Overview of challenges, prospects, environmental impacts and policies for renewable energy and sustainable development in Greece

The aim of the study was to present the current status of the electrical energy market, energy legislation, green house gas emissions, energy consumption trends and future prospects of sustainable development in Greece. The study described current issues relevant to the renewable energy sources (RES) such as the climatic factors that affect the penetration of RES into the Greek energy mix, the current regulation status, the barriers and evaluation of their contribution in the energy balance. The study also investigated the increasing power demand, emissions and energy trends in the residential sector in Greece. The paper evaluated the current status of the building stock, RES and the future energy related prospects of the Aegean Sea islands. The islands were categorized based on energy production cost, heating degree days, building characteristics and natural resources to identify islands with higher and lower renewable energy potentials. The study revealed that the islands with the higher potential energy savings in the residential sector are Lesbos, Lemnos, Samothrace, Chios, Andros, Patmos, Kea and Kimolos while at the same time, Rhodes, Naxos, Amorgos, Syros, Ios and Kythnos are those islands that present the lower potential. The study will help to propose action plans and implementation strategies in terms of residential renewable energy applications in non-grid interconnected islands in Greece. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.