Union (EU) countries. The entropy-complex-proportional-assessment (COPRAS) methodologies, which belong to the group of multiple criteria decision-making methods, were used for this study. The conducted research allowed for the assessment of the changes in the EU countries in terms of energy and climate sustainability between 2009–2018. In addition, the effects of the introduced changes in individual years and in relation to the studied areas (dimensions) were also evaluated. Based on the results, considering the adopted criteria, the EU countries were divided into groups similar to the level of energy and climate sustainability. The results constitute a valuable set of data, which allows for a wide and in-depth multicriteria analysis. This allows for a very objective and broad assessment of the effects of sustainable development policies in the EU countries and the current state in the context of the European Green Deal strategy and Agenda 2030.

Studying the Level of Sustainable Energy Development of the European Union Countries and Their Similarity Based on the Economic and Demographic Potential

The concept of sustainable economic development takes into account economic, social and environmental aspects and strives to achieve balance between them. One of the basic areas where it is required to revalue the current views on sustainable development is energy. The growing public awareness of environmental protection forces changes in this industry. Despite the global nature of this problem, its solution is perceived differently in various regions of the world. The unquestionable leader in introducing the idea of sustainable development economy is the European Union, where the energy sector is of key importance for the effectiveness of this process. In order to assess the sustainable energy development of the European Union countries, studies were conducted based on 13 selected indicators characterizing this sector in terms of energy, economy and environment. In order to assess the specificity of the European Union countries, these indicators were additionally compared to the gross domestic product value and the number of inhabitants of individual countries. For these cases, multi-criteria analyses were carried out using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. It allowed the authors to rank the European Union countries in terms of their adaptation to a sustainable energy economy. Based on the determined values of indicators versus the gross domestic product and the number of inhabitants of the countries in question, these countries were also divided into similar groups with the use of the Kohonen artificial neural networks. These groups can pursue a common energy policy in the field of sustainable development. The aim of the research was to present a new approach to the assessment of sustainable energy development of the European Union countries. The extensive ratio analysis (13 indicators of the sustainable energy development), including the economic and demographic potential of individual countries, and the use of modern tools made it possible to acquire new knowledge in the field of sustainable energy development in the European Union countries. The results should be utilized for more effective sustainable energy development of the European Union countries.