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Europe’s ambition to be the first climate-neutral continent and to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will result in changes to the energy systems of many countries. This overlaps with the principles of circular economy, energy independence, and the continuity of operations enshrined in many national and regional documents. From the above, a scenario based on renewable resources emerges. However, in a country such as Poland, with conventional energy sources and large state participation in the sector, is this feasible? The authors assumed that the urgent need for a turbulence-sensitive analysis of energy sector changes can be met by using a new view, defined by the authors as a matrix of four oceans scenarios. Black, Grey, Red and Green scenarios are determined by the proportion of the state and the local-community sector. Then, assuming the possibility of introducing two of them by 2050—Green (radical) and Red (competitive)—empirical research was carried out on a purposively selected group of experts. The business model of the sector was analyzed in terms of six links that create economic and social value: energy sources, energy producers, transmission networks with infrastructure, energy storage, energy system management and energy consumers. According to experts, development of business model links will be based on the Red scenario. Thus, we get a picture of a model that should be considered by politicians, scientists, as well as a wide audience that absorbs the effects of environmental pollution.

Ecotourism has a high potential impact on remote communities, by improving economic opportunity and natural resources conservation, and is increasingly accepted as an alternative livelihood for rural people. This study examines ecotourism development from the perspective of participation and economic impact for the Bousra people in Cambodia. A total of 237 households were selected as the sample size. Data collection was carried out with face-to-face interviews and analyzed using logistic regression and ordinary least square methods. Results revealed that local households depend mostly on agriculture (i.e., crop plantation and farming) and utilize ecotourism as a secondary source of income. Most households acknowledged ecotourism had a positive impact on environmental, social, and economic perspectives, while some signaled negative backlash due to depleted natural resources and impact on local culture. Household participation in ecotourism was not significantly affected from assistance issued by government or non-governmental organizations. However, causal relationships were found based on household demographic factors, attitude to environmental conservation, and village life. It was shown that the percentage of people involvement in ecotourism is high, but their income percentage is low due to education, skill, and capacity to expand. As a low-impact alternative to standard commercial tourism, community-based ecotourism has potential in becoming a transformative form of economics for local communities.

The background of this article is the potential energy savings of solar heat supply systems due to the use of the renewable energy of solar radiation. The motivation is to create a solar collector design that would combine the functions of both a building cover and a solar collector. It is necessary to investigate and compare different types of solar collector coatings (traditional and modern) and pipe diameters. The purpose of the article is to solve aspects of energy efficiency for new eco-friendly solar collectors. The most effective result occurred with the solar collector covered with the rubber–graphite composition of Grafplast PDA, and when using Prandelli/Tuborama pipes with a diameter of 0.016 m. Their efficiency increased by 8% compared to the second version of the collector made using a more traditional solution. The influence of the distance between the pipes and the flow rate of the heat carrier on the efficiency of the solar collectors was evaluated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly affected the economic situation of many countries, which is worth considering not only globally but also in the context of specific industries. An asset that is particularly sensitive to negative economic changes is goodwill. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the pandemic on the quality of financial disclosures concerning goodwill in consolidated financial statements of groups of chosen strategic sectors in Poland. We investigated the implications of the pandemic on the frequency and scale of goodwill impairment in relation to 23 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange from the Energy, Mining, and Fuel Index. We identified the research gap in this area. For the purposes of this study, two research hypotheses were formulated: (H1) during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a slight improvement in the quality of goodwill disclosures in the consolidated financial statements of groups in the energy, fuel, and mining sectors; (H2) The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in goodwill due to impairment losses in the consolidated financial statements of groups in the energy, fuel, and mining sectors. The hypotheses were verified on the basis of the above research sample. In order to verify the first hypothesis, we tested 81 consolidated financial statements for the years 2018–2021 based on a self-developed index of the quality of disclosed information. To verify the second hypothesis, we analyzed the frequency and scale of the estimated loss of goodwill during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the deterioration of the financial condition of the same research sample. The conducted research shows that the quality of disclosures regarding the goodwill in the examined sample has changed slightly. Contrary to our expectations, the pandemic did not materially reduce the value of goodwill. This means that the first hypothesis was verified positively, while the second hypothesis had to be rejected.

