A methodology for validating the renewable energy data in EU

The multidimensional character of renewable energy sources (RES) necessitates the collection of a number of related data in order to support EU policy needs. Apart from the technology and techno-physical data also socioeconomic (e.g. employment, turnover) data and R&D expenditures are of critical relevance. The monitoring of the above RES data with respect to the existing targets for RES is of significant importance. In addition to this, even though significant data gathering efforts have been implemented, a lot of fragmented data and deduced findings are currently available, which sometimes lack consistency and verification. As a result, RES data validation and completion capacity is needed in the framework of the European Union (EU) energy policy. In addition to this, agreed and validated RES data can help energy policy makers and relevant stakeholders answering to pressing energy socio-economics’ and sustainability issues. In this context, the main aim of the paper is to present a reference methodology for validating the RES Data in the EU. The development of the methodology is mainly based on the review of existing methods and ends up with recommendations for improvements in RES data aggregation and statistical interpretation, taking into consideration the related analysis of statisticians, energy technology experts and energy socio-economists.     

Energy research and technology development data collection strategies: The case of Greece

The European Union (EU) from the beginning of 2007 has focused its emphasis on the development of a new policy that puts energy back at the heart of EU action. Indeed, it has very often been stated that the difficulty and complexity of achieving green energy targets in the EU will require strengthened measures to promote implementation of new energy technologies (NET), as well as measures to support the related energy Research and Technology Development (R&TD). Often forgotten is the fact, that most of all, a European-wide co-ordinated forum is needed to continuously develop and sophisticate the monitoring and methodology results, bringing together specialised statisticians, energy researchers and experts on energy socio-economics. Today a nebulous picture prevails on the existence of categorized data with regards to energy Research and Technology Development (R&TD) expenditure. In this context, aim of this paper is the presentation of energy R&TD data collection strategies, as well as the related findings for the Greek energy market.     

Data validation platform for the sophisticated monitoring and communication of the energy technology sector

It has very often been stated that the difficulty and complexity of achieving green energy targets in the European Union (EU) will require strengthened measures to promote implementation of New Energy Technologies, Energy End-use Efficiency, as well as measures to support the related energy Research and Technology Development (RTD). Often forgotten is the fact, that most of all, a European-wide co-ordinated forum is needed to continuously develop and sophisticate the monitoring and methodology results, bringing together specialised statisticians, energy researchers and experts on energy socio-economics. The aim of this paper is to present the Scientific Reference System (SRS) Scorecard; a data validation platform for the sophisticated monitoring and communication of the energy technology sector. In this respect, the concept of the SRS scorecard system will be laid out, the parameters and the scoring criteria will be explained as well as the assessment system so as to provide the interested reader with the basis needed to understand the technology evaluation examples provided, as well as its critical analysis.     

Heat Roadmap Europe: Combining district heating with heat savings to decarbonise the EU energy system

Six different strategies have recently been proposed for the European Union (EU) energy system in the European Commission's report, Energy Roadmap 2050. The objective for these strategies is to identify how the EU can reach its target of an 80% reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 compared to 1990 levels. None of these scenarios involve the large-scale implementation of district heating, but instead they focus on the electrification of the heating sector (primarily using heat pumps) and/or the large-scale implementation of electricity and heat savings. In this paper, the potential for district heating in the EU between now and 2050 is identified, based on extensive and detailed mapping of the EU heat demand and various supply options. Subsequently, a new ‘district heating plus heat savings’ scenario is technically and economically assessed from an energy systems perspective. The results indicate that with district heating, the EU energy system will be able to achieve the same reductions in primary energy supply and carbon dioxide emissions as the existing alternatives proposed. However, with district heating these goals can be achieved at a lower cost, with heating and cooling costs reduced by approximately 15%.     

The policy perspective for RES development in the new member states of the EU

The energy sector of the European Union (EU) is based mainly on fossil fuels and almost two-thirds of the energy demand is imported. In the future, fossil fuels are expected to strengthen their participation in the European energy balance and imports will amount to 70% of overall energy needs. On the other hand, the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is a central aim of the European Commission's energy policy. RES hold a significant share in the 10 new countries recently joined the EU and the adoption of RES-related policies is of imperative importance for the joint cooperation of the new member states with the EU. This paper includes a review of RES status, related policies and prospects in each of the 10-new member states of EU.     

