The aim of this master thesis is to explore the significance of the growing oil sands production for the economy of the province of Alberta as well as the whole of Canada. Parts of this thesis will outline current global energetic situation with the emphasis on oil production and explain the importance of seeking new alternative sources which includes the renewable energy as well as the unconventional oil and gas. With the waning amount of easily accessible light oil reserves it is likely that the unconventional oil resources where the production is both energetically and financially challenging will become more and more important.

Os procedimentos de licenciamento ambiental (LA) têm sido criticados pelos agentes econômicos, notadamente por aqueles ligados ao setor energético, por entenderem que a agilidade na análise dos processos de viabilidade ambiental de empreendimentos encontra-se aquém ao esperado. Com o objetivo de analisar a interferência de alguns fatores ligados aos procedimentos de LA sobre o tempo total de tramitação dos processos, foi realizada revisão documental de processos que tramitaram no estado de São Paulo, entre 1998 e 2007, para a instalação de usinas termelétricas a gás natural, com potência superior a 10 MW, e que obtiveram a licença ambiental prévia (LP). Foram obtidos dados quantitativos e informações qualitativas que permitiram verificar que os fatores número de solicitações de informações complementares feitas pelos órgãos ambientais ao empreendedor, número de impactos ambientais identificados no estudo de impacto ambiental (EIA) e número de condicionantes constantes na LP expedida não apresentam uma relação com o tempo de tramitação dos processos. Outros fatores como deficiências no estudo ambiental e a inadequação do local proposto à instalação dos empreendimentos, dadas as restrições ambientais, aparentemente apresentam maior interferência sobre os tempos de tramitação. Diante disto, destaca-se a necessidade de, previamente ao licenciamento, serem elaborados estudos específicos voltados à apresentação de alternativas locacionais que considerem critérios ambientais e critérios econômicos com o mesmo nível de importância para a tomada de decisão. Tais estudos, servindo como base de referência para a escolha da melhor localização para instalação de empreendimentos, tendem a reduzir o tempo total de tramitação dos processos de licenciamento. / The procedures for environmental licensing (LA) have been criticized by economic agents, especially by those connected to the energy sector, because they believe that agility on analysis of the processes of enterprises environmental viability is less than what was expected. In order to analyze the interference of some factors related to LA proceedings on proceeding period, the processes documentary review was held and transited in São Paulo State between 1998 and 2007 for the installation of natural gas thermal power plants with emitted preliminary environmental permit (LP) and output exceeding 10 MW. Quantitative data and qualitative information were obtained which allowed the confirmation that the factors number of requests for additional information made by environmental agencies to the enterprise, number of environmental impacts identified in the environmental impact statement (EIA) and number of constraints in the LP emitted have no relation to the proceeding period. Other factors such as shortcomings in the environmental study and inadequate the proposed site for the installation of enterprises, given the environmental restrictions, apparently show greater interference on the proceeding period. So, there is a necessity, prior to licensing, of being drawn up specific studies focused on the presentation of located alternatives to consider environmental and economic issues with the same level of importance for the decision. Such studies, serving as point of reference for choosing the best location for setting up of enterprises tend to reduce the proceeding period of the licensing processes.

Energy law of the Czech Republic Abstract The diploma thesis is devoted to the Energy law of the Czech Republic and its main purpose is to analyse the regulation of enterprise in the energy sectors under public law. The thesis concentrates mostly on the regulation under the Energy act, but it also reflects relevant regulation contained in other statutes, regulations, European Union legislation or international agreements. The thesis also reflects the consequences of the stated regulation for the enterprises performing business activities in the energy sector. For this purpose, the thesis distinguishes between various entities operating on the market with (i) electricity, (ii) gas and (iii) heating. Besides it also defines what preconditions individual subjects must meet to perform the activities in energy sector and what obligations the energy law imposes on them. In this context the thesis concentrates on the instruments of legal regulation used in this field, especially the licence, the certificate of independence and the state authorization for the construction of the power stations or some gas facilities. Moreover, the thesis compares stated legal tools with legal tools used abroad; in particular with legal tools used in the Slovak Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany that were chosen because of...

