Stella Tsani

The Energy-Growth Nexus (EGN) Checklist for Authors

Abstract This chapter discusses the research conducted on the energy-growth nexus (EGN) from a prospective author’s and a reviewer’s point of view. The analysis summarizes the questions that have received much attention to date, and those that are less addressed. It also pays attention to the common methodological approaches employed in the existing studies, and it highlights possible paths that future research in the field could consider. In this way, the analysis identifies common practices and channels, by which future efforts could provide useful contribution to the ongoing debate. This chapter also discusses the ways to address and ensure transferability of the results beyond the energy-related scientific community reaching for policy design and implementation. Finally, this chapter discusses the technical and practical requirements and the necessary steps to be taken by prospective authors and researchers in the field while preparing their manuscripts for publication, and it reviews some common questions and comments appearing during peer review.

Critical Issues to Be Answered in the Energy-Growth Nexus (EGN) Research Field

Abstract Thirty-nine years after the seminal paper of Kraft and Kraft (1978) on the EGN, research has generated ample papers that illustrate equivocal results. At the same time, economic, environmental, and social challenges are so many that new variables and metrics enter this research field in an attempt to express the EGN relationship as accurately and comprehensively as possible. The EGN is not an exercise for economists only, but offers a new, unmapped, common research ground to ecologists and social scientists. This interdisciplinary approach will generate rich results for succinct policy making. New concepts such as sustainability and energy efficiency enter the EGN, and new sprouts are generated such as the energy-water nexus and the food-energy-water nexus. Additional aspects must be covered in the presentation of the EGN to make them worthwhile and comparable.

Common Environment Policies in Different Sustainability Paradigms: Evidence From the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas

We develop a model for four sustainability paradigms (weak sustainability, a-growth, de-growth, strong sustainability) within a single framework that accounts for responsibility for nature and future generations and for intra- and inter-generational equality. The model is applied in three case studies: the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Sea with the aim to identify feasible sustainability solutions for shared seas under alternative sources of environmental pressure and cooperation strategies. The Baltic Sea is analyzed as an example of pollution from agriculture, the Adriatic Sea as an example of over-exploitation of fish in fishery, and the Black Sea as an example of pollution from industry. Empirical results show that different cooperation strategies are feasible in each case and that they yield different results in different context. Also welfare implications vary between different cooperation strategies. The main policy implication of the analysis is two-fold. Environmental conservation must be preferred to environmental innovation, where both intra- and inter-generational equity concerns are unessential. The choice of a different sustainability approaches must be combined with the feasibility of the differently required management institutions, while considerations of the sectoral sources of environmental pressure are essential.

A methodological note for the development of integrated aquaculture production models

Aquaculture production can yield significant economic, social and environmental effects. These exceed the financial costs and benefits aquaculture producers are faced with. We propose a methodology for the development of integrated production models that allow for the inclusion of the socio-economic and environmental effects of aquaculture into the production management. The methodology develops on a Social Cost-Benefit Analysis context and it includes three parts: i) environmental, that captures the interactions of aquaculture with the environment, ii) economic, that makes provision for the incorporation of economic determinants in the production models and iii) social, that introduces the social preferences to the production and management process. Alternatives to address data availability issues are also discussed. The methodology extends the assessment of the costs and benefits of aquaculture beyond pure financial metrics and beyond the quantification of private costs and benefits. It can also support the development of integrated models of aquaculture production that take into consideration both the private and the social costs and benefits associated with externalities and effects not appropriately captured by market mechanisms. The methodology can support aquaculture management and policies targeting sustainable and efficient aquaculture production and financing from an economic, financial, social and environmental point of view.

Introduction to the MERMAID Project

This chapter provides an introduction to the MERMAID project. MERMAID focused on developing concepts for offshore platforms which can be used for multiple purposes, such as energy and aquaculture production. These concepts were developed with input from experts as well as societal stakeholders. MERMAID consortium comprised of 28 partner institutes, including Universities, Research institutes, Industries and Small and Medium Enterprises from several EU countries. Consortium members brought a range of expertise in hydraulics, wind engineering, aquaculture, renewable energy, marine environment, project management, as well as socioeconomics and governance. Within the scope of MERMAID it has been developed and applied an Integrated Socio-Economic Assessment of the sustainability of Multi-Use Offshore Platforms, using the results from the natural and engineering sciences as inputs, boundaries and constraints to the analysis.

Risk Analysis for the Selected MERMAID Final Designs

This chapter presents the risk analysis results of the application of the Methodology for Integrated Socio-Economic Assessment (MISEA) which was developed in the MERMAID Project with regards to the different proposed designs of novel Multi-Use Offshore Platforms (MUOPs). For this purpose, sensitivity analysis of critical variables based on values given by experts and Monte Carlo simulation were undertaken to analyze the risk of developing these platforms. The approach integrates the results of the assessment discussed in the previous chapters. Both sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulations approaches are compared.

Socio-economic Assessment of a Selected Multi-use Offshore Site in the Atlantic

This chapter presents the results obtained from the analysis of the multi-use design for the Cantabria Offshore site in the Atlantic coast. The analysis shows that the technology exists. Nevertheless at the present the profitability of potential business is still uncertain. The reliability of the activity as a self-sustained business relies on the existence of a stable regulatory framework, on the availability of financial support from the state and on the relaxation of the regulatory barriers existing in the industry. Likewise ocean energy industry is far from been socially accepted in the region. The socio-economic analysis suggests that the multi-use scenario can be profitable.

Socio-economic Analysis of a Selected Multi-use Offshore Site in the Mediterranean Sea

The area off-shore Venice is characterized by a relatively mild climate that allows in principle a safe installation of an off-shore platform, but at the same time strongly limits the benefits of a single–purpose installation, both because of the limited available energy and because of the high distance from the shore due to the flat sea-bottom. Therefore the site appeared to be suited for multi-purpose designs with fish farming and wind energy as potential activities. An Ecosystem Services Approach (ESA) is adopted to identify possible environmental effects and conflicts with other relevant uses. We deal with these potential impacts by choosing a suitable location of the platform. Limited financial data on wind energy suggested a negative Net Present Value (NPV), whereas proper financial data on fish farming produced a slightly positive NPV. A Life Cycle Assessment applied to wind energy and fish farming estimated a significantly positive effect from reduced CO2-eq emissions expressed in euros. A Social Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA) applied only to fish farming (i.e., including financial and CO2 results) due to lack of data and resulted on a positive NPV. However, a MUP is not recommended by SCBA, and more explicitly it is not supported by stakeholders in the short-run. Whereas, it might be suggested in the long-run, when, in a crowded sea, both economic and environmental reasons could suggest to move some activities off-shore.

Methodology for Integrated Socio-economic Assessment of Multi-use Offshore Platforms

This chapter presents the methodology employed for the Integrated Socio-Economic Assessment (MISEA) of different designs of Multi-Use Offshore Platforms (MUOPs). The methodology allows for the identification, the valuation and the assessment of the potential impacts and their magnitude. The analysis considers a number of feasible designs of MUOP investments, and the likely responses of those impacted by the investment project. The approach provides decision-makers with a valuable tool to assess whether a MUOP project increases the overall social welfare and hence should be undertaken. This is performed under alternative specifications regarding platform design, the discount rate and the stream of net benefits, if a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is to be followed or a sensitivity analysis of selected criteria in a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework. The methodology can support the implementation of policies aiming at achieving a good environmental status of the EU’s marine waters and the protection of the resource base upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend.