This presentation is part of the Sustainable Management: Tools for Tomorrow (TOO4TO) learning materials. It covers the following topic: Sustainable Energy Solutions (Module 4). The material consists of 3 parts. This presentation covers Part 2. You can find all TOO4TO Modules and their presentations here: https://too4to.eu/e-learning-course/ TOO4TO was a 35-month EU-funded Erasmus+ project, running until August 2023 in co-operation with European strategic partner institutions of the Gdańsk University of Technology (Poland), the Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and Global Impact Grid (Germany). TOO4TO aims to increase the skills, competencies and awareness of future managers and employees with available tools and methods that can provide sustainable management and, as a result, support sustainable development in the EU and beyond. Read more about the project here: https://too4to.eu/ This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. Its whole content reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. PROJECT NUMBER 2020-1-PL01-KA203-082076

2. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
SOLUTIONS
Module 4, part 2 by Turku University of Applied Sciences
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3. Part 2
Costs, emissions, and impact regarding sustainable energy
Learning objectives and outcomes of the module:
• ability to understand the concept of energy transition
• ability to understand the concept of LCOE (Levelized cost of energy)
• ability to understand about emissions and environmental impact of
sustainable energy solutions
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4. Introduction
• Energy is critical to economic development and human welfare, and is also
inextricably linked to the challenges of sustainable development (Mundaca
et al., 2018).
• According to Chen et al. (2019) the global energy transition is still
underway, from traditional biomass energy to modern commercial energy
(such as electricity) and new renewable energy (such as wind and solar
energy).
• The energy transition is pushing the frontiers in energy modelling, not only
with new technologies, but also towards frameworks capable of
representing the interdependencies between policy making, energy
infrastructure expansion, market behaviour, environmental impact and
supply security (del Granado et al., 2018).
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5. The sustainable
energy transition
is not just a shifting to a new and high-
efficiency energy system, but also a
challenge in terms of making sure the
environmental and social costs, risks and
benefits of that shift are well managed in
a way that can be considered
sustainable.
(Sareen and Haarstad, 2018).
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6. Energy, resource and environmental impacts are
interlinked
• The focus of energy transition should not be limited to
assessing certain technologies, or studying isolated
components and factors of the energy system (del Granado et
al., 2018).
• As environmental accounting and evaluation of energy systems
are the basis for the design and optimization of sustainable
energy system from both micro and macro level, tools for
environmental modelling should be improved to increase the
accuracy and robustness (Chen et al., 2020)
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7. Deepening
environmental
modelling studies
may unveil a broader picture of
the energy-environment nexus
system, which can foster
collaborative management to
achieve both the targets of
energy saving and emission
reduction.
(Chen et al., 2019)
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8. 8
Source used: Journal of Cleaner Production
Without a managerial framework and
a well-designed energy market to
tackle the energy question,
numerous new technologies for
energy efficiency improvement and
renewable integration will not gain
the momentum required.
(Chen et al., 2019)
Managerial
framework is
needed

9. Renewable energy and global energy transition
• “While climate change mitigation is a powerful driver behind the
shift away from fossil fuel-based power generation, this is not
the only driver. At the same time, renewable power has become
the cheapest form of electricity generation and the costs
continue to fall thanks to improvements in technology and
economies of scale. The share of renewable power continue to
rise from year to year, with nearly 30% renewables in the global
power mix at present and renewables dominating yearly
capacity additions.” (World Economic Forum, 2021)
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10. Share of renewable
energy in the mix
• Variable renewables will dominate the
world's total power supply by 2050, a
major change from today’s situation.
• Yet experience from around the world
shows it is possible to operate power
systems with high shares of variable
renewables, as witnessed in Germany,
Ireland and the UK, amongst others.
(Source: World Economic Forum)
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11. The four main pillars supporting increased flexibility of
renewable energy transition by IRENA
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12. Defining LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy)
• The levelized cost of energy (LCOE), also referred to as the
levelized cost of electricity or the levelized energy cost (LEC), is
a measurement used to assess and compare alternative
methods of energy production.
• The LCOE of an energy-generating asset can be thought of as
the average total cost of building and operating the asset per
unit of total electricity generated over an assumed lifetime.
(Source: Corporate finance institute)
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13. Defining LCOE (Cont.)
• The LCOE is a fundamental calculation used in the preliminary
assessment of an energy-producing project.
• The LCOE can be used to determine whether to move forward
with a project or as a means to compare different energy-
producing projects.
• The formula to calculate the LCOE is (Present Value of Total
Cost Over the Lifetime)/(Present Value of All Electricity
Generated Over the Lifetime). [see next slide]
(Source: Corporate finance institute)
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14. The formula
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15. 15
Renewables vs. Fossil Fuels: The True Cost of Energy
• Video (17 minutes): Engineering with Rosie available

16. Emissions and environmental impact of sustainable
energy solutions
• Rising energy demand and efforts to combat climate change
require a significant increase in low-carbon electricity
generation.
• Yet, concern has been raised that rapid investment in some
novel technologies could cause a new set of environmental
problems.
(Source: Resource Panel)
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17. 17
The impact on emissions of replacing fossil fuels

18. 18
Renewables can help decarbonise cities (IRENA)
• A short, 1 minute video by IRENA

19. Report by International
Resource Panel (IRP)
• Compared to coal, electricity
generated by hydro, wind, solar
and geothermal power can bring
substantial reductions in
greenhouse gases emissions (by
more than 90 per cent), and also
of pollutants harmful to human
health and ecosystems (by 60-90
per cent).
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20. 20
Picture: Forest 2 Market
carbon dioxide from fossil fuel
power plants will reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by
70 per cent, but increase the
pollution damaging human
health and ecosystems by 5-
80 per cent.
Source: IRP
The capture and
storage of

21. Please familiarize
yourself with
The infographic by IRP and UNEP on “How
energy choices influence the human
future” which is available as PDF on the
learning platform.
The full report is available for download at
Resource Panel
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22. Self-study questions
1.What is meant with sustainable energy transition?
2.What is meant with the concept of LCOE
3.Why are emissions in such a big role in the discussion, and
what are the environmental impact of sustainable solutions?
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23. This is the end of part 2. Thank you
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