Challenges Arising from COP21 Decision

This article discusses the challenges that arose from the COP21 decision and its impact on global climate change efforts. It also explores the goals and mission of COP21 and the challenges faced in implementing the Paris Agreement.

Energy Sustainability 1
ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY
By (Name)
Course
Professor’s name
University name
City, State
Date of submission

Energy Sustainability 2
Abstract
The effort to ensure that energy sustainability has been achieved in the world is a debate that has
been going on since the 19th centuries. Kyoto protocol report was first initiated in the early 90s
before the United Nations framework Convention Climate Change was formed in 2015 as
COP21 held in Paris. This question seeks to understand the challenges that rose from COP21
decision. The second question concerns the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which explains the
assessment of life cycle environmental, social and economic sustainability of the production of
shale gas and use. The assessment scope covers the United States and UK situations to estimate
the effects fracking activities has to the environment. The third question explains the political
and financial incentives for the implementation of energy efficiency measures in the housing and
transport sectors in Sweden, the United States and China. The forth question critically evaluates
the social, financial, and environmental impacts of developing renewable energy technologies in
the United States.

Energy Sustainability 3
Abstract........................................................................................................................................ 2
1.0 Challenges arising from COP21 decision............................................................................. 3
Introduction................................................................................................................................ 3
The goals and mission of COP21............................................................................................... 4
Challenges.................................................................................................................................. 4
2.0 Life cycle assessments of fracking activities in USA and UK............................................. 6
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………........6
Fracking Process..........................................................................................................................8
Results ………………………………………………………………………………………....8
Conclusion and Recommendation..............................................................................................9
3.0 Political and financial incentives for the implementation of energy efficiency measure in
the housing and transport sectors............................................................................................. 10
Sweden Case Study................................................................................................................... 10
Energy consumption in Sweden……………………………...…………………………… .10
Case Studies of UK………………………..………………………………………………… .12
China Case Study
…………………………………………………………………………………………………13
4.0 Impacts of developing renewable energy technologies...................................................... 15
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 15
Environmental Impacts............................................................................................................. 16
Financial Impacts...................................................................................................................... 17
Social Impacts........................................................................................................................... 18
References ....................................................................................................................................19
1.0 Challenges arising from COP21 decision
Introduction

Energy Sustainability 4
In 2015, 12th of December, 196 parties of the United Nations (UN) framework Convention on
Climate Change initiated in Paris Agreement. The legal binding was an international move to
combat the effects of climate change (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The signing of the
agreement culminated after six years close door meetings with the international leaders under the
support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The
decision was reached after intense pressure from international leaders to avoid a repeat of
Copenhagen conference of 2009 (Dimitrov, 2010). The agreement came up with
recommendations of controlling the global warming. This required all parties in the convention
to formulate progressive climate targets which will be consistent to the global warming goal of
below 2 degrees Celsius (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2016). In a nutshell, the global treaty was meant to
strengthen the global response towards the threats of climate change. All parties are obliged to
contribute to the mitigation and adaptation measures that will help combat climate change
(Northrop & Ross, 2016). Countries were to contribute by developing plans and communicate
the same to the secretariat of the convention.
The goals and mission of COP21
In the Paris agreement, more emphasis was directed to the process rather than the
mitigation goals. The aim of the agreement depend on voluntary mitigation measures coupled
with a series of processes that are directed towards a common goal with a collective ambition in
mind unlike the Kyoto protocol that formulated specific targets. After the implementation and
decisions made in COP 21, what followed were a number of challenges that the parties had to
deal with and overcome them if the Paris Agreement goals were to be met (Roberts, 2015). The
first thing will be to reconcile the bad blood between Paris agreement top down goals and the
bottom up ambitions of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). In particular, the level

