IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i17p10574-d896805.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy Efficiency in Urban Context: An Overview of European-Funded Projects with the Analysis of an ELENA Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Marina Bertolini

    (Levi Cases Centre for Energy Economics and Technology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
    Department of Economics and Management, University of Padova, 35123 Padova, Italy
    CRIEP—Interuniversity Research Centre on Public Economics, University of Padova, 35123 Padova, Italy)

Abstract

According to the European Union, buildings are responsible for around 40% of CO 2 emissions in the EU area. For this reason, the new regulatory framework Clean Energy for All European Package (2019) supports policies to reduce emissions by increasing energy efficiency in buildings. This is the prosecution of a long-standing policy, which in the past has mainly influenced public authorities, but also aggregations of private bodies and the realization (or renovation) of large strategic investments that impacted and changed the fruition of buildings and relevant infrastructures. The paper aims to offer an overview of the European funds dedicated to the Energy Efficiency initiatives in the past few years, distinguishing funds for financing the project itself and funds for the financing of technical assistance. The overview introduces the analysis of a case study related to technical assistance projects in the Energy Efficiency field, i.e., the European Local Energy assistance (ELENA) Fund; findings connected to the case studies are the main contribution of this paper. The analysis helps to interpret the performance of the funds and to detect the gap between the financing procedures and the subsequent operational implementation of the projects. The case study highlighted critical aspects regarding the potential mismatch between the purpose of the fund and operational barriers in the realization of the initiatives. Such evidence can contribute to helping policy makers redesign and correct funding schemes and, moreover, in evaluating them with a complete information set.

Suggested Citation

  • Marina Bertolini, 2022. "Energy Efficiency in Urban Context: An Overview of European-Funded Projects with the Analysis of an ELENA Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:10574-:d:896805
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10574/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10574/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brown, Marilyn A., 2001. "Market failures and barriers as a basis for clean energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(14), pages 1197-1207, November.
    2. Kanellakis, M. & Martinopoulos, G. & Zachariadis, T., 2013. "European energy policy—A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1020-1030.
    3. Gouldson, Andy & Kerr, Niall & Millward-Hopkins, Joel & Freeman, Mark C. & Topi, Corrado & Sullivan, Rory, 2015. "Innovative financing models for low carbon transitions: Exploring the case for revolving funds for domestic energy efficiency programmes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 739-748.
    4. Polzin, Friedemann & Egli, Florian & Steffen, Bjarne & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2019. "How do policies mobilize private finance for renewable energy?—A systematic review with an investor perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1249-1268.
    5. Bertoldi, Paolo & Mosconi, Rocco, 2020. "Do energy efficiency policies save energy? A new approach based on energy policy indicators (in the EU Member States)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    6. Lombardi, Mariarosaria & Pazienza, Pasquale & Rana, Roberto, 2016. "The EU environmental-energy policy for urban areas: The Covenant of Mayors, the ELENA program and the role of ESCos," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 33-40.
    7. Safarzadeh, Soroush & Rasti-Barzoki, Morteza & Hejazi, Seyed Reza, 2020. "A review of optimal energy policy instruments on industrial energy efficiency programs, rebound effects, and government policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    8. Laes, Erik & Mayeres, Inge & Renders, Nele & Valkering, Pieter & Verbeke, Stijn, 2018. "How do policies help to increase the uptake of carbon reduction measures in the EU residential sector? Evidence from recent studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 234-250.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Sarcina & Rubina Canesi, 2023. "Renewable Energy Community: Opportunities and Threats towards Green Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.

    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. Li-chen Zhang & Zheng-ai Dong & Zhi-xiong Tan & Jia-hui Luo & De-kui Yan, 2024. "Institutional Performance and Carbon Reduction Effect of High-Quality Development of New Energy: China’s Experience and Policy Implication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-26, August.
    2. Chlechowitz, Mara & Reuter, Matthias & Eichhammer, Wolfgang, 2022. "An Indicator based Approach to the Energy Efficiency First Principle," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S10/2021, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), revised 2022.
    3. Paolo Bertoldi & Marina Economidou & Valentina Palermo & Benigna Boza‐Kiss & Valeria Todeschi, 2021. "How to finance energy renovation of residential buildings: Review of current and emerging financing instruments in the EU," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), January.
    4. Aneta Karasek & Barbara Fura & Magdalena Zajączkowska, 2023. "Assessment of Energy Efficiency in the European Union Countries in 2013 and 2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Mac Clay, Pablo & Börner, Jan & Sellare, Jorge, 2023. "Institutional and macroeconomic stability mediate the effect of auctions on renewable energy capacity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    6. Vitaliy Roud & Thomas Wolfgang Thurner, 2018. "The Influence of State‐Ownership on Eco‐Innovations in Russian Manufacturing Firms," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1213-1227, October.
    7. Apriani Soepardi & Pratikto Pratikto & Purnomo Budi Santoso & Ishardita Pambudi Tama & Patrik Thollander, 2018. "Linking of Barriers to Energy Efficiency Improvement in Indonesia’s Steel Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Ünal, Berat Berkan & Onaygil, Sermin & Acuner, Ebru & Cin, Rabia, 2022. "Application of energy efficiency obligation scheme for electricity distribution companies in Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    9. Tomasz Jałowiec & Henryk Wojtaszek, 2021. "Analysis of the RES Potential in Accordance with the Energy Policy of the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-33, September.
    10. Yoshino, Naoyuki & Taghizadeh–Hesary, Farhad & Nakahigashi, Masaki, 2019. "Modelling the social funding and spill-over tax for addressing the green energy financing gap," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 34-41.
    11. Katris, Antonios & Turner, Karen, 2021. "Can different approaches to funding household energy efficiency deliver on economic and social policy objectives? ECO and alternatives in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    12. Ray, Manojit & Chakraborty, Basab, 2022. "Impact of demand flexibility and tiered resilience on solar photovoltaic adoption in humanitarian settlements," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 895-912.
    13. Michelsen, Carl Christian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "Switching from fossil fuel to renewables in residential heating systems: An empirical study of homeowners' decisions in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 95-105.
    14. Wuttipan Kiatruangkrai & Ekachai Leelarasmee, 2016. "Barriers to Energy Saving for Public Middle Schools in Bangkok: From School Management Perspective," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 513-521.
    15. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2006. "Energy Conservation in the United States: Understanding its Role in Climate Policy," NBER Working Papers 12272, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Knopf, Brigitte & Nahmmacher, Paul & Schmid, Eva, 2015. "The European renewable energy target for 2030 – An impact assessment of the electricity sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 50-60.
    17. Wadim Strielkowski & Anna Sherstobitova & Patrik Rovny & Tatiana Evteeva, 2021. "Increasing Energy Efficiency and Modernization of Energy Systems in Russia: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, May.
    18. AZOMAHOU, Théophile & BOUCEKKINE, Raouf & NGUYEN-VAN, Phu, 2009. "Promoting clean technologies under imperfect competition," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2009011, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    19. Yu, Chenyang & Tan, Yuanfang & Zhou, Yu & Zang, Chuanxiang & Tu, Chenglin, 2022. "Can functional urban specialization improve industrial energy efficiency? Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    20. Cristian Mardones & Pablo Herreros, 2023. "Ex post evaluation of voluntary environmental policies on the energy intensity in Chilean firms," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 9111-9136, September.

    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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:10574-:d:896805. 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.