IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i6p5115-d1096932.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Fast to Avoid Carbon Emissions: A Holistic View on the RES, Storage and Non-RES Replacement in Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Adela Bâra

    (Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Simona-Vasilica Oprea

    (Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Niculae Oprea

    (Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

The European Union targets aim to replace the non-renewable energy sources (non-RES) of coal, oil and gas (COG) generation with RES and storage (RES-S). The replacement of COG-generating units will lead to a decrease in CO 2 emissions and a better living environment. Starting from this desideratum, in this paper, we create several scenarios to replace COG in Romania with RES-S, reconsider future energy mixes and engage with a more creative planning in order to meet the clean energy transition path. The energy shortages, especially in European countries after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, led many governments (including the Romanian, Polish, etc.) to think more about short-term supply issues and less about medium- and long-term power system planning. However, the decision makers of the European power systems have to decide how fast to avoid firing coal, how fast to adopt RES and how fast to invest in flexibility sources, including storage stations to enable a higher integration of RES. Therefore, in this paper, a holistic view to envision the RES and non-RES contribution to the load coverage in Romania for a smooth transition to a low-carbon economy is provided. The results show that an initial mix of wind, photovoltaic (PV) and storage systems is preferable to substitute 600 MW of installed power in coal-based power plants. Furthermore, the case of Poland—the European country with over 70% coal in its generation portfolio—is also presented as it can serve as a good example.