Energy Sustainability 5
of emission reduction stipulated in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is not even
close to meet the mitigation goals of Paris Agreement (United Nations Climate Change, 2015).
In this respect, it is critical to ensure the agreement review mechanism is effective.
Challenges
The effort injected in the treaty framework to ensure that there is transparency and
understanding among member states to gain the international support was another major setback.
In a new goal to develop climate finances form the developing countries to support the action of
UNFCCC (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The accounting modalities to set this
program running is still under discussion by the UNFCCC in order to formulate the best way
forward and find strategies of mobilizing these developing countries to take a drastic decision
towards supporting this initiative in order to save our planet with negotiations intended to be
achieved by 2025 (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). In the year 2015, OECD came up
with a climate policy initiative and proposed an estimate to support the progress of climate
finance as one of the major burning issues in COP21.
Paris Agreement on low emission should be consistent with the global emission with the
hope that emissions will fall from peak to zero or becoming negative in the half century to come
(Northrop & Ross, 2016). The sort, scale and pace of activities is likely to differ among and
across both developing and developed economies, however the stringency of the Paris
temperature goal is with the end goal that all nations will need to create and seek after low-
emanations improvement pathways, in the light of their diverse national circumstances and the
prospective IPCC extraordinary report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (United Nations Climate
Change, 2015). 15 Major research, advancement and organization of imaginative new advances
will likewise be expected to accomplish these objectives (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2016). In spite of

Energy Sustainability 6
ongoing sensational falls in the price of some key inexhaustible innovations, for example, solar
photovoltaic and wind16, advance in most of clean vitality technologies lags a long ways behind
what is expected to accomplish the Paris objectives.
The world faces a major challenge of meeting the food demands among its population while
combating, conserving biodiversity and adapting to climate change (United Nations Climate
Change, 2015). A few types of land-based moderation activities, for example, monoculture
estates and utilizing area to develop original bio fuels can adversely affect biodiversity, the
accessibility and supply of nourishment and water and environment strength. Other relief
activities such as ecosystem-based methodologies (for example agro forestry and environment
reclamation) and atmosphere savvy horticulture can have positive advantages for both
biodiversity and human prosperity, while alleviating environmental change and improving
flexibility (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The opposition experiences among countries
when discussing about climate change gave birth to a new policy that will ensure every country
adopt certain strategies that will help in communally achieving sustainable development and
environmental conservation. These concerns were raised in COP21 held in Paris in 2015. During
the meeting other concerns were also raised which included;
 Alleviating poverty through sustainable environment.
 Engaging in discussions after which immediate actions are taken.
 COP21 should be the back born of sustainable economy in the world and outlining its
benefits

Energy Sustainability 7
2.0 Life cycle assessments of fracking activities in USA and UK
Introduction
The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concerns the assessment of life cycle environmental, social
and economic sustainability of the production of shale gas and use. The scope of the assessment
covers United States and UK situations to estimate the effects fracking activities has to the
environment; the study also does a compares the effects of using traditional means to obtain gas
with fracking process (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2016). The centre stage of the study is on the effect on
water but also analysis will be done on the other factors. The study revolves around operations
that have received sharp criticism from environmental protection groups (Nhamo & Nhamo,
2016). The operations include flow back disposal and control of emissions. The main goal of
conducting Life cycle assessment is to identify the environmental impacts of a product on every
phase so as to find a means by which the effect can either be minimized or eliminated.
International Standard Organization (ISO) gives the standard of conformity when conducting a
Life Cycle Assessment (Northrop & Ross, 2016). The procedure consists of four steps;
Definition of goal and scope, Analysis of Inventory, assessment of Impact and then
Interpretation of the results. Below is a chart that looks into the process of fracking activities
both in the United States and U.K.

Energy Sustainability 8
Fracking Process
The following steps are followed in the process of obtaining gas and crude oil through hydraulic
fracturing; Surveying and preparing the site, construction of road and well pad, drilling which

