• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 7. Clean energy close
• COVID-19 close

Protected areas are complex social-ecological systems; thus, they were unavoidably impacted by COVID-19. Spain is one of the most diverse countries in terms of biodiversity in the European Union and the second most visited country in 2019 and third touristic destination worldwide. Understanding the effects of the pandemic in Spanish protected areas is very important to discuss new possibilities on how to drive sustainable development on these conserved spaces and how to manage them in the event of external shocks and uncertain scenarios. Therefore, the aim of this study is to have a better understanding of the effects and opportunities of the pandemic on Spanish protected areas. To address this concern, a qualitative analysis is conducted based on an assessment of secondary literature and relevant interviews. Picos de Europa national park was chosen as case study because of its unique features. This study shows the drawbacks of the pandemic in Picos de Europa in terms of management operations, drastic fluctuation of visitors, loss of tourism revenues, vulnerability of neighboring communities, missed opportunities in conservation and education and pressure on nature. On the other hand, it poses opportunities in terms of technology, innovation, fundings, lessons learned, rise in educational and conservation activities and more awareness on the environment and rural surroundings. This study suggests that is difficult to find a win-win solution that includes the targets of nature conservation, viability of local economies and tourism activities in Picos de Europa. Ideas for management options that focus on dealing with the negative outcomes of the pandemic are suggested.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing facemasks became common. Many initiatives arose to develop new types of reusable textile masks in order to overcome a shortage of surgical masks for the health care personnel and for the civil society. Having such high demand of facemasks raises the question about what factors define their environmental sustainability. This paper presents a first simplified Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) comparing surgical masks and 2-layered cotton masks. The aim of the paper is to identify and understand the relevant ecological factors in order to support decision making on how textile masks could be designed in a more sustainable manner. The results of our simplified LCA show that the cotton masks were performing better than the surgical masks and vice versa depending on the environmental impact that was looked at. It was also found that the lifespan and the weight of the cotton masks are two variables having a great importance for their overall environmental performance.

This paper analyzes the causes and effects of the COVID-19 crisis, with a specific focus on the food system. Food consumption and production has not only been impacted by the crisis, but it may have also contributed to causing the pandemic. After providing a brief introductory framework, the paper presents the results of a pilot study on the link between COVID-19 and the food system, as indicated by the social media activity of selected European Union (EU) Twitter accounts, measured using an original “theme popularity” metric. Thereafter, a systematic review of the literature is proposed to identify the causes of the rise in popularity of a sustainable food system theme, the potential consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for the food system (targeting the production, consumption and waste disposal phases) and possible solutions, focusing on the circular economy. Challenges and opportunities for policymakers in the short and long term are discussed. A holistic approach is advocated, as the global food system is intimately connected with society and requires deep cooperation among nation states and economic actors.

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is an alternative method to transport natural gas (NG), more versatile than pipeline gas, and helps increasing the availability, affordability and use of NG compared to carbon-intensive coal and oil. In the LNG market, various expansions projects have been planned and underway for the 2020s. Although some projects were put hold or delayed due to the demand shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the LNG market demonstrates the potential to expand further in the future. This study employs an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to evaluate these prospects of expansion in demand and supply, competition among various suppliers, and potential trade challenges in the coming decades. This model combines the usual contractual engagements of the LNG market and a representation of the spot market to simulate the possible traded quantities. The model is validated by comparing simulations with the historical record of the LNG trade in 2016 and 2018, reflecting its accuracy in replicating such real data. Proceeding with the results for the time horizon until 2030, the model represents the preponderance of Qatar as the most competitive LNG supplier, even when new LNG infrastructure comes online everywhere. The US is an emergent competitor with multiple projects finding demand in all the LNG regions, while Australia would still highly depend on the Asian Pacific basin. Other smaller exporters would struggle to find importing markets but collectively would open new regional markets. The model projects around 510+ MTPA of LNG trade by 2030, fairly similar to other projections.

