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The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a concept of a policy instrument particularly pushed by policy circles to contribute to a circular economy. The preliminary design of the DPP is supposed to have product-related information compiled mainly by manufactures and, thus, to provide the basis for more circular products. Given the lack of scientific debate on the DPP, this study seeks to work out design options of the DPP and how these options might benefit stakeholders in a product's value chain. In so doing, we introduce the concept of the DPP and, then, describe the existing regime of regulated and voluntary product information tools focusing on the role of stakeholders. These initial results are reflected in an actor-centered analysis on potential advantages gained through the DPP. Data is generated through desk research and a stakeholder workshop. In particular, by having explored the role the DPP for different actors, we find substantial demand for further research on a variety of issues, for instance, on how to reduce red tape and increase incentives for manufacturers to deliver certain information and on how or through what data collection tool (e.g., database) relevant data can be compiled and how such data is provided to which stakeholder group. We call upon other researchers to close the research gaps explored in this paper also to provide better policy direction on the DPP.
Durch den "European Green Deal" und den "Circular Economy Action Plan" der Europäischen Union (EU) hat die EU-Produktpolitik 2019 und 2020 neue Impulse erhalten. In beiden Strategiepapieren der Europäischen Kommission wird ein elektronischer bzw. digitaler Produktpass als wesentliches Instrument für eine klimaschonende und ressourceneffiziente Wirtschaft genannt. Dieser soll unter anderem Informationen über Herkunft, Zusammensetzung, Reparatur- und Demontagemöglichkeiten eines Produktes sowie über die Handhabung am Ende seiner Lebensdauer liefern.
Auch auf nationaler Ebene wird das Thema "digitaler Produktpass" diskutiert und insbesondere in der Umweltpolitischen Digitalagenda des Bundesumweltministeriums als zentrale Maßnahme genannt.
Auch wenn das Thema derzeit stärker in den Mittelpunkt rückt, ist ein breit anwendbarer digitaler Produktpass in der Praxis bislang nicht etabliert. Erste Teilansätze bestehen, die allerdings bislang oftmals nicht durch verpflichtende Standarddatensätze oder zentrale Datenbanken institutionalisiert sind. Entsprechend sind auf politischer Ebene auch noch keine konkreten und umfassenden Konzepte vorhanden, wie ein solcher umfassender Produktpass in Zukunft ausgestaltet und implementiert werden soll. An diesem Punkt setzt diese Kurzstudie an. Sie greift hierbei auch Erfahrungen aus bestehenden Projekten und Initiativen auf, bei denen bereits Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich der (Teil-)Umsetzung von unterschiedlichen Konzepten rund um das Thema Produktpass gewonnen werden konnten. Diese Kurzstudie hat entsprechend das Ziel, den aktuellen Diskussionsstand zum Thema "digitaler Produktpass" kompakt darzustellen und Handlungsoptionen für eine mögliche Umsetzung zu skizzieren. Dabei hat sie nicht den Anspruch und die Möglichkeit ein umfassendes Konzept zu erarbeiten, sondern soll erste Ansätze und Optionen vermitteln, um weitere Diskussionen und Forschungsansätze anzuregen. Insbesondere soll die Kurzstudie Impulse für anschließende Initiativen auf nationaler und europäischer Ebene liefern.
