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Prof. Dr. Talat S. Genc

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Guest Editor

Department of Economics and Finance, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
Interests: industrial organization; energy and environmental economics; and production and operations management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The year 2020 was a dramatic year for the energy sector. Energy supply and demand fell unprecedentedly as coronavirus containment measures, including shutdown of industrial sites, lockdowns, curfews, border and travel restrictions, were applied. The IEA’s World Energy Report 2020 stated that “The Covid-19 crisis has caused more disruption than any other event in recent history, leaving scars that will last for years to come”. The outbreak of the pandemic destabilized market dynamics and led to historically low energy prices, which were previously unseen, especially in oil markets. While investments in oil and gas industries fell considerably, investment in renewables gained momentum, which may be a sign for energy transition favored by a rise in sustainable finance initiatives. Once the world comes back to life after the pandemic, demand for energy will surge, but volatility is expected as it is unclear when all sectors will get back to their pre-virus levels.

This Special Issue is devoted to understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on energy markets and the environment and assessing challenges and opportunities during and after the pandemic. Manuscripts should present models which address these issues. Contributions discussing policy and regulation issues are also welcome. Submissions should be original and relevant to the Special Issue’s topics.

Prof. Talat S. Genc
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Energy, environmental policy, and management during and after COVID-19
Energy efficiency
Volatility in energy markets
Green and sustainable bonds market
Climate change and transition toward clean and renewable energy
Electricity markets and renewables
OPEC policies during COVID-19
Energy production, storage, transportation, transmission, and distribution

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

14 pages, 1630 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Methodology for Scaling up Building Retrofits: Is There a Role for Virtual Energy Audits?—A First Step in Hawai’i, USA

by Mark B. Glick, Eileen Peppard and Wendy Meguro

Energies 2021, 14(18), 5914; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14185914 - 17 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1893

Abstract

Energy audits are a time-consuming and expensive initial step in the building retrofit process. Virtual energy audits purport to be an alternative that remotely identifies energy efficiency measures (EEMs) that may reduce electricity consumption and offset operational costs to businesses operating during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study reviews virtual energy audits as a means to benchmark energy use and estimate cost savings from future EEMs. A novel feature was the estimation of energy costs associated with increasing ventilation to improve indoor air quality. The authors analyzed ten virtual energy audits performed in Honolulu, Hawai’i, over a two-week period that used existing building information and electricity use data to estimate a potential 9% to 41% annual electricity use reduction per building and a 24 MWh to 1195 MWh reduction, respectively. This paper makes a significant contribution through its assessment of virtual energy audits as a step beyond benchmarking, which has merit as an educational tool to motivate business owners to reduce energy use and improve indoor air quality. Further evaluation and improvements are suggested to study how often the virtual energy audits instigate action, how they compare with in-person audits, and their potential for use at a large scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Opportunities in Oil, Gas, and Electricity Sectors during and after the Pandemic)

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Challenges and Opportunities in Oil, Gas, and Electricity Sectors during and after the Pandemic

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