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The crucial role evaluation can play in the co-development of project design and its implementation will be addressed through the analysis of a case study, the Green Communities (GC) project, funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment within the EU Interregional Operational Program (2007-2013) "Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency". The project's broader goals included an attempt to trigger a change in Italian local development strategies, especially for mountain and inland areas, which would be tailored to the real needs of communities, and based on a sustainable exploitation and management of the territorial assets. The goal was not achieved, and this paper addresses the issues of how GC could have been more effective in fostering a vision of change, and which design adaptations and evaluation procedures would have allowed the project to better cope with the unexpected consequences and resistances it encountered. The conclusions drawn are that projects should be conceived, designed and carried out as dynamic systems, inclusive of a dynamic and engaged evaluation enabling the generation of feedbacks loops, iteratively interpreting the narratives and dynamics unfolding within the project, and actively monitoring the potential of various relationships among project participants for generating positive social change.

Abstract This study aims to assess the efficiency of the fossil fuel taxation scheme currently in effect in Switzerland. To this end, the concept of implicit CO2 prices is introduced, based on which prices for different fossil fuel uses are derived. Implicit CO2 prices are defined as the difference between actual prices paid by consumers and efficient domestic fuel prices. Efficient domestic fuel prices, in turn, consist of private production costs, a uniform value added tax and only local external costs, not including external costs due to CO2 emissions and global climate change. The resulting prices differ substantially, which suggests that there is considerable cost-saving potential in reducing CO2 emissions in Switzerland. For passenger cars and air traffic, the implicit prices are negative. For these uses, higher fuel charges would therefore be beneficial from a purely domestic perspective, i.e., without considering the negative repercussions of global warming.

Abstract The paper aims to discuss the speedy spread of the use of optical fibres or optical light films lighting systems, as an alternative to classical lighting systems in buildings. A series of architectural projects has been selected to provide more evidence about advantages of these new lighting equipement, in terms of thermal and lighting comfort together with low cost energy. As a matter of fact their efficiency has even lead some professionals to use them in some buildings after suppression of the initial lighting system. The fact that the optional fibres or optical light films are used in various spaces has enabled to hope for a development of their applications in interiors and especially public places, in hot contries where heat output from traditional lighting bulbs is more likely to provide discomfort and hence where requirement for air conditionning is unavoidably maximised.

Abstract This paper studies the impact of oil price changes on economic growth in Saudi Arabia to measure its dependency on the crude oil sector. To this end, an On/Off threshold regression is specified to allow the oil/GDP relationship to be asymmetric, nonlinear, and time-varying with regard to the business cycle phases. Further, we empirically test the diversification hypothesis put forward by the National Transformation Program (Saudi Vision 2030) to check whether the equity-energy investment initiative could boost economic growth in Saudi Arabia. First, our findings confirm the contribution of the oil sector to economic growth in the country, but also show that the oil/Saudi economy relationship exhibits nonlinearity and threshold effects, as the impact of oil price varies per regime depending on the state of the market. Second, in line with the Vision 2030 expectations, we are in favor of transforming the economy and opening its equity market. We also quantify a positive and significant impact of equity investment on the Saudi Arabian economy. Further, this diversification route will stimulate a beneficial oil effect on the real economy.

AbstractEmbedding sustainability in day‐to‐day operations necessitates employees' proactiveness beyond compliance with standardised management practices. Exchanging information on safety and environmental issues is acknowledged as a component of workers' proactive behaviours for sustainability embeddedness, which is hardly promoted by codified procedures. Accordingly, identifying leverages to stimulate information exchange is a primary objective for academics and practitioners. The study investigates drivers of information exchange on safety and environmental near misses by examining five situation‐related antecedents: rewards/reinforcements, organisational boundaries, social proactiveness, stakeholder salience and connectedness. The study relies on a mixed method approach, by combining social network analysis and a questionnaire survey conducted among four large Italian companies. The findings partially support the hypothesis of the study, highlighting rewards/reinforcements and connectedness as relevant antecedents of information exchange, while organisational boundaries only partially relate with information exchange. Surprisingly, stakeholder salience and social proactiveness do not emerge as significant drivers of information exchange. The study contributes to the debate on extra‐role pro‐sustainability behaviours and provides implications for managerial practice.

Abstract The EU Electricity Directive has encouraged a movement towards closer integration of power markets in Northern Europe. At the same time, the industry is undergoing significant restructuring, with vertical separation and horizontal concentration being two key features. The effectiveness of competition in the region will crucially depend on the extent and conditions of cross-border trade between the countries concerned. Most importantly, the conditions and cost of access to transmission networks will determine the nature of market integration and its impact on competitive conditions. There is a risk that high transaction costs, tariff distortions and weak unbundling will act as barriers to trade, thereby limiting the extent of competition. While the EU is currently pursuing voluntary solutions among system operators, it is likely that regulations governing international transmission infrastructure will be required.

Using an experiment embedded within a representative survey, this study examined the interactive effect of party identification and risk/benefit perception on public opinion about biofuels. Democrats tended to be more supportive of biofuels than Republicans. However, the effect of party identification on opinion about biofuels varied when individuals considered the risk/benefit of biofuels in different domains. Individuals who reported greater affiliation with the Democratic Party were likely to support funding biofuels research when primed with the economic risks or the social/ethical benefits of biofuels. For those who considered the social/ethical benefits of biofuels, more self-identified Democrats were likely to support biofuels production and use. However, more self-identified Democrats were less supportive of biofuels production and use when they considered the political risks of biofuels. Implications are discussed.

AbstractThe business model of as‐a‐service is rapidly spreading in the energy industry. This study aims to examine how servitization in the energy sector is progressing, what sectors are in the spotlight, and what their implications are. By understanding the servitization aspect of the energy sector, it is possible to gauge the direction of change in the energy industry. This study has reviewed various as‐a‐service types in the energy sector through new articles analytics. For a total of 6 years from 2015 to 2020, news articles containing keywords related to the energy industry and the term “as a service” were extracted from Google News using the R package. As a result, well‐known as‐a‐service models such as software‐as‐a‐service and platform‐as‐a‐service are being emphasized in the energy sector. Also, new types of services such as zero‐carbon‐as‐a‐service and resilience‐as‐a‐service have been emerging recently. With the spread of as‐a‐service, the value chain structure of the energy industry is expected to shift towards various types of services and platforms. Servitization, represented by as‐a‐service, is becoming a trend in the energy industry, and policy and regulatory support to foster the data industry and expand opportunities to demonstrate innovative technologies and services is required.This article is categorized under: Policy and Economics > Governance and Regulation Policy and Economics > Research and Development

Abstract This paper examines the determinants of state gasoline consumption per household in the USA using pooled time-series cross-section data for the period 1966–1980. It was found that gasoline price, fuel efficiency of vehicle stock, percentage of population in metropolitan areas, and non-automobile transport modes have negative effects on consumption, while per capita income, number of vehicles, non-agricultural employment per household, age 18–44, warm weather, visits by out-of-state automobiles, and share of buses and trucks have positive effects on consumption. Holding constant the size of vehicle stock and its fuel-efficiency characteristics, the short-run price elasticity of gasoline was found to be -0.321 for the period 1966–1973 and -0.106 for the period 1974–1980. It was also found that gasoline demand experienced a temporary shift both in the intercept and in the price coefficient during the shortages of 1974 and 1979, and had undergone a permanent shift in the same parameters during the post-embargo period.