Portfolio performance implications of investment in renewable energy equities: Green versus gray

The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation and interest by investors in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment strategies have caused a rapid shift to the green or renewable energy sector, from traditional or gray (oil, gas, and coal) energy companies. In this study, we examine whether and to what extent, financially speaking, there is a price to pay for investing in renewable energy sector equity. Moreover, we seek to determine whether green investments can be considered a hedge during times of financial stress. We find that alphas from investments in a portfolio of gray (overall energy sector) stocks and versus a portfolio of renewable energy equities during an exogenous, non-financial shock-the COVID-19 pandemic-and during non-crisis periods did not differ statistically. However, the renewable energy index showed higher idiosyncratic volatility than the energy index, as expected. The results are robust to alternative model specifications. From a practical perspective, our results are informative in that they provide insights into the tradeoffs associated with renewable energy investments. In particular, risk-adjusted returns to a renewable energy portfolio may be affected by greater idiosyncratic risk.

The Energy Sector Amid an Industry 4.0: Issues of Information Support Transformation

The article is focused on the issue of providing information for the energy sector in the modern economy. The purpose of the article is to summarize ways of collecting and analyzing primary data in the energy sector in order to complete the methodology harmonization in accordance with international standards. The methodological basis of the study is the theory of input-output tables, the concept of Industry 4.0, the basic provisions of national accounts;and the methods used by the authors are balance comparisons, economic and structural analysis, as well as methods of peer review. Input data sources for each level of information support have been systematized. The characteristic of the system of indicators and the model for constructing energy balances are generalized, within whose framework the analysis of the production and use of energy resources is carried out taking into account the new opportunities of Industry 4.0. Methodological improvement of the official questionnaires of enterprises, the integration of administrative and alternative sources, their harmonization with regional and departmental data will enhance the information support of fuel and energy balances at various levels. The paper finds out that the final harmonization of the energy statistics system in accordance with the recommendations of international organizations will improve it amid Industry 4.0. The integration of accounting, statistical and tax reporting and the construction of satellite accounts taking into consideration negative environmental trends will promote completing the national methodology transformation. Since, in a market economy, the fuel and energy balance often reveals a mismatch between the social demand for energy and its supply, its social focus can be adjusted by government regulation. The present analytical potential of the FEB forecasts revealed by the authors contribute to improving the economy's energy efficiency and reducing the energy intensity of GDP, overcoming global crises, especially in the context of the Covid-19, further sustainable development of the economy and social sphere of Russia. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

PTI: Coping with the COVID-19 crisis from a resource-based view

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are suffering heavily from the Covid-19 pandemic. Pincode Telenet International (PTI) is a small company providing software solutions to the utility sector in the Netherlands. Its revenue depends entirely on outsourcing contracts given by utility providers. When the market environment is disrupted by the Covid-19 outbreak and its lasting impact, PTI is confronted with a 35% drop in revenue and many uncertainties. This case illustrates how PTI copes with uncertainties by focusing on one certainty: the available resources. The resource-based coping strategy presented in this case engages students to reflect on how different resources can be used to strengthen collaborations and expand a customer base. It thus advances our understanding of opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial behaviour in times of crisis.

Smart Meter Data Analytics for Building Monitoring System: A Case Study

Decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization are the prominent paths for the energy sector in the future. The rise of smart meters across consumers, and industries led to a massive collection of fine-grained energy and electricity consumption-related data. A data science challenge is to analyze the Smart Meter data for the benefit of both the energy providers and the consumers. In this paper, An attempt has been made to analyze the smart meter collected from the IIT Hyderabad campus and presented the analysis into descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. The data collected from more than 50 meters over a period of one year have been analyzed and results obtained. Interesting trends such as the impact of COVID-19 on campus energy consumption have been examined. The framework for energy data analytics presented in this paper will be useful for any campus in general, and the recommendations presented will save energy expenses. © 2023 IEEE.

