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Accelerating Renewable Energy Transitions: The Enabling Role of Data-Driven Technologies in Environmental Innovations and Policy and Governance Processes

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "C: Energy Economics and Policy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 19215

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Computer Science and Department of Planning and Architecture, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
Interests: sustainable development; urban sustainability; urban planning and design; smart urban governance; big data science and analytics; urban science; the Internet of Things (IoT); urban computing and intelligence; data-driven smart sustainable cities; sustainable cities (e.g., eco–city, low-carbon city, green city, compact city); smart cities (e.g., real–time city, data–driven city, ubiquitous city); integrated renewable energy and smart energy technologies; data-driven smart solutions for environmental sustainability; environmental innovations and sustainable energy transitions; sustainability transitions and socio-technical shifts; science, technology, and innovation studies; circular economy and business model innovation for sustainability; technological and sectoral innovation systems; and technology, innovation, and environmental policies
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the world has witnessed a plethora of innovations and policies that are expediting energy transitions away from fossil fuels towards zero-carbon energy production. To secure a sustainable future, the energy sector indeed needs to rapidly transform from its dependency on fossil fuels to relying on renewable energy sources and smart energy solutions. Therefore, environmental innovation and sustainable energy transition are high on the agenda of many countries, the European Union (EU), and international organizations. This relates to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, which aims to take urgent actions to combat climate change and its impacts. The corresponding aim of rapid and deep decarbonization will affect major economic sectors. The energy sector is crucial for transitioning to low-carbon economies and cities and fossil fuel-free societies through integrating large shares of renewables together with smart energy solutions through additional flexibility and decarbonizing other key emitting sectors. However, one of the key challenges to address and overcome is how to accelerate the transition to low-carbon societies. This calls for radical environmental innovations, but also requires a massive deployment of existing renewable energy and smart energy technologies. Policy and governance have a key role to play in this rather purposive transition. This requires embracing and leveraging what big data technologies have to offer in terms of advanced analytics and related enhanced decision-making processes pertaining to a wide variety of uses. 

The transition to smart sustainable energy needs to be supported by advanced ICT given its pivotal role in stimulating environmental innovations by various means. A large body of work has, since the mid-2000s, demonstrated the role of advanced ICT in the transition to low-carbon societies by massively improving energy efficiency and thus reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in major economic sectors. More so, emerging data-driven technologies as a form of advanced ICT offer unsurpassed ways to accelerate smart sustainable energy transition thanks to the associated applied solutions for energy efficiency processes, integrated renewable solutions, as well as environmental monitoring systems. The real gains will come from the economic sectors of energy, transport, industry, and buildings given their significant contribution to global GHG emissions as a result of the huge losses, poor management, and intolerable inefficiencies associated with the operations of energy systems. The positive effects of ICT on mitigating climate change can increase significantly when smart energy is integrated with renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind, hydropower), especially through large-scale grid system development and implementation. The vision of smart energy aims to achieve energy systems that are highly energy-efficient, increasingly powered by renewable energy sources enabled by new technologies, and less dependent on fossil fuels. Smart grid technologies provide numerous benefits associated with energy management, energy conservation, cost reduction, as well as the integration of  renewable energy sources in power generation, transmission, and distribution systems. However, there are major barriers to the development of smart grids and significant challenges for their implementation that need to be addressed and overcome.

Policymakers need to identify and implement more effective mechanisms to get producers and consumers to use ICT-based climate solutions. Indeed, advanced ICT cannot act in isolation to mitigate climate change, nor can de-carbonization practices become widespread with free will. Policy is a determining factor for any societal transition. It has a primary role in aligning and mobilizing diverse actors in the same direction, as well as in incentivizing different types of these actors to participate actively in decisions that accelerate renewable energy transitions. These actions can occur through allocating knowledge and financial resources and making governance arrangements.

The explosive growth of data, coupled with its analytical power, has become of crucial importance to policy and governance processes thanks to evidence-based decisions, cooperative communication channels, learning and sharing mechanisms, and collective intelligence tools. These indeed are key drivers of accelerating renewable energy transitions. The outcome of big data analytics can be used as the evidence base for formulating policies and tracking their effectiveness and impact. Using a data-driven approach to investigate all available evidence from research can generate well-informed decisions based on accurate and meaningful information. The outcome can also enhance stakeholders’ collaboration capabilities, increase the capacity to handle challenges, and improve technologies’ usefulness, all aimed at accelerating renewable energy transitions. Collective intelligence emerges from the collaboration and collective efforts of many actors and appears in consensus decision making.

