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Clean Energy Wellbeing Opportunities and the Risk of the Jevons Paradox

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Clean Energy Wellbeing Opportunities and the Risk of the Jevons Paradox energies Review The European Union Green Deal: Clean Energy Wellbeing Opportunities and the Risk of the Jevons Paradox Estrella Trincado 1,* , Antonio Sánchez-Bayón 2 and José María Vindel 3 1 Department of Applied Economics, Structure and History, Faculty of Economics and Business, Campus de Somosaguas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain 2 Department of Business Economics (ADO), Applied Economics II and Fundamentals of Economic Analysis, Social and Legal Sciences School, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28033 Madrid, Spain; [email protected] 3 Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: After the Great Recession of 2008, there was a strong commitment from several international institutions and forums to improve wellbeing economics, with a switch towards satisfaction and sustainability in people–planet–profit relations. The initiative of the European Union is the Green Deal, which is similar to the UN SGD agenda for Horizon 2030. It is the common political economy plan for the Multiannual Financial Framework, 2021–2027. This project intends, at the same time, to stop climate change and to promote the people’s wellness within healthy organizations and smart cities with access to cheap and clean energy. However, there is a risk for the success of this aim: the Jevons paradox. In this paper, we make a thorough revision of the literature on the Jevons Paradox, which implies that energy efficiency leads to higher levels of consumption of energy and to a bigger hazard of climate change and environmental degradation. Citation: Trincado, E.; Sánchez-Bayón, A.; Vindel, J.M. The Keywords: European Union (EU); Green Deal; wellbeing economics; Horizon 2030; Jevons Paradox; European Union Green Deal: Clean Energy Wellbeing Opportunities and clean energy production; sustainability the Risk of the Jevons Paradox. Energies 2021, 14, 4148. https:// doi.org/10.3390/en14144148 1. Introduction Academic Editors: Sergey Zhironkin More and more international institutions and forums have now a strong commitment and Wojciech Nowak to achieve a climate neutral economy that achieves the people–planet–profit wellbeing [1]. This is the case with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SGD) for Received: 1 June 2021 Horizon 2030 [2], the Economy of Well-Being of OECD [3], the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Accepted: 7 July 2021 of WEF and net of transnational corporations [4], the Green Deal of the European Union Published: 9 July 2021 (EU) [5], etc. The EU Green Deal was passed in 2019 within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 [6] with the aim to promote the clean energy production and the well- Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral being in Europe [7,8]. Positive externalities derived from the production and use of clean with regard to jurisdictional claims in renewable energy are job creation, rural community development, reducing energy poverty published maps and institutional affil- and mitigating its negative effects on the environment and public health. Renewable energy iations. jobs were estimated worldwide 11.5 million in 2019, with a growing tendency (in 2018 they were 11 million) [9]. A total of 32% is women employment. Some few countries concentrate most of this employment, but advantages are evident, especially with the use of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies where 33% of the total renewable energy workforce Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. is found. In 2019, ten countries leading in the production of equipment concentrated 87% Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. of the PV employment. Asia is the continent that takes more advantage of this global trend, This article is an open access article with 63% of world jobs in renewables. Production has clearly increased in countries with distributed under the terms and labour-intensive supply chains such as Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, and also Brazil conditions of the Creative Commons and Colombia, whereas a decrease in output in the US and the EU is happening. Not many Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ estimates are available, but there is an upward tendency of the number of jobs in off-grid 4.0/). decentralised renewables. Important linkages on other productive uses are evinced in local Energies 2021, 14, 4148. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144148 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies Energies 2021, 14, x 2 of 24 Energies 2021, 14, 4148 2 of 23 an upward tendency of the number of jobs in off-grid decentralised renewables. Important linkages on other productive uses are evinced in local communities, from agri-food to communities,communications, from trade agri-food or health to communications, care. Supply chains trade are or expanding. health care. It is Supply now evident chains arethat expanding.providing the It is skills now necessary evident that to walk providing smoothly the skillsfrom necessaryfossil fuels to to walk renewables smoothly requires from fossilmore fuels information, to renewables training requires and technology more information, for remote training and digital and technologylearning [10]. for remote and digitalIn regards learning to green [10]. jobs composition [9,11], jobs in biofuels expanded to 2.5 million drivenIn regardsby growth to green of the jobs outputs composition in 2019: [9 biodiesel,11], jobs ingrew biofuels to 13% expanded and ethanol to 2.5 to million 2%. In drivenregards by to growth wind power, of the outputsthere are in 1.2 2019: million biodiesel jobs, 21% grew of towhich 13% is and women ethanol employment. to 2%. In regardsThe bulk to of wind the power,projects there are onshore, are 1.2 million but 18 jobs,countries 21% ofhave which now is offshore women farms, employment. when a Thedecade bulk ago of thethere projects were only are onshore, 10. The installed but 18 countries capacity haveof hydropower now offshore is the farms, largest when of all a decaderenewables, ago there but it were grows only relatively 10. The installedslowly. Hydropower capacity of hydropower employs directly is the near largest 2 million of all renewables,people, many but of it them grows in relativelyoperations slowly. and maintenance. Hydropower employs directly near 2 million people,The many promotion of them of in renewables, operations then, and maintenance. is part of the wellbeing economics agenda, which goalThe is human promotion satisfaction of renewables, and social then, development. is part of the wellbeingWellbeing economicseconomics agenda, is based which on an goalinterdisciplinary is human satisfaction approach and that social connects development. economics Wellbeing with other economics social and is basedphysical on ansci- interdisciplinaryences. It is a choral approach initiative that connectsof cooperative economics intelligence with other beyond social the and traditional physical sciences. bureau- Itcratic is a choral model initiative of welfare of cooperative state economics intelligence [12–14 beyond], drawing the in traditional the collaboration bureaucratic of interna- model oftional welfare institutions, state economics international [12–14], forums, drawing worldwide in the collaboration think-tanks, of international global consultant institutions, firms, internationalnets of companies forums, and worldwide decentralized think-tanks, technologies global (e.g., consultant block-chain). firms, All nets are of committed companies to andthe decentralizedconstruction of technologies healthy organizations (e.g., block-chain). under spontaneous All are committed cooperation to the within construction the dig- ofital healthy economy organizations and a dynamic under efficiency spontaneous approa cooperationch [15]. The within ongoing the digitalfourth economyindustrial and rev- aolution dynamic makes efficiency technological approach advances [15]. The and ongoing labour fourthwellbeing industrial exponentially revolution convergent makes technological[16–22]. Artificial advances intelligence and labour is replacing wellbeing human exponentially beings convergent in tedious [16tasks,–22]. something Artificial intelligencecalled singularity is replacing [23]. humanThen, more beings production in tedious at tasks, lower something costs may called increase singularity global living [23]. Then,standards more productionwhile improving at lower environment, costs may increase as predicted global livingby the standards Kuznets curve while improving[24,25] and environment,shown in Figure as predicted 1. by the Kuznets curve [24,25] and shown in Figure1. FigureFigure 1. 1.The The environmental environmental Kuznets Kuznets curve. curve. However,However, for for a a happy happy ending ending of of wellbeing wellbeing economics economics objectives, objectives, a a problemproblem emerges: emerges: thethe risk risk of of the the Jevons Jevons paradox. paradox. According According to thisto this paradox, paradox, clean clean and and cheap cheap energy energy produc- pro- tionduction could could mean mean higher higher levels levels of consumption of consumption of energyof energy and and a biggera bigger hazard hazard of of climate climate changechange and and environmental environmental degradation. degradation. ThisThis article article is is an an analytic analytic review review in in a a theoretical theoretical andand in in an an ethical ethical way: way: (1) (1) to to understand understand the the alignment alignment of of the the EU EU Green Green Deal Deal
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