Co-design approach is increasingly popular in many organizations that address global change and social sustainability challenges, thanks to its unique and diverse methods of engaging relevant people in design processes and decision-making. However, the social distancing led by the COVID-19 pandemic seriously problematized the traditional in-person co-design activities. A sustainable online transition is unprecedentedly pressing. By acknowledging the limitations of online co-design, i.e., lack of means for participant engagement, we argue that gamification holds great promise for online co-design. This paper presents an empirical study to investigate this potential qualitatively. Based on the data collected from three gamified online co-design implementations, we examine the benefits of gamification and how future activities should be designed and implemented from the participants’ perspectives. Based on the participants’ perceptions, we propose several recommendations for designing impactful gamification. The finding suggests that gamification can facilitate online co-design activities in an enjoyable, relaxing, structuring, and creative manner, since they are perceived and recognized by the participants. Moreover, the successful implementation of online co-design implies that great sustainability benefits can be achieved through online transition, i.e., reducing paper consumption and time spent on meetings and unproductive discussions, supporting extensive diversity and density in representation. Online can enable this by overcoming not only the geographic and time limitations but also relevant social issues.

This paper analyzes the co-movements of prices of fossil fuels, energy stock markets and EU allowances. This analysis is conducted in order to identify the spillover effect of volatility and correlation among these financial markets, and to provide a scientific basis that shows the interest of incorporating sustainable assets in the design of minimum risk strategies of investment. To achieve this goal, we have used a Vector Autoregressive-Dynamic Conditional Correlation-Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (VAR-DCC-GARCH) model that also incorporates a stock index of industrial companies as a leading indicator of the level of economic activity. In addition, the paper conducts an impulse response analysis to determine how unexpected shocks to prices are propagated along time, and, in particular, how they affect prices of the others, both in mean, variance and correlation. Therefore, the results of this one- and two-dimensional analysis allow for the study of short and long run dynamics of the relationship among those prices, thus, providing greater meaning and information for investors, which has implications for building their portfolios. The analyzed period was from January 2010 to February 2021, so that the data include half of phase II, full phase III and the onset of phase IV of the EU ETS, as well as the COVID-19 outbreak in the European context. We also analyzed whether the EUA price impulses the demand of clean energy stocks, which has important implications for the objective of triggering the investment in clean energy. Our results show the transmission mechanism of all of those prices, which are relevant not only for investors but also for policymakers to construct an early-warning system, revealing the most important transmission channels. Moreover, from an investment viewpoint, we observe a decline in dirty energies and a rise in the clean energy market, which might be an indication of the progress towards the energy transition to renewables sources within a circular economy perspective. Therefore, this shows that the EU ETS is achieving its goals, and that clean energy companies, aligned with their role towards socially responsible initiatives, are also gaining acceptance in terms of investments, which would be beneficial for the environment.

This paper analyses the dynamic impact of fossil energy shocks (crude oil and Natural gas) on renewable clean energy stock markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a time-varying VAR model with ...

The outbreak of SARS-COV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) abruptly changed the patterns in electricity consumption, challenging the system operations of forecasting and balancing supply and demand. This is due to the mitigation measures that include lockdown and Work from Home (WFH), which decreased the aggregated demand and remarkably altered its profile. Here, we characterise these changes with various quantitative markers and compare it with pre-COVID-19 business-as-usual data using Great Britain (GB) as a case study. The ripple effects on the generation portfolio, system frequency, forecasting accuracy and imbalance pricing are also analysed. An energy data extraction and pre-processing pipeline that can be used in a variety of similar studies is also presented. Analysis of the GB demand data during the March 2020 lockdown indicates that a shift to WFH will result to a net benefit for flexible stakeholders, such as consumer on variable tariffs. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates a need for faster and more frequent balancing actions, as a result of the increased share of renewable energy in the generation mix. This new equilibrium of energy demand and supply will require a redesign of the existing balancing mechanisms as well as the longer-term power system planning strategies.