Sectoral Analysis of Energy Transition Paths and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

The Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals declared by the United Nations set high expectations for the countries of the world to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to be sustainable. In order to judge the effectiveness of strategies, the evolution of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions in countries around the world has been explored based on statistical analysis of time-series data between 1990 and 2018. The empirical distributions of the variables were determined by the Kaplan–Meier method, and improvement-related utility functions have been defined based on the European Green Deal target for 2030 that aims to decrease at least 55% of GHG emissions compared to the 1990 levels. This study aims to analyze the energy transition trends at the country and sectoral levels and underline them with literature-based evidence. The transition trajectories of the countries are studied based on the percentile-based time-series analysis of the emission data. We also study the evolution of the sector-wise distributions of the emissions to assess how the development strategies of the countries contributed to climate change mitigation. Furthermore, the countries’ location on their transition trajectories is determined based on their individual Kuznets curve. Runs and Leybourne–McCabe statistical tests are also evaluated to study how systematic the changes are. Based on the proposed analysis, the main drivers of climate mitigation and evaluation and their effectiveness were identified and characterized, forming the basis for planning sectoral tasks in the coming years. The case study goes through the analysis of two counties, Sweden and Qatar. Sweden reduced their emission per capita almost by 40% since 1990, while Qatar increased their emission by 20%. Moreover, the defined improvement-related variables can highlight the highest increase and decrease in different aspects. The highest increase was reached by Equatorial Guinea, and the most significant decrease was made by Luxembourg. The integration of sustainable development goals, carbon capture, carbon credits and carbon offsets into the databases establishes a better understanding of the sectoral challenges of energy transition and strategy planning, which can be adapted to the proposed method.

Nature-inspired solutions for energy sustainability using novel optimization methods

“…This work effortlessly fits with the worldwide goal to reduce greenhouse gases and is solidly founded on the context of contemporary environmental issues regarding carbon emissions [44]. By actively reducing carbon emissions, it highlights the critical role that household energy management plays in promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility.…”

The Impact of Economic Growth and Urbanisation on Environmental Degradation in the Baltic States: An Extended Kaya Identity

“…The econometric equation for the EKC relationship test can be seen in Formula ( 8). We define this equation similarly to other authors [47] and expect parameters β 1 > 0 and β 2 < 0 to validate the inverse U-shaped relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. In addition, time dummy variables are used to describe the Baltic States' accession to the European Union in 2004, as well as the financial crisis of 2009 and the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020, as all these key years played a significant role in countries' economies and their applied green policies.…”

“…Other authors propose several strategies to control energy use and GHG emissions, highlighting: carbon removal [82], manufacturing and transportation-related activity [81], policymaking, and societal issues [47], sustained energy efficiency improvement, dramatic industrial reorganisation, and energy transition [83], and improving energy efficiency [84,85], providing adequate technologies and infrastructure in urban areas [86], and renewable energy [87]. Authors who analysed OECD countries discovered that the cornerstones for decarbonisation appear to be activity reduction, energy conservation, renewable electrification, efficient power plants, and the phase-out of coal [88].…”

Experimental Analysis of Oscillatory Vortex Generators in Wind Turbine Blade

“…Efficient renewable energy production is currently being studied with different lines of research. Some lines aim to increase energy production and transition to clean resources [1], other lines investigate how to increase the lifetime of energy production systems [2][3][4]. In wind energy systems, the use of vortex generators or VG devices on turbine blades and how these devices increase service life and power output is studied by research groups [5][6][7].…”