IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i16p5970-d1216428.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green Transition and Electricity Sector Decarbonization: The Case of West Macedonia

Author

Listed:
  • John K. Kaldellis

    (Laboratory of Soft Energy Applications and Environmental Protection, University of West Attica, P.O. Box 41046, 12201 Athens, Greece)

  • Despoina Boulogiorgou

    (Laboratory of Soft Energy Applications and Environmental Protection, University of West Attica, P.O. Box 41046, 12201 Athens, Greece)

  • Emilia M. Kondili

    (Optimisation of Production Systems Laboratory, University of West Attica, P.O. Box 41046, 12201 Athens, Greece)

  • Athanasios G. Triantafyllou

    (Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution and Environmental Physics, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Florina, Greece)

Abstract

During the last 50 years, the vast majority of European countries have relied on coal and imported carbon-containing fuels to meet their growing electricity demand. Coal is the only fossil fuel in significant reserves across Europe. However, the pressing threat of radical climate change and the looming depletion of fossil fuels necessitate a structural transformation from a conventional centralized fossil fuel-based electricity generation system to an innovative decentralized system based on zero carbon (green) energy resources. In this context, one important issue for communities operating coal-based Thermal Power Stations (TPS) nearing retirement is whether the European Union (EU) policy can ensure a socially just development of the coal mining areas during the coal phase-out. The objective is to avoid a decline in living standards and mass immigration. In response to the EU’s decarbonization policy, the Greek state has recently decided to retire the lignite-based West Macedonia TPS, which has been in operation since the 1970s. Since its establishment in August 1950, the (initially State-controlled) Greek Public Power Corporation (PPC) has undertaken the responsibility to operate the quarries and the six local TPS, offering approximately 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. Over the last 50 years, the extraction of lignite and the operation of the 4500 MW e TPS of West Macedonia has been the primary economic activity, accounting for nearly 45% of the entire Region’s GDP. While both the Greek state and the EU have prepared and presented plans to financially support local communities and encourage new private and public investments, local citizens remain anxious about their future. The present study investigates the attitude of young scientists towards the forthcoming radical changes linked to the green transition in seriously affected EU Regions, with a focus on West Macedonia. The proposed analysis in West Macedonia reveals the skepticism of young people regarding the speed of the green transition and concerns about significant migration and potential brain drain. On the other hand, the implementation of EU initiatives, including the involvement of young scientists in the planned new green energy-related activities, offers a promising alternative solution. This engagement can lead to the successful integration of local communities into the sustainable and green future envisioned by the EU.