A security awareness and competency evaluation in the energy sector

The energy sector is highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks due to its inherently complex ecosystem of both physical and cyber infrastructure spreading across the globe. Cyber-security breaches in this domain could have a significant impact not only on the global economy but also on citizens' lives. This paper aims at evaluating the security awareness and competency of European Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES) organisations' workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian war. A targeted assessment campaign has been designed and conducted from 11th February 2022 until 18th March 2022. During that period, 132 participants, out of the 266 invited employees, participated in the campaign. The collected results were analysed from different perspectives unveiling significant findings regarding information security readiness and resilience of individuals and, consequently, organisations in the European energy sector. Key findings are discussed in detail concluding with various cyber-security recommendations addressing both the emerged vulnerabilities and the need for security culture evolution. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Energy Behaviors of Prosumers in Example of Polish Households

This paper explores ways to save energy in households with energy prosumers who generate energy using photovoltaic panels and heat pumps. On the basis of a literature analysis, we formulated a research gap in the case of the energy behaviors of prosumers. This research is important due to the growing demand for energy and the transitions of countries toward renewable energy sources. The role of prosumers in the economy is growing as they ensure energy independence and cost savings. The main purpose of this research is to understand the energy behaviors of prosumers and to examine the differences in energy behaviors between users of photovoltaic systems and heat pumps. A sample of 326 Polish prosumer households was selected using the CAWI method in order to obtain empirical data. The results suggest that prosumers show advanced ecological behaviors, and more than half of the respondents implement pro-ecological behaviors in their homes. Being a prosumer is associated with energy independence, which leads to economic stability and less dependence on traditional energy sources. The results indicate that prosumers show a general inclination toward pro-ecological behavior. Thus, this study recommends promoting prosumers and encouraging the use of pro-ecological energy as a priority for the economy. This initiative will contribute to a reduction in energy consumption in various areas, thus raising ecological awareness and a sense of responsibility for the environment.

Dependence Analysis for the Energy Sector Based on Energy ETFs

This study investigates the effects of crude oil and natural gas future returns on energy stock portfolios. We consider returns of portfolios of energy companies approximated by energy ETFs and returns of Brent crude oil and natural gas contracts listed on the US market from January 2015 to September 2022. To study the relationship between Brent crude oil, natural gas, and ETFs, we apply Granger causality in mean and variance, Dynamic Conditional Correlation and the tail dependence-focused copula approach. The research hypothesis regarding the dependence between energy ETFs and the underlying energy risk factors—crude oil and natural gas, and therefore, the existence of hedging or diversification opportunities, was verified. Our empirical findings indicate that crude oil has a medium effect on energy ETFs, and for natural gas it is even lower in the analyzed period, so hedging opportunities are weak, but opportunities for diversification arise.

An Wavelet analysis of connectedness between volatility of the energy and other markets during the COVID-19 crisis

By applying novel partial wavelet coherency, this paper investigates the transmission mechanism of the volatility from the oil, gold, and silver sector to the energy sector in the time and frequency dimensions as well as the influence of the COVID-19 health crisis on this linkage. The multiple coherencies suggest at least five multiple cycles, which are located at high frequencies (the 52 – 132-day frequency band). Among these cycles, the largest one occurs at the low frequency (the 120 – 132-day frequency band), and this cycle is persistently prolonged. Notably, the four sectors' remarkable interlinkages of the volatility are presented more clearly since the COVID-19 pandemic first appeared and hit the globe (from the end of 2019 to the middle of 2020). The partial coherency between the volatility of the energy sector and the volatility of the oil sector reveals that the relations between two sectors are relatively persistent, which changes in the energy sector's volatility cause the oil sector to become more volatile. The partial coherency between the volatility of the energy sector and the volatility of the gold and silver sector suggests their interlinkages are time-varying and can be divided into four phases. The relationships are either positive or negative, and the energy sector or the silver or gold sector could be an attendant of other market's rising volatility. During the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy sector's volatility is in-phase with the oil and silver sector's volatility leading, whilst the gold sector's volatility leads to the energy sector's volatility, and the relation is negative. © 2023