In the paper, a new indicator exemplifying the conversion efficiency of expenditures towards economic growth into results pertaining to sustainable development, dubbed the “Synthetic Efficiency Indicator for Economic Growth” (hereinafter: “SEI-EG”) has been proposed. The inspiration for proposing such an indicator was the identification of the lack of connections between research on economic convergence and the research area connected with sustainable growth category. It was assumed that, in the first place, outcomes of the proposed convergence will be visible in developed economies, represented by EU15 member states. The set goal was to provide an answer to the question of difference between EU15 member states with respect to efficiency of converging expenditures exemplifying economic growth into results pertaining to sustainable growth. The research was conducted for 2016–2018 using Grey System Theory. With the use of the elaborated indicator, the authors created a ranking list of countries based on the efficiency of economic growth towards sustainable growth criterion. The conducted research proved that, in general, the smaller EU member states are characterized by significantly higher efficiency of converging expenditures exemplifying economic growth into results pertaining to sustainable development in the researched area. Among the countries with large economies, only Germany showed efficiency comparable to smaller ones.

There is much research about the determinants of investments, but there is a shortage of similar studies for Poland. Therefore, the overall goal of the paper is to analyze the determinants of investments made by enterprises from the energy sector as well as their delays in Poland in the years 2000–2019. In this period, a strong growth of investments in energy was observed in the country. In connection to this, the authors set four hypotheses and verified them with the following statistical methods: canonical analysis, linear and causality correlation, autocorrelation and cointegration tests. The paper found that there is a relationship between public consumption and investment spending of small enterprises in Poland. That means that only some macroeconomic parameters are connected with investments. Moreover, the changes in the value of past investments has a negative influence in current investments.

The article presents the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the supply chains of Polish clothing companies. The aim of the article is to present the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the supply chains of Polish clothing companies, in both the short and long-term, and in the context of sustainable development. The author has been conducting research on logistics and production processes as well as supply chains of Polish clothing companies since 2017. The research results presented in this article on the impact of the pandemic on the functioning of supply chains in this sector of the economy were carried out in 2021. The author conducted telephone interviews with the management of Polish clothing companies of all sizes, both with distributors and producers. She identified disruptions in the supply chains caused by the pandemic (on the supply, production and distribution). She outlined the short-term actions of companies in response to disruptions, as well as long-term changes related to the logistics strategy as a result of the pandemic. The author also presented the ecological and social effects of changes in logistics strategies caused by the pandemic. So far, there has been no research in this industry and this area concerning not only the short-term impact of the pandemic, but also the strategic changes and their impact on sustainable development. Thus, it is a study that fills the existing research gap. The pandemic particularly affected the distribution of clothing, which caused the dynamic development of e-commerce. Because of this, some clothing companies have changed the organization of deliveries to online customers, such as the example presented by the author of the largest Polish clothing company, LPP S.A. The pandemic in apparel companies has also disrupted production and supply. This was especially true for deliveries from countries with low production costs. Despite these disruptions, however, no mass withdrawal from the production of clothing in low-cost countries to Poland has been observed and, according to the surveyed companies, this will not be a long-term consequence of the pandemic. However, if factors that occurred during a pandemic worsen, this could favor the shifting of more production from low-cost countries to local or regional sewing plants. This would enable the application of the Quick Response strategy. Other disruptions that occurred in connection with the pandemic include a reduction in the number of orders for Polish sewing factories, an increase in the prices of materials and packaging, an increase in transport costs and a periodic increase in inventory levels as a reaction of some companies to the disruptions. The disruptions also caused, in some cases, greater volatility in the relationship between individual links in the supply chains, which perhaps will be the next strategic change.

The growing popularity of traveling with electric scooters in recent years is, on the one hand, a great opportunity to shift from the current forms of mobility to a new service among the public, but it is also a huge challenge for urban centers and operators. One of the main challenges related to electric scooters is the growing demand for high energy consumption, which is currently a big issue due to the growing interest in electromobility used in mobility as a service (MaaS) systems. However, in order to properly estimate the level of energy consumption of scooters, there is a real need for reliable scientific information on the actual electricity consumption of electric scooters used in shared mobility systems. An extensive literature analysis indicates the lack of research conducted in this area. Noting this research gap, studies were conducted to determine the factors influencing the energy consumption of an electric scooter. The study attempts to determine these values on the basis of the proposed research experiment. The scientific experiment was based on a three-factor plan; an experimental plan. The author conducted the research by driving and measuring electric scooters in order to compare the actual consumption with the data provided by vehicle manufacturers. The result of the research was to determine the influence of factors that influence the significant energy consumption of electric scooters from shared mobility systems. Interestingly, the results generated show that the electricity requirements for six scooters corresponded to one electric car. This proposal raises the question of whether scooters are the best form of electric mobility for the environment. In addition, the work also includes guidelines for scooter users and recommendations for shared mobility operators on the energy consumption of electric scooters.