In order to calculate the financial return of energy efficiency measures, a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a proven tool for investors. Generally, however, most CBAs for investors have a narrow focus, which is - simply speaking - on investment costs compared with energy cost savings over the life span of the investment. This only provides part of the full picture. Ideally, a comprehensive or extended CBA would take additional benefits as well as additional costs into account. The objective of this paper is to reflect upon integrating into a CBA two important cost components: transaction costs and energy efficiency services - and how they interact. Even though this concept has not been carried out to the knowledge of the authors, we even go a step further to try to apply this idea. In so doing, we carried out a meta-analysis on relevant literature and existing data and interviewed a limited number of energy experts with comprehensive experience in carrying out energy services. Even though data is hardly available, we succeeded in constructing three real-world cases and applied an extended CBA making use of information gathered on transaction costs and energy services costs. We were able to show that, despite these additional cost components, the energy efficiency measures are economically viable. Quantitative data was not available on how energy services reduce transaction costs; more information on this aspect could render our results even more positive. Even though empirical and conceptual research must intensify efforts to design an even more comprehensive CBA, these first-of-its-kind findings can counterargue those that believe energy efficiency is not worth it (in monetary terms) due to transaction costs or energy services costs. In fact, this is good news for energy efficiency and for those that seek to make use of our findings to argue in favor of taking up energy efficiency investments in businesses.
Die Grundstoffindustrie steht derzeit vor großen Herausforderungen. Die Unternehmen müssen die akuten dramatischen Folgen der Coronakrise bewältigen, aber auch bereits in den nächsten Jahren in neue klimafreundliche Technologien investieren, um das Ziel einer klimaneutralen Wirtschaft im Jahr 2050 zu erreichen. Im Fachforum Energieintensive Grundstoffindustrie beim Grünen Wirtschaftsdialog diskutierten Akteure aus Wirtschaft, Politik und Wissenschaft, welche politischen Instrumente die Transformation der Industrie unterstützen und die notwendigen Investitionen ermöglichen können. Vom Wuppertal Institut wurde für das Fachforum ein Scoping Paper erstellt, welches den Stand der aktuellen Fachdiskussion zu zentralen Politikinstrumenten zusammenfasst und die wichtigsten offenen Ausgestaltungsfragen diskutiert. Das Papier wurde im Austausch mit den Akteuren im Fachforum entwickelt und in mehreren Sitzungen des Forums vorgestellt und diskutiert. Inhaltlicher Schwerpunkt sind Instrumente für faire internationale Wettbewerbsbedingungen, Carbon Contracts for Difference, und Ansätze für Energiepreisreformen.
Innerhalb des Projekts TFE-NRW bewertete das Wuppertal Institut den Forschungsbedarf für Energiewende-Technologien in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Ziel war es herauszufinden, welche Technologien und Forschungsbereiche im Rahmen der Energieforschung für Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) einen besonders hohen Stellenwert in Relation zur Bewertung für Deutschland haben könnten und für die eine besondere Unterstützung innerhalb der Energieforschung gerechtfertigt erscheint. Dabei sollten die speziellen Anforderungen des Bundeslandes berücksichtigt werden.
Betrachtet wurden 31 Technologiefelder aus den Bereichen erneuerbare Energien, konventionelle Kraftwerke, Infrastruktur, Technologien für die Sektorenkopplung (Power-to-X, P2X), energie- und ressourceneffiziente Gebäude, Energie- und Ressourceneffizienz in der Industrie und integrative Aspekte, die mithilfe eines Kriterienrasters qualitativ bewertet wurden.
The energy system of Jordan is facing a rise in energy demand while at the same time having quite limited own conventional energy resources. Especially because of their high import dependency, Jordan is starting to change its energy system and puts a higher focus on renewable energy (like wind and solar) and energy efficiency.
In this short paper the authors discuss the transformation of energy companies in Germany and highlight the possibilities of energy efficiency services. Furthermore, they examinate the transferability to Jordan, based on the results of a questionnaire among Jordan energy experts. Due to the low level of research knowledge in the specific field, this is an exploratory research approach. The role, challenges and opportunities of Jordan's state-owned National Electric Power Company NEPCO have been highlighted.
