Research interest includes Community Energy, Energy Policy, Energy Transition, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Quadruple Innovation Helix , Biogas, Circular Economy, Sustainable Innovation and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
Adoption of Low-Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) technologies is considered promising to curtail carbon emis... more Adoption of Low-Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) technologies is considered promising to curtail carbon emissions in the industrial sectors and substitute high carbon-intensive fuels. However, LCH technologies are still evolving and face several technical & commercial barriers. On the commercial side, they face economic viability and financial risks and, therefore, fail to attract investments. Recently, some countries have developed policy support to incentivize LCH technologies, but their reward mechanisms and design vary widely and lack a standardized approach. The paper aims to contribute to the current knowledge by discussing the theoretical underpinning of LCH revenue models. It reviews emerging revenue models for LCH technologies in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. The review covers CCfD (Carbon Contract for Difference) in Germany, SDE++ (Stimulation of Sustainable Energy Production and Climate Transition) in the Netherlands, and HPBM (Hydrogen production Business Model) in the United Kingdom (UK). The review highlighted CCfD acts as simple hedging instrument against CO2 market price fluctuations without any visibility on hydrogen prices in the market. In contrast, SDE++ and HPBM are found to more comprehensive incentive schemes for LCH development.
Green hydrogen development is still at a niche stage and faces several technical & commercial bar... more Green hydrogen development is still at a niche stage and faces several technical & commercial barriers. Among them is the high LCOH (Levelized Cost of Hydrogen) of green hydrogen, predominantly due to the cost of renewable electricity. In recent years, several research studies have focused on finding the most cost-effective renewable electricity option to feed electrolyzers for producing green hydrogen. However, their findings suggest that renewable electricity costs vary widely between solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind technologies based on the meteorological conditions of the location. With a focus on the United Kingdom (UK), this paper does a high-level business case analysis to assess renewable electricity options considering their impact on the green hydrogen LCOH in off-grid configuration. The paper uses the cost and capacity factors of renewable electricity generated from solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind in the UK. The paper discusses how offshore wind electricity ...
Discussions around hydrogen as a future energy source have taken center stage in the last few yea... more Discussions around hydrogen as a future energy source have taken center stage in the last few years. Countries have recognized the benefits of hydrogen as an effective energy carrier and consider it a promising transition pathway to achieve net-zero objectives. Several countries support the development of green hydrogen as part of a long-term strategy. Among various hydrogen generation options (Green, Blue, Grey), green hydrogen generated from renewable electricity and water electrolysis is considered sustainable and climate safe. However, green hydrogen development is still at a niche stage and faces various technical challenges and economic viability issues. This paper discusses how effective policy interventions focused on addressing technical and commercial challenges can help scale-up green hydrogen generation. The paper discussed policy interventions by countries like France, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US, and other EU nations leading green hydrogen development and proposed a...
Over the last decade, demand-side policies are increasingly implemented to correct market failure... more Over the last decade, demand-side policies are increasingly implemented to correct market failures and overcome the systemic problem in complex social-technical systems such as energy transition. This paradigm shift in policy approach results from realizing that relying solely on supply-side policy instruments to push innovative solutions into the market is insufficient. As part of the energy transition, many developed countries have considered Biogas from Waste (BfW) based on the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process as a realistic renewable energy source and aim to create social, economic, and environmental benefits for their communities. Despite several policy instruments in the UK over the last ten years, the growth of BfW schemes remains subdued and faces market failures. This paper aims to evaluate elements of demand-side policies focused on addressing market failures to increase the diffusion of BfW schemes in the UK. We discussed effective demand-side policies related to the biog...
This paper aims to analyze the implications of Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) support removal in the UK’s c... more This paper aims to analyze the implications of Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) support removal in the UK’s community energy sector and make recommendations for future business practices. European countries, including the UK, have recognized the critical role of Community Energy Cooperatives (CECs) in achieving low-carbon-energy transition targets through citizen engagements. However, due to the withdrawal of FIT support and other incentives in the UK, CECs struggle to sustain their profitability and growth. The subsidy-free, market-oriented policies have necessitated that CECs explore new business opportunities in collaboration with other actors of the business ecosystems. In this paper, we reviewed the impact of FIT support removal on community groups in the UK's member states, England, Scotland, and Wales. We analyzed effective business practices that CECs could follow to improve business viability and achieve growth. Based on our review, we make three recommendations for the business pr...
Several countries have set net-zero targets, and many more will announce in the next few years. C... more Several countries have set net-zero targets, and many more will announce in the next few years. Countries have used carbon pricing as an instrument to cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and provide a price signal to attract private investments to achieve net-zero targets. However, current carbon policy in countries with net-zero targets remains inadequate and asymmetrical to overcome net-zero challenges; there are visible gaps in the carbon price level, sectoral coverage, and mechanism to reward carbon-neutral initiatives. This paper proposed an integrated carbon policy design covering economic, technical, and social dimensions and discussed how an integrated policy design approach could be effective in helping countries achieve net-zero objectives. The paper makes recommendations for net-zero policymakers. First, a stable and appropriate carbon price must be in place to attract private investments in carbon offset measures and commercialize clean technologies. Second, governments s...