Suggested Citation

  • John K. Kaldellis & Despoina Boulogiorgou & Emilia M. Kondili & Athanasios G. Triantafyllou, 2023. "Green Transition and Electricity Sector Decarbonization: The Case of West Macedonia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-22, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:16:p:5970-:d:1216428
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/5970/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/5970/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boulogiorgou, D. & Ktenidis, P., 2020. "TILOS local scale Technology Innovation enabling low carbon energy transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 397-403.
    2. Gordon Rausser & Wadim Strielkowski & Grzegorz Mentel, 2023. "Consumer Attitudes toward Energy Reduction and Changing Energy Consumption Behaviors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-5, February.
    3. Eleni Zafeiriou & Konstantinos Spinthiropoulos & Constantinos Tsanaktsidis & Stavros Garefalakis & Konstantinos Panitsidis & Alexandros Garefalakis & Garyfallos Arabatzis, 2022. "Energy and Mineral Resources Exploitation in the Delignitization Era: The Case of Greek Peripheries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Karasmanaki, Evangelia & Ioannou, Konstantinos & Katsaounis, Konstantinos & Tsantopoulos, Georgios, 2020. "The attitude of the local community towards investments in lignite before transitioning to the post-lignite era: The case of Western Macedonia, Greece," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    5. Talat S. Genc & Stephen Kosempel, 2023. "Energy Transition and the Economy: A Review Article," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-26, March.
    6. Wang, Qiao & Yi, Hongtao, 2021. "New energy demonstration program and China's urban green economic growth: Do regional characteristics make a difference?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    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. Pratik Mochi & Kartik Pandya & Joao Soares & Zita Vale, 2023. "Optimizing Power Exchange Cost Considering Behavioral Intervention in Local Energy Community," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Pacheco, A. & Monteiro, J. & Santos, J. & Sequeira, C. & Nunes, J., 2022. "Energy transition process and community engagement on geographic islands: The case of Culatra Island (Ria Formosa, Portugal)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 700-711.
    3. Christina G. Siontorou, 2023. "Fair Development Transition of Lignite Areas: Key Challenges and Sustainability Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Georgios Tsantopoulos & Evangelia Karasmanaki, 2021. "Energy Transition and Climate Change in Decision-Making Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-3, December.
    5. Li, Jiaman & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Wang, Kun, 2022. "3G in China: How green economic growth and green finance promote green energy?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1327-1337.
    6. Vangelis Marinakis & Alexandros Flamos & Giorgos Stamtsis & Ioannis Georgizas & Yannis Maniatis & Haris Doukas, 2020. "The Efforts towards and Challenges of Greece’s Post-Lignite Era: The Case of Megalopolis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Viktor Koval & Piotr Olczak & Nataliia Vdovenko & Olena Boiko & Dominika Matuszewska & Inesa Mikhno, 2021. "Ecosystem of Environmentally Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure in Ukraine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Che, Shuai & Wang, Jun & Chen, Honghang, 2023. "Can China's decentralized energy governance reduce carbon emissions? Evidence from new energy demonstration cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    9. Christina-Ioanna Papadopoulou & Efstratios Loizou & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis & Anastasios Michailidis & Christos Karelakis & Yannis Fallas & Aikaterini Paltaki, 2023. "What Makes Farmers Aware in Adopting Circular Bioeconomy Practices? Evidence from a Greek Rural Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, April.
    10. Zeynep Clulow & David M. Reiner, 2022. "Democracy, Economic Development and Low-Carbon Energy: When and Why Does Democratization Promote Energy Transition?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-22, October.
    11. Zhixiong Weng & Yuqi Song & Hao Ma & Zhong Ma & Tingting Liu, 2023. "Forecasting energy demand, structure, and CO2 emission: a case study of Beijing, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 10369-10391, September.
    12. Xue, Yan & Tang, Chang & Wu, Haitao & Liu, Jianmin & Hao, Yu, 2022. "The emerging driving force of energy consumption in China: Does digital economy development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    13. Cheng, Zhonghua & Yu, Xuejin & Zhang, Yi, 2023. "Is the construction of new energy demonstration cities conducive to improvements in energy efficiency?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PA).
    14. Mengcheng Wang & Nana Lin & Youming Dong & Yifeng Tang, 2023. "How Does New Energy Demonstration City Policy Promote Urban Land Use Efficiency in China? The Mediating Effect of Industrial Structure," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, May.
    15. Palomba, Valeria & Dino, Giuseppe E. & Frazzica, Andrea, 2020. "Coupling sorption and compression chillers in hybrid cascade layout for efficient exploitation of renewables: Sizing, design and optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 11-28.
    16. Iwona Markuszewska, 2021. "The Energy Landscape versus the Farming Landscape: The Immortal Era of Coal?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, October.
    17. Bing Kuang & Jinjin Liu & Xiangyu Fan, 2022. "Has China’s Low-Carbon City Construction Enhanced the Green Utilization Efficiency of Urban Land?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-20, August.
    18. Xu, Guoyin & Jiang, Jinde & Wang, Rong, 2022. "The impact of natural resource endowment and transportation infrastructure on China's regional green economic performance in the context of COP26," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    19. Dimitris Al. Katsaprakakis & Apostolos Michopoulos & Vasiliki Skoulou & Eirini Dakanali & Aggeliki Maragkaki & Stavroula Pappa & Ioannis Antonakakis & Dimitris Christakis & Constantinos Condaxakis, 2022. "A Multidisciplinary Approach for an Effective and Rational Energy Transition in Crete Island, Greece," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-49, April.
    20. Kuang, Yunming & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Unwatched pollution reduction: The effect of natural gas utilization on air quality," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).

    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:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:16:p:5970-:d:1216428. 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.