Eco-Bio-Economic Development And Emissions Reductions By Changing Technology

Simionescu, Violeta; Mascu*, Simona

doi:https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.08.03.197

Eco-Bio-Economic Development And Emissions Reductions By Changing Technology

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Abstract

The main objective of this article is the establishment of an innovative training system about social, environmental and economical aspects of the climate change and air pollution, based on the analysis of the eco-bio-economy development implemented in order to move to circular ecological growth with a focus on monitoring and emission reduction to ensure sustainable development. The analysis focuses on setting targets for a developed and organized training courses as engineering and eco-bio-economiy education program module in order to raise awareness and channel knowledge to specialists about: climate change forecasting analysis models, mitigating specific greenhouse gas emissions, adapting public policies to climate change. Scaling up renewable energy to 36% of the global energy mix by 2030 would provide about half of the emissions reductions needed to hold warming to 2°C. Over the period under review (2005-2016), among ten Central and Eastern European Countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia), Poland is the undisputed renewable growth leader, accounting for almost 83 million tonnes of oil equivalent from primary production of biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind and solar energy.

Keywords: Eco-Bio-Economy Sustainable Development airpollutants greenhouse gas emissions renewable energies Central and Eastern European Countries

Introduction

Primary target group of the training course is audiences professional in climate field, economic,

social, environmental level in order to implement projects and measures that continuously improve the lives

of current and future generations, by developing at the level of central and local communities the ability to

manage and effectively use natural resources, to stimulate innovation in the social and environmental fields,

thus ensuring sustainable agriculture, food security, prosperity, environmental protection, biodiversity, and

economic and social cohesion. American scientist Lester Brown, one of the pioneers of the concept of

sustainable environmental development, launched the eco-economic theory in 2001 that highlights the

importance of ecology and environmental protection in the sustainable development of mankind (Brown,

2001). Environmental policy procedures should be a sound basis for sustainable development for the benefit

of all human beings and the environment (Ostrom, 2007). It has been demonstrated that we can survive a

month without food, between 3 and 8 days without water, between 3 and 10 minutes (differentiated from

person to person) without air, these being the physical requirements of our physical body that sustain

physical life. God could have created humanity in a million different ways, but people's lives depend mainly

on breathing, drinking water and eating food. As Steffen and Kirch conclude in their studies, it is necessary

to effectively integrate the three pillars of sustainable development into the economic, social and

environmental dimensions (Steffen, Sanderson, & Jager, 2004; Kirch, 2005).

Interactions between the three pillars of sustainable development: economy, environment

and society

Ecological economy differs from conventional economy and conventional ecology in terms of the

high horizon of its perception of climate change and the importance it attaches to the interaction between

the environment and the economy (figure 01 ).

Figure 1: figure 01. Interactions between the three pillars of sustainable development: economy, environment and society

The transition to eco-bio-economy is expected to solve the following issues:

Dependency of limited fossil resources;

Increases in energy consumption, especially in the transport sector;

Climate change and global warming;

Contamination of the environment with unnatural and non-degradable materials;

Sustainable development seen from the perspective of environmental protection should focus on

reducing air pollution by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, prudent management of water and land

resources, effective waste management policies, protecting biodiversity (Constanza, Daly, & Bartholomew,

2006). However, to prevent the deterioration of the environment and to improve living standards, it is

necessary to restructure the tax system by reducing income taxes and increasing environmental taxes for

destructive activities, so that taxes reflect ecological truth.

Environmental policies at EU level and Central and Eastern Europe Countries.

The Energy Union supports the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy to achieve

sustainable growth through their legal frameworks and related initiatives. The European Union, which is a

signatory to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), reports annually the status of

greenhouse gases (GHG) eliminated in the atmosphere by its Member States (Paris Agreement, 2015)

With the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, the European Union (EU) is the main region

that has made strong efforts to mitigate climate change among developed economies, setting a 20%

greenhouse gas reduction target in 2020 compared to 1990. EU 28 GHG emissions were reduced by 17.88%

in 2016 compared to 2007.

After EU integration (in May 2004: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,

Slovenia, Slovakia and January 2007: Romania and Bulgaria), the main objective of the countries in Central

and Eastern Europe (10 CEEC) was to raise living standards by aligning policies with EU requirements.

Therefore, they have implemented profound and coherent political reforms in order to ensure better

interaction and coordination between EU Member States and reduce the gap between them and Western

European countries.

