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...
This papers analyzes the effect of the ECB’s Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP) and the recent Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) on the yields of eligible green bonds, a new but rapidly growing segment of the corporate bond market. We exploit these policy changes using a difference-in-differences strategy, with ineligible corporate green bonds issued in euro, U.S. dollars and Swedish ...
Power systems with increasing shares of wind and solar power generation have higher capital costs and lower operational costs than power systems based on fossil fuels. This increases the importance of the financing costs for total system cost. We quantify how renewable energy support policies can affect the financing costs by addressing regulatory risk and facilitating hedging. We use interview data ...
We analyze how tariff design incentivizes households to invest in residential photovoltaic and battery storage systems, and explore selected electricity sector effects. To this end, we develop an open-source electricity sector model that explicitly features prosumage agents and apply it to German 2030 scenarios. Results show that lower feed-in tariffs substantially reduce investments in residential ...
The catastrophic accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on March 11, 2011, revealed unexpected safety risks of nuclear energy once again. It also accelerated the decline of nuclear energy in the international energy sector: Nuclear energy’s share of global electricity generation fell from 17 percent in 1996 to 13 percent in 2011 to approximately ten percent in 2019, with a share of primary ...
For the European Union to realise its ambition of carbon neutrality, emissions from basic material production need to be reduced through low-carbon production processes, material efficiency and substitution, as well as enhanced recycling. Different reform options for the EU ETS are discussed that ensure a consistent carbon price incentive for all these mitigation options, while avoiding the risk of ...
The European Commission is facing the challenge and opportunity of implementing the Green Deal while simultaneously initiating the recovery of the economy following the coronavirus crisis. Investments in the basic materials industry’s transition to climate neutrality play a central role in this, as the sector is responsible for 16 percent of the EU’s CO2 emissions and is key to downstream value chains. ...
Coal consumption and production have sharply declined in recent years in the U.S., despite political support. Reasons are mostly unfavorable economic conditions for coal, including competition from natural gas and renewables in the power sector, as well as an aging coal-fired power plant fleet. Nevertheless, coal remains a major energy source in the North American energy markets. Supplementing EMF34 ...