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Energy intensive industries are one of the fields in which strong increases of energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation strategies are particularly challenging. Although European energy intensive industries have already achieved significant energy and greenhouse gas reductions in the past, much remains to be done to make a significant contribution to achieving European as well as national climate mitigation targets of greenhouse gas emission reductions by -80% or more (compared to the baseline of 1990). North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is a European hotspot for coping with this challenge, accommodating more than 10% of the energy intensive industries of the EU28. It is also the first German state to have adopted its own Climate Law, enacting state-wide CO2 emission reductions by 80% until 2050 compared to 1990. The state government initiated the project "Platform Climate Protection and Industry North-Rhine Westphalia" to identify and develop the necessary far-reaching low carbon innovation strategies for energy intensive industries. Heart of the project was a dialogue process, which involved a broad spectrum of stakeholders from steel, chemical, aluminium, cement, glass and paper producing industries. Besides enhancing and broadening the knowledge on high efficiency and low-carbon technologies within industries, the aim was to explore possible pathways and preconditions for the application of these technologies in energy intensive industries as well as to strengthen the motivation of companies for initiatives and investments in technologies with lower CO2 emissions. The results of the dialogue shall provide a basis for a possible low-carbon industry roadmap NRW and may also serve as an example for other industrialized regions in the EU and globally. The paper sketches the structured dialogue process with the stakeholders from companies as well as industrial associations and presents the learnings regarding the engagement of energy intensive industries into ambitious climate policies on a regional level. These include existing limitations as well as chances in the respective sectors on the state level, regarding their economic and technical structures as well as their innovation systems. The findings are based on more than a dozen stakeholder workshops with industry companies and more than 150 individual representatives of NRW's energy intensive industries as well as on background research in the initial phase of the project.
Following the decisions of the Paris climate conference at the end of 2015 as well as similar announcements e.g. from the G7 in Elmau (Germany) in the summer of 2015, long-term strategies aiming at (almost) full decarbonisation of the energy systems increasingly move into the focus of climate and energy policy. Deep decarbonisation obviously requires a complete switch of energy supply towards zero GHG emission sources, such as renewable energy. A large number of both global as well as national climate change mitigation scenarios emphasize that energy efficiency will likewise play a key role in achieving deep decarbonization. However, the interdependencies between a transformation of energy supply on the one hand and the role of and prospects for energy efficiency on the other hand are rarely explored in detail.
This article explores these interdependencies based on a scenario for Germany that describes a future energy system relying entirely on renewable energy sources. Our analysis emphasizes that generally, considerable energy efficiency improvements on the demand side are required in order to have a realistic chance of transforming the German energy system towards 100 % renewables. Efficiency improvements are especially important if energy demand sectors will continue to require large amounts of liquid and gaseous fuels, as the production of these fuels are associated with considerable energy losses in a 100 % renewables future. Energy efficiency on the supply side will therefore differ considerably depending on how strongly the use of liquid and gaseous fuels in the various demand sectors can be substituted through the direct use of electricity. Apart from a general discussion of the role of energy efficiency in a 100 % renewable future, we also look at the role of and prospects for energy efficiency in each individual demand sector.
De-industrialization, climate and demographic changes are only a few key words that indicate the challenge of urban development in many industrialized countries for the coming decades. A fundamental transformation of infrastructure and the built environment is expected to adjust to future needs. Numerous concepts of integrating efficiency and renewable energy sources into urban planning were elaborated in recent years. Energy sufficiency in the meaning of voluntary demand reduction of energy intensive goods and services is the third and mostly forgotten pillar of sustainable development. However, organizational and spatial measures are needed to support behavior modification. This paper presents results of a transdisciplinary research design with local stakeholders and scientific experts to develop an understanding of what energy sufficiency might contribute to sustainable urban development. Based on the Multi-Level-Perspective of the transition research approach, it analyzes how stakeholders and experts define energy sufficiency structures for the shrinking district of Vohwinkel (Germany). The paper also shows a compilation and evaluation of measures which facilitate energy sufficient behavior in the fields of space heating and passenger transport on a local level. The methodological concept comprises expert interviews, thought experiments with stakeholders to develop a vision of an "energy sufficient Vohwinkel 2050" as well as a stakeholder workshop to discuss the results. A shrinking population is seen as a chance to actively adapt the built environment to foster energy sufficiency.
Energy systems with high shares of renewable electricity are feasible, but require balancing measures such as storage, grid exchange or demand-side management to maintain system stability. The demand for these balancing options cannot be assessed separately since they influence each other. Therefore, a model was developed to analyze these mutual dependencies by optimizing a concerted use of balancing technologies. This model is presented here. It covers the European electricity system in hourly resolution. Since this leads to a large optimization problem, several options for reducing system complexity are presented. The application of the model is illustrated with a case study outlining the effects of pumped hydro storage and controlled charging of electric vehicles in central Europe.
