The European Commission commissioned an international consortium including the DIW Berlin with a background study on State aid in the field of environmental protection and energy. The results of the study are meant to support the Commission in the revision of the EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy (EEAG). One key focus of the study was to assess the current rules...
This report offers insights to support key German stakeholders on the implementation of an innovative and promising policy instrument for the decarbonization of the basic materials sectors: project-based Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs). It analyses selected socio-economic impacts of introducing this policy instrument in Germany. The reports accounts for the perspective of all relevant groups ...
The recovery from the corona virus pandemic provides a unique opportunity for transformation. But what does it take for the German and the European economy to thrive in the new, more digital, post-Covid world? How can we transform our economies while also limiting climate change and preparing for its impact? Will we manage to advance structural transformation while strengthening social cohesion? ...
In this report, the role of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project for the German and the European natural gas market was investigated in the short run and the long run. In the short run, no supply gap can be identified that would justify the speedy finalization of construction works on the Nord Stream 2 project. In the long run, there is no need for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline due to the German and...
For Europe to reach climate neutrality by mid-century, it needs to move toward a circular economy. Waste avoidance, reuse, and recycling save primary resources and avoid emissions in the production of basic materials like steel, cement, and plastics. Without exploring circular economy potentials, switching production to climate-neutral processes alone would result in significant costs and tremendous ...
By setting near-zero-emission requirements for the production of certain products to be sold on the European single market (product carbon requirements, PCRs), the European Union could accelerate the phase-out of carbon-intensive production processes.The announcement of such requirements would send a signal to producers,financing institutions and other relevant stakeholders, thus incentivizing them ...
Although there is strong support for renewable energy plants, they are often met with local resistance. We quantify the externalities of renewable energy plants using well-being data. We focus on the example of biogas, one of the most frequently deployed technologies besides wind and solar. To this end, we combine longitudinal household data with novel panel data on more than 13, 000 installations ...
The Paris Agreement calls on countries to pursue efforts to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5°C. We derive a 2016–2050 emission budget for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) based on cost-effectiveness criteria aimed at achieving the 1.5°C target with a 50%–66% probability, and translate it into a cap reduction path. We show that, under current ETS parameters, the vast majority of ...
Offshore wind plays an ever-increasing role for the global transition to renewable energy. For offshore wind energy to be successful, cost-effective transport of the produced electricity to shore is necessary. The development and operation of the offshore transmission asset is costly and regulated differently across the globe. In most countries, the TSO is responsible for the transmission and develops ...