Topic Energy Economics

The Price Elasticity of Natural Gas Demand of Small Consumers in Germany during the Energy Crisis 2022

Understanding how consumers respond to turbulent market conditions is crucial for planning security of natural gas supply. This paper estimates the price elasticity of demand of small consumers in Germany in the period with both high price fluctuations and a fear of natural gas shortage in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Using granular data between 2018 and 2023, we estimate an Auto ...

Catalyzing the Transition to a Climate-Neutral Industry with Carbon Contracts for Difference: Commentary

Impacts of Electric Carsharing on a Power Sector with Variable Renewables

Electrifying the car fleet is a major strategy for mitigating emissions in the transport sector. As electrification cannot solve all negative externalities associated with cars, reducing the size of the car fleet would be beneficial. Electric carsharing could reconcile current car usage habits with a smaller fleet, but this may reduce the potential of electric cars to align their grid interactions ...

Power Sector Benefits of Flexible Heat Pumps in 2030 Scenarios

Heat pumps play a major role in decreasing fossil fuel use in heating. They increase electricity demand, but could also foster the system integration of variable renewable energy sources. We analyze three scenarios for expanding decentralized heat pumps in Germany by 2030, focusing on the role of buffer heat storage. Using an open-source power sector model, we assess costs, capacity investments, and ...

Energy-Efficient Building Renovation: Price‑Adjusted Investments Declining; Trend Reversal Needed to Reach Climate Targets

In light of rising oil and gas prices, investments in energy-efficient building renovation in Germany have risen recently in nominal terms. In 2023, around 72 billion euros were spent on the energy-efficient renovation of residential, public, and commercial buildings, about 12 billion more than in 2021. Nevertheless, investments declined by over six percent in price-adjusted terms, as construction ...

Can the Financial Sector Protect the Climate? The Potential of Sustainable Finance

Climate policy aims to reduce emissions by redirecting investment from emission-intensive toward carbon-neutral assets. One key instrument, carbon pricing, guides investors and asset managers by lowering the return of fossil fuel-related assets. This chapter reviews three key mechanisms on how sustainable finance can support climate policy: first, providing investors with the necessary information ...

Cream-skimming through PPAs – Interactions between Private and Public Long-term Contracts for Renewable Energy

Public support systems and private investments in renewable energy are increasingly existing side-by-side and are both emphasized in policy proposals on the European and national levels. This paper assesses the interaction between the two approaches with respect to cream-skimming, i.e., the potential for low-cost projects to sign private contracts that increase the costs of publicly supported renewable ...

(Re)Integrating Radioactive Materials and Waste into a Global Sustainable Development Context

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, established in 2015, aim to achieve global sustainability by 2030 through the improvement of environmental, social, and economic parameters. However, unlike earlier concepts such as the Agenda 21 of 1992, the SDGs overlook radioactive waste management and related challenges of radiation itself. First, we investigate the historic consideration ...

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

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

Repurposing Natural Gas Pipelines for Hydrogen: Limits and Options from a Case Study in Germany

We investigate the challenges and options for repurposing existing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transportation. Challenges of re-purposing are mainly related to safety and due to the risk of hydrogen embrittlement of pipeline steels and the smaller molecular size of the gas. From an economic perspective, the lower volumetric energy density of hydrogen compared to natural gas is a challenge. We ...