Striving to further harmonization of sustainability criteria for bioenergy in Europe: Recommendations from a stakeholder questionnaire

This questionnaire analyzed the ongoing development of sustainability criteria for solid and liquid bioenergy in the European Union and further actions needed to come to a harmonization of certification systems, based on EU stakeholder views. The questionnaire, online from February to August 2009, received 473 responses collected from 25 EU member countries and 9 non-European countries; 285 could be used for further processing. A large majority of all stakeholders (81%) indicated that a harmonized certification system for biomass and bioenergy is needed, albeit some limitations. Amongst them, there is agreement that (i) a criterion on ‘minimization of GHG emissions’ should be included in a certification system for biomass and bioenergy, (ii) criteria on optimization of energy and on water conservation are considered of high relevance, (iii) the large variety of geographical areas, crops, residues, production processes and end-uses limits development towards a harmonized certification system for sustainable biomass and bioenergy in Europe, (iv) making better use of existing certification systems and standards improves further development of a harmonized European biomass and bioenergy sustainability certification system and (v) it is important to link a European certification system to international declarations and to expand such a system to other world regions.     

Energy savings potential of uninterruptible power supplies in European Union

Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are key components of information and communications technologies (ICT) systems, ensuring reliability by maintaining the continuity and quality of the systems’ power supply. The energy consumption of UPS should be an important consideration due to its high impact on the lifecycle costs, but in most applications of UPS, energy efficiency is not the most important issue, since the operational reliability of the ICT systems and the related security of data processing and storage are the major concerns. However, the conversion efficiency of UPS systems has been improving in recent years and high energy savings can be achieved with the adoption of new technologies without a reduction of the reliability levels. The Ecodesign Preparatory Study for UPS (Lot 27) aimed to identify and recommend ways to improve, at their design phase, the environmental performance of UPS in the European Union throughout their lifetime. This paper presents the work developed during the Preparatory Study for UPS focused on the technical analysis of the best available and not yet available technologies, as well as the potential energy savings that can be achieved. Several technologies were considered at component and product level. The main design options were then modelled, and the potential energy savings achievable with policy options focused on minimum efficiency performance standards and energy labelling were assessed, showing a potential for energy savings in European Union in 2025 of 11.4 TWh (65 % energy saving relative to predicted energy requirement of EU ICT system UPS based on current practice).     

Applying ex-post index decomposition analysis to primary energy consumption for evaluating progress towards European energy efficiency targets

Monitoring the progress of the European Union and its Member States towards the EU’s energy efficiency target is a crucial part of the mandatory process as defined in the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU. In this paper, we conduct index decomposition analyses to show the effects of both policies and autonomous developments driving the changes of primary energy consumption for the European Union (EU28) and its Member States for the time period of 2000 to 2014, with a comparative analysis of Germany and Poland. These analyses are based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index methodology and primarily on data compiled by Eurostat. They are carried out on two levels, i.e. on the level of total primary energy consumption as well as on the level of primary energy consumption related to electricity generation. The first level examines the influences of changes in final energy consumption and changes within the energy conversion sector on primary energy consumption. With the second level, we provide insights into the effects of changes in electricity consumption and production. According to our first-level analysis, the consumption of primary energy in the EU28 is primarily influenced by an increased share of electrical energy and the counteracting effect of rising efficiency in electricity generation, induced by an increasing share of renewable energies. Furthermore, the reduction of final energy consumption had a significant decreasing influence on primary energy consumption in the European Union. The second level of our analysis regarding electricity generation shows that the increasing effect on primary energy consumption due to the rising consumption of electricity was mainly compensated by substituting nuclear and thermal power plants by renewable energy technologies.     

Incentives for energy efficiency in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme

This paper explores the incentives for energy efficiency induced by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for installations in the energy and industry sectors. Our analysis of the National Allocation Plans for 27 EU Member States for phase 2 of the EU ETS (2008–2012) suggests that the price and cost effects for improvements in carbon and energy efficiency in the energy and industry sectors will be stronger than in phase 1 (2005–2007), but only because the European Commission has substantially reduced the number of allowances to be allocated by the Member States. To the extent that companies from these sectors (notably power producers) pass through the extra costs for carbon, higher prices for allowances translate into stronger incentives for the demand-side energy efficiency. With the cuts in allocation to energy and industry sectors, these will be forced to greater reductions; thus, the non-ET sectors like household, tertiary, and transport will have to reduce less, which is more in line with the cost-efficient share of emission reductions. The findings also imply that domestic efficiency improvements in the energy and industry sectors may remain limited since companies can make substantial use of credits from the Kyoto Mechanisms. The analysis of the rules for existing installations, new projects, and closures suggests that incentives for energy efficiency are higher in phase 2 than in phase 1 because of the increased application of benchmarking to new and existing installations and because a lower share of allowances will be allocated for free. Nevertheless, there is still ample scope to further improve the EU ETS so that the full potential for energy efficiency can be realized.

Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy policy in SE Europe: SE European Energy Community Treaty

Energy demand continues to increase in turn raising concerns about energy supply. In this paper, the author has tried to systematize the role of the energy sector in South Eastern (SE) Europe in the context of the European energy policy process. This should make the energy sector in SE Europe more visible and open to substantial activities and appropriate funding. This is important to assure its full alignment with the European energy policy process, and in so doing, make it less fragile. According to the SE European Energy Community Treaty, parties to the Treaty are obliged to implement reforms in the energy and environmental sector in accordance with the European Union's respective policy.This paper raises awareness of the environmental requirements that have been set, of renewable energy and its implementation, at the same time pointing out that the response in SE Europe has been at a low level. It is believed that this paper could draw attention to the existing problems and could contribute to the establishment of a common integrated energy market in SE Europe and the EU.     

The potential of WHR/batch and cullet preheating for energy efficiency in the EU ETS glass industry and the related energy incentives

The European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) covers approximately 45% of European greenhouse gases (GHGs), 11,000 stationary installations as well as aircraft operators. The EU ETS particularly affects the energy-intensive industries while it imposes a significant risk of “carbon leakage,” i.e., the risk of EU industry departing to countries with weaker restraints on GHG emissions. The EU glass industry, being capital intensive and also requiring long investment cycles, is the world’s largest glass producer with a market share close to one third of global production. Therefore, it is of significant importance to view the position of the EU ETS glass industry in terms of energy conservation possibilities. The present paper utilizes a vertical approach to provide information on both ETS market evolution and specific technical information to support technological innovation to the glass industry. EU ETS glass industry is analyzed regarding the balance between allocated European Union emission allowances (EUAs), verified CO₂ emissions, and potential shortfall in allowances so as to determine the situation of glass industries and the extent of urge for energy-saving activities towards the strengthening of their position within the requirements of the EU ETS phase III. The replication potential of waste heat recovery (WHR) through batch preheating is specifically addressed since it is considered a promising technology according to the latest Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference document for the glass industry under Directive IED 2010/75/EU. A case study for a container glass furnace based on simulation results is presented investigating the impact of different operating and design configurations on specific energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.     

Techno-economic evaluation of medium scale power to hydrogen to combined heat and power generation systems

The European Hydrogen Strategy and the new « Fit for 55 » package indicate the urgent need for the alignment of policy with the European Green Deal and European Union (EU) climate law for the decarbonization of the energy system and the use of hydrogen towards 2030 and 2050. The increasing carbon prices in EU Emission Trading System (ETS) as well as the lack of dispatchable thermal power generation as part of the Coal exit are expected to enhance the role of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) in the future energy system. In the present work, the use of renewable hydrogen for the decarbonization of CHP plants is investigated for various fossil fuel substitution ratios and the impact of the overall efficiency, the reduction of direct emissions and the carbon footprint of heat and power generation are reported. The analysis provides insights on efficient and decarbonized cogeneration linking the power with the heat sector via renewable hydrogen production and use. The levelized cost of hydrogen production as well as the levelized cost of electricity in the power to hydrogen to combined heat and power system are analyzed for various natural gas substitution scenarios as well as current and future projections of EU ETS carbon prices.     

Integrated distributed energy evaluation software (IDEAS): Simulation of a micro-turbine based CHP system

IDEAS was defined in University of Newcastle upon Tyne in United Kingdom as a joint academic-industry project, in order to develop a comprehensive software package for designing, optimizing and monitoring of distributed energy systems based on micro-turbine, fuel cell and internal combustion engine driven systems using fossil fuels and renewables.The IDEAS idea shaped in pursue of a series of actual projects at Research Centre for Innovation and Design (RCID) to suggest the most energy consumption optimized and environmentally friendly distributed CHP system for some new residential complex as well as some academic PhD thesis at Mechanical and Systems engineering department to optimize the performance of gas turbine and micro-turbine driven CHP system for generating power, cooling and heating.Increasing number of CHP equipment suppliers and consultant engineering companies through UK and Europe and approved inspiring short-term and long-term policies of EU for implementing the CHP systems, fascinating successful experiences in some EU countries like Denmark in CHP implementation and lack of a comprehensive European based software package for designing and optimizing of these systems, all supported the idea of developing the IDEAS.IDEAS tends to be a complement to tens of small CHP systems related European software, each has been developed with limited data and a European version of similar powerful non-European (mostly American) software packages.To gain an overview of the difficulties, musts, domain of the package abilities, required financial, human resources and information and also for a better presentation of the idea to absorb supports from both academic and industry possible partners, a micro-turbine driven CHP system was designed for a 71 dwelling residential complex in north of England.This paper presents the works which have been done and yielded results about the requirements of developing IDEAS.     