Rural areas continue to be home to the majority of the population in Africa. The importance of providing modern energy to rural areas cannot, therefore, be overemphasized.  No wonder that at presently the major energy resource in Mozambique is fuel wood biomass. Total population is estimated to be 25 million and more than 80% of the energy consumed in the country comes from fuel wood biomass. The energy from the main grid covers about 45.3% of Mozambican population which 26.8% comes from the National Grid and the remaining 18.5% from renewables and other sources. People outside the grid are mainly those living in rural and suburban areas. For most rural households in the region, biomass fuels continue to be the dominant fuel of choice. The present document suggests possible options that could have greater impact on rural clean energy development. Such options could be Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal energy, Wind and Micro- hydropower for pumping water or electricity generator and Biofuels. These energy options are receiving adequate attention from policy makers and are improving rural life. These are useful Renewable Energy sources available in the rural areas since they can supply reliable, relatively cost-effective electricity for basic needs in developing countries. They can be used to improve the lives of people in many ways, including supplying clean electricity to light homes, hospitals, schools, small shops, and other infrastructures, pumping water, etc. For example, using the natural resource of wind, sunlight, rivers and Jatropha plants can improve the lives of many people in general and those in rural areas in particular. This paper aims to describe and discuss the present status of renewable energy technologies in developing countries (case of Mozambique), to define the plausible ways for expanding rural electrification and improving the life conditions for the rural population.

Sverige står inför en stor omställning inom energisektorn. Det finns mål om mycket mer förnybar energi som kräver mer kraftanläggningar de kommande åren. Men redan nu har många anläggningar för förnybar kraft kommit till. En del i det har varit de kooperativa energiföretagen som detta arbetet kommer fördjupa sig inom. Mer specifikt kommer det att undersökas vad medlemmar i kooperativen får ut ekonomiskt av sina medlemskap. Detta sker genom att primärt undersöka avkastningen på eget kapital. Mer forskning om kooperation är också efterfrågat av såväl företagsledare som akademin, som båda anser att kooperationen är negligerad inom forskningen. 39 ekonomiska föreningar inom energibranschen ingick i denna studien. Begränsning skedde till dem som är registrerade som arbetsgivare. Föreningarnas avkastning på eget kapital har tagits fram som helhet och vidare undersöks faktorer som påverkar avkastningen. Faktorerna har tagit fram med hjälp av resursbaserad teori och kan vara egenskaper hos företag eller vissa bolagstyper. En kvantitativ metod har använts där främst hypotesprövning har använts. Undersökningen kom fram till några faktorer som påverkar avkastningen och ett par faktorer som inte riktigt klarar kraven som våra metoder kräver, men som är nära att göra det. Medlemsengagemang som resurs ökar avkastningen på eget kapital och minskar personalkostnaderna. Engagemanget minskar dock desto större kooperativet blir. Vindkraftskooperativ är vidare mer lönsamma ju äldre kraftverk dem har. I övrigt kan noteras att signifikanta resultat är nära för att elhandelsföretag och fjärrvärmeproducenter är mer lönsamma än övriga kooperativa energiföretag med personal. / Sweden is approaching a major change within its energy sector. There are goals for renewable energy that requires the construction of more facilities Although, a lot of facilities for renewable energy have already been constructed. Which the cooperative energy companies have been a part of, which this paper will focus on. More specifically, this paper will examine their members' financial gains from their memberships. This has been conducted primarily by looking at return on equity. More studies about cooperatives is requested by both corporate leaders and academics who both agree that cooperatives are neglected in research. 39 cooperatives from the energy sector were included in this study. The study was limited to those who were registered as employers. The cooperative companies return on equity was calculated as a whole and thereafter the factors which had an effect on it were examined. The factors were picked with the help of a resource based view and could for example be a company's properties or type of company. A quantitative method has been used with hypothesis testing. This paper concludes that some factors affect the return on equity and two other factors were on the verge of affecting it, but did not pass the requirements that our methods demanded. The members' engagement as a resource increases both the return on equity and decreases personnel costs. However, the engagement becomes lower the larger the cooperative becomes. Moreover, the windpower cooperatives had higher returns the older their plants were. Also, we noticed that companies within electricity trading and district heating are close to receiving significant levels regarding their companies being more profitable than the other cooperative energy companies who were registered as employers.

