The Role of Renewables in a Low-Carbon Society: Evidence from a Multivariate Panel Data Analysis at the EU Level

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.

Changes in Energy Supplies in the Countries of the Visegrad Group

The main purpose of the work is to identify and present the current situation and changes in the volume of energy supplies in the countries of the Visegrad Group. The specific objectives of the article are to determine the degree of concentration of energy supply sources in the countries of the Visegrad Group, the directions of their changes, types of energy used and changes in this area, establishing the correlation between the volume of energy supplies and changes in the economic situation in V4 countries. The period of research covers the years 1990–2018. The sources of materials were the literature on the subject, with the data from Eurostat. The following methods were used for the analysis and presentation of materials: descriptive, tabular, graphical, dynamics indicators with a constant basis; Gini concentration coefficient; concentration analysis using the Lorenz curve; coefficient of variation; Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient. It was found that, of a high concentration of energy supplies from one or more sources in all countries of the Visegrad Group, the largest was in Poland and the lowest were in Hungary and the Czech Republic. In each of these countries, the economy was transforming and there was also a gradual diversification of energy sources.

Renewable Energy Investment under Carbon Emission Regulations

This paper considers a risk-neutral energy supplier who operates an electricity plant in an uncertain demand market. To characterize the impact of carbon emission quota and emergency supply cost of coal electricity, we first consider four different cases, (1) traditional energy without carbon emission restriction; (2) traditional energy with carbon emission quota; (3) mixed energy (both traditional and renewable energy) without carbon emission restriction, and (4) mixed energy with carbon emission quota, to find the optimal renewable energy investment level and coal inventory mechanism for an energy supplier. Then, through the analysis we derive the resulting equilibriums: coal inventory for electricity generation and the investment of renewable energy capacity. By comparing the performances under different scenarios, we find that (a) renewable energy establishment can mitigate the depression of carbon emission constraint, (b) the energy supplier can obtain positive benefits from optimal mixed energy strategy if the additional emergency cost of traditional energy is not too high, and (c) the optimal renewable energy capacity level is decreasing in the carbon emission quota. Our numerical simulations imply that the impact of additional emergency cost to the profit difference between mixed energy strategy and traditional energy strategy is mediated by carbon emission quota.

Analyzing the Impact of the Renewable Energy Sources on Economic Growth at the EU Level Using an ARDL Model

Energy is one of the most important drivers of economic growth, but as the population is increasing, in normal circumstances, in all countries of the world, there is a demand for energy produced from conventional resources. Increasing prices of conventional energy and the negative impact on the environment are two of the main reasons for switching to renewable energy sources (RESs). The aim of the paper is to quantify the impact of the RESs, by type, on the sustainable economic growth at the European Union (EU) level. The research was performed for all 28 EU member states, for a time frame from 2004 to 2017, through a panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and causality analysis. Furthermore, Hausman test was performed on the regression model. By estimating the panel data regression model with random effects, we reveal through our results that RESs, namely wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower energy, have a positive influence on economic growth at EU level. Moreover, biomass has the highest impact on economic growth among all RES. In fact, a 1% increase in biomass primary production would impact the economic growth by 0.15%. Based on econometric analysis, our findings suggest that public policies at the EU level should be focused on investment in RESs.

Bank-Specific and Macroeconomic Determinants of Profitability: A Revisit of Pakistani Banking Sector under Dynamic Panel Data Approach

This study aims to examine the effect of the bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants of profitability for the banking sector of Pakistan. To incorporate the issues of endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity, and profit persistence, we apply a generalised method of moments (GMM) technique under the Arellano–Bond framework to a panel of Pakistani banks that covers the period 2003–2017. The results of a dynamic panel data approach reveal that capital adequacy accelerates the profitability of the banking sector in Pakistan. Capital adequacy helps the financial system to absorb any negative shock by reducing the number of bank failures and losses. Conversely, our empirical investigation reveals that the liquidity ratio, business mix indicators, interest rates, and industrial production deteriorates the bank profitability. Liquidity risks enhance the probability of default risks and transmit into the unpaid loans and hence the lower return. Our empirical evidence further reveals that Pakistani banks are not getting any benefit of the economies of scale in terms of financial performance.

A Sustainable Revolution: Let’s Go Sustainable to Get Our Globe Cleaner

The concept of sustainability is a clear blue sea, a snowy mountain, a flowery meadow, in which there is resource sharing that allows us to satisfy human needs without damaging natural resources. The challenge is complex, and we hope to support the decarbonization of our society and mitigate climate changes. This Special Issue aims to outline different approaches in several sectors with a common point of view: seeing our world with a green perception and encouraging a sustainable revolution to provide a cleaner world.