In the light of Germany's chosen path towards the energy transition, the regulatory framework has changed considerably. New players have succeeded in entering the market, and renewable energies have become increasingly competitive. Greater electrification of the transport and heating sectors will be needed in the future to achieve national climate targets. Against this background, Germany's big energy companies need to be sure that their sales will increase. However, they were unable to anticipate this development, and made strategic mistakes in the past. The development of sustainable business models in line with the energy transition failed to materialize. Now it is becoming increasingly clear that companies must create new business models to survive in the long term. These business models have to keep with the tradition, whilst meeting the needs of low-carbon power supplies. In this paper, we will examine the past and future challenges of the four energy companies and develop a proposal for evaluating sustainable business models. For this purpose, we use the multi-level perspective to categorize developments in the electricity market over the last 50 years, and then apply a multi-criteria analysis to derive five suitable business models from the results.
Reaching the climate goals for the building sector requires to improve insulation and to increase air tightness of buildings in order to minimize heat loss. To achieve these goals and to prevent risks to the health of occupants and damages to the building fabric due to insufficient removal of pollutants and humidity, broad implementation of Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems is crucial.
Comparable and up to date figures on the market penetration of MVHR systems across the EU are hardly available. However, figures point to only a small share of residential buildings being currently equipped with such systems (cf. Riviere et al. 2009). For the German building stock the figure is estimated to be below 5% (Händel 2011). The paper presents insights into the reasons for the slow diffusion of HRV technologies in the German building stock. It builds on the results of a recently completed research project whose central aim was to identify actor-specific and structural barriers for the diffusion of efficient ventilation systems in apartment buildings and to examine how these barriers can be addressed.
The analysis is based on 40 semi-structured expert interviews with energy consultants, HVAC craftsmen, and housing companies, as well as guided in-depth interviews with private owners of apartment buildings or apartments that were evaluated by means of qualitative content analysis. Based on the collected data, seven barrier categories were identified, each containing a range of single barriers for the diffusion of efficient ventilation systems within the residential building stock.
Results of the analysis were quantitatively validated by means of online surveys and a household survey among 1,008 households. The paper points out interdependencies within the chain of effects leading up to the investment decision of building owners. Furthermore, based on good practice examples identified within the data collection process, it proposes different measures to address these barriers.
What role do transaction costs play in energy efficiency improvements and how can they be reduced?
(2019)
Ex-ante policy evaluation requires a detailed understanding of how the subjects addressed by the policy react to its implementation. In the context of energy efficiency, policy measures typically aim at influencing investment decisions towards more efficient options.
As has been discussed widely in the context of the "energy efficiency gap", investments in energy efficiency improvements are frequently not conducted even though they seem cost-effective from a simple cost-benefit perspective, where transaction costs have been identified as one important barrier.
While transaction costs have been discussed widely from a conceptional perspective, empirical studies quantifying transaction costs and measures to reduce them are rare. This paper presents approaches, results and insights from a recently completed research project funded by the German Federal Energy Efficiency Center (BfEE), addressing transaction costs in various energy efficiency measures and the role of energy efficiency services to overcome the barrier.
We analyse a set of 11 energy efficiency investments covering private households, public institutions and the industry sector. We gather data on direct investment costs and energy cost savings and provide a detailed analysis of the various barriers and transaction costs associated with the implementation. We then analyse the costs of existing energy efficiency services using data provided by the BfEE. We compare the different cost elements and analyze the potential of energy efficiency services to reduce transaction costs.
We find that the role of transaction costs differs substantially between households, public institutions and companies and that the impact of energy efficiency services on transaction costs needs to be evaluated using different methodological approaches. We conclude that while data availability on disaggregated transaction costs is a major challenge, energy services can reduce transaction costs considerably.
Im Forschungsprojekt "Landscaping" untersuchte das Wuppertal Institut die für Nordrhein-Westfalen aus heutiger Sicht denkbaren Technologieansätze, die dafür nötigen politischen Rahmenbedingungen sowie mögliche Innovationen entlang der Wertschöpfungsketten. Bestandteil des Berichts sind Steckbriefe, in denen die möglichen Technologien für treibhausgasneutrale Industrieprozesse samt offener Forschungsfragen und Infrastrukturbedarfe dargestellt sind. Das Projekt entstand im Auftrag des Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Innovation, Digitalisierung und Energie des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.