Energy Sustainability 9
starts with vertical the horizontal, casing of the well, perforation, fracking, finalization and
production lastly either desertion or restoration of the site (Jenner and Lamadrid 2013). The
drilling process starts vertically, the direction which enables horizontal drilling which is line with
the process of forming the shale. Steel cases are inserted in the boreholes and cemented on the
rocks to hold the casing firmly (Hammond, O’Grady and Packham 2015 p. 2755). The casing on
the horizontal drilling is the perforated to pave way for the gas and crude oil. The next process is
fracking of the borehole using fracturing fluid which is driven through the horizontally drilled
hole to improve production. The fracking liquid is made up of water, chemicals and proppant.
99% of the fluid is water while the other percentages are a sorted chemicals and sand. The
completion phase involves recovery of the gas and abandoning of the site. Therefore, the study
looked into the impact of hydraulic fracturing activities as mentioned above and later
recommends the best practices to be undertaken in the production process by both the United
States and United Kingdom (Northrop & Ross, 2016).
Results
Poor waste water management practices lead to contamination of water bodies and the end result
will be rise in infections in human beings. The extent to which the water leads to contamination
of water reservoirs is determined by the techniques and methods used in withdrawal of the water
used in the fracking process (Northrop & Ross, 2016). Comparing the impact of shale gas to
natural gas, the negative impacts of natural gas is way higher and thus making fracking a better
option. When it comes to emission of gases to the atmosphere, it only happens when the process
is not done properly thus allowing chemicals and gases to penetrate the cracks on the rocks
(Nhamo & Nhamo, 2016). Therefore, the Global Warming potential of hydraulic fracturing
process is low and can be controlled (Jiang, Hendrickson, and VanBriesen, 2014). Lastly, the

Energy Sustainability 10
most grievous impact the process leaves is the ability to reclaim the wells and also the manner in
which the fluid and material used in the process are disposed of.
Conclusion and Recommendation
After analysis of application of fracking activities in both United States and the U.K below are
recommendations to improve the state of affairs as far as protecting the environment is
concerned.
To start off, from previous research the number of licenses being issued to companies to conduct
fracking process has been increasing in the U.K. The high number is attributed to the fact that the
U.K government is in support of the process considering the fact that it has the potential to settle
the deficiency of gas being experienced and also create more jobs. However, it is important to
note that the world is shifting towards clean energy and thus it will be wise to give more
attention to clean sources of energy such sun, wind, geothermal and hydropower. This is because
they are sustainable, less costly to produce and environment friendly.
Additionally, it has been noted that the process utilizes a lot of water in the fracturing process
since 90% of the hydraulic liquid is water. The water is mixed up with sand and other chemicals
therefore making it toxic (Jiang, Hendrickson and VanBriesen, 2014). In essence, the water is
wasted and can’t be reused. To control this effect, research has to go towards the process of
recycling the water so that it can be put to other uses such as irrigation.

Energy Sustainability 11
3.0 Political and financial incentives for the implementation of energy efficiency measures in the
housing and transport sectors
Sweden Case Study
Over the past years, Sweden has managed to build more than one million housing units with a
number of renovation projects on the road sector (Högberg, et al., 2009). Their main focus has
been on achieving energy efficient buildings due to the government energy ambitions of saving
the consumption of energy in the country.
Energy consumption in Sweden
In the year 2007, Sweden consumed energy about 624 TWh with a population of 9 million
(Högberg, et al., 2009). At the time, most energy was produced through hydroelectric power.
Including the renewable energy obtained from waste heat and electric heating furnace. In total,
these amounted to 25TWh in 2006.the building and transport sector consumed 35%, 143TWh, of
the total consumption. Out of which 60%, went into hot water and heating (Högberg, et al.,
2009).
To put everything into context, Swedish government came up with policies that will help
address the situation of energy consumption. These energy policies include;
 Programmes directed to energy efficiency
In 1970s, Swedish government implement a public action programme that will oversee the issues
of energy efficiency in the building industry and transport sector (Högberg, et al., 2009). This
initiative included the introduction of support procurement procedures and energy efficient
technology in dwellings. This programme did not lead into political discourse in the country but
contributed to the famous visionary term Peoples’ New Green Home which was phrased by the

Energy Sustainability 12
former Prime Minister Persson. During the 1990s and 1980s, the move to reduce energy
consumption was targeted to reduce the high dependence on oil but today the policy has a huge
impact on climate change (Högberg, et al., 2009). Following the 1988 climate policy to reduce
the Cco2 gas levels in the atmosphere, however this objective expanded to greenhouse gases in
all sectors of the economy forcing Swedish to sign the Kyoto Protocol to help in the fight of
mitigating the changes in climate. The Swedish strategy was marrying with the United Nation
FCCC aim of achieving the reduction in GHG emission (Högberg, et al., 2009).
Currently, there are a few changes in the energy efficiency programmes that were
adopted in the millennium days. Ever since the adoption of the climate changes strategy in 1993,
Swedish policies have always been in line the EU policies (United Nations Climate Change,
2015). The EU has set out targets in managing climate change and energy by ensuring that a 20%
reduction in GHG and 20% renewable energy goals are achieved by 2020 (Högberg, et al.,
2009). In addition, each year, the government of Sweden provide incentives to organizations
mandated with this responsibility in order to increase their financial muscle. With these resources
put in place, these organisations find it easy to achieve their environmental objectives of
sustainable development (Högberg, et al., 2009). These objectives have been divided into local
level, regional level and national level. The objectives are directly related to energy efficiency
and they include clean air, reduced climate change, good built environment and natural
acidification only.
Case Studies of UK
A low-carbon economy forms the heart at which energy efficiency thrives. Cutting down on
energy use, and a reduction on waste helps reduce energy bills, making the energy system

Energy Sustainability 13
sustainable and reduces greenhouse emissions. The U.K housing and transport sectors have been
developing for hundreds of years, and the efficiency of their energy has changed from good to
bad to dreadful and back to being economical (Northrop & Ross, 2016). Strategies have been set
to give rise to good energy efficiency policy in decades to come. Energy efficiency can boost the
economy, and reduce the energy bills for transport and housing sectors offering maximum
potential for innovation and growth. The idea alone of achieving energy efficiency sets out the
opportunity in full.
In a case study on achieving growth in the U.K.'s Energy Efficiency retrofitting sector,
through energy efficiency measures, the political and financial incentives below stood out
(United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The U.K. adopted a green deal policy that assisted in
shifting the policy arena for retrofit (Northrop & Ross, 2016). The financial support from the
government was reduced since it was not efficient, and the private sector took over delivering
mechanisms, providing financial aid, and managing schemes that aim at reducing the carbon
levels domestically. The United Kingdom had in Place a change target, which implied that by
the 2050 age, the carbon level for residential property was reduced by 80 percent (United
Nations Climate Change, 2015). Therefore, the U.K. housing market needed an energy saving
measure via retrofitting. Retrofit policy measures had in the past targeted low goals in their fight
on energy efficiency to increase the performance of buildings such as increasing the loft
insulation (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The high ratio on energy efficiency scarcely
scratched the surface of the property enhancement sector. The variation gap between possible
energy is saving and achieving energy saving led to a gap difference in the performance of the
U.K. housing area.

Energy Sustainability 14
The U.K. government started the Green Deal loan scheme at the beginning of 2013 (Su &
Thomson, 2016). It was a government initiative to help increase retrofit measures. Furthermore,
the U.K. government also launched the Energy Company Obligation new version motivating
energy suppliers to fund enhancements in energy efficiency to aid homeowners to decrease the
carbon emissions from their properties (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The Green Deal
scheme was designated to be a loan to the public, offering them a chance to commit to the
retrofit strategy at a broader scale. The government spearheaded the policy as its head or lead
strategy giving it a label of 'flagship.' The green deal, together with other measures, served as
energy security to protect the consumers from volatile energy prices (United Nations Climate
Change, 2015). More federal incentives in the U.K. were put in Place to create a scenario where
the demand for energy is reduced through efficiency and furthermore reducing the need for a
broader variety to draw power (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). Thus, retrofit and energy
saving provide a foothold aiming at deregulation and allowing more measures to supply and save
energy. More distinctively the Green Loan scheme focuses on consumers providing a low carbon
economy and improving the housing and transport sectors (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2016). With
strategies placing the control of the policy on private areas, energy efficiency could grow at a
higher potential in the United Kingdom.
China Case Study
China has developed into a significant player when it comes to fighting CO2 omissions in the
combat against diverse climate change. It accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the global emissions,
which is over a quarter of the carbon emissions in the world (United Nations Climate Change,
2015). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Cancun conference
of 2010 proposed a peak when it comes to global emissions limiting the temperature rise to two

