Special issue on efficiency and cost issues towards clean energy transition

Introduction

The urgency of climate change, the pressing concerns regarding energy security, and the growing emphasis on sustainable development have all led to global consensus on the goal of achieving carbon neutrality. Nations worldwide are actively promoting the process of decarbonization, gradually transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. As per the IEA’s Government Energy Spending Tracker (2022), governments worldwide have allocated a significant fiscal support of USD 1.2 trillion to facilitate the clean energy transition since the onset of the COVID19 pandemic.

Ensuring continuous economic growth and securing energy supply while simultaneously increasing energy efficiency and reducing transition costs is a major concern for both developed and developing countries. At the organizational level, efficiency and cost considerations are undeniably crucial in all aspects of corporate decision-making. Additionally, it is essential not to overlook the economic costs associated with energy transition, which encompass factors such as the production and storage costs of clean energy, dependence on critical minerals, and even uncertain cost of energy price volatility and supply disruptions (IEA, 2021). Moreover, it is imperative to consider the potential social and health costs associated with the developing of clean energy (Zerrahn, 2017).

There is a growing need for new insights into efficiency and cost considerations pertaining to the transition to clean energy in order to facilitate a smoother process. Currently, the rapid progress of energy transition is primarily driven by policies (Blazquez et al., 2020), emphasizing the importance of evaluating the efficiency of these policies to determine the most effective ones or even integrated policy combinations. Given the existence of multiple clean energy pathways during the transition, it becomes essential to assess the efficiency of these transformation paths to identify the most favorable options. Even within the same type of transition path, results can vary significantly depending on regional economic conditions, resource availability, and technology advancements. This highlights the necessity of efficiency comparisons across different types of energy transition.

This special issue aims to explore the efficiency and cost issues towards clean energy transition through an empiricist point of view with practical policy implications. We welcome submissions that focus on the evaluation of efficiency and cost aspects within the context of energy transition activities. Contributions addressing the aforementioned topics are also encouraged.

In partnership with the International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS), outstanding presented at the ISETS Inaugural International Conference in Bangkok, scheduled for October 14-19, will be extended a special invitation to submit their work to this special issue.

Topics covered

Submissions should encompass a broad range of topics related to clean energy transition, including but not limited to the following:

• Efficiency assessment of policy application on energy transition
• Efficiency assessment of energy transition for specific industries and regions
• Efficiency comparisons among different pathways of energy transition
• Integrated efficiency and cost evaluation of energy transition
• Macro and micro empirical analysis on efficiency and cost issues towards energy transition
• Cost-effectiveness analysis on production and storage cost of clean energy and dependence on critical minerals
• Uncertainty cost of energy price volatility and supply disruptions
• Possible social and health cost of energy transition
• Technical and financial support to increase efficiency and lower cost during transition

Important deadlines

• Submission deadline: 31 December 2023

Submission instructions

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online, please select VSI: Efficiency and Cost Issues towards Clean Energy Transition on submission.

Guest editors

Xunpeng (Roc) SHI

Research Principal/Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Email: xunpeng.shi@uts.edu.au

Chin-Hsien YU

Professor, School of Public Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China. Email: evaniayu@gmail.com; chinhsienyu@swufe.edu.cn

Jinxiu DING

Assistant Professor, Department of Public Finance, School of Economics, and Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Email: jinxiuding@xmu.edu.cn

Gagan Deep SHARMA

Professor, University School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India. Email: angrishgagan@gmail.com, gagan@ipu.ac.in

References

IEA’s Government Energy Spending Tracker (2022). Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/news/global-government-spending-on-clean-energy-transitions-rises-to-usd-1-2-trillion-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic-spurred-by-energy-security-concerns

IEA (2021). Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/news/pathway-to-critical-and-formidable-goal-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2050-is-narrow-but-brings-huge-benefits

Zerrahn, A., 2017. Wind power and externalities. Ecological Economics, 141, 245–260.

Blazquez, J., Fuentes, R., Manzano, B., 2020. On some economic principles of the energy transition. Energy Policy, 147, 111807.