Classification of Renewable Sources of Electricity in the Context of Sustainable Development of the New EU Member States

Abstract

Climate change and awareness of the need to care for the environment have resulted in a global increase in the interest in renewable energy sources. The European Union (EU) is active in this respect and requires Member States to fulfill specific plans in the transformation of their energy systems. We employed hierarchical cluster analysis in an attempt to distinguish those countries among the new EU Member States that increased their electrical capacity from renewable energy sources to the greatest extent while paying attention to their energy intensity. The analyses were conducted in two scenarios for both 2004 and 2016. The first scenario assumed an analysis of all known renewable energy sources, whereas in the second scenario, only renewable energy sources from wind and solar power plants were included. The division of analyses into these two variants showed the importance of the differences in the energy assessment of individual countries, depending on classification of renewable energy sources. We identified groups of countries where electrical capacity from renewable energy sources increased the most. Conducting analyses using two variants allowed distinguishing countries that based most of their renewable energy on modern renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power plants. The inclusion of gross domestic product in the analyses allowed us to identify countries with the worst energy efficiency value.

Studying the Level of Sustainable Energy Development of the European Union Countries and Their Similarity Based on the Economic and Demographic Potential

“…Various research methods are also shown in studies on sustainable energy development, including multivariate statistical methods and clustering or rank-based methods. A study by [63] uses the Ward's clustering methods to distinguish groups of countries in terms of the energy potential of RES in the so-called "New" EU Countries. The analysis concerned the comparison of 2004 and 2016.…”

Renewable Energy and EU 2020 Target for Energy Efficiency in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

“…In addition, we demonstrate that there is a need for maintaining a proper balance between economic development and environmental protection, which is a must for the EU sustainable energy development agenda and all its accompanying targets for all its Member States.Energies 2020, 13, 965 2 of 20 allows comparing the dynamics of economic development over time and on a cross-country basis but recently one can hardly assess economic growth without attributing attention to the consumption of natural resources and preserving the environment. In was in the past decades that the increasing attention to global warming and climate change has focused on the relationship between environmental pollutants, energy consumption and economic growth [1][2][3]. In order to effectively control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ensure the sustainability of economic development, it is important to better understand the relationships between greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and economic growth [4][5][6].…”

Model of Optimization of Wind Energy Production in the Light of Legal Changes in Poland

“…The method of protection within each of these areas may be different. A very important activity in relation to Natura 2000 areas is monitoring the status of natural habitats, habitats of plant and animal species and their populations within them, and reporting the results of these observations, as it enables the assessment of the effectiveness of conducted conservation activities [32] In addition, a further limitation has been added from densely populated areas, where investments for wind energy purposes cannot be implemented or encounter significant inconveniences in practice [33][34][35][36].…”