• Energy Research

The transition to a carbon-neutral economy, which is now taking place in many countries, requires the use of profound transformations in energy, including the use of innovative technologies. Smart grids are the embodiment of innovative energy development. They involve the widespread use of modern advanced technologies in many areas, from energy production to designing a secure information system. Successful local projects need help to spread them globally. However, such assistance should not be limited to government intervention and administrative methods. A self-regulatory market mechanism is required to scale such projects. Some countries have a well-trodden path for innovation. However, the speed of innovation differs in each country. It depends on many unique conditions that exist in a country. There is hardly a one-size-fits-all way to spread innovation quickly that will be good for every country. However, there must be a mechanism where all stakeholders work organized to spread innovation, which accelerates this process. This article proposes an approach to developing a stakeholder interaction scheme to implement innovative projects in the energy sector based on the smart grid maturity model. To achieve this goal, the results of a comparative analysis of smart grids' comprehensive assessment systems were used, which allowed algorithmizing the processes of their creation, development, and maintenance as a basis for further scaling successful projects. The defined algorithm is a modification of the smart grid maturity model developed by IBM. In addition, a thorough analysis of scientific publications in the field of innovative projects in the energy sector is dedicated to introducing smart grids. The visualization of the proposed approach to streamlining the activities of stakeholders is based on the results of a study aimed at finding ways to overcome organizational and communication barriers between stakeholders, where the coding of the processes of smart grid projects.The scientific results presented in this article are an intermediate stage in the study of mechanisms to improve the efficiency of implementation and scaling of innovative energy-efficient projects, particularly the development of smart grids, based on the activation of latent drivers. Such drivers are organizational and communication tools.

The purpose of the article is to study trends in the development of scientific interest in the issue of implementing a carbon-neutral economy. The authors performed a bibliometric analysis of the publications indexed in the Scopus database using VOSviewer 1.6.16 software and Microsoft Excel. This analysis contributes to determining prospects for transitioning to a carbon-neutral economy and priority areas requiring special attention to accelerate this process. The obtained results of the study of the patterns of the development of the carbon-neutral economy indicate that this concept has a dynamic development, which traces the prerequisites for the formation of a powerful scientific school that investigates the influence of changes in the level of energy efficiency in the process of carbon-neutral development of the national economy. Analysis of the dynamics of publication activity demonstrates a reasonably rapid growth in the number of publications. From 1992 to March 2023, the average growth rate of published research results in the analyzed field was 28.50%. A comparison of subject areas in the study of the carbon-neutral economy shows the predominance of energy, ecology, and socio-economic studies. As a result of the bibliometric analysis of 654 publications indexed by the scientometric database Scopus during 1992-2023 on the topic of the carbon-neutral economy using the software VOSViewer v. 1.6.10, six scientific clusters were identified, which study the possibilities of building an economic system with minimal carbon emissions, taking into account the technical, technological, climatic, social and economic aspects of this issue. However, there is an urgent need to study the organizational and economic mechanisms of replacing non-renewable energy resources with renewable ones in the conditions of rapid changes in the global energy market. The study of the geographical affiliation of the authors of scientific works in this area showed that scientists from China, the USA, Great Britain, Germany, India, Canada, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and Spain published the most significant number of publications. The share of publications by geographical affiliation to these countries is 75%. At the same time, the number of publications in the Scopus database published by domestic authors is relatively small, which once again confirmed the lack of research and timeliness of the study carried out in Ukraine.

Renewable energy has been a top topic for research for decades. Studying this issue is essential based on the need to find effective ways to replace fossil fuels with renewable ones. Climate change is the driver of the transition to renewable energy. And suppose the reason for the need to switch to renewable energy is clear to everyone. The methods provoke significant discussions, which have not stopped for a moment since the beginning of research on this topic. The economic aspect of replacing fossil fuels with renewables is paramount to developing effective business models that allow for the rapid replication of good practices. To this end, various mechanisms of state support and the formation of market incentives for investors were tested. However, the issue of the cost-effectiveness of fossil fuel substitution remains problematic. The issue of energy substitution cannot be considered solely in the economic sphere. The reason for this is the significant number of hidden or indirect effects that are difficult to evaluate. However, this needs to be done to understand renewable energy development’s true efficiency and importance. The global impact of large-scale renewable energy technologies is to reduce climate change loss. One of the most important aspects to study and quantify is the impact of energy and public health. It is well known that fossil fuels, being environmentally dirty, harm the human habitat. Declining environmental quality directly affects the number of diseases and life expectancy. Many studies have focused on approaches and quantifying economic losses due to environmental degradation. However, the question of how renewable energy reduces these losses remains poorly studied. Most research on the impact of energy on the environment focuses on reducing emissions. Such studies are extremely valuable but do not allow us to conclude the direct effects of fossil fuel substitution on renewable energy on human life and health and quantify this impact accordingly. This article focuses on the current state of research on the impact of renewable energy on the lives and health of the population and the costs associated with it. Based on available research, the article reviews the scientific developments on this topic in publications, mainly non-medical profiles.

This study aims to analyze existing scientific approaches to developing roadmaps in energy and innovation, identify key challenges hindering the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, and develop practical recommendations for Ukraine. Particular emphasis is placed on identifying and integrating legislative, economic, technological, and social aspects into energy innovation transfer to ensure an effective and sustainable transition. A literature review was conducted using key terms such as "roadmap," "energy," and "innovation," which allowed for the identification of the most relevant trends and approaches in this field.The article outlines the main challenges Ukraine faces in transitioning to a carbon-neutral economic model based on the transfer of energy innovations. These challenges include legislative barriers, insufficient economic incentives, technological difficulties, and social factors that slow down the implementation of innovations.Based on the identified problems and existing trends, a roadmap for Ukraine's transition to a carbon-neutral economy was developed, covering four key areas: legislative, economic, technological, and social. The sequence of steps and actions necessary to implement the transition scenario is detailed and presented visually.The article offers specific practical recommendations for Ukraine regarding the implementation of the roadmap, including necessary legislative changes, economic incentives, investments in technology, and measures to increase social awareness and support. Thus, this article makes an essential contribution to the scientific and practical discourse on the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, particularly in the context of Ukraine, and can serve as a foundation for further research and policy development in this area.

A comprehensive assessment of smart grids is critical for their development. Existing scientific research testifies to the urgency and complexity of the problem of implementing smart grids effectively, both in terms of a single project performance and from the standpoint of creating a local, and later global, energy system. The multidimensionality of smart grids makes it challenging to assess the effectiveness of their implementation. Difficulties in evaluation arise because it is challenging to consider technical, technological, economic, and other relevant aspects of smart grids’ development within a single evaluation system. There are currently a significant number of smart grid assessment systems. However, it remains debatable how systematically and comprehensively they measure the efficiency of a smart grid. This, in turn, raises the question of whether there is a universal evaluation system that integrally considers all the crucial components of smart grids and is suitable for evaluating smart grid projects of different content. This article analyzes the most well-known approaches to comprehensive assessment of smart grids according to the completeness of their coverage of smart grids’ most critical components. This paper identifies the essential areas for assessing smart grids according to the most cited and authoritative research and regulatory documents of the European Union. As a result, seven groups of indicators were identified. These groups of indicators are the basis for comparative analysis of the comprehensive assessment approaches of smart grids. The results of the study should help determine the appropriateness of applying a particular evaluation system. In addition, the analysis of existing evaluation systems allows the shaping of a universal approach to evaluating smart grids comprehensively and systematically.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the energy sector. The new behavior of industrial and non-commercial consumers changes the energy consumption model. In addition, the constraints associated with the coronavirus crisis have led to environmental effects from declining economic activity. The research is based on evidence from around the world showing significant reductions in emissions and improved air quality. This situation requires rethinking the energy development strategy, particularly the construction of smart grids as a leading direction of energy development. Evaluating the efficiency of smart grids is a vital tool for disseminating successful experience in improving their management. This paper proposes an approach to a comprehensive assessment of smart grids based on a comparative analysis of existing methods, taking into account the changes that need to be considered after the experience gained from the COVID-19 pandemic. The approach provides an accurate set of efficiency indicators for assessing smart grids to account for the direct and indirect effects of smart grids’ implementation. This evaluation approach can be helpful to policymakers in developing energy efficiency programs and implementing energy policy.

Changes in the logistics of energy resources and their potential shortage are causing a review of the EU energy policy. The energy sector significantly affects the progress toward achieving climate policy goals due to significt greenhouse gas emissions. The REPowerEU plan, implemented in the EU27 to overcome the energy crisis, requires new forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions due to a change in European energy policy. This paper aims to examine the consequences of the management of the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on EU climate policy. This study focuses on forecasting greenhouse gas emissions in the EU until 2030 and uses the Seasonal ARIMA model based on quarterly time series in the EU27. Depending on energy management and changes in energy policy to overcome the energy crisis, a positive or negative scenario for greenhouse gas emissions may occur. An important parameter that should be considered when determining the scenario of the EU energy development according to climate policy was defined by correlation analysis.According to the negative scenario and under the influence of the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the value of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU at the beginning of 2030 will be 0.752911 tons per capita. The positive scenario shows greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced to 0.235225 tons per capita.The study results proved two extreme scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions, depending on how to overcome the energy crisis. AcknowledgmentThe authors appreciate the copyright holder: © European Union, 1995–2022, as well as the source of the extracted data, which is the European Commission website, Eurostat http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (accessed on 16 October 2022). This study was funded by the European Union (the project No. 101048079 – EU4SmartED – ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH); by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (projects No. 0122U000788, 0122U000769, 0121U109553, 0120U102001, 0122U000777).This research was funded by Faculty of Organization and Management of the Silesian University of Technology (grant number: 13/990/BK_23/0178).