The Role of Energy in the Circular Economy

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is one of the side-effects caused by the traditional take–make–dispose linear model, presenting several risks to the availability of raw materials and energy. Thus, according to the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (a public–private collaborative group), the objective of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels can only be achieved by promoting the transition to a circular economy. This group estimates that the world economy is currently only 9% circular.

Likewise, the EU has put circularity at the heart of its environmental and economic policy, with the launch in 2020 of the Circular Economy Action Plan. As Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, said in announcing the plan’s adoption: “Today, our economy is still mostly linear, with only 12% of secondary materials and resources being brought back into the economy (...) Many products break down too easily, cannot be reused, repaired or recycled, or are made for single use only. There is a huge potential to be exploited both for businesses and consumers”.

Circularity is an ambitious journey, comprising small but significant steps that can deliver big rewards. As circularity gains momentum, companies will find that they must navigate complex interdependencies. The growing use of renewables and energy storage has the potential to introduce new challenges for recycling and waste processing. Companies that reconfigure their operations with an eye toward resolving such tensions will find that they—and the world—have much to gain.

Circular thinking decouples economic activity from the consumption of materials and energy by creating closed-loop cycles in which waste is minimized or even eliminated, and in which resources, including carbon, are reused. To do that, the circular model uses resources efficiently by prioritizing renewable inputs, maximizing a product’s lifetime, and capturing and repurposing what was previously regarded as waste. Combating climate change and transforming the energy system are core challenges on the path to a sustainable future for business, society, and the environment.

Circularity provides a strategic and effective way to identify both cost-saving and value-creation opportunities. In many instances, shifting to renewable energy as an input is a completely new approach; nevertheless, the adoption of emissions-free power is becoming more and more widespread. This switch to renewable energy is a key element of circularity, and an increasing number of companies are seeking to reduce costs, increase sustainability, and deliver long-term strategic value by making the change. Many factors drive the adoption of renewable energy, and economics is also becoming less of a barrier in some locations—in the power-generation sector, for example, but for end users, too.

Theoretical and empirical contributions addressing any aspect of these dimensions are welcome.

 This Special Issue will include but is not limited to the following topics:

• Measures and initiatives on energy in order to minimize climate change, protect the environment, make efficient use of natural resources, protect and improve biodiversity, and promote a lifestyle that enhances positive environmental impacts;
• Promote measures on energy to reduce the circularity gap;
• Circular economy and energy: case studies;
• The rise of circularity in energy;
• Renewable energy in order to reduce raw material and carbon footprint;
• Efficiency in energy coupled with cleaner energy production technologies;
• Cleaner transport systems;
• Hydrogen, a clean fuel with no direct emissions of harmful pollutants or greenhouse gases;
• Ways to save energy;
• Metrics or indicators for reduction in energy consumption;
• Replacing fossil fuel;
• Strategies on implementation of waste-to-energy;
• Circular economy in energy infrastructure.

Dr. Eva María Buitrago Esquinas
Dr. Rocío Yñiguez Ovando
Guest Editors

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• Circularity in energy
• Saving energy
• Renewable energy
• Waste to energy