Blockchain is described as having endless theoretical potential. In reality however, it is hard toestablish how blockchain can be utilized and what opportunities blockchain may create. Theunclear future of blockchain constitutes a challenge for many companies. Many large incumbentsare uncertain of how to implement blockchain technology in their organization and are anxiousabout the consequences of the new technology. The purpose of this exploratory study is to evaluateblockchain applications for a district heating company in Stockholm to understand favorable areas,necessary criteria for successful implementation and how blockchain could enable new businessopportunities in the district heating market. To be able to reach the purpose of the thesis aliterature study and an empirical study were performed. The literature study is in the form of anextensive investigation about the areas of blockchain and district heating. The empirical studyincludes 17 interviews, both internal interviews with employees at Stockholm Exergi and externalinterviews conducted with professionals with knowledge about blockchain, district heating and theenergy sector. Furthermore, two workshops, in collaboration with Stockholm Exergi, wereperformed at the end of the thesis to evaluate and prioritize the developed blockchain applications.This thesis proposes 32 blockchain applications within 10 areas in the district heating industry.The applications are categorized after their potential, in three categories; green for the blockchainapplications that are valuable to investigate further, orange for the applications that potentiallycould be interesting to investigate further, and red for the applications that are not interesting toinvestigate further. Some applications focus on solving inefficiencies within district heating andsome on exploiting the benefits of blockchain. Eight applications are categorized with greenprioritization, and thus presented in more detail. To take into account that blockchain probablywill have a greater impact in the future, a future scenario was developed and used in the situationalanalysis for the applications. Furthermore, a framework was developed with the aim to be a toolfor a district heating company to utilize while considering if a blockchain implementation wouldbe beneficial, and if so, in what way. The framework is focused on district heating companies butcan be utilized by other actors as well.Our recommendation for a district heating company in Stockholm is to wait one or two yearswhile staying updated. Especially important for the companies are to stay updated on whether newblockchain standardizations will emerge in the energy sector. However, if a district heatingcompany want to initialize a blockchain project we advise the companies to start a pilot projectthat does not affect the current business model but has the potential to be scaled. Since theblockchain technology enhances collaboration, it is important to consider which partners shouldbe included and how the application can create value for all involved parties. However, due to theuncertainty of the technology, companies need to be well aware of that assumed created value maynot be reached as expected. Furthermore, district heating companies also need to bear in mindthat other parameters, for example additional technologies, policies or infrastructure systems, maybe necessary to implement in order to create value from a blockchain solution. / Blockchain beskrivs ofta som något med ändlös teoretisk potential. I verkligheten är det dock svårtatt fastställa hur blockchain kan användas och vilka möjligheter blockchain kan skapa. Den osäkraframtiden för blockchain är en utmaning för många företag att förhålla sig till. Inte minst för storaetablerade företag då blockchain kan användas för att decentralisera en centraliseradmarknadsstruktur. Syftet med denna undersökande studie är att utvärdera blockchainapplikationerför ett fjärrvärmeföretag i Stockholm, för att förstå gynnsamma områden,nödvändiga kriterier vid genomförande och hur blockchain skulle kunna möjliggöra nyaaffärsmöjligheter på fjärrvärmemarknaden. För att uppfylla uppsatsens syfte genomfördes