The dissertation is devoted to development of a theoretical basis for, scientific and methodological approaches to ecological and economic assessment of efficiency of renewable energy use.
According to official statistics, 49 % of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the energy sector. Ukrainian energy sector produces 50 % of all greenhouse gas emissions within the country, which makes environmental deprivation one of the most important and urgent issues to be addressed. Casual Loop Diagram (CLD) analysis was used to find a relationship between renewable energy use and environmental, economic, and energy security of a country, in particular during the life cycle of renewable energy sources (RES). The findings of the analysis showed that use of RES reduces consumption of exhaustible energy sources at the stage of their exploitation and increases diversification of energy sources.
An increase of energy production from RES in its turn leads to an increase in price of an energy product.
Analysis of previous studies has shown that an increase of energy production from RES leads to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP. However, the use of RES itself causes environmental destruction, which is usually omitted, but can be identified through analysis of the life cycle of RES. The author proposed a method of ecological and economical assessment of efficiency of renewable energy use, which takes into account positive as well as negative effects of the use of different types of RES during all stages of their life cycle. Proposed methodology suggests calculating environmental damage from the use of RES as the sum of costs of damages at every stage of the life cycle of an energy product – development, exploitation and utilization. This method allows making informed management decisions for the development and use of RES.
The next step of this research was to develop a methodological approach to the scientific justification of the optimal structure of energy production based on the combination of conventional and renewable energy sources. The aim of the calculations was to build an optimal model for an energy sector development of a country, based on economic and environmental indicators. The results of applying the optimal model can be used for strategic planning at country level, in particular in managerial decision-making and law making.
Development of RES requires considerable financial resources, which are always limited. Therefore, the question of the efficient allocation of available financial resources arises and needs to be addressed. To solve this problem, the author proposes an approach to the formation of organizational and economic mechanism of implementation of economically viable and environmentally safe RES. This approach includes a system of solidarity between stakeholders, interested in a transparent energy market; a management system of RES performance; indicators of an ecological and economic loss from electricity generation processes; financial support for the development of RES at every stage of the life cycle of an energy product.
The author provides scientific justification for financial resources allocation, which is based on the Bellman's principles of recurrence, technical and technological forecast for RES. Bellman's recurrence principal allowed to find the optimal allocation of state funds for the transition to RES under conservative and revolutionary scenarios.
This approach can be implemented on the basis of cross-sectoral interrelations within energy production system, which implies well-coordinated interaction of authorities, energy companies, and local communities, as well as providing of state incentives for RES implementation.
Practical recommendations and methodological justification for ecological and
economic assessment of renewable energy use, offered in the dissertation, allow to determine the priority goals for energy sector development at national and industrial levels, as well as to implement programs of environmental protection.