Energy Sustainability 15
degree Celsius (Sioshansi, 2011). For this goal to be achieved, major global emitters, in this case,
China needed to be involved. It resulted in pressure for China to join an international climate
agreement that is uniform and binding when it comes to emissions gaps. China has great
potential within its energy-intensive sectors to lower its carbon emission (United Nations
Climate Change, 2015). This article focuses on the political and financial incentives for the
implementation of energy efficiency measures in the housing and transport sectors of China.
The building or rather the housing sector in China accounts for 15 percent of energy
consumption in the country by 2012. Statistics from IEA show that almost half of the housing
energy consumption is due to traditional biofuels from rural areas (United Nations Climate
Change, 2015). The transport sector, on the other hand, accounts for 8 percent of the energy
consumed nationally and 9 percent for carbon emissions (Högberg, et al., 2009). The two
industries may seem to account for a small share of energy usage and carbon emission, but in
recent years, the acceleration has been over the roof. The transport energy consumption growth
rate has been recorded to increase rapidly, together with the housing sector. Urbanization and the
growth of income have been attributed as the main factors behind this growth rate (Nhamo &
Nhamo, 2016). China population rises by the millions, and in 2013, China added floor space
bigger than Australian housing inventory at 2 billion square meters (United Nations Climate
Change, 2015). Furthermore, China became the world’s largest car market, leading to a
consumption-driven economy in terms of energy use and carbon emissions.
China has taken steps financially and politically to ensure energy efficiency in the
transport sector. It has raised the fuel efficiency standards to ensure the conservation of energy
and low levels of emissions. It has made enhancements in the fuel economy of light-duty
vehicles by reducing the emission intensity for the new cars in China (United Nations Climate

Energy Sustainability 16
Change, 2015). In the building or housing section, China building codes have been improved as
compared to the past, making them increasingly stringent (United Nations Climate Change,
2015). However, the building codes are still not to that of European standards. In the energy
market transformation of China, the housing and transport sector are the main factors to
achieving energy efficiency (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The combined effort of the
carbon mitigation and energy conservation of these two platforms is a crucial element. Measures
such as the C& C regulations will help achieve this goal as it impacts the consumption sectors of
energy (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). The government furthermore insists on a
renewable quota system to the usage of renewable energy in the market. The central policy
behind this strategy application is to conserve energy and mitigate carbon emission.
4.0 Impacts of developing renewable energy technologies
Introduction
Renewable energy obtains the name from the fact that their sources can be replenished.
Renewable energy is also referred to as clean energy because the process of generating the
energy is environmentally friendly compared to the non-renewable sources of energy which lead
to pollution of the environment (Twidell and Weir 2015). Notable sources of renewable energy
are the sun, wind, geothermal, hydropower and biomass. Solar power is currently the leading
source of renewable energy considering that it can easily be tapped by solar technology; it drives
winds and also facilitates growth of plants that can later be utilized in generation of biomass
(United Nations Climate Change, 2015). According to United Nations the 60% of greenhouse
gas come from the use of fossil fuels which currently is the leading source of energy in the world
at 80% (Nhamo & Nhamo, 2016). Therefore, to save the world steps have been made towards

Energy Sustainability 17
adoption of clean energy in the world over. The process is not that easy because there are a
number of hindrances that range from technological challenges to high cost of adaptation
(Akella, Saini, and Sharma 2009 p.390). In the process of adaptation, a number of impacts are
felt across the board in different sectors. This paper looks into the impacts that renewable energy
has on the environment, financial and social aspects in the United States.
Environmental Impacts
Renewable energy utilization has varied impacts on the environment depending on the type of
technology used and the geographical location. The impacts are divided into four major
categories; Water usage, land usage, life-cycle greenhouse gas emission and Habitat loss (United
Nations Climate Change, 2015). Most of the renewable energy sources impacts on the
environment are better compared to the convention sources of energy such as fossil fuels. When
it comes to utilization of land wind turbines utilize an average of between 30 to 41 acres of land
per megawatt (Northrop & Ross, 2016).
According to a survey conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory one acre
of the land is permanently disturbed and 3.5 acres of the land is temporarily disturbed in the
process of construction (Nelson 2013). Therefore, the rest of the land can be used for other
purposes such as grazing and agriculture.National wind coordinating Committee (NWCC) in the
United States reported that wind turbines have led to death of birds and bats due to collision but
the effect is not that big to pose a threat to the population of the species (United Nations Climate
Change, 2015).
For the solar energy the impacts on the environment relate to land usage, water usage
and use of hazardous materials. In comparison to wind energy where the land could be used for
other purposes solar does not leave space for other activities beneath them. More so, solar

