Optimising the Cost of Reducing the CO2 Emissions in Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans

Abstract

Tackling climate change can be achieved through local and regional initiatives, such as the Covenant of Mayors, which create energy and climate plans with mitigation measures. Upon the development of energy plans, the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) can be achieved through an individual or joint approach. The research aims to upgrade methods for local and regional energy planning through the choice of mitigation actions and alternative scenarios for the reduction of GHG emissions. This is achieved through optimisation of the selection of mitigation measures in the case of the wider Dubrovnik area in Croatia by choosing the most suitable option for implementation when comparing individual and joint approaches for the planning of the measures. Moreover, the implementation of single and sets of mitigation measures is compared through the total cost abatement curve. The modelled problem represents a non-linear problem as exponential functions and multiplication of variables occurs in the modelled equations. Visualisation of the results is achieved via the total cost abatement curve which ranks measures from the most cost-effective to the least cost-effective. It is shown that with the use of optimisation models, it is possible to find such sets of measures and alternative scenarios, which will, with less financial means, reach a minimal reduction of CO2 emissions by 40% in local and regional energy systems and result in financial savings of three times in the analysed case. In this way, it could be possible to increase the overall implementation of SECAP measures and mitigate the problem of the lack of appropriate financial planning.

The contribution of sustainable and clean energy to the strengthening of energy security

“…We demonstrated a positive contribution of sustainable and clean energy to the reduction of production waste, which strengthened the scientific evidence of the works of Ajagekar and You (2022) and Qamar et al (2022). We also discovered the contribution of sustainable and clean energy to the fight against climate change, which strengthened the scientific evidence of the works of Chen and You (2022) and Matak et al (2022). This is why the transition to sustainable and clean energy should be conducted in combination with other measures for implementing SDG 12 and SDG 13.…”

“…RQ2: What is the contribution of sustainable and clean energy to the reduction of production waste and consumption and the fight against climate change? The existing literature notes that this contribution is significant since clean energy facilitates the reduction of CO 2 emissions (Ajagekar and You, 2022;Qamar et al, 2022) and is climate friendly (Chen and You, 2022;Matak et al, 2022). This allows formulating hypothesis H2: sustainable and clean energy makes a significant positive contribution to the reduction of production and consumption waste and the fight against climate change.…”

Multicriteria Quantification of the Compatibility of the Targets from Romania’s Relevant Strategies with the European Green Deal

“…In the view of Matak and Nikola et al [37], to be successful in the implementation of SD strategies, first of all, local and regional initiatives and adhesions are essential. The authors of this paper draw attention to the complexity of the mathematical model of the specific processes and propose solving the problem through nonlinear regression algorithms.…”

Enhancing Carbon Capture and Storage Deployment in the EU: A Sectoral Analysis of a Ton-Based Incentive Strategy

“…In addition, available resources should be utilized more responsibly during the energy transition, specifically by implementing a circular economy [6,7] and more sustainable technologies [8,9]. The use of renewable energy sources in both public and private facilities, the electrification of public transportation, and energy renovations, for instance, have been found to substantially reduce GHG emissions while lowering specific costs as the overall reduction in emissions quantity increases [10,11]. Future energy systems may also rely heavily on alternative fuels such as hydrogen, biodiesel, e-fuels, ammonia, and alcohol-derived fuel [12].…”