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Sustainability
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Energy Transition Amidst Anthropogenic Activities: Implications for Environmental Sustainability
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Energy Transition Amidst Anthropogenic Activities: Implications for Environmental Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 6761

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Nnamdi Nwulu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Cyber-Physical Food Energy and Water Systems (CCP-FEWS), University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa
Interests: energy systems; food–energy–water nexus; energy sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Festus Victor Bekun

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of International Logistics and Transportation, Faculty of Economics Administrative and Social sciences, Istanbul Gelisim University, Istanbul 34310,Turkey
Interests: energy and environmental economics; climate change; environmental sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Njabulo Kambule

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geography, Environmental Management & Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa
Interests: energy efficiency; energy policy; renewable energy; environment and energy
Dr. Omoseni Adepoju

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management & Accounting, Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria
Interests: innovation management; energy policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Energy production and consumption have environmental implications. However, anthropogenic activities have triggered environmental issues, as increased human pressure on the ecosystem has intensified climate change issues and the threat of global warming. These occurrences have raised concerns among energy economists, ecological scientists, and policymakers across the globe (Bekun et al., 2019; Nathaniel et al., 2021a; Nathaniel et al., 2021b).  The extant energy literature has documented several determinants of environmental quality such as energy consumption, globalization, ecological footprint, oil,  tourism, natural gas, and agricultural activities. However, there is scant evidence on the effects of natural resources on the environment. This Special Issue call for papers seeks to shed more light on the conversation for a blueprint for energy transition amidst intense anthropogenic activities without compromising economic growth and simultaneously promoting clean and responsible energy consumption.  This resonates with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDG-7,8,11 and 12). Nurturing a paradigm shift to clean energies technologies is rooted in the merit of renewable energies to advance a clean energy ecosystem.

In light of the argument that there is a dynamic nexus between energy consumption and the environment with implications on environmental sustainability, this Special Issue calls for scientific and technical notes/papers that address these topics.  Of particular interest are articles that leverage on  state of the art econometric tools to push the frontier of knowledge on this theme for emerging, developing, and developed nations.

References

Bekun, F. V., Alola, A. A., & Sarkodie, S. A. (2019a). Toward a sustainable environment: Nexus between CO2 emissions, resource rent, renewable and nonrenewable energy in 16-EU countries. Science of the Total Environment, 657, 1023-1029.

Nathaniel, S. P., Yalçiner, K., & Bekun, F. V. (2021a). Assessing the environmental sustainability corridor: Linking natural resources, renewable energy, human capital, and ecological footprint in BRICS. Resources Policy, 70, 101924.

Nathaniel, S. P., Nwulu, N., & Bekun, F. (2021b). Natural resource, globalization, urbanization, human capital, and environmental degradation in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(5), 6207-6221.

Prof. Dr. Nnamdi Nwulu
Dr. Festus Victor Bekun
Dr. Njabulo Kambule
Dr. Omoseni Adepoju
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • energy economics
  • natural resource
  • human capital
  • ecological footprint
  • energy transition
  • renewable energy
  • environmental economics
  • climate change
  • environmental sustainability
  • sustainable development admits business dynamics
  • global trade and energy consumption
  • panel and time series data