Forest owner motivations and attitudes towards supplying biomass for energy in Europe

The European Commission expects the use of biomass for energy in the EU to increase significantly between 2010 and 2020 to meet a legally binding target to cover at least 20% of EU's total energy use from renewable sources in 2020. According to estimates made by the member states of the EU, the direct supply of biomass from forests is expected to increase by 45% on a volume basis between 2006 and 2020 in response to increasing demand (Beurskens LWM, Hekkenberg M, Vethman P. Renewable energy projections as published in the national renewable energy action plans of the European Member states. ECN and EEA; 2011. http://https://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2010/e10069.pdf [accessed 25.04.2014]; Dees M, Yousef A, Ermert J. Analysis of the quantitative tables of the national renewable energy action plans prepared by the 27 European Union Member States in 2010. BEE working paper D7.2. Biomass Energy Europe project. FELIS – Department of Remote Sensing and landscape information Systems, University of Freiburg, Germany; 2011). Our aims were to test the hypotheses that European private forest owners' attitudes towards supplying woody biomass for energy (1) can be explained by their responses to changes in prices and markets and (2) are positive so that the forest biomass share of the EU 2020 renewable energy target can be met. Based on survey data collected in 2010 from 800 private forest owners in Sweden, Germany and Portugal our results show that the respondents' attitudes towards supplying woody biomass for energy cannot be explained as direct responses to changes in prices and markets. Our results, furthermore, imply that European private forest owners cannot be expected to supply the requested amounts of woody biomass for energy to meet the forest biomass share of the EU 2020 renewable energy target, at least if stemwood is to play the important role as studies by Verkerk PJ, Anttila P, Eggers J, Lindner M, Asikainen A. The realisable potential supply of woody biomass from forests in the European Union. For Ecol Manag 2011;261: 2007–2015, UNECE and FAO. The European forest sector outlook study II 2010–2030. United Nations, New York and Geneva; 2011 [abbreviated to EFSOS II] and Elbersen B, Staritsky I, Hengeveld G, Schelhaas MJ, Naeff H, Böttcher H. Atlas of EU biomass potentials; 2012. Available from: http://www.biomassfutures.eu [accessed 14.10.2013] suggest.     

Lessons from market reform for renewable integration in the European Union

The European Union (EU) has the most advanced, mature, and liberal energy markets that gave rise to the most dramatic drop in wholesale energy prices, whose fallen, however, has not been translated into a reduction in retail energy prices. Instead, energy prices in Europe rose above inflation year-in-year-out, and are considerably higher compared with major economic partners. This paper highlights the key limitations in the EU market designs and network access toward renewable integration, and the wide range of reforms that the EU is currently undertaken across the Member States to achieve two goals: to make the market fit for renewable, and to set a practical example of how a competitive economy can be built on a sustainable and affordable energy system. This paper concludes with key recommendations to developing nations, particularly in addressing heavy renewable curtailment.     

Methodological proposal for territorial distribution of the percentage reduction in gross inland energy consumption according to the EU energy policy strategic goal

A 20% reduction in the consumption of energy is one of the main goals of the European Union’s (EU) 20/20/20 Energy Strategy. But the uniform application of this overall goal to all of the countries is neither fair nor equitable, as it does not take into consideration the characteristics of the energy system in each Member State. This article therefore proposes a nonlinear distribution methodology with objective, dynamic goals for reducing gross inland energy consumption, according to the context and characteristics of each member state. We hope it will open discussion on how these overall goals can be weighted. Then we analyse the situation of the energy indicators related to energy efficiency in the reference year (2005) used by the EU for reaching its goal of reducing the gross inland consumption by 20% by 2020, and its progress from 1996 to 2007. Finally, the methodology proposed is applied to the year 2020 on the NUTS0 territorial level, that is, to members of the EU, according to the EUROSTAT Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). Weighting is done based on energy intensity, per capita gross inland consumption and per capita energy intensity in two scenarios, the EU-15 and EU-27.     

