• Energy Research

Technological innovation planning for developing and deploying clean energy technologies plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a low-carbon future. Learning curve theory has been adopted as a common framework for exploring the relationship between endogenous technological learning and technology cost developments. The aim of this article is to analyse the effects of selecting different learning curve approaches (i.e. model formulations) to describe energy technology cost changes over time. Experience and knowledge stock are chosen as the sources of learning to be considered. A new definition of experience was developed to account for the interaction between global and local experience. The new definition of experience also accounts for learning sub-processes (i.e. learning-by-doing, learning-by-using, and experience spillovers) to estimate total experience gained through technology deployment. An integrative model is developed for estimating the effects of learning-by-deploying and learning-by-researching on cost developments for onshore wind and solar PV in the USA. Publicly available data from government departments and organisations were utilised. It was found that technology cost developments are better explained when: (1) experience is defined as a function of global and local experience; (2) knowledge stock is also considered in the model formulation; and (3) technological processes affect only a fraction of the total capital cost. The findings suggested that the application of learning rates for model-based energy planning is context-dependent and how technological factors are explicitly defined may have significantly different policy implications (i.e. different technology costs predictions based on alternative model formulations).

Previous studies have identified the importance of access to electricity and the socio-economic environment for poverty reduction, but the comprehensive interplay and synergistic relationships between them remain unclear. Using data collected from Myanmar, this study establishes and tests conceptual models to explore the paths from access to electricity and socio-economic environment to capability and income poverty reduction. The results of structural equation modeling show that capability poverty reduction acts as a complete mediator between access to electricity and income poverty reduction, and plays a partial mediating role between socio-economic environment and income poverty reduction. Analysis of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis demonstrates that lack of electricity is a key barrier impeding poverty alleviation efforts. Moreover, five effective configurations of poverty reduction factors are identified for Myanmar by considering the heterogeneity of different regions. This indicates that individual factors could not ensure a highly effective poverty reduction and different factors need to be appropriately configured for achieving the synergistic effects. These findings contribute to practical insights into poverty reduction policy making and sustainable development for developing countries.

The construction industry accounts for approximately 40% of the global carbon emissions and is the largest consumer of materials and energy. Given the Paris Agreement target towards global net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, significant changes are required in the design, construction and use of buildings. This study applies a qualitative approach that combines a systematic literature review (SLR) with in-depth semi-structured interviews with experts to analyse existing carbon neutrality frameworks and decision support tools; expanding current knowledge by bringing to the fore the challenges experienced in implementing these frameworks. This research effort reveals an inadequacy in frameworks for effective decision-making on decarbonisation strategies along the project lifecycle. A novel framework that breaks down the activities and decision points across the entire project lifecycle is proposed to bridge this gap in literature. The developed framework defines whole lifecycle cost, whole lifecycle energy use, exergetic lifecycle and whole lifecycle emissions as the four critical underpinning variables considered in making decarbonisation decisions. It further details the key evaluation criteria to facilitate decision-making at each stage of the project lifecycle and provides decision-makers with contextual guidance for assessing the impact of their decarbonisation decisions at the planning, delivery, closure and operations phases of the project. It will assist academic researchers, building owners and industry professionals to keep track of the project’s carbon neutrality target and encourage best practices for carbon emission reduction in the building sector.

The promotion of Green Buildings (GB) has become a global trend that improves resource efficiency and the well-being of societies. The development of GB still encounters different obstacles in developing countries. The critical success factors of GB and their relationships with GB certification levels in Thailand have been investigated. The relationships between the competence of individual project participants and competence of project team at different GB certification levels are also analyzed. The results reveal the underlying patterns of the overall picture of the GB industry in Thailand, and suggest that all project participants should continuously improve their competences via technical and management innovation for delivering affordable and sustainable products, thereby making green buildings more available and appealing to the public. This study provides empirical evidence for all project participants to adopt appropriate team building strategies and optimally allocate their resources to achieve the suitable GB certification levels.