The low-carbon energy transition framed as a social-technical system can enable researchers to ga... more The low-carbon energy transition framed as a social-technical system can enable researchers to gain insight into the complex interaction between niche actors and the dominant regime under the current energy policy landscape. This paper aims to analyze community-led energy initiatives through the lens of sustainable entrepreneurship and discern business practices that these niche actors use in the social-technical setting of the energy transition. Niche actors such as Community Energy Cooperatives (CECs) develop bottom-up solutions and overcome social-cognitive norms through citizen engagement. Especially in the UK, such community initiatives face resistance from the dominant regime due to the unfavorable policies and centralized institutional arrangements. The business practices based on sustainable entrepreneurship can enable community groups to create social, economic, and environmental values for the local communities. In our analysis, we observed that CECs exhibit traits of a su...
The biogas from waste has emerged as a realistic and reliable renewable energy proposition and ca... more The biogas from waste has emerged as a realistic and reliable renewable energy proposition and can deliver social-economic benefits when integrated with local communities. In the last decade, the biogas sector in European countries has seen unprecedented growth due to favorable policy supports and perceived social-economic benefits. Among different biogas producing schemes, waste to biogas using anaerobic digestion is considered most environment friendly due to minimum carbon leakage and positive waste resource recycling impact. Many countries, including the UK, envision creating a circular economy utilizing Biogas from Waste (BfW) recycling potential. This paper aims to analyze the state of the UK’s BfW scheme through the lens of circular economy and discern areas that need attention to usher BfW potential in supporting a circular economy. The paper also discussed key challenges and barriers to create a local circular economy using the BfW scheme. Based on the analysis, it is obser...
Under the market reforms, the unbundling of energy systems has opened new areas for value creatio... more Under the market reforms, the unbundling of energy systems has opened new areas for value creation at a competitive price, which was impossible in centralized energy markets dominated by utilities. The renewable energy market via Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has emerged as a realistic business proposition within such reforms. In the last decade, the renewable energy market based on the PPA scheme has seen unprecedented growth in Europe and North America. The falling cost of renewable energy and exigency to achieve energy transition targets have created new opportunities for Independent Power Producers (IPP) via the PPA route. Alongside, the PPA improves bankability and ensures a long-term revenue stream for renewable energy projects in the subsidy-free environment. On the contrary, the complexity of PPA models, market risks, and intermittency of energy generation pose challenges to IPPs and buyers. Considering PPA is an evolving concept, this paper aims to contribute to the existi...
Adoption of Low-Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) technologies is considered promising to curtail carbon emis... more Adoption of Low-Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) technologies is considered promising to curtail carbon emissions in the industrial sectors and substitute high carbon-intensive fuels. However, LCH technologies are still evolving and face several technical & commercial barriers. On the commercial side, they face economic viability and financial risks and, therefore, fail to attract investments. Recently, some countries have developed policy support to incentivize LCH technologies, but their reward mechanisms and design vary widely and lack a standardized approach. The paper aims to contribute to the current knowledge by discussing the theoretical underpinning of LCH revenue models. It reviews emerging revenue models for LCH technologies in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. The review covers CCfD (Carbon Contract for Difference) in Germany, SDE++ (Stimulation of Sustainable Energy Production and Climate Transition) in the Netherlands, and HPBM (Hydrogen production Business Model) in the United Kingdom (UK). The review highlighted CCfD acts as simple hedging instrument against CO2 market price fluctuations without any visibility on hydrogen prices in the market. In contrast, SDE++ and HPBM are found to more comprehensive incentive schemes for LCH development.
Green hydrogen development is still at a niche stage and faces several technical & commercial bar... more Green hydrogen development is still at a niche stage and faces several technical & commercial barriers. Among them is the high LCOH (Levelized Cost of Hydrogen) of green hydrogen, predominantly due to the cost of renewable electricity. In recent years, several research studies have focused on finding the most cost-effective renewable electricity option to feed electrolyzers for producing green hydrogen. However, their findings suggest that renewable electricity costs vary widely between solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind technologies based on the meteorological conditions of the location. With a focus on the United Kingdom (UK), this paper does a high-level business case analysis to assess renewable electricity options considering their impact on the green hydrogen LCOH in off-grid configuration. The paper uses the cost and capacity factors of renewable electricity generated from solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind in the UK. The paper discusses how offshore wind electricity ...
Discussions around hydrogen as a future energy source have taken center stage in the last few yea... more Discussions around hydrogen as a future energy source have taken center stage in the last few years. Countries have recognized the benefits of hydrogen as an effective energy carrier and consider it a promising transition pathway to achieve net-zero objectives. Several countries support the development of green hydrogen as part of a long-term strategy. Among various hydrogen generation options (Green, Blue, Grey), green hydrogen generated from renewable electricity and water electrolysis is considered sustainable and climate safe. However, green hydrogen development is still at a niche stage and faces various technical challenges and economic viability issues. This paper discusses how effective policy interventions focused on addressing technical and commercial challenges can help scale-up green hydrogen generation. The paper discussed policy interventions by countries like France, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US, and other EU nations leading green hydrogen development and proposed a...