This Special Issue of Energies aims to offer a platform for accelerating environmental innovations and renewable energy transitions in an increasingly datafied society. This Special Issue seeks contributions—in the form of research articles, literature reviews, theoretical analysis, case studies, short communications, and discussion papers—that offer fertile insights and new knowledge in relation to innovation studies and sustainability transitions. The scope of this Special Issue—which compiles the cutting-edge work of researchers that investigates the state-of-the-art and new perspectives in the field—includes but is not limited to the following topics:

  • The pace of the diffusion of data-driven smart zero-emission innovations;
  • Resource mobilization for renewable energy transitions based on evidence-based policy decisions;
  • Smart transition governance processes and benefits;
  • User innovation, niche development, and regime destabilization in renewable energy transitions;
  • Influences of technological and sectoral contexts on technological (energy) innovation systems;
  • Influence of policy discourse networks on local renewable energy transitions;
  • Challenges and barriers to the upscaling and diffusion of environmental innovations;
  • Incumbents’ enabling role in innovative technological niches in the energy sector;
  • The role of smart energy technologies in impacting the pace of renewable energy transitions;
  • The impacts of evidence-based policy decisions on the pace of environmental innovations;
  • The potential of evidence-based policy decisions in accelerating renewable energy transitions;
  • Methodological frameworks for environmental innovations and sustainability transitions;
  • Theoretical advancements in the acceleration phase of renewable energy transitions;
  • Best practices and lessons learned for the rapid diffusion of environmental innovations;
  • Policies balancing environmental innovation incentives;
  • Opportunities for aligning transition and economic goals to legitimize transition policies;
  • The contribution of innovative technological niches in renewable energy transition governance;
  • Experimentation, learning, adaptation, and network effects mechanisms in innovative technological niches;
  • Empirical and theoretical analysis of socio-technical shifts in transition governance in technological innovation systems;
  • The role of established technological regimes in transforming socio–technical constellations in renewable energy transitions.

Dr. Simon Elias Bibri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • technological innovation systems
  • environmental innovations
  • renewable energy transitions
  • smart energy transitions
  • diffusion of environmental innovations
  • sustainability transitions
  • sociotechnical regimes
  • institutional barriers
  • transition governance
  • evidence-based policy decisions
  • innovative technological niches
  • strategic niche management
  • transition experiments
  • transition pathways
  • innovation policy

