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In the energy sector, few topics, if any, are more hyped than hydrogen. Countries develop hydrogen strategies to provide a perspective for hydrogen production and use in order to meet climate-neutrality goals. However, in this topical field the role of water is less accentuated. Hence, in this study, we seek to map the interrelations between the water and wastewater sector on the one hand and the hydrogen sector on the other hand, before reflecting upon our findings in a country case study. We chose the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan because (i) hydrogen is politically discussed not least due to its high potentials for solar PV, and (ii) Jordan is water stressed - definitely a bad precondition for water-splitting electrolyzers. This research is based on a project called the German-Jordanian Water-Hydrogen-Dialogue (GJWHD), which started with comprehensive desk research mostly to map the intersectoral relations and to scope the situation in Jordan. Then, we carried out two expert workshops in Wuppertal, Germany, and Amman, Jordan, in order to further discuss the nexus by inviting a diverse set of stakeholders. The mapping exercise shows various options for hydrogen production and opportunities for planning hydrogen projects in water-scarce contexts such as Jordan.
Nigeria is Africa's top cement producer and could be on course to be one of the top producers globally. The goal of this study is to identify and critically examine the pathways available to Nigeria to meet its decarbonisation goals in the cement sector. Based on a literature review, the study assesses demand drivers and decarbonisation potentials for the sector. It then presents two different quantitative pathways for growth in production of cement by 2050, and three different pathways for decarbonisation of the sector. Using published data and a scenario analysis tool, the study calculates how the sector's emissions might evolve under each of these pathways. The results indicate that, in the most ambitious scenario, emissions from the sector can plateau by the late 2030s, resulting in an overall increase of 21% by 2050 (compared to 2015 levels). Achieving this scenario is necessary in order to put the sector on a path to net zero emissions beyond 2050. The scenario is driven by reductions in both energy-related and process emissions, as well as a small share of carbon capture and storage and demand management. A moderately ambitious scenario that relies mostly on savings on energy-related emissions results in an 84% increase in emissions by 2050. Finally, the Business-as-Usual scenario results in an almost tripling of emissions by 2050. The results indicate a strong potential for policies to drive improvements in energy efficiency and clinker-to-cement ratio. Critical areas of uncertainty within the assumptions include the production rates (including the evolution of the export market) and the fuel mix.
Transponder-based Aircraft Detection Lighting Systems (ADLS) are increasingly used in wind turbines to limit beacon operation times, reduce light emissions, and increase wind energy acceptance. The systems use digital technologies such as receivers of digital transponder signals, LTE/5G, and other information and communication technology. The use of ADLS will be mandatory in Germany both for new and existing wind turbines with a height of >100 m from 2023 (onshore) and 2024 (offshore), so a nationwide rollout is expected to start during 2022. To fully realize the benefits while avoiding risks and bottlenecks, a thorough and holistic understanding of the efforts required and the impacts caused along the life cycle of an ADLS is essential. Therefore, this study presents the first multi-aspect holistic evaluation of an ADLS. A framework for evaluating digital applications in the energy sector, previously developed by the authors, is refined and applied. The framework is based on multi-criteria analysis (MCA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and expert interviews. On an aggregated level, the MCA results show an overall positive impact from all stakeholders’ perspectives. Most positive impacts are found in the society and politics category, while most negative impacts are of technical nature. The LCA of the ADLS reveals a slightly negative impact, but this impact is negligible when compared to the total life cycle impact of the wind turbines of which the ADLS is a part. Besides the aggregated evaluation, detailed information on potential implementation risks, bottlenecks, and levers for life cycle improvement are presented. In particular, the worldwide scarcity of the required semiconductors, in combination with the general lack of technicians in Germany, lead to the authors’ recommendation for a limited prolongation of the planned rollout period. This period should be used by decision-makers to ensure the availability of technical components and installation capacities. A pooling of ADLS installations in larger regions could improve plannability for manufacturers and installers. Furthermore, an ADLS implementation in other countries could be supported by an early holistic evaluation using the presented framework.
Community-based approaches to natural resource management are being discussed and experienced as promising ways for pursuing ecological conservation and socio-economic development simultaneously. However, the multiplicity of levels, scales, objectives and actors that are involved in sustainability transformations tends to be challenging for such bottom-up approaches. Collaborative and polycentric governance schemes are proposed for dealing with those challenges. What has not been fully explored is how knowledge from local contexts of community-based initiatives can be diffused to influence practices on higher levels and/or in other local contexts. This study explores how theoretical advances in the diffusion of grassroots innovation can contribute to understanding and supporting the diffusion of knowledge and practices from community-based initiatives and proposes a transdisciplinary approach to diffusion. For that aim, we develop an analytical perspective on the diffusion of grassroots innovations that takes into consideration the multiplicity of actors, levels and scales, the different qualities/types of knowledge and practices, as well as their respective contributions. We focus on the multiplicity and situatedness of cognitive frames and conceptualize the diffusion of grassroots innovations as a transdisciplinary process. In this way three different diffusion pathways are derived in which the knowledge and practices of grassroots initiatives can be processed in order to promote their (re)interpretation and (re)application in situations and by actors that do not share the cognitive frame and the local context of the originating grassroots initiative. The application of the developed approach is illustrated through transdisciplinary research for the diffusion of sustainable family farming innovations in Colombia. This conceptualization accounts for the emergence of multiplicity as an outcome of diffusion by emphasizing difference as a core resource in building sustainable futures.