Suggested Citation

  • Adela Bâra & Simona-Vasilica Oprea & Niculae Oprea, 2023. "How Fast to Avoid Carbon Emissions: A Holistic View on the RES, Storage and Non-RES Replacement in Romania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:5115-:d:1096932
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/5115/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/5115/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adler, David B. & Jha, Akshaya & Severnini, Edson, 2020. "Considering the nuclear option: Hidden benefits and social costs of nuclear power in the U.S. since 1970," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Maciej Serowaniec, 2021. "Sustainable Development Policy and Renewable Energy in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-8, April.
    3. Malec, Marcin, 2022. "The prospects for decarbonisation in the context of reported resources and energy policy goals: The case of Poland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Wang, Dandan & Li, Sheng & He, Song & Gao, Lin, 2019. "Coal to substitute natural gas based on combined coal-steam gasification and one-step methanation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 851-859.
    5. Miguel Gonzalez-Salazar & Thomas Langrock & Christoph Koch & Jana Spieß & Alexander Noack & Markus Witt & Michael Ritzau & Armin Michels, 2020. "Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-27, December.
    6. Zhao, Jing & Duan, Yaoqi & Liu, Xiaojuan, 2019. "Study on the policy of replacing coal-fired boilers with gas-fired boilers for central heating based on the 3E system and the TOPSIS method: A case in Tianjin, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    7. Alla Toktarova & Ida Karlsson & Johan Rootzén & Lisa Göransson & Mikael Odenberger & Filip Johnsson, 2020. "Pathways for Low-Carbon Transition of the Steel Industry—A Swedish Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Sławomir Stec & Elżbieta Jadwiga Szymańska, 2022. "Energy Innovation of Polish Local Governments," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-29, February.
    9. Manuel de Villena, Miguel & Jacqmin, Julien & Fonteneau, Raphael & Gautier, Axel & Ernst, Damien, 2021. "Network tariffs and the integration of prosumers: The case of Wallonia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    10. Yang, Ying & Campana, Pietro Elia & Yan, Jinyue, 2020. "Potential of unsubsidized distributed solar PV to replace coal-fired power plants, and profits classification in Chinese cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    11. Nicholas Davison & Jaime Borbolla Gaxiola & Divya Gupta & Anurag Garg & Timothy Cockerill & Yuzhou Tang & Xueliang Yuan & Andrew Ross, 2022. "Potential Greenhouse Gas Mitigation for Converting High Moisture Food Waste into Bio-Coal from Hydrothermal Carbonisation in India, Europe and China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-37, February.
    12. Fernández-González, Raquel & Puime-Guillén, Félix & Panait, Mirela, 2022. "Multilevel governance, PV solar energy, and entrepreneurship: the generation of green hydrogen as a fuel of renewable origin," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Chen, Han & Chen, Wenying, 2019. "Potential impacts of coal substitution policy on regional air pollutants and carbon emission reductions for China's building sector during the 13th Five-Year Plan period," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 281-294.
    14. Lee, Chul-Yong & Lee, Min-Kyu & Yoo, Seung-Hoon, 2017. "Willingness to pay for replacing traditional energies with renewable energy in South Korea," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 284-290.
    15. Irena Pyka & Aleksandra Nocoń, 2021. "Responsible Lending Policy of Green Investments in the Energy Sector in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-25, November.
    16. Rafal Nagaj & Jaroslaw Korpysa, 2020. "Impact of COVID-19 on the Level of Energy Poverty in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.
    17. Jia, Zhijie & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "How to achieve the first step of the carbon-neutrality 2060 target in China: The coal substitution perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    18. Niu, Dong-xiao & Song, Zong-yun & Xiao, Xin-li, 2017. "Electric power substitution for coal in China: Status quo and SWOT analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 610-622.
    19. Karpinska, Lilia & Śmiech, Sławomir, 2021. "Breaking the cycle of energy poverty. Will Poland make it?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    20. Karellas, S. & Panopoulos, K.D. & Panousis, G. & Rigas, A. & Karl, J. & Kakaras, E., 2012. "An evaluation of Substitute natural gas production from different coal gasification processes based on modeling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 183-194.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wen, Shiyan & Jia, Zhijie, 2022. "The energy, environment and economy impact of coal resource tax, renewable investment, and total factor productivity growth," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Zou, Ran & Yang, Jun & Feng, Chao, 2023. "Does informatization alleviate energy poverty? A global perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Chen, Han & Chen, Wenying, 2021. "Status, trend, economic and environmental impacts of household solar photovoltaic development in China: Modelling from subnational perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    4. Jia, Zhijie & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "How to achieve the first step of the carbon-neutrality 2060 target in China: The coal substitution perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    5. Weicheng Xu & Xiaoyi Feng & Yiying Zhu, 2023. "The Impact of Green Finance on Carbon Emissions in China: An Energy Consumption Optimization Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-23, July.
    6. Yu Cao & Cong Xu & Syahrul Nizam Kamaruzzaman & Nur Mardhiyah Aziz, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Green Building Development in China: Advantages, Challenges and Future Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-29, September.
    7. Du, Hua & Han, Qi & de Vries, Bauke & Sun, Jun, 2024. "Community solar PV adoption in residential apartment buildings: A case study on influencing factors and incentive measures in Wuhan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 354(PA).
    8. Izabela Horzela & Sławomir Gromadzki & Jarosław Gryz & Tomasz Kownacki & Aneta Nowakowska-Krystman & Marzena Piotrowska-Trybull & Radosław Wisniewski, 2021. "Energy Portfolio of the Eastern Poland Macroregion in the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-28, December.
    9. Hou, Yali & Wang, Qunwei & Tan, Tao, 2023. "An ensemble learning framework for rooftop photovoltaic project site selection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    10. Lijuan Zhang & Tatyana Ponomarenko, 2023. "Directions for Sustainable Development of China’s Coal Industry in the Post-Epidemic Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-32, April.
    11. Xu, Yizhen & Qin, Botao & Shi, Quanlin & Hao, Mingyue & Shao, Xu & Jiang, Zhe & Ma, Zujie, 2023. "Study on the preparation and properties of colloidal gas foam concrete to prevent spontaneous combustion of coal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    12. Zhang, Yali & Li, Wenqi & Wu, Feng, 2020. "Does energy transition improve air quality? Evidence derived from China’s Winter Clean Heating Pilot (WCHP) project," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    13. Zhang, Jiaye & Chen, Chongming & Zhou, Ao & Rahman, Zia ur & Wang, Xuebin & Stojiljković, Dragoslava & Manić, Nebojsa & Vujanović, Milan & Tan, Houzhang, 2022. "Morphology of char particles from coal pyrolysis in a pressurized entrained flow reactor: Effects of pressure and atmosphere," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PB).
    14. Huang, Zhi-xiong & Yang, Xiandong, 2021. "Carbon emissions and firm innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 503-513.
    15. Balezentis, Tomas & Streimikiene, Dalia & Mikalauskas, Ignas & Shen, Zhiyang, 2021. "Towards carbon free economy and electricity: The puzzle of energy costs, sustainability and security based on willingness to pay," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    16. Piotr F. Borowski, 2022. "Management of Energy Enterprises in Zero-Emission Conditions: Bamboo as an Innovative Biomass for the Production of Green Energy by Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, March.
    17. Fuquan Zhao & Fanlong Bai & Xinglong Liu & Zongwei Liu, 2022. "A Review on Renewable Energy Transition under China’s Carbon Neutrality Target," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-27, November.
    18. Timo Blumberg & Max Sorgenfrei & George Tsatsaronis, 2015. "Design and Assessment of an IGCC Concept with CO 2 Capture for the Co-Generation of Electricity and Substitute Natural Gas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Rafał Nagaj, 2022. "Macroeconomic Policy versus Fuel Poverty in Poland—Support or Barrier," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    20. Teresa Cuerdo-Vilches & Miguel Ángel Navas-Martín & Ignacio Oteiza, 2021. "Behavior Patterns, Energy Consumption and Comfort during COVID-19 Lockdown Related to Home Features, Socioeconomic Factors and Energy Poverty in Madrid," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:5115-:d:1096932. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.