A Multidimensional Evaluation of Renewable and Nuclear Energy among Higher Education Students

Renewable and nuclear power technologies are considered alternatives to fossil-based power. However, which of the two is superior remains a matter of contention. Besides technological development, local access to resources, and energy policies, social acceptance is a key issue; informing future decisions on energy sources thus requires a complex approach. Personal attitudes to energy technologies may differ from professional opinions and national policies. The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes and opinions regarding renewable and nuclear power generation technologies by pairwise comparison. This evaluation includes the return on the investment, the availability of said technologies, environmental impact, knowledge/need of use, and expectations for future of energy production. The research sample consists of 250 randomly selected Hungarian higher education students as representatives of future corporate decision-makers. The results show that the respondents demonstrate an appreciation of renewable energy technologies. Solar energy is appreciated, but confidence in nuclear power is low, except for its future role. These opinions are not consistent with the national energy policies or professional evaluations. These differences will allow us to refine communication and education in the field.

Environmental Assessment of Electrochemical Energy Storage Device Manufacturing to Identify Drivers for Attaining Goals of Sustainable Materials 4.0

Electricity from the combination of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines exhibits potential benefits towards the sustainable cities transition. Nevertheless, the highly fluctuating and intermittent character limits an extended applicability in the energy market. Particularly, batteries represent a challenging approach to overcome the existing constraints and to achieve sustainable urban energy development. On the basis of the market roll-out and level of technological maturity, five commercially available battery technologies are assessed in this work, namely, lead–acid, lithium manganese oxide, nickel–cadmium, nickel–metal hydride, and vanadium redox flow. When considering sustainable development, environmental assessments provide valuable information. In this vein, an environmental analysis of the technologies is conducted using a life cycle assessment methodology from a cradle-to-gate perspective. A comparison of the environmental burden of battery components identified vanadium redox flow battery as the lowest environmental damage battery. In terms of components, electrodes; the electrolyte; and the set of pumps, motors, racks, and bolts exhibited the greatest environmental impact related to manufacturing. In terms of materials, copper, steel, sulphuric acid, and vanadium were identified as the main contributors to the midpoint impact categories. The results have highlighted that challenging materials 4.0 are still needed in battery manufacturing to provide sustainable technology designs required to the future urban planning based on circular economy demands.

A Comprehensive Review and Technical Guideline for Optimal Design and Operations of Fuel Cell-Based Cogeneration Systems

The need for energy is increasing from year to year and has to be fulfilled by developing innovations in energy generation systems. Cogeneration is one of the matured technologies in energy generation, which has been implemented since the last decade. Cogeneration is defined as energy generation unit that simultaneously produced electricity and heat from a single primary fuel source. Currently, the implementation of this system has been spread over the world for stationary and mobile power generation in residential, industrial and transportation uses. On the other hand, fuel cells as an emerging energy conversion device are potential prime movers for this cogeneration system due to its high heat production and flexibility in its fuel usage. Even though the fuel cell-based cogeneration system has been popularly implemented in research and commercialization sectors, the review regarding this technology is still limited. Focusing on the optimal design of the fuel cell-based cogeneration system, this study attempts to provide a comprehensive review, guideline and future prospects of this technology. With an up-to-date literature list, this review study becomes an important source for researchers who are interested in developing this system for future implementation.

Measuring the Renewable Energy Efficiency at the European Union Level and Its Impact on CO2 Emissions

Low carbon emissions have a great importance in our life. The increasing importance of carbon emission levels have attracted the interests of researchers and academics in the field. In this article, a panel data econometric model is developed to measure the relationship between renewable energy, energy productivity, population, urbanization, motorization, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and their impacts on carbon dioxide CO2 emissions. Data used in this study was collected from the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) and five statistical hypotheses were tested and validated through a multilinear regression model using the Econometric Views (Eviews) 10.0 statistical software. The Hausman test was used to choose between a model with fixed effects and a model with random effects, and the variance inflection factor (VIF) was used to test the collinearity between the independent variables. The author’s findings indicate that renewable energy at the European Union (EU) level has a positive impact on low-carbon emissions. It was found that a 1% increase in renewable energy consumption would reduce the CO2 emissions by 0.11 million tons, while population growth and urbanization degree add more restrictions to the econometric equation of the impact on carbon emissions.