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Assessment of German Public Attitudes toward Health Communications with Varying Degrees of Scientific Uncertainty Regarding COVID-19

This survey study assesses attitudes of the German public regarding COVID-19 health communications with varying degrees of scientific uncertainty.

Konvergencija regional'noj plotnosti naselenija v Rossii za 120 let

A relative uniformity of population distribution on the territory of the country is of importance from socio-economic and strategic perspectives. It is especially important in the case of Russia with its densely populated West and underpopulated East. This paper considers changes in population density in Russian regions, which occurred between 1897 and 2017. It explores whether there was convergence ...

Preferences for Nuclear Power in Post-Fukushima Japan: Evidence from a Large Nationwide Household Survey

Utilizing the data of a large nationwide household survey conducted in 2014, we investigatepublic preferences on nuclear power in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident and the role offour sets of factors: (1) household/individual socioeconomic characteristics, (2) psychological status,(3) geographical aspects, and (4) Fukushima accident-related experiences. The preferred energy mix,according to ...

Electricity Storage and the Renewable Energy Transition

The Well-Being Benefits of Person-Culture Match Are Contingent on Basic Personality Traits

People enjoy well-being benefits if their personal characteristics match those of their culture. This person-culture match effect is integral to many psychological theories and—as a driver of migration—carries much societal relevance. But do people differ in the degree to which person-culture match confers well-being benefits? In the first-ever empirical test of that question, we examined whether the ...

Impact of COVID-19 Measures on Short-Term Electricity Consumption in the Most Affected EU Countries and USA States

As COVID-19 spreads worldwide, governments have been implementing a wide range of measures to contain it, from movement restrictions to economy-wide shutdowns. Understanding their impacts is essential to support better policies for countries still experiencing outbreaks or in case of emergence of subsequent pandemic waves. Here we show that the cumulative decline in electricity consumption within the ...

Education Differences in Women’s Body Weight Trajectories: The Role of Motherhood

Studies have found that education differences in women’s body weight increase until middle adulthood. The explanatory mechanisms behind this increase are not well-understood. This study examined the role of education differences in the prevalence of motherhood as a risk factor for weight gain and in vulnerability to its effects on weight gain. We used longitudinal data from the German Socio-economic ...

Scenarios for Coal-Exit in Germany—A Model-Based Analysis and Implications in the European Context

The political discussion to reduce the carbon footprint of Germany’s electricity sector,focusing on coal, is intensifying. In this paper, we develop scenarios for phasing out lignite and hardcoal power plants in Germany prior to the end of their technical lifespan (“coal-exit”). Our analysisbases upon two coal-exit instruments, the retirement of coal generation capacities and the limitingof how much ...

Lessons from Germany's Hard Coal Mining Phase-Out: Policies and Transition from 1950 to 2018

German hard coal production ended in 2018, following the termination of subsidies. This paper looks at 60 years of continuous decline of an industry that employed more than 600,000 people, through a case study comparing Germany’s two largest hard coal mining areas (Ruhr area and Saarland). Although predominantly economic drivers underlay the transitions, both provide valuable lessons for upcoming coal ...

Frequency and Duration of Low-Wind-Power Events in Germany

In the transition to a renewable energy system, the occurrence of low-wind-power events receives increasing attention. We analyze the frequency and duration of such events for onshore wind power in Germany, based on 40 years of reanalysis data and open software. We find that low-wind-power events are less frequent in winter than in summer, but the maximum duration is distributed more evenly between ...