Energy Sustainability 18
technology utilizes different chemicals that are harmful to the environment such as Hydrochloric
acid, sulphuric acid, Nitric acid and Hydrogen fluoride (United Nations Climate Change, 2015).
Lastly, the impact of geothermal energy on the environment is essentially in relation to
open-loop systems which emit Hydrogen Sulphide (Northrop & Ross, 2016). When hydrogen
sulphide gets to the atmosphere it turns to sulphur dioxide which causes acid rain that affects
plants and the soil. However, it is important to note that use of renewable energy have minimal
impacts on the environment compared to the use of fossil fuels which cause environmental
pollution and deforestation (Northrop & Ross, 2016).
Financial Impacts
In the United States, 16% of energy sources are non-renewable and the uptake is quickly taking
shape (United Nations Climate Change, 2015). Use of renewable energy not only benefits the
environment but also impacts the economic sector of the sector. Increased use of renewable
energy has result to shifts in the trade sector in the sense that many production companies are
now focusing on producing products that utilize renewable energy (Northrop & Ross, 2016). In
the spirit of encouraging the use renewable energy, the United States government has reduced
import taxes for products meant to produce and develop technology in the renewable energy
sector. According to experts the dynamics are likely to improve both trade balance and the GDP
of the United States (United Nations Climate Change, 2015).
According to a report by IRENA investments in the renewable sector could result to an increase
in the global GDP by 0.6% to 1.1% by the year 2030 (United Nations Climate Change, 2015).
The changes will greatly improve the economic state of various countries in the world while at
the same time making the environment safe by using energy sources that cannot be depleted

Energy Sustainability 19
unlike using the conventional sources of energy that is harmful to the environment and also has
less return (Frondel, et al., 2010).
Social Impacts
Renewable energy has also impacted the social set-up of individuals in the United States.
To start with life of those employed in the renewable energy field has improved due to the
income generated from the firms. With good income, the employees are in a position to afford
good life for their families (Rogers, et al., 2012). Additionally, their children are able to attend
school and gain education. Secondly, renewable energy is relatively affordable compared to non-
renewable energy. The affordability makes it easy for the individuals earning less in the society
to access power through solar panels.
Conclusively, the use of renewable energy was essentially started to tame the negative
effects that arise from the use of non-renewable energy. Use of non-renewable energy has led to
emission of greenhouses gases that have caused climatic changes. Renewable energy is
generated from sources that can be replenished within one’s lifetime and thus saving the
environment from green gas emission and depletion of natural resources such as forests and
crude oil. The impacts of the use of renewable resource are quickly taking shape in the world
considering that the implementation and adoption levels are increasing with time. At the time use
of renewable energy stands at 16% with the solar energy being the most popular according to the
United Nation.