The Role of the Energy Sector in the Iranian Economy

This paper is devoted to analyzing the processes that took place in the energy sector of Iran for the period from 2004 to 2021. It is emphasized that for the sustainable development of the country's economy, a reliable, long-term, and economically acceptable supply of various types of energy in their optimal combination is necessary. Despite the territory of Iran having an extremely high potential for the development of non-traditional energy, the analysis shows that the development of the Iranian economy is mainly based on oil revenues. In the context of the growing crisis in the global economy, an increase in demand for oil and oil products, oil accents in energy diplomacy began to intensify, which allows us to speak about the actualization of the problems of developing the oil and gas sector of Iran and shifting the focus towards traditional energy sources. Nevertheless, to achieve sustainable development, along with the possession of a resource base, the availability of modern equipment and technologies, and dominance in the market for products that foreign partners are interested in acquiring are necessary. It is concluded that Iran is vulnerable to geo-economic risks in the current conditions of the development of the world economy.

Potential of CBM as an Energy Vector in Active Mines and Abandoned Mines in Russia and Europe

The energy sector is in the spotlight today for its contribution to global warming and its dependence on global geopolitics. Even though many countries have reduced their use of coal, the COVID-19 crisis, the drop in temperatures in Central Asia, and the war between Russia and Ukraine have shown that coal continues to play an important role in this sector today. As long as we continue to depend energetically on coal, it is necessary to create the basis for the successful extraction and industrial use of coal mine methane (CMM), for example, as an unconventional energy resource. Early degassing technology is a technique that allows for the extraction of the methane contained within the coal seams. The application of this technology would reduce emissions, improve mine safety, and even increase their profitability. However, this technology has been understudied and is still not implemented on a large scale today. Moreover, mines with this technology generally burn the extracted methane in flares, losing a potential unconventional fuel. This study, therefore, presents different scenarios of the use of coalbed methane (CBM), with the aim of generating an impact on pollutant emissions from coal mines. To this end, a model has been designed to evaluate the economic efficiency of degasification. In addition, an emissions analysis was carried out. The results showed that the use of this technology has a negative impact on the economy of mines, which can be completely reversed with the use of CBM as fuel. Furthermore, it is observed that degasification, in addition to reducing the number of accidents in coal mining, reduces emissions by 30–40%. © 2023 by the authors.

Could volatile cryptocurrency stimulate systemic risks in the energy sector? Evidence from novel connectedness models

By identifying the connectedness of seven indicators from January 1, 2019, to June 13, 2022, we choose an extended joint connectedness approach to a vector autoregression model with time-varying parameter (TVP-VAR) to analyze interlinkages between Crypto Volatility (CV) and Energy Volatility (EV). Our findings show that the COVID-19 outbreak seems to have an impact on the dynamic connectedness of the whole system, which peaks at about 60% toward the end of 2019. According to net total directional connectedness over a quantile, throughout the 2020–2022 timeframe, natural gas and crude oil are net shock transmitters, while the CV, clean energy, solar energy, and green bonds consistently receive all other indicators. Specifically, pairwise connectedness indicates that the CV appears to be a net transmitter of shocks to all energy indicators before the COVID-19 outbreak but acts as a net receiver of shocks from clean energy, wind energy, and green bonds in late 2020. The CV mostly has spillover effects on green bonds. The primary net transmitter of shocks to the Crypto market is crude oil. Our findings are critical in helping investors and authorities design the most effective policies to lessen the vulnerabilities of these indicators and reduce the spread of risk or uncertainty. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Pandemic Preparedness among Big Energy Companies: Call to Research and Action.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as a global phenomenon, has affected all the working realities, worldwide, with the same issues. The aim of the present work is to assess the experiences of management and their preparedness during the pandemic among big companies, in particular, in the energy sector. Based on an overview of scientific evidence and grey literature, we found that big companies followed evidence-based decision-making practices and offered preparedness and information plans. Specifically, these plans contained recommendations and best practices to be followed to avoid the risk of infection in the workplaces, as well as in the field of epidemiological surveillance and vaccination. Nevertheless, many research efforts are required, and it is important that a large number of big companies and corporations address these challenges worldwide, adopting a new sustainable approach that includes both the productivity and health of the workers. A Call to Action was then issued in order to achieve evidence-based leadership to address current and future public health emergency scenarios.

