Sustainable Energy Development and Climate Change Mitigation at the Local Level through the Lens of Renewable Energy: Evidence from Lithuanian Case Study

Agnė Žičkienė, Mangirdas Morkunas, Artiom Volkov, Tomas Baležentis, Dalia Streimikiene and Indre Siksnelyte-Butkiene
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Agnė Žičkienė: Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, A. Vivulskio Street 4A-13, LT-03220 Vilnius, Lithuania
Mangirdas Morkunas: Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, A. Vivulskio Street 4A-13, LT-03220 Vilnius, Lithuania
Artiom Volkov: Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, A. Vivulskio Street 4A-13, LT-03220 Vilnius, Lithuania
Dalia Streimikiene: Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, A. Vivulskio Street 4A-13, LT-03220 Vilnius, Lithuania
Indre Siksnelyte-Butkiene: Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, A. Vivulskio Street 4A-13, LT-03220 Vilnius, Lithuania

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: The penetration of renewable energy is one of the main challenges for sustainable energy development. Local governments across the European Union commit to development and implementation of the Sustainable Energy (and Climate) Action Plan. This paper focuses on the case of Lithuania—a Central and Eastern European country. Almost one-third of Lithuanian municipalities have joined the Covenant of Mayors and prepared the plans that include SWOT analysis. However, there is a lack of information on how those plans contribute to climate change mitigation and sustainable energy development. This study identifies the links between key policy financial instruments, increasing energy efficiency. The Strategic Action Plans aimed at reducing GHG emissions and energy consumption in Lithuanian municipalities are analyzed. The challenges in promoting the renewable energy generation in Lithuanian rural regions are discussed. Moreover, the importance of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified is elicited at the local level. The study uses a combination of methods, such as expert surveys and SWOT analysis, that complements the tools used for regional energy climate planning and allows for overarching analysis. The expert survey shows that priority is given for renovation of buildings and modernization of energy infrastructure, making them more sustainable and more energy efficient. The results also show that, in the case of Lithuania (and possibly elsewhere in the post-Soviet countries), conditions and opportunities should be created beforehand to increase energy efficiency. Once this is achieved, the policies should focus on energy transition by switching to sustainable energy resources.

Keywords: sustainable energy development; financial instruments; SWOT; energy efficiency; local level (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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