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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19 pages, 1169 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Feasibility and the Potential of Implementing Solar Water Heaters in Dimbaza, a Township in Eastern Cape, South Africa
by Sinethemba Peter, Njabulo Kambule, Stephen Tangwe and Kowiyou Yessoufou
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12502; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912502 - 30 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1848
Abstract
The level of income of the inhabitants in a township has an impact on the potential to have adequate access to electricity. The bulk of the domestic energy sources needed in the residential buildings is derived from electrical energy. In South Africa, the [...] Read more.
The level of income of the inhabitants in a township has an impact on the potential to have adequate access to electricity. The bulk of the domestic energy sources needed in the residential buildings is derived from electrical energy. In South Africa, the base load electricity is derived from coal thermal power plants. However, the environmental impact associated with the combustion of coal in the thermal power plants is a cause for concern. This study was designed to identify the common mode of sanitary hot-water heating in Dimbaza and the potential economic and environmental advantages of replacing the electric water heaters with solar water heaters (SWH) coupled with auxiliary electric heaters. The secondary data on the weather conditions, walk-through audits of selected buildings, and the energy consumption of a residence were analysed. The results depicted that the average annual day temperature and the global solar radiations of Dimbaza were 25 °C and 4.95 kWh/m2/day, respectively. The qualitative data recovered from the survey questionnaires of the sample household representatives revealed the level of awareness of the impact of climate change owing to the electricity generated from the Eskom national grid as 69%. The simple payback period of the projected SWH based on energy consumed by an electric water heater in a specific residence was 5.02 years using the energy analysis method. The implementation of SWHs in the households of Dimbaza would be techno-economically and environmentally viable due to the potential energy savings and the greenhouse gas reduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition Amidst Anthropogenic Activities: Implications for Environmental Sustainability)
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23 pages, 4388 KiB  
Article
Performance Loss Rates of a 1 MWp PV Plant with Various Tilt Angle, Orientation and Installed Environment in the Capital of Cyprus
by Turgut Karahüseyin and Serkan Abbasoğlu
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9084; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159084 - 25 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1468
Abstract
Evolution from fossil fuel sources to environmentally friendly and sustainable energy sources is one of the key aspects of the energy transition goal. On the other hand, Solar Photovoltaic systems are the most promising and improving technologies in the energy market However, it [...] Read more.
Evolution from fossil fuel sources to environmentally friendly and sustainable energy sources is one of the key aspects of the energy transition goal. On the other hand, Solar Photovoltaic systems are the most promising and improving technologies in the energy market However, it is well known that the performance of PV panels decreases in the process of time. This paper focuses on analyzing the performance loss rates (PLR) of mid-scale crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV systems of the same manufacturer with different orientations and tilt angles in the same region for the duration of four years of outdoor exposure. Three commonly used statistical methods are deployed to calculate PLRs; seasonal and trend decomposition using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (STL), classical seasonal decomposition (CSD) and year on year (YoY) methods coupled with various performance metrics, namely Performance ratio (PR), temperature corrected performance ratio TCPR) and weather corrected performance ratio suggested by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NRELPR). It is found that PLRs of analyzed venues, Arazi, Arena and Stonite, with the YOY approach are −1.2%/year, −0.73%/year and −2.65%/year, respectivelty., respectively. Furthermore, STL method demonstrated PLRs of −0.69%/year, −0.65%/year and −2.91%/year, respectively. On the other hand, the CSD method generated positive PLRs for some inverters while aforementioned statistical approaches proposed PLRs close to −2%/year, making the CSD method inappropriate for use under a heavy soiling environment. Within two km distance, variations up-to four-fold in PLRs are recorded between the venues during analyzed period. Furthermore, variations in PLRs are more dependent on the statistical approach rather than the performance metric. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition Amidst Anthropogenic Activities: Implications for Environmental Sustainability)
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18 pages, 1407 KiB  
Article
Residents and Professionals’ Perspectives on Energy and Water Consumption While Transiting from Conventional to Sustainable Housings in South Africa
by Lindelwa Nonjabulo Dlamini and Kowiyou Yessoufou
Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4498; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084498 - 10 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2312
Abstract
The concept of sustainable construction is, unfortunately, not implemented in many developing countries, and even where it is, e.g., South Africa, the uptake is still slow. In the present study, we evaluate, based on residents and professionals’ perspectives, the sustainability measures implemented at [...] Read more.
The concept of sustainable construction is, unfortunately, not implemented in many developing countries, and even where it is, e.g., South Africa, the uptake is still slow. In the present study, we evaluate, based on residents and professionals’ perspectives, the sustainability measures implemented at the Belhar Gardens Rental Estate (BGRE), a sustainable housing rated for its Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Data were collected through questionnaires administered to experienced professionals (n = 19) and residents (n = 106) of BGRE and analysed using descriptive statistics and a modelling approach. We found that 95% of professionals were aware of the concept of sustainable construction, and 74% were aware of the National Building Act 103 of 1977. However, some barriers to sustainable construction were raised: (i) it is expensive and (ii) there is a limited knowledge of how the sustainability concept can benefit the construction industry. Ecological design and procurement are the solutions proposed by professionals to mainstream sustainable construction in South Africa. Finally, 63% of the professionals indicated that the centralized heat pumps installed in BGRE lead to efficient energy use. Surprisingly, only 61% of residents are aware that energy-saving measures are implemented in BGRE, and only 40% of the residents agree that the energy-saving measures implemented are efficient. Interestingly, 65% of residents indicated that energy consumption in BGRE is less than what they consumed in conventional housings. Finally, none of the variables tested (age, gender and residence time) correlate with residents’ satisfaction with sustainability measures in BGRE, making it difficult to predict what drives people’s satisfaction in an EDGE-rated housing. By identifying the barriers and benefits of sustainable construction, we provide opportunities on which to press to improve the awareness, mainstreaming and uptake of the sustainable construction approach in South Africa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition Amidst Anthropogenic Activities: Implications for Environmental Sustainability)
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