Enter the MATRIX model:a Multi-Agent model for Transition Risks with application to energy shocks

The global energy crisis that began in fall 2021 and the subsequent spike in energy prices constitute a significant challenge for the world economy that risks undermining the post-COVID-19 recovery. In this paper, we develop and calibrate a new Multi-Agent model for Transition Risks (MATRIX) to analyze the role of energy in the functioning of a complex adaptive system and the economic and distributional effects of energy shocks. The economic system is populated by heterogeneous agents, i.e., households, firms and banks, which take optimal decision rules and interact in decentralized markets characterized by limited information. After calibrating the model on US quarterly macroeconomic data, we assess the economic and distributional impacts of different types of energy shocks, namely: (i) an exogenous increase in the price of fossil fuels (e.g., oil or gas);(ii) a decrease in energy firms' productivity;(iii) a reduction in the available quantity of fossil fuels. We find that the energy shocks entail similar effects at the aggregate level in terms of higher inflation and lower real GDP. Nevertheless, the distribution of gains and losses across sectors and agents varies significantly depending on the type of shock. Our findings suggest that policymakers should carefully consider the nature of energy shocks and the resulting distributional effects to design effective measures in response to energy crises. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Renewable energy resources and sustainable development goals: Evidence based on green finance, clean energy and environmentally friendly investment

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic recession has been experienced by the entire world. This recession has caused the prices of natural resources to shrink due to a reduction in energy demand. This has caused the renewable energy projects to lose the interest of public and private finance participation. Moreover, these trends have led to a reduction in the competitiveness of renewable energy project projects that could have led to the achievement of sustainable development goals. The present study has investigated the causality relationship between investments in renewable energy and green finance while considering factors like economic growth electricity output of the renewable energy sector and the investment of private sectors in the energy sector development. China serves as the study's setting, and time series data from 2000 to 2020 were employed throughout the previous 21 years. The researcher has shown that IR, REO, and GF exhibit more erratic behaviour in comparison to GDP and IEP in the chosen period using the new technique of the wavelet power spectrum. Additionally, the coherence wavelet technique has shown that there is a unidirectional causal link from GDP to IR and IR to GF as well as a bidirectional substantial correlation between IR and our REO. In both long and short-run analyses, different kinds of causal relationships have been found. However, IEP did not show any link with IR. Based on the empirical findings in the current study the researcher recommends that the Chinese government should design specific policies to deal with the volatility in IR, GF, REO while also looking to enhance investments in these sectors to achieve sustainable growth, environmental sustainability, and increased investments in renewable energy projects for the production of increased renewable energy in China.

Enter the MATRIX model:a Multi-Agent model for Transition Risks with application to energy shocks

The global energy crisis that began in fall 2021 and the subsequent spike in energy prices constitute a significant challenge for the world economy that risks undermining the post-COVID-19 recovery. In this paper, we develop and calibrate a new Multi-Agent model for Transition Risks (MATRIX) to analyze the role of energy in the functioning of a complex adaptive system and the economic and distributional effects of energy shocks. The economic system is populated by heterogeneous agents, i.e., households, firms and banks, which take optimal decision rules and interact in decentralized markets characterized by limited information. After calibrating the model on US quarterly macroeconomic data, we assess the economic and distributional impacts of different types of energy shocks, namely: (i) an exogenous increase in the price of fossil fuels (e.g., oil or gas);(ii) a decrease in energy firms' productivity;(iii) a reduction in the available quantity of fossil fuels. We find that the energy shocks entail similar effects at the aggregate level in terms of higher inflation and lower real GDP. Nevertheless, the distribution of gains and losses across sectors and agents varies significantly depending on the type of shock. Our findings suggest that policymakers should carefully consider the nature of energy shocks and the resulting distributional effects to design effective measures in response to energy crises.

An extensive study on Indian power sector affected by Covid-19 global pandemic

Corona Virus had a very undeterminable effect on the whole human race. The most important factor in today's age of artificial intelligence and the internet of things is energy, without which a successful generation's future cannot be imagined. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy sector had battled to stay afloat. The major weapon against the virus was a countrywide shutdown, which was a wise measure, but it also disrupted the economy's routine. According to Global energy review 2020, the countries observing complete lockdown experienced an average 25% decline in the energy demand per week, and the countries observing partial lockdown observed an average 18% decline. The challenges that the Indian power industry faced during the outbreak are examined in this article, and also a suggestion for developing countries to make their energy sectors more resilient to a once-in-a-generation calamity. The study reveals the factors which affect the working of a power sector of both renewable and non-renewable energy sectors which are climatic conditions, operational efficiency, capacity factor, load factor. As a result, we will look at how the crisis affected the factors and how the engineers dealt with the issues. © 2022 Author(s).