The EU emission reduction obligation is shared between Member and industry through the EU

Emissions Trading Systems (EU ETS). EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set it is used

to monitor progress towards SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy, SDG 12 on ensuring sustainable

consumption and production patterns and SDG 13 on climate action. Furthermore, the European Council

has agreed on three key targets for the year 2030: at least 40 % cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from

1990 levels), at least 27 % share for renewable energy and at least 27 % improvement in energy efficiency

(European Union, The EU Emissions trading system, 2013).

Problem Statement

Air pollution seriously damages human health and the environment. Emissions of gases can lead to

major environmental problems and can cause acidification, eutrophication or photochemical fog and smoke.

Data on emissions of air pollutants (ammonia (NH3), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC),

nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxide (SOx)) annually reported by Member States to the European

Commission under Directive 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of

national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants (European Environment Agency, 2016)

The pollutant with the greatest reduction in emissions across the 10 CEEC has been SOx. Emissions

of SOx in 2016 stood at 1.09 million tonnes compared to 2,24 million tonnes in 2008 . The majority of SOx

emissions were reduced in the energy production and distribution sector (Electricity, gas, steam and air

conditioning supply, 185.386 tonnes less). In Romania, emissions of SOx in 2015 stood at 147.219,27

tonnes compared to 520.743,47 tonnes in 2008;. Over the last 27 years, EU-wide emissions of NOx more

than halved from 18.1 to 7.6 million tonnes. In the 10 CEEC, the largest reduction of NOx took place in

Poland, by roughly 15,33 %. Road transport is the main contributing sector to total NOx emissions.

Emissions of NH3 almost entirely derive from agriculture. Main reductions were achieved through better

waste management. Nowadays, ammonia is likely to be the most important acidifying gas emitted in

Europe. Compared to other pollutants, reductions in NH3 emissions were moderate. In 10 CEEC, over the

past 9 years the emissions of NH3 decreased from 749.877,19 to 669.353,74 tonnes. Between 2008 and

2016, CEEC-10-wide emissions of NMVOC have been reduced by roughly 15% from 1.028 million tonnes

to 875.081,15 tonnes. The charts below show the evolution of the main greenhouse gases in ten countries

from Central and Eastern Europe (figure 02, figure 03 , figure 04 , figure 05). This analysis has shown that

Poland is the most polluting country in the 10 post-communist EU countries.

Also, Romania and Poland are leading countries in the release of considerable amounts of emissions

into the atmosphere. Between 2015 and 2008, the most notable achievements in reducing carbon dioxide

in the air occurred in the Romania, where the total quantities have been reduced by 27% from 93039627

tonnes to 67935589 tonnes.

Research Questions

How did different countries from Central and Eastern Europe implement renewable energy and what

impact did it have on GHG reductions?

A substantial reduction in CO2 emissions could be achieved by changing existing energy generation

technology with renewable energy technologies. The Energy Union strategy highlights renewable energies

as part of the required efforts for the decarbonisation of the energy system. EU Cohesion Policy (2014-

2020) invests EUR 29 billion in sustainable energy, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, smart

energy infrastructure and low-carbon research and innovation

Renewable energy technologies are recognized as having the potential to serve as an effective tool

for managing natural resources and to encourage a change in positive environmental behaviour. Primary

production of biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind and solar energy are included in renewable

energies.

Over the period under review (2005-2016), among ten Central and Eastern European Countries

(Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia),

Poland is the undisputed renewable growth leader, accounting for almost 83 million tonnes of oil equivalent

from primary production of biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind and solar energy. Perhaps

surprisingly, Romania is the second-largest growth market for renewables with 64 million tonnes of oil

equivalent from primary production of biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind and solar energy.

However, uncertainties around proposed tax reforms and energy policies could hinder renewable growth in

Romania (Figure 06).

Figure 2: Figure 06. Primary production of renewable energy by type, 1 000 tonnes of oil equivalent

Poland is the most polluting country of the 10 post-communist EU countries, releasing the most

significant quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as shown in the graph above. For this reason,

we have chosen to evaluate the dependency between renewable energy and emissions of ammonia, sodium

oxides, sulfur oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, which are expressed in CO2 equivalent.

Purpose of the Study

Air pollution processes frequently involve the analysis of the simultaneous influence of several

variables (in our case emissions of ammonia, sodium oxides, sulphur oxides, non-methane volatile organic

compounds, which are expressed in CO2 equivalent), apparently independent of one variable considered to

be (dependent) on their action (renewable energies).