Jordan's electricity system has and continues to experience considerable pressures for reform due to continuous increase of electricity demand combined with high dependency on imported fossil fuels and a partially subsidised electricity market. In this paper we use the transitions pathways to examine and analyse pressures on the regime in relation to plausible future developments of particular niches such as renewable energy technologies. Our analysis is methodologically distinct in that we explicitly identify mechanisms operating in the system and relate those to existing scenarios to assess future developments. Currently, we see future developments being sensitive to the actions of key regime actors.
The overall objective of the web-based consumer information tool Euro-Topten is to promote the market transformation towards energy efficient products. Euro-Topten informs consumers about the most energy efficient products in various categories and thereby aims to directly influence the purchasing decisions of individuals or professional buyers.
Providers of internet-based information tools are confronted with the problem, that there is no bidirectional interaction with the users. Hence, it is difficult to evaluate if the specific needs of users are addressed, if and how the user processes this information and to what extent the information influences the user's decision making process.
To study these questions, a web-based survey was conducted in two consecutive rounds. In the first round the survey focused on the assessment of the information tool itself and the motivation for using the Euro-Topten websites. This survey was online on all active Euro-Topten partner websites from October to December 2012. In total, 1791 users completed the survey.
In the second round, a subset of the survey population was queried again. 1,043 participants agreed to take part in a more comprehensive follow up survey, 383 completed the second survey between May and July 2013. The second survey concentrated on the question how Euro-Topten has influenced the purchasing behaviour of the survey participants. This gave significant insights on how the information on the Euro-Topten websites has affected purchasing decisions of the surveyed users.
Based on a comparison of performance indicators of the most efficient products recommended on the Euro-Topten websites with performance indicators of a base case product available on the market, avoided energy demand could be estimated for those users, who bought products from the Euro-Topten list. Based on these results, two impacts of Euro-Topten could be estimated: The influence of Euro-Topten on purchasing decision of users and the associated reductions in energy demand and CO2-emissions.
The role of gender concerns in the planning of small-scale energy projects in developing countries
(2014)
Techno-economic feasibility study of solar and wind based irrigation systems in Northern Colombia
(2014)
Water pumping systems powered by solar and wind energy are a clean, decentralized and economic alternative for the irrigation of crops. The intense droughts experienced in the last years in Northern Colombia due to particularly strong Nino Phenomena have reactivated the need of reliable water pumping irrigation systems in that region. This study aims to assess the techno economic feasibility of solar and wind based pumping irrigation system, taking as case study the Municipality of Piojo in the Atlantico department. In the first stage of the study the irrigation water requirements were determined by using the software CROPWAT based on two different crop patterns that represent existing feasible alternatives for small farmers of the region: i) a common crop pattern, which represent the current average distribution of crops for subsistence farming and ii) a fruit cash crop pattern that comprises crops for which well established markets in the region exist. Solar wind and diesel based pumping systems were sized based on the crop water demands for 1 ha. The unit irrigation costs of the three technologies, the two crop patterns and the three irrigation methods (surface, sprinkler and drip) were calculated and compared. The economical analysis was complemented with a cost-benefit analysis over 20 years. Our results show that both renewable energy based pumping systems (wind and solar) can cover the irrigation water demands of small farmers in the region. The economical analysis shows that windmills are the most cost effective solution followed by the solar pumping system. Diesel pumping system was the less cost effective, even though it does not comprise investment in water storage tank. The cost benefit analysis demonstrates that any irrigation system is financially unfeasible when providing water to a common crop pattern. In case of the fruit cash crop scenario the highest dividends were obtained by the wind pumping system and the lowest dividends by the diesel pumping system. The lowest payback period was obtained by the windmill after 7 years and could be even feasible after the fifth year if the surplus water would be used to irrigate larger areas. Dividends obtained in a fruit cash crop scenario with irrigation after 20 years were in the range of EUR 5200 and EUR 11200 higher than dividends obtained by the same crop pattern but without irrigation.
This paper draws upon an extensive transdisciplinary scenario development in the context of the stakeholder oriented preparation of the climate protection plan of the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, which is home to the most important heavy industry cluster in Europe. In that context we developed differentiated bottom up climate change mitigation strategies and scenarios for the major energy intensive industries aluminium, iron and steel, cement, lime, paper and steam cracker for olefin production together with representatives of industry as well as society.
In the light of the tremendous challenges facing the energy systems of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a number of concepts, roadmaps and scenario studies have emerged, describing potential transformation pathways towards a more sustainable, renewable-based, energy supply future in the region. Our article uses the scientific approach of "transition research" to analyze the most pertinent publications and concepts in this field to identify the key drivers and barriers for the transformation of the regional energy systems. The analysis likewise includes an assessment of possible indicators and indexes that can be used to monitor the sustainability of the transformation process of MENA energy systems.