enlitteraturstudie och en empirisk studie. Inom litteraturstudien genomfördes en omfattandeundersökning av blockchain och fjärrvärme. Den empiriska studien bestod av 17 intervjuer, bådeinterna intervjuer med anställda från Stockholm Exergi och externa intervjuer med experter inomblockchain, fjärrvärme och energisektorn. Vidare genomfördes under slutfasen två workshops isamarbete med Stockholm Exergi, för att utvärdera och prioritera de skapade blockchainapplikationerna.Rapporten presenterar 32 blockchain-applikationer inom 10 olika områden inomfjärrvärmeindustrin. Applikationerna är kategoriserade efter sin potential i tre grupper, grön för deapplikationer som kan vara fördelaktiga för ett fjärrvärmeföretag och bör fortsätta undersökas,orange för de applikationer som sannolikt inte skulle vara fördelaktiga och röd för de applikationersom inte är intressanta för ett fjärrvärmeföretag att fortsätta undersöka. Vissa applikationerfokuserar på att lösa de ineffektiviteter som finns för fjärrvärme och vissa på att utnyttja fördelarnamed blockchain. Det åtta applikationer med grön prioritering presenteras mer detaljerat. Ettframtida scenario togs fram för att ta hänsyn till att blockchain sannolikt kommer att ha störrepåverkan i framtiden. Detta används som hjälpmedel när situationsanalysen för applikationernagenomförs. Dessutom utvecklades ett ramverk som har som syfte att vara ett verktyg för ettfjärrvärmeföretag att utnyttja när en blockchain implementering övervägs. Ramverket är inriktatpå fjärrvärmeföretag men kan även användas av andra aktörer.Vår rekommendation till ett fjärrvärmeföretag i Stockholm är att vänta ett eller två år, samtidigtsom de håller sig uppdaterade om marknadsförändringar för blockchain. Särskilt viktigt för ettfjärrvärmeföretag är att hålla sig uppdaterad om huruvida nya blockchain-standardiseringar uppstårinom energisektorn. Om ett fjärrvärmeföretag vill initiera ett blockchain-projekt, rekommenderarvi att starta med ett pilotprojekt som inte påverkar den nuvarande affärsmodellen, men harpotential att skalas. Eftersom blockchain-teknologin möjliggör samarbete är det viktigt attöverväga vilka partners som kan ingå i lösningen och hur applikationen kan skapa värde för allaberörda parter. Företag måste emellertid vara väl medvetna om att det förväntade värdet kanskeinte uppnås på grund av teknologins osäkerhet. Dessutom måste företagen också överväga attandra parametrar, till exempel andra teknologier, politik eller infrastruktur, är nödvändiga, för atten blockchain implementering ska skapa värde.

AI's ability to process large data sets and make intelligent decisions has revolutionized the industrial landscape and opened new avenues for innovations that can contribute to a more sustainable future. It plays a pivotal role as a catalyst for digital transformation, particularly in sectors such as energy production, where it offers significant potential to promote sustainable development. This study researches the factors that condition artificial intelligence (AI) implementation in the energy sector based on the Technological-Organizational-Environmental (TOE) framework. It employs a deductive approach to identify AI implementation's technological, organizational, and environmental factors through a qualitative case study approach involving an energy company in Sweden. Our findings indicate that technological readiness and organizational alignment are essential, with differences in environmental pressures further affecting AI readiness. The study concludes that successful AI implementation depends on robust technological structure and organizational readiness, with varying environmental factors regulating these conditions. This research contributes to the literature by emphasizing the critical role of AI readiness in optimizing operations and driving innovation within the energy sector, accentuating the need for companies to enhance their AI capabilities to manage integration challenges effectively. This study enriches the TOE framework by introducing an additional dimension to the environmental factor, incorporating Network considerations where boundaries are undefined due to digitalization.