Chinese contractors undertaking international projects are frequently criticized for their poor Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance. It is noticed that people with different occupations may perceive OHS differently. From a qualitative perspective, this study investigates the perceived OHS performances of design managers and construction managers engaged in Chinese overseas construction projects, considering a range of subgroups classified by people’s overseas experience, project size, project industry, project location, and firm size. The analysis was based on an e-questionnaire survey that sampled responses from 52 design managers and 160 construction managers involved in 110 international projects, and face-to-face interviews with 26 managers. The findings indicate that the assessment variation of OHS performance between design managers and construction managers is not only related to their different mental ways, but also can be mediated by their in-progress communication and affected by project and organizational conditions. The varying OHS performance in projects with different sizes or from different regions also suggests that Chinese contractors should be more proactive in OHS management instead of passively responding to external requirements.

Abstract The electricity sector is a complex dynamic system that has experienced continuous changes since its beginning. The aim of this article is to explore the evolution of historical electricity transitions in Mexico from 1879 to 2012 under the interactive governance approach. Governability provides an analytical framework for investigating the role of actors, technologies, and policies in national energy transitions. By integrating a multi-perspective analytical framework, we applied concepts from energy transitions and policy mixes for sustainability transitions to qualitatively describe social, economic, and technological changes and their relative role in historical transitions. The case study revealed that governability of national energy transitions may vary considerably from one episode to another depending on how governance systems have handled national societal needs and international cooperation agreements. Additionally, different drivers have been identified in shaping electricity transitions in Mexico. First, governance decisions have depended on specific (policy) paradigms that relevant actors have adopted. Second, the article highlights the key role that available (indigenous) energy resources have played in directing the path and pace of electricity production technologies. Third, increasing environmental and climate change concerns have improved the way electricity is produced and used. The analysis conducted suggests that energy transitions governability may be improved by fostering communication and cooperation among actors and institutions to define policy mixes in line with societal needs.

Abstract Energy transitions from a fossil fuel-based to a clean-energy economy are required to meet international commitments on climate change mitigation. Energy-related policies play a paramount role to influence the pace of clean energy transitions. Energy policy makers must deal with operational, tactical, and strategic challenges due to an extensive range of deep uncertainties such as fuel price fluctuations, unpredictable demand behaviour, and climate change. Even though the future is uncertain, policy makers must design strategies to meet diverse long-term energy goals in line with changing societal needs. Analyses of the dynamics of policy decisions, economic development, technological innovation, social changes, and environmental impacts enable designing robust policy mixes consistent with clean energy transitions. A policy mix is considered robust, if the system of interest performs satisfactorily under a broad range of plausible futures. Thus, an integrated method is developed for organising energy policy recommendations to achieve robust policy mixes towards clean energy transitions. The method presented is an integration of energy transitions concepts, robustness-based approaches, quantitative simulation modelling techniques, and exploratory modelling and analysis.

This article reviewed the state-of-the-art applications of the Internet of things (IoT) technology applied in homes for making them smart, automated, and digitalized in many respects. The literature presented various applications, systems, or methods and reported the results of using IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), and geographic information system (GIS) at homes. Because the technology has been advancing and users are experiencing IoT boom for smart built environment applications, especially smart homes and smart energy systems, it is necessary to identify the gaps, relation between current methods, and provide a coherent instruction of the whole process of designing smart homes. This article reviewed relevant papers within databases, such as Scopus, including journal papers published in between 2010 and 2019. These papers were then analyzed in terms of bibliography and content to identify more related systems, practices, and contributors. A designed systematic review method was used to identify and select the relevant papers, which were then reviewed for their content by means of coding. The presented systematic critical review focuses on systems developed and technologies used for smart homes. The main question is ”What has been learned from a decade trailing smart system developments in different fields?”. We found that there is a considerable gap in the integration of AI and IoT and the use of geospatial data in smart home development. It was also found that there is a large gap in the literature in terms of limited integrated systems for energy efficiency and aged care system development. This article would enable researchers and professionals to fully understand those gaps in IoT-based environments and suggest ways to fill the gaps while designing smart homes where users have a higher level of thermal comfort while saving energy and greenhouse gas emissions. This article also raised new challenging questions on how IoT and existing developed systems could be improved and be further developed to address other issues of energy saving, which can steer the research direction to full smart systems. This would significantly help to design fully automated assistive systems to improve quality of life and decrease energy consumption.