COVID-19 recovery packages can benefit climate targets and clean energy jobs, but scale of impacts and optimal investment portfolios differ among major economies.

To meet the Paris temperature targets and recover from the effects of the pandemic, many countries have launched economic recovery plans, including specific elements to promote clean energy technologies and green jobs. However, how to successfully manage investment portfolios of green recovery packages to optimize both climate mitigation and employment benefits remains unclear. Here, we use three energy-economic models, combined with a portfolio analysis approach, to find optimal low-carbon technology subsidy combinations in six major emitting regions: Canada, China, the European Union (EU), India, Japan, and the United States (US). We find that, although numerical estimates differ given different model structures, results consistently show that a >50% investment in solar photovoltaics is more likely to enable CO2 emissions reduction and green jobs, particularly in the EU and China. Our study illustrates the importance of strategically managing investment portfolios in recovery packages to enable optimal outcomes and foster a post-pandemic green economy.

Challenges of Education In Energy and Environment: Comparison before and after Pandemic Constraints

Energy systems present a complex and dynamic interrelation between energy, environment, and society. Therefore, properly educating new professionals for the renewable energy sector is a challenging endeavor by itself. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed an additional challenge on how to engage students in energy and environment education through distance learning. In this paper, we present the methodology applied at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) for students of the discipline "Energy and Environment". The graduate student interns developed an integrated methodology of disseminating knowledge about renewable energy and environment for those students and society as a whole. A positive feedback over 95% was obtained from the enrolled students in the period of 2019-2020. It was also noticed a failure rate of 24% in 2020 in contrast to zero occurrences in 2019, when face-to-face activities were in place. Finally, we present a brief discussion on the primary challenges and lessons learned during the studied period. © 2021. The Authors. Published by International Solar Energy Society Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Scientific Committee.

Evaluating The Cyber-Security Culture of the EPES Sector: Applying a Cyber-Security Culture Framework to assess the EPES Sector's resilience and readiness

The Energy Sector is highly targeted by cyber threats because of its inherent value and profitability. Recent reported security incidents verify its key playing role in the entire economic and societal concurrent reality. This paper aims to assess the cyber-security culture status of European representatives in the entire electrical power supply chain during the coronavirus pandemic and the Ukrainian war. An evaluation campaign has been carefully designed and held from 3rd March 2022 to 18th March 2022. During that period, participants from different Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES) organizations participated in the campaign. Gathered results were analyzed and co-examined using different techniques revealing important findings regarding the cyber-security status and resilience of individuals and organizations in the European EPES sector. © 2022 ACM.

The Impact Factors of Industry 4.0 on ESG in the Energy Sector

Digital transformation refers to highly thought-out social, manufacturing, and organizational transitions driven by digital revolutions and emerging technologies. On the other hand, energy is a critical pillar of the economic growth of the country. Meanwhile, global interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment is growing. The conventional investment paradigm is being phased out in favor of investments that prioritize environmental, social, and corporate responsibility. The energy sector is one of the most significantly affected. Presently, the field of digital transformation is limited in its analysis about the sustainability factors and is still controversial, especially in the energy business. This paper identifies an in-corporation factor in Industry 4.0, taking into account the effect on ESG. The research papers and the World Economic Forum reports were investigated and identified the correlation factor using machine learning to analyze their contents. We spotlighted the documents relevant to the energy industry and sustainable development. To quantify the model, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is proposed to generate a valid model, followed by path analysis with latent variables to evaluate the structural equation modeling (SEM). The result provides the conceptual model with impact factors and their correlations. The goodness of fit value is acceptable for the agreed-upon condition, as well as a descriptive that incorporates Industry 4.0 and ESG in terms of business, industry, and ESG in relation to the energy sector’s key issues.