The world is currently experiencing major issues in the energy sector. The ever-growing human population, limited energy resources and the effect of greenhouse gas emissions have become major global concerns for the energy sector, including the electricity generation sector. This dilemma caused electricity providers to revise their generation methods and created a major need for consumers to utilise electricity more efficiently. Demand side management (DSM) is one initiative developed for consumers to efficiently utilise electricity. Due to their high electricity consumption and technical skills, mines are ideal targets for the implementation of DSM strategies. Therefore, the focus of this study was to investigate South African mines for possible implementation of DSM strategies on their compressed air networks. Compressed air networks at South African mines are relatively old and inadequately maintained. This causes inefficient distribution and use of compressed air. The study will therefore focus on reconfiguring mining compressed air networks for cost savings. Cost savings include financial savings on electricity bills, implementation costs and decreased maintenance. Through several investigations, the possibility of implementing energy savings strategies to reconfigure the compressed air networks of two South African mines was identified. Reconfiguring the networks would respectively entail interconnecting two shafts and relocating a compressor from an abandoned shaft to a fully productive shaft. Theoretical simulations were developed to determine the networks’ responses to the reconfiguration strategies. The simulations assisted in exposing the viability of implementing the reconfiguration strategies on the respective compressed air networks. Positive responses were obtained from the simulations and proposals were made to the respective mines for possible implementation. The proposed initiatives were implemented on the respective mines’ compressed air networks. After implementation of the interconnection strategy, a consecutive three-month performance assessment period commenced to prove the viability of the proposed savings. An average power saving of 1 700 kW was achieved during the performance assessment period. The proposed initiative to relocate the compressor is currently being implemented. A financial saving of approximately R8.9 million per annum was achieved by implementing the interconnection strategy. The large financial saving was due to the utilisation of the mine’s salvaged equipment. Further savings were achieved by the decreased maintenance on the mine’s compressors. Due to the successful implementation of the interconnection strategy, it is safe to state that cost savings can be achieved by reconfiguring mining compressed air networks. / MIng (Mechanical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis explores the causes of Russian foreign policy towards Georgia. It argues that the Russian Federation continues to pursue a policy which weakens the sovereignty of the Caucasus. The main priority of this thesis is to identify why the Russian Federation seems to be pursuing a set of policies that economically and politically weaken the sovereignty of Georgia. Therefore, this thesis examines the forces and factors of Russian domestic politics that drive Russian national interests towards the Caucasus. The analysis focuses on one particular issue-area: the role of the economic elite in shaping Russia's domestic and foreign policies vis-a-vis the state in the electricity sector. In focusing on the energy policies of the Russian Federation, this thesis reveals the negative consequences for Georgia's sovereignty that result from a strong Russian influence in the region. This thesis analyzes how Russian national interests towards Georgia challenge the latter to establish autonomous decisionmaking with regard to its foreign policy and to exercise its own authority through an exclusive competence in internal affairs of the state. In conclusion, this thesis offers policy prescriptions on how Georgia might best preserve its sovereignty with respect to the Russian Federation in terms of energy dependency. / Civilian, Ministry of Defense, Georgia

With increasing recognition that reducing carbon emissions from energy in the UK will make a significant contribution to the mitigation of anthropogenic climate change, and with carbon budgets forged following the Climate Change Act 2005 looking unlikely to be met, it is clear that sectoral changes are required to catalyse the decarbonisation process. Alongside the need for this industry to be at the forefront of decarbonisation, the energy sector needs to diversify and employ more women, Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME), LGBT and disabled people, as well as those from different social classes and varied educational backgrounds. In short, the energy industry in the UK presently has a diversity issue that transcends being an image problem; it is hampering progress. This masters’ thesis explores how the dual aims of decarbonisation and diversifying the workforce can aid one another, and the extent to which greater diversity within the energy sector could actually be the key to decarbonisation. Using transcripts from the interviews I conducted with eight individuals, as well as meta- analysis of existing data that examines the impacts of diversity in various industries, the ways in which greater diversity in the energy sector has the potential to be positive for decarbonisation are explored. Further, this paper also examines barriers to diversity, proposing a series of recommendations for industry and policy makers in order to create an energy sector that is more diverse. These recommendations can be found in the next steps section of the paper, which aims to provide guidance for those wishing to make the composition of their organisation more representative of wider society.