Sufficiency measures are potentially decisive for the decarbonisation of energy systems but rarely considered in energy policy and modelling. Just as efficiency and renewable energies, the diffusion of demand-side solutions to climate change also relies on policy-making. Our extensive literature review of European and national sufficiency policies fills a gap in existing databases. We present almost 300 policy instruments clustered into relevant categories and publish them as "Energy Sufficiency Policy Database". This paper provides a description of the data clustering, the set-up of the database and an analysis of the policy instruments. A key insight is that sufficiency policy includes much more than bans of products or information tools leaving the responsibility to individuals. It is a comprehensive instrument mix of all policy types, not only enabling sufficiency action, but also reducing currently existing barriers. A policy database can serve as a good starting point for policy recommendations and modelling, further research is needed on barriers and demand-reduction potentials of sufficiency policy instruments.
A clear understanding of socio-technical interdependencies and a structured vision are prerequisites for fostering and steering a transition to a fully renewables-based energy system. To facilitate such understanding, a phase model for the renewable energy (RE) transition in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries has been developed and applied to ten countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen. This report synthesises the results of these ten studies.
The analysis shows that the state of the energy sector in the MENA region varies from country to country, but some underlying trends are present in all countries. In the majority of countries, energy prices are subsidised, and energy markets are mostly not liberalised. The energy demand in all analysed countries is growing and most grid systems are poorly interconnected across borders. Still, the expansion of RE in the MENA region can benefit from significant global progress and cost reductions in RE technologies.
Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is not the only key driver for energy transition. In fact, the main motives for transition are that RE can help to meet growing demand, reduce dependence on imports, increase energy security, and provide opportunities for economic development.
All countries studied have RE targets. While some countries are on track to meet these targets, others need to increase their efforts to expand renewable electricity generation in order to meet their goals. Strong progress has been made in countries with limited fossil energy resources, while in some countries that produce and export large amounts of fossil energy resources, the energy transition is progressing rather slowly.
A clear understanding of socio-technical interdependencies and a structured vision are prerequisites for fostering and steering a transition to a fully renewables-based energy system. To facilitate such understanding, a phase model for the renewable energy (RE) transition in MENA countries has been developed and applied to the country case of Yemen. It is designed to support the strategy development and governance of the energy transition and to serve as a guide for decision makers.
The transition towards REs is still at a quite early stage in Yemen. The military conflict has prevented the implementation of most of the planned large-scale renewable projects. The political instability, the high dependence on fossil fuels, and poor administrative performance are the most pressing concerns for Yemen's electricity sector. At an operational level, Yemen requires a total retrofit of the electricity infrastructure and needs to expand its overall capacity while improving its efficiencies.
Despite these challenges, rebuilding the energy system after the political turmoil and the subsequent violent conflicts could offer Yemen the capability to transition towards renewables. This will provide short-term and long-term opportunities and avoid stranded investments in fossil-fuel capacities.
The priority is to improve the framework conditions for RE in Yemen, starting with the development of a long-term strategy up to 2030 and beyond. Also, an appropriate and transparent legislation must be created. Furthermore, based on the legislation, clear regulations for REs must be introduced, and a realistic timeframe for expansion must be established in order to promote acceptance and market development on a large scale.
The results of the analysis along the transition phase model towards 100% RE are intended to stimulate and support the discussion on Yemen's future energy system by providing an over-arching guiding vision for the energy transition and the development of appropriate policies.
A clear understanding of socio-technical interdependencies and a structured vision are prerequisites for fostering and steering a transition to a fully renewables-based energy system. To facilitate such understanding, a phase model for the renewable energy (RE) transition in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries has been developed and applied to the country case of Lebanon. It is designed to support the strategy development and governance of the energy transition and to serve as a guide for decision makers.
Lebanon's energy transition towards REs stands at a very early stage of the first transformation phase. Although abundant solar and wind energy potential does exist, the pathway towards a 100% renewables energy seems very challenging for Lebanon, as a consequence of highly unstable political conditions. The most pressing concern for Lebanon's electricity sector is combating the country's fiscal imbalance, while providing secure and reliable electricity supply. At the operational level, Lebanon's grid network requires significant investments to rebuild, retrofit, and expand the overall capacity and energy efficiency improvements.
The need to strengthen the energy system after the political turmoil of the civil war is likely to offer several long-term opportunities, such as developing the economy, reducing environmental pollution, and increasing the energy security. In order to move forward into the first phase, Lebanon needs to improve the framework conditions for REs and implement its visions. It needs to support the market development in a realistic timeframe, where structural reforms represent the highest priority.
The results of the analysis along the transition phase model towards 100% renewables energy are intended to stimulate and support the discussion on Lebanon's future energy system by providing an overarching guiding vision for the energy transition and the development of appropriate policies.
Innovative digital technologies open up new opportun ities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve energy efficiency and energy management behavior. The question is: How far will SMEs be capable of profiting from the benefits of these new technologies? Using technology screening, this study identifies smart metering and mobile energy monitoring as digital technologies best addressing SMEs' specific demands. In addition, potentials and limitations of the technologies are investigated in two qualitative in-depth field trials. Barriers to adopting digitally enabled energy management practices are examined. The results indicate that visualising energy data enables SMEs to pursue new energy management practices for reducing energy consumption and costs (such as peak load analysis). SMEs need extensive guidance to identify and pursue these strategies. In conclusion, an exploratory adoption model for digitally enabled energy management practices is developed. Hypotheses for future experimental studies and policy implications are derived.