Energy Sustainability 20
References
Anderson, V. 2007.Energy efficiency policies. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Akella, A.K., Saini, R.P. and Sharma, M.P., 2009. Social, Economic and Environmental impacts
of renewable energy systems. Renewable Energy, 34(2), pp.390-396.
Bowen, A., &Rydge, J. 2011. Climate-Change Policy in the United Kingdom. 2nd ed. London:
Routledge
Broman, D., & Lawrence, L. R. 2009. Institutional and legal incentives and barriers for the
geothermal industry: Eastern Europe & China. Alexandria, VA, Bob Lawrence & Associates,
Inc. http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/LPS71236.
Burton Jr, G.A., Basu, N., Ellis, B.R., Kapo, K.E., Entrekin, S. and Nadelhoffer, K., 2014.
Hydraulic “Fracking”: Are surface water impacts an ecological concern? Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry, 33(8), pp.1679-1689:https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.2619.
Dale, A.T., Khanna, V., Vidic, R.D. and Bilec, M.M., 2013. Process based life-cycle assessment
of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Environmental science & technology, 47(10), pp.5459-
5466:https://doi.org/10.1021/es304414q.
Dimitrov, R.S., 2010. Inside Copenhagen: the state of climate governance. Global environmental
politics, 10(2), pp.18-24:https://doi.org/10.1162/glep.2010.10.2.18
Frondel, M., Ritter, N., Schmidt, C.M. and Vance, C., 2010. Economic impacts from the
promotion of renewable energy technologies: The German experience. Energy Policy, 38(8),
pp.4048-4056:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.029

Energy Sustainability 21
Jenner, S. and Lamadrid, A.J., 2013. Shale gas vs. coal: Policy implications from environmental
impact comparisons of shale gas, conventional gas, and coal on air, water, and land in the United
States. Energy Policy, 53, pp.442-453: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.11.010
Jiang, M., Hendrickson, C.T. and VanBriesen, J.M., 2014. Life cycle water consumption and
wastewater generation impacts of a Marcellus shale gas well. Environmental science &
technology, 48(3), pp.1911-1920:https://doi.org/10.1021/es4047654
Jiang, Z. 2010. Research on energy issues in China. Amsterdam, Elsevier/Academic Press.
http://site.ebrary.com/id/10399313
Högberg, L., Lind, H. and Grange, K., 2009. Incentives for improving energy efficiency when
renovating large-scale housing estates: a case study of the Swedish million homes
programme. Sustainability, 1(4), pp.1349-1365: https://doi.org/10.3390/su1041349
Hammond, G.P., O’Grady, Á. and Packham, D.E., 2015. Energy technology assessment of shale
gas ‘Fracking’–a UK perspective. Energy Procedia, 75,
pp.2764-2771:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2015.07.526.
Nhamo, G. and Nhamo, S., 2016. Paris (COP21) Agreement: Loss and damage, adaptation and
climate finance issues. International Journal of African Renaissance Studies-Multi-, Inter-and
Transdisciplinarity, 11(2), pp.118-138: https://doi.org/10.1080/18186874.2016.1212479
Northrop, E. and Ross, K., 2016. After COP21: what needs to happen for the Paris agreement to
take effect? Geominas, 44(70), pp.133-137.

Energy Sustainability 22
Roberts, D., 2016. A global roadmap for climate change action: From COP17 in Durban to
COP21 in Paris. South African Journal of Science, 112(5-6), pp.1-3:
http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/a0158
Rogers, J.C., Simmons, E.A., Convery, I. and Weatherall, A., 2012. Social impacts of
community renewable energy projects: findings from a woodfuel case study. Energy Policy, 42,
pp.239-247.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.11.081.
Sioshansi, F. P. 2011. Energy, sustainability, and the environment: technology, incentives,
behavior.Amsterdam, Butterworth-Heinemann.http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?
bookid=41852.
Stigka, E.K., Paravantis, J.A. and Mihalakakou, G.K., 2014. Social acceptance of renewable
energy sources: A review of contingent valuation applications. Renewable and sustainable
energy Reviews, 32, pp.100-106.Nelson, V., 2013. Wind energy: renewable energy and the
environment. CRC press.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.12.026
S.U., B., & Thomson, E. (2016).China's energy efficiency and conservation: sectoral analysis.
http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=4499631.
Twidell, J. and Weir, T., 2015. Renewable energy resources.Abingdon, United Kingdom:
Routledge.
United Nations Climate Change, 2015.COP 21.[Online] Available at: https://unfccc.int/process-
and-meetings/conferences/past-conferences/paris-climate-change-conference-november-2015/
cop-21[Accessed 23 June 2019].

Energy Sustainability 23
.
.