Domestic offset projects in the built environment

Emission reduction activities in the European Union (EU) in- and outside the European Trading System (ETS) thus far have largely taken place separately. One possibility to combine the two is through linking Non-ETS offset project-based crediting schemes in the form of Joint Implementation or domestic offset (DO) projects with the EU ETS. Linking would allow non-ETS offset project-based CO₂ credits to be traded within the ETS market. This paper discusses the merits and drawbacks of the implementation of a DO scheme in the built environment in the Netherlands. The built environment can be characterised as a sector with a great diversity and significant energy savings potential. Emphasis is paid on the modalities for estimating energy savings under DO projects. The authors discuss if next to existing EU, national or regional policies in the Netherlands, DO could spur initiatives in sub-sectors or market areas that are difficult to reach with conventional policy instruments. Thus, despite the existing policy framework in this sector, there could be still space for DO to reach the untapped energy savings potential. DO can support activities and technologies that are not covered by other policy instruments, either because they are not part of the instruments focus or are above the minimum requirements of the incumbent policy targets. It is expected that some lessons from this study in the Netherlands can be taken into account also by other countries facing similar market circumstances, which have implemented several policy instruments and are considering DO schemes as an alternative for capturing part of the untapped energy saving potential in their end use sectors. Another possible advantage of DO is that is has the potential to reduce public spending on existing policy goals, when it is considered in conjunction with existing public financing instruments. In order to tap into this potential, there are a series of hurdles in place, like additionality and the current CO₂ price levels, while transaction and administration costs must be kept low.     

Analysis of renewable energy progress in the western Balkan countries: Bosnia–Herzegovina and Serbia

Within the framework of achieving the European environmental targets towards climate change mitigation, as well as decreasing the fossil fuel dependence and its negative effects on global warming, renewable energy sources (RES) promotion has become a major issue of concern in most European Union (EU) countries. In the above context, most EU countries have endorsed initiatives to foster RES implementation development and inclusion in the energy mix, aiming to endeavor and further impel the benefits deriving from RES and harmonize to the EU Directive or Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless, only few sporadic efforts have been examining countries and compare the requirements for promoting RES implementation that lack specific RES obligations or a framework set by the Kyoto Protocol or the EU Directive, and particular Balkans countries with great RES potential, such as BiH and Serbia. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the conditions and modalities for RES progress within the economic, political and institutional dimension, in these two neighboring countries located in the vicinity of EU Member States (MS), which appear to have a similar historical, political and economical background and an extensive RES potential. The analysis indicated that RES development in BiH seems to be a slow process, its institutional framework is partly established and further strengthening is required. In Serbia, the institutional framework is efficiently established, are in the process of developing new legislation to facilitate renewable energy development.     

Speculative and hedging activities in the European carbon market

We explore the dynamics of the speculative and hedging activities in European futures carbon markets by using volume and open interest data. A comparison of the three phases in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) reveals that (i) Phase II of the EU ETS seems to be the most speculative phase to date and (ii) the highest degree of speculative activity for every single phase occurs at the moment of listing the contracts for the first time. A seasonality analysis identifies a higher level of speculation in the first quarter of each year, related to the schedule of deadlines of the EU ETS. In addition, a time series analysis confirms that most of the speculative activity each year occurs in the front contract, whereas the hedging demand concentrates in the second-to-deliver futures contract.     

Towards a common renewable future: The System-GMM approach to assess the convergence in renewable energy consumption of EU countries

This paper investigates whether the contribution of renewable energy sources to primary energy consumption is characterized by a convergence process across core European Union (EU) countries over the period from 1990 to 2014. The System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methodology is employed for 5-year span panel data of 14 EU members. The findings indicate strong evidence for both the absolute (unconditional) and conditional convergence of renewables' share in primary energy consumption across EU-14 countries. Moreover, the control variables, namely CO₂ emissions per GDP, FDI inward stock and electricity prices contribute to the speed of convergence. Hence, the (implicit) rate of conditional convergence is higher than that of absolute convergence. The empirical evidence suggests that the energy mixes of core EU members have a tendency to become similar in the long-run as the shares of RES in primary energy consumption converge to the average level. Nonetheless, it does not necessarily imply that this average would be 20% target, which is to be achieved by 2020 according to EU directive 2009/28/EC.