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 578 KiB  
Article
Weighting Key Performance Indicators of Smart Local Energy Systems: A Discrete Choice Experiment
by Christina Francis, Paul Hansen, Bjarnhéðinn Guðlaugsson, David M. Ingram and R. Camilla Thomson
Energies 2022, 15(24), 9305; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249305 - 8 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2276
Abstract
The development of Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) in the UK is part of the energy transition tackling the energy trilemma and contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Project developers and other stakeholders need to independently assess the performance of these [...] Read more.
The development of Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) in the UK is part of the energy transition tackling the energy trilemma and contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Project developers and other stakeholders need to independently assess the performance of these systems: how well they meet their aims to successfully deliver multiple benefits and objectives. This article describes a step undertaken by the EnergyREV Research Consortium in developing a standardised Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) tool—specifically a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to determine the weighting of key performance indicators (KPIs). The MCA tool will use a technology-agnostic framework to assess SLES projects, track system performance and monitor benefit realisation. In order to understand the perceived relative importance of KPIs across different stakeholders, seven DCEs were conducted via online surveys (using 1000minds software). The main survey (with 234 responses) revealed that Environment was considered the most important criterion, with a mean weight of 21.6%. This was followed by People and Living (18.9%), Technical Performance (17.8%) and Data Management (14.7%), with Business and Economics and Governance ranked the least important (13.9% and 13.1%, respectively). These results are applied as weightings to calculate overall scores in the EnergyREV MCA-SLES tool. Full article
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20 pages, 889 KiB  
Article
The Theoretical, Practical, and Technological Foundations of the 15-Minute City Model: Proximity and Its Environmental, Social and Economic Benefits for Sustainability
by Zaheer Allam, Simon Elias Bibri, Didier Chabaud and Carlos Moreno
Energies 2022, 15(16), 6042; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15166042 - 20 Aug 2022
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 9646
Abstract
Conventional and emerging paradigms of urbanism require new responses under the current circumstances, especially in relation to the integration of sustainability dimensions and technology advances. The escalating rate of urbanization, coupled with the climate emergency, fundamentally indeed disrupt the challenges that urbanism research [...] Read more.
Conventional and emerging paradigms of urbanism require new responses under the current circumstances, especially in relation to the integration of sustainability dimensions and technology advances. The escalating rate of urbanization, coupled with the climate emergency, fundamentally indeed disrupt the challenges that urbanism research and practice deal with, calling for adopting more innovative approaches to urban planning and design. With cities contributing around 65% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and experiencing an unprecedented growth of population, contemporary urban policy needs to be redefined and re-assessed accordingly. While numerous urban models, such as the Compact City, the Eco-City, the Sustainable City, and the Smart City, have emerged in response to the challenges of sustainability and urbanization, the 15-Minute City has recently gained a steep popularity. This paper explores the theoretical, practical, and technological foundations of the 15-Minute City, with a particular focus on the proximity dimension of mixed land-use and its environmental, social, and economic benefits of sustainability as supported by smart technologies. We argue that this evolving model of urbanism has the potential to gain more expansion and success in regard to building more sustainable, efficient, resilient, equitable, and inclusive cities in line with the global agendas of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, as it adds a strategic value to the amalgam of the prevailing and emerging paradigms of urbanism and their synergies with respect to increasing the benefits of sustainability while emphasizing its environmental dimension. Full article
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7 pages, 930 KiB  
Article
Enrichment of the Usage of Solar Purification of Water by Employing Hybrid Nanofluid Mixtures
by Sonia Darabee, Mohammad Hamdan, Hadi Daghari and Salman Ajib
Energies 2022, 15(16), 5983; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15165983 - 18 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1205
Abstract
In terms of human needs, water has traditionally been regarded as the most significant bioresource. However, there are still limitations on the quality and mobility of drinking water. Renewable energy technologies are at the forefront of research to bridge the gap between conventional [...] Read more.
In terms of human needs, water has traditionally been regarded as the most significant bioresource. However, there are still limitations on the quality and mobility of drinking water. Renewable energy technologies are at the forefront of research to bridge the gap between conventional fuels and renewable energy systems. Currently, the main objective is to speed up the solar water disinfection process of contaminated water when hybrid nanofluid mixtures are added. Five hybrid nanofluid mixtures containing different amounts of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and Titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were used in this study, focusing on how they affected the solar disinfection of polluted water. Five hybrid nanofluid mixtures of different volumes and volume concentrations were used for this purpose; each one was introduced into a contaminated water-contained glass container with a volume of 500 mL. Additionally, a sixth container, used exclusively for comparison, was filled with tainted water. All containers were installed next to each other and exposed to solar radiation for simultaneous measures under identical metrological conditions. During the experimental time, and after exposure to sun radiation for one, two, and three hours, samples were taken from each bottle. to gauge the toll of Total coliforms and E. coli by using the IDEXX setup. It was found that adding a hybrid nanofluid mixture of any composition speeds up the disinfection process. Additionally, it was found that the optimal concentration of the hybrid nanofluid mixture to cut down the Total Coliform was with a volume concentration of 250 mL of Al2O3 and 250 mL of TiO2, while that to cut down the E. coli count was 400 mL of Al2O3 and 100 mL of TiO2. Finally, it may be concluded that among all hybrid mixtures used, the hybrid nanofluid with a volume concentration of 250 mL of Al2O3 and 250 mL of TiO2 is the most efficient in the solar water disinfection process. Full article
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Review

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14 pages, 257 KiB  
Review
Overview of the Policy Instruments for Renewable Energy Development in China
by Dongdong Song, Yuewen Liu, Tianbao Qin, Hongsong Gu, Yang Cao and Hongjun Shi
Energies 2022, 15(18), 6513; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15186513 - 6 Sep 2022
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 4795
Abstract
The current legal and policy system of renewable energy in China has set up a framework of policy instruments, which provides an important foundation for dealing with climate change and promoting the healthy development of the renewable energy industry with the goal of [...] Read more.
The current legal and policy system of renewable energy in China has set up a framework of policy instruments, which provides an important foundation for dealing with climate change and promoting the healthy development of the renewable energy industry with the goal of “carbon neutrality” and “emission peak”. However, the current policy instruments cannot meet the needs for rapid development of the renewable energy industry. This paper investigates, analyzes, and concludes the status of renewable energy development along with related policy instruments in different renewable energy sources by literature and points out the problems of current policy instruments, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures. Moreover, from the perspective of energy consumption market transformation, the authors carried out an analysis of China’s challenges of policy instruments, pointing out that China’s renewable energy policy instruments have the potential to take one step further in the areas of the regulatory system, legal system and legal security system. Full article
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