Over the last decade, demand-side policies are increasingly implemented to correct market failure... more Over the last decade, demand-side policies are increasingly implemented to correct market failures and overcome the systemic problem in complex social-technical systems such as energy transition. This paradigm shift in policy approach results from realizing that relying solely on supply-side policy instruments to push innovative solutions into the market is insufficient. As part of the energy transition, many developed countries have considered Biogas from Waste (BfW) based on the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process as a realistic renewable energy source and aim to create social, economic, and environmental benefits for their communities. Despite several policy instruments in the UK over the last ten years, the growth of BfW schemes remains subdued and faces market failures. This paper aims to evaluate elements of demand-side policies focused on addressing market failures to increase the diffusion of BfW schemes in the UK. We discussed effective demand-side policies related to the biog...
This paper aims to analyze the implications of Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) support removal in the UK’s c... more This paper aims to analyze the implications of Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) support removal in the UK’s community energy sector and make recommendations for future business practices. European countries, including the UK, have recognized the critical role of Community Energy Cooperatives (CECs) in achieving low-carbon-energy transition targets through citizen engagements. However, due to the withdrawal of FIT support and other incentives in the UK, CECs struggle to sustain their profitability and growth. The subsidy-free, market-oriented policies have necessitated that CECs explore new business opportunities in collaboration with other actors of the business ecosystems. In this paper, we reviewed the impact of FIT support removal on community groups in the UK's member states, England, Scotland, and Wales. We analyzed effective business practices that CECs could follow to improve business viability and achieve growth. Based on our review, we make three recommendations for the business pr...
Several countries have set net-zero targets, and many more will announce in the next few years. C... more Several countries have set net-zero targets, and many more will announce in the next few years. Countries have used carbon pricing as an instrument to cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and provide a price signal to attract private investments to achieve net-zero targets. However, current carbon policy in countries with net-zero targets remains inadequate and asymmetrical to overcome net-zero challenges; there are visible gaps in the carbon price level, sectoral coverage, and mechanism to reward carbon-neutral initiatives. This paper proposed an integrated carbon policy design covering economic, technical, and social dimensions and discussed how an integrated policy design approach could be effective in helping countries achieve net-zero objectives. The paper makes recommendations for net-zero policymakers. First, a stable and appropriate carbon price must be in place to attract private investments in carbon offset measures and commercialize clean technologies. Second, governments s...
The low-carbon energy transition framed as a social-technical system can enable researchers to ga... more The low-carbon energy transition framed as a social-technical system can enable researchers to gain insight into the complex interaction between niche actors and the dominant regime under the current energy policy landscape. This paper aims to analyze community-led energy initiatives through the lens of sustainable entrepreneurship and discern business practices that these niche actors use in the social-technical setting of the energy transition. Niche actors such as Community Energy Cooperatives (CECs) develop bottom-up solutions and overcome social-cognitive norms through citizen engagement. Especially in the UK, such community initiatives face resistance from the dominant regime due to the unfavorable policies and centralized institutional arrangements. The business practices based on sustainable entrepreneurship can enable community groups to create social, economic, and environmental values for the local communities. In our analysis, we observed that CECs exhibit traits of a su...
The biogas from waste has emerged as a realistic and reliable renewable energy proposition and ca... more The biogas from waste has emerged as a realistic and reliable renewable energy proposition and can deliver social-economic benefits when integrated with local communities. In the last decade, the biogas sector in European countries has seen unprecedented growth due to favorable policy supports and perceived social-economic benefits. Among different biogas producing schemes, waste to biogas using anaerobic digestion is considered most environment friendly due to minimum carbon leakage and positive waste resource recycling impact. Many countries, including the UK, envision creating a circular economy utilizing Biogas from Waste (BfW) recycling potential. This paper aims to analyze the state of the UK’s BfW scheme through the lens of circular economy and discern areas that need attention to usher BfW potential in supporting a circular economy. The paper also discussed key challenges and barriers to create a local circular economy using the BfW scheme. Based on the analysis, it is obser...
Under the market reforms, the unbundling of energy systems has opened new areas for value creatio... more Under the market reforms, the unbundling of energy systems has opened new areas for value creation at a competitive price, which was impossible in centralized energy markets dominated by utilities. The renewable energy market via Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has emerged as a realistic business proposition within such reforms. In the last decade, the renewable energy market based on the PPA scheme has seen unprecedented growth in Europe and North America. The falling cost of renewable energy and exigency to achieve energy transition targets have created new opportunities for Independent Power Producers (IPP) via the PPA route. Alongside, the PPA improves bankability and ensures a long-term revenue stream for renewable energy projects in the subsidy-free environment. On the contrary, the complexity of PPA models, market risks, and intermittency of energy generation pose challenges to IPPs and buyers. Considering PPA is an evolving concept, this paper aims to contribute to the existi...
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Papers by Abhijeet Acharya