Topic Energy Economics

Sanctions against Russian Gas Would Not Endanger EU or German Gas Supply

As a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, natural gas prices skyrocketed in 2022 and Germany in particular felt the impact of its strong dependency on Russia. Prices have since relaxed, the European natural gas industry has overcome the uncertainty due to the energy crisis in 2022, and the industry also survived the slump in Russian natural gas imports without supply interruptions. However, Russia ...

Exploring the Interdependence of Climate, Finance, Energy, and Geopolitics: A Conceptual Framework for Systemic Risks Amidst Multiple Crises

Navigating the transition toward a zero-emission and just future amidst multiple crises requires a nuanced understanding of potential hindrances to investments and energy transitions. As current approaches hardly consider the big picture of interacting crises, this study offers a framework to analyze the dynamics and risk channels between 1) the climate crisis, 2) financial (in)stability, 3) the geopolitical ...

Heat Transition: Municipalities Need Federal Support in Decommissioning Natural Gas Networks

Large parts of the existing natural gas distribution networks must be decommissioned due to the decarbonization of the heat supply. However, there are neither regulatory nor economic incentives for the gas network operators to do so and delaying the decommissioning could be expensive for the remaining customers. This Weekly Report analyzes to what extent municipalities can partially decommission the ...

Measuring the Dunkelflaute: How (not) to Analyze Variable Renewable Energy Shortage

As variable renewable energy sources increasingly gain importance in global energy systems, there is a growing interest in understanding periods of variable renewable energy shortage (``Dunkelflauten''). Defining, quantifying, and comparing such shortage events across different renewable generation technologies and locations presents a surprisingly intricate challenge. Various approaches exist in different ...

The Energy Transition in France: Expansion of Renewables Stalling, Good Progress on Heat Pumps

The energy transition is a major challenge for both Germany and France. This Weekly Report provides an overview of the short- and long-term goals as well as current developments and trends in France’s energy and climate policy. It reveals that France is largely on track with its greenhouse gases targets and is also making good progress on installing heat pumps. However, its expansion of renewable energy ...

Questioning Nuclear Scale-up Propositions: Availability and Economic Prospects of Light Water, Small Modular and Advanced Reactor Technologies

This paper addresses the pressing need for rapid decarbonization of energy systems by examining the role of nuclear power in future energy scenarios collected in the IPCC database. Despite their explorative character, energy scenarios can influence decision-makers or might be used to promote certain technology developments. They are increasingly subject to the integration into real-world settings and ...

Stabilized Benders Decomposition for Energy Planning under Climate Uncertainty

A Linear Reduced-Order Model for the Activated Sludge Process for the Integration into a Mixed-Integer Linear Energy System Optimisation Model

Conventional wastewater treatment plants consume significant amounts of electricity. The constant aeration of the wastewater in order to foster the growth of microorganisms or the pumping of wastewater are two examples for energy-intensive processes within a plant. Case studies have shown that switching off blowers and inlet pumps for a certain period of time is possible without a loss in water quality. ...

Measuring Total Carbon Pricing

While countries increasingly commit to pricing greenhouse gases directly through carbon taxes or emissions trading systems, indirect forms of carbon pricing-such as fuel excise taxes and fuel subsidy reforms-remain important factors affecting the mitigation incentives in an economy. Taken together, how can policy makers think about the overall price signal for carbon emissions and the incentive it ...

Mixed mid-term review for German traffic light coali-tion in the energy transition; significant effort needed to achieve targets

December 13, 2023 – The German traffic light coalition began its term two years ago with ambitious energy policy goals. Halfway through the legislative period, its track record is mixed. Good progress has been made in some areas, but in others a large gap between targets and the status quo remains. The Ampel-Monitor Energiewende by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) shows...