Stelios Grafakos

A Qualitative Assessment of EU Energy Policy Interactions

Abstract The aim of this article is the presentation of the Energy and Climate Policy Interactions decision support tool for assessing qualitatively ex-ante combinations of various energy and climate policy instruments. This tool integrates six methodological steps, wherein a policymaker can intervene and set preferences that affect the outcome of policy interactions. The advantage of this approach is that it demonstrates to some extent the qualitative effects of interacting policy instruments, depending on the current policy goals and preferences of users.

Combination of Energy Policy Instruments: Creation of Added Value or Overlapping?

In this article we present an application of the energy and climate policy Interactions (ECPI) decision support tool for qualitative ex-ante assessment of 21 combinations of energy policy instruments. Considering the weight given to each criterion of ECPI, we reached an overall result that policy instruments are considered quite fungible as regards their integration to an overall energy policy mix. Interactions of policy instruments for increasing renewable energy sources utilization with energy efficiency improvement and climate change mitigation instruments present a substantial added value compared to their stand-alone implementation.

Integrating Environmental, Sociopolitical, Economic, and Technological Dimensions for the Assessment of Climate Policy Instruments

Climate policy assessments often appear to lack a multi-analytical approach capable of considering different dimensions of sustainability during policy design. This paper presents an integrated assessment framework of climate policy instrument interactions by reconciling environmental, socio-economic, political, and institutional aspects for the initial stage of policy development. Selected interacting policy instruments are categorized into their policy design characteristics, referring to parameters that describe the institutional context of each instrument. Criteria covering specific environmental, sociopolitical, macroeconomic, financial, and technological objectives for assessing the policy instruments are identified and selected. Complementarities and overlaps between different combinations of instruments are identified. These affect subsequently the likely values (scores) of policy instruments against the evaluation criteria. By applying an interactive weighting method, policy makers are able to assign weighting factors on the criteria expressing their perceptions and objectives. An overall assessment of combined instruments from these steps is therefore determined based on the input from policy makers. We found that the developed framework provides a transparent tool to stakeholders capable of highlighting potential synergies and conflicts between environmental, socio-economic, political, and technological criteria during the stage of climate policies design. The method merits further attention in group decision-making for mapping stakeholders’ preferences with diverse objectives.

Assessing low-carbon energy technologies against sustainability and resilience criteria: results of a European experts survey

The aim of this article is the assessment of low-carbon energy technologies in Europe against a set of sustainability and resilience criteria. The assessment was based on a survey that was conducted among 40 European experts. Solar Photovoltaic was the technology that proved to achieve high performance against many criteria, whereas nuclear was assessed by the experts with relatively low performance against most of the criteria. Furthermore, it became evident that there is high degree of convergence between the experts, and therefore high degree of confidence, on specific aspects such as the high level of public resistance against Nuclear and the low stability of energy generation of wind onshore. The experts had major disagreements on the performance of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies against technological maturity and innovative ability criteria, which reveals a high degree of uncertainty on how CCS will be deployed in the future, pointing out a direction for future research.

Developing an integrated sustainability and resilience framework of indicators for the assessment of low-carbon energy technologies at the local level

ABSTRACT Sustainability indicators have been broadly used to assess energy technologies both at the national and local levels. However, very few studies have addressed the issue of resilience of energy technologies. Moreover, there is a lack of an integrated framework that combines both sustainability and resilience indicators for the assessment of energy technologies. The aim of this paper is to present the development of an integrated framework of sustainability and resilience indicators for the assessment of low-carbon energy technologies at the local level in Europe. The selection of indicators is based on a modified ‘3S’ approach, composed of literature review, self-validation, scientific validation, and social validation. The study incorporates local stakeholders’ feedback on the selection and validation of evaluation criteria based on a European survey. The vast majority of respondents approved and validated the indicators that were selected through the internal and experts’ validation steps.

Built Environment Life Cycle Process and Climate Change

In order to design and realise an efficient built environment life cycle with focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation, it is necessary to carry out exhaustive investigations of all the decision and processes that form it. The efficiency level of the considered built environment life cycle depends on a great many micro, meso and macro factors. The authors of this paper participated in the different EU projects related with built environment and climate change [Linking European, Africa and Asian Academic Networks on Climate Change (LEAN CC), etc.]. One of the LEAN CC project’s goals was to develop a Model and Intelligent System of Built Environment Life Cycle Process for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. The presented Model and Intelligent System enables one to form up to 100 million alternative versions. Intelligent system allows one to determine the strongest and weakest points of each project and its constituent parts. In order to demonstrate the micro, meso and macro factors that influence the efficiency of the built environment in climate change mitigation and adaptation processes, the Model and Intelligent System will be considered as an example.

Which policy instruments attract foreign direct investments in renewable energy

ABSTRACT Reducing GHG emissions and mitigating climate change would require significant investments in renewable energy technologies. Foreign direct investments (FDI) in renewable energy (RE) have increased over the last years, contributing to the diffusion of RE globally. In the field of climate policy, there are multiple policy instruments aimed at attracting investments in renewable energy. This article aims to map the FDI flows globally including source and destination countries. Furthermore, the article investigates which policy instruments attract more FDI in RE sectors such as solar, wind and biomass, based on an econometric analysis of 137 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. The results show that Feed in Tariffs (FIT) followed by Fiscal Measures (FM), such as tax incentives and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), are the most significant policy instrument that attract FDI in the RE sector globally. Regarding carbon pricing instruments, based on our analysis, carbon tax proved to be correlated with high attraction of FDI in OECD countries, whereas Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) proved to be correlated with high attraction of FDI mainly in non-OECD countries. Key policy insights Feed in Tariffs is the most significant policy instrument that attracts FDI in the Renewable Energy sector globally. Fiscal Measures (FM), such as tax incentives, show a significant and positive impact on renewable energy projects by foreign investors, and particularly on solar energy. Carbon pricing instruments, such as carbon taxation and emissions trading, proved to attract FDI in OECD and non-OECD countries respectively. Public investments, such as government funds for renewable energy projects, proved not as attractive to foreign private investors, perhaps because public funds are not perceived as stable in the long run.