The linear modelling of this multiple correlation is the simplest solution adopted in a preliminary study

phase. It is formally expressed through the equation y= 𝜶𝟎+𝜶𝟏𝒙𝟏+𝜶𝟐𝒙𝟐+…𝜶𝒏𝒙 𝒏+𝒆𝒊:

where:

tax- independent variable;

𝒙𝟏 … . 𝒙𝒏- factorial variables;

𝜶𝟎 … 𝜶𝒏.- model parameters;

Research Methods

A multiple regression model was used in order to study the dependence of renewable energies by

the four air pollution emissions (ammonia (NH3), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC),

nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulphur oxide (SOx)), in Poland. Thus, following the estimation of the Minitab

(Figure 07) parameters for emissions of ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and non-methane volatile

organic compounds, it was obtained a model that captures the dependence of the regenerative energy of

ammonia (NH3), nitrogen oxides (NOx) sulphur oxides (SOx) having the following equation:

Renewable energy = -6309.94 +0.026528 * NH3 +0.005375* NOx – 0.0032*Sox,

for which it has been obtained Coefficient of determination R2=0,947249.

Figure 3: Figure 07. The evolution of renewable energy in the period 1990-2015 compared to the trend of

renewable energy obtained according to our model, in Poland, Multiple Regression Model, Eviews7

Given that the Coefficient of determination is close to 1, the correlation is strong, so the endogenous

variable (renewable energies) is strongly influenced by exogenous (gas emissions). It also shows what

percentage of renewable energy can be attributed to significant factors (NH3, NOX, SOX,). In our case,

about 94.72% of the increase in the amount of renewable energy is due to the variation in gas emissions

(expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent)

Findings

The calculation of the parameters is done by the least squares method and the resulting equations

are solved. It was checked the significance of the parameters and models as a whole and the models are

statistically correct. Also, the residues were checked and they are normal, independent and homoscedastic.

T-test significance values for the coefficients and p-values are given below. Since p-values are

smaller than 0.05, the coefficients are significant (table 01 ).

Table 1 -

See Full Size >

To validate the model as a whole, it was used the ANOVA and Fisher (F) test to determine how

much of the variance of the dependent variable is explained by the estimated equation. If this coefficient is

close to 1, then the correlation is significant, so the endogenous variable is strongly influenced by the

exogenous ones. The results of the F test confirm that the model is significant overall because its value is

83.7998 and the p-value is 3,492 10-9< 0,01.

F = 83,7998, p-val = 3.492E-09

For the homoscedasticity analysis of the residues we used a series of tests: ” F” test that shows a normal distribution because the statistical test is 0.26 and the value of ”p” is 0.077 and Levene test, whose

statistic has a value of 1.68, corresponding to a p value of 0.213.

Conclusion

The transition to eco-bio-economy is expected to solve the following issues : dependency of limited

fossil resources by increasing production of our global energy needs from alternative energy sources: solar

energy, wind power and moving; increases in energy consumption, especially made through transition to

an affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy system; climate change and global warming made through a

substantial reduction in CO2 emissions achieved by changing existing energy generation technology with

renewable energy technologies. Those who will take a course in eco-bio-economy development and

renewable energy can be prepared to face this looming crisis. A study of renewable energy may reinforce

existing mathematical and analytical reasoning abilities. These classes often emphasize an interdisciplinary

approach that improves the understanding of economy, social and environmental sciences. Students may

develop an appreciation for the business aspect of the energy industry.

Greenhouse gas emissions reductions have been the result of a combination of policy measures.

National emissions reduction policies have led to the following important results in the period between

2011-2016 compared to 2010. The following main findings are widely based on the European Union

emission inventory report 1990–2016 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air

Pollution (LRTAP). The pollutant with the greatest reduction in emissions across the 10 CEEC has been

SOx. Emissions of SOx in 2016 stood at 1.09 million tonnes compared to 2,24 million tonnes in 2008 . The

majority of SOx emissions were reduced in the energy production and distribution sector (Electricity, gas,

steam and air conditioning supply, 185.386 tonnes less). In Romania, emissions of SOx in 2015 stood at

147.219,27 tonnes compared to 520.743,47 tonnes in 2008. Over the last 27 years, EU-wide emissions of

NOx more than halved from 18.1 to 7.6 million tonnes. In the 10 CEEC, the largest reduction of NOx took

place in Poland, by roughly 15,33 %.