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The study "Towards a Single and Innovative European Transport System" is developing action plans for the establishment of an integrated transport system in Europe. This report was created in a joint effort between VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (Germany), Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (Germany) and the Centre of Research and Technology Hellas, CERTH (Greece) on behalf of the European Commission's DG MOVE. Focus of the report is the international assessment of six different countries - Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, USA - in five focus areas across all transportation modes. It provides actions plans on how to overcome existing European barriers towards a single and innovative European Transport System based on best practices and lessons learned in the countries under study. In addition to the actions plans, the study also provides recommendations for international collaboration.
After two decades of privatization and outsourcing being the dominant trends across public services, an inclination towards founding new municipal power utilities can be observed. In this article, the authors examine the preservation strategies of the German energy regime following the transition approach developed by Geels. From the multi-level perspective, it can be stated that innovations take place in niches and have to overcome the obstacles and persistence of the conventional fossil-nuclear energy regime. Through an empirical analysis, it can be concluded that the established regime significantly delays the decentralization process required for a transformation of energy structures on local electricity grids. Furthermore, it is shown that municipal utilities (Stadtwerke) are important key actors for the German Energiewende (energy transition) as they function as local energy distributors and they meet a variety of requirements to promote fundamental structural change. The trend towards re-municipalization and the re-establishment of municipal utilities reveal the desire to further strengthen the scope of local politics.
The transformation processes towards a sustainable development are complex. How can science contribute towards new solutions and ideas leading to change in practice? The authors of this book discuss these questions along the energy transition in the building sector.
A transformative research that leaves the neutral observer position needs appropriate concepts and methods: how can knowledge from different disciplines and from practice be integrated in order to be able to explain and understand complex circumstances and interrelations? What role do complex (agent-based) models and experiments play in this respect? Which mix of methods is required in transformative science in order to actively support the actors in transformation processes?
Theses questions are illustrated by the example of the BMBF funded project "EnerTransRuhr".
A case study in the rural area of South Westphalia, Germany, showed the importance of independent intermediaries to support the development and implementation of sustainable energy and efficiency projects. The idea behind the project "Dorf ist Energie(klug)" (Village is Energy(smart)) was to foster, accompany, and support energy and efficiency projects in villages from the first idea to final implementation. Therefore, the South Westphalia Agency as independent intermediary initiated an application process in which villages could apply with their innovative energy and efficiency project ideas. During the following process the chosen "coaching villages" benefitted from the consultation of teams of thematic experts. Villages with less developed projects were supported through idea workshops with experts and study visits.
The accompanying scientific study evaluated the overall process focussing on the transferability, the sustainability and the quality of the process. Furthermore, a self evaluation tool for (energy) projects in villages was developed and tested in two of the participating coaching villages.
The paper gives a short insight into the project "Dorf ist Energie(klug)". It presents the methodology of the accompanying study and the results with a special focus on the role of the South Westphalia Agency as independent intermediary. Finally, it discusses the transferability and sustainability of the project.
Decoupling energy and resource use from growth in the Indian construction sector : a baseline study
(2017)
India is currently at a crucial juncture where it is aiming for economic growth to meet the basic needs of its 1.2 billion people. However, so far this growth has resulted in energy shortages and the increasing use of limited resources. This policy brief series is about decoupling, i.e. improving efficiency to reduce the resources and energy needed for this growth and meet the country's increasing development needs.
The construction sector is highly resource and energy intensive; it is therefore imperative that it moves towards a path of environmental sustainability. This transition is likely to be achieved by decoupling both resource and energy use from the sector's growth. Decision-makers in the sector will play a crucial role in achieving this. The aim of this policy brief series is to inform decision-makers in India at central government and state level about the current status of research, policy and institutions in the Indian construction sector and to identify key drivers and barriers. Finally, practical recommendations will be made for decision-makers about how to promote decoupling of resource and energy use from growth in the construction sector.
Policy brief 1 focuses on the baseline for decoupling in the Indian construction sector. The study draws attention to the existing scenario in terms of key policies, research and institutions linked to resources and energy in the sector.
India is currently at a crucial juncture where it is aiming for economic growth to meet the basic needs of its 1.2 billion people. However, so far this growth has resulted in energy shortages and the increasing use of limited resources. This policy brief series is about decoupling, i.e. improving efficiency to reduce the resources and energy needed for this growth and meet the country's increasing development needs.
The construction sector is highly resource and energy intensive; it is therefore imperative that it moves towards a path of environmental sustainability. This transition is likely to be achieved by decoupling both resource and energy use from the sector's growth. Decision-makers in the sector will play a crucial role in achieving this. The aim of this policy brief series is to inform decision-makers in India at central government and state level about the current status of research, policy and institutions in the Indian construction sector and to identify key drivers and barriers. Finally, practical recommendations will be made for decision-makers about how to promote decoupling of resource and energy use from growth in the construction sector.
Policy brief 2 focuses on analysing the potential for decoupling in the Indian buildings and construction sector. Primary and secondary research was conducted to identify the factors that influence decoupling. Subsequently, a framework was established to make it possible to measure the nature and extent of decoupling that is possible within the existing policy environment. Furthermore, gaps, drivers and barriers have been identified which could enable a potential analysis study on decoupling to be carried out. In addition, examples of good practice from Germany and other European countries have been studied with a view to learning lessons that can help to bridge the current gaps in India.
India is currently at a crucial juncture where it is aiming for economic growth to meet the basic needs of its 1.2 billion people. However, so far this growth has resulted in energy shortages and the increasing use of limited resources. This policy brief series is about decoupling, i.e. improving efficiency to reduce the resources and energy needed for this growth and meet the country's increasing development needs.
The construction sector is highly resource and energy intensive; it is therefore imperative that it moves towards a path of environmental sustainability. This transition is likely to be achieved by decoupling both resource and energy use from the sector's growth. Decision-makers in the sector will play a crucial role in achieving this. The aim of this policy brief series is to inform decision-makers in India at central government and state level about the current status of research, policy and institutions in the Indian construction sector and to identify key drivers and barriers. Finally, practical recommendations will be made for decision-makers about how to promote decoupling of resource and energy use from growth in the construction sector.
Policy brief 3 focuses on recommendations both at national and state level on the possible interventions that could result in resource and energy use being decoupled from growth in the Indian construction sector. Lack of a comprehensive policy on resource efficiency and the possibility of using secondary raw materials to obtain resource and impact decoupling continue to be the key issues that India will have to grapple with in the years to come.
As of June 2017, 150 countries have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement calls for, among other things, strong reductions in CO2 emissions by 2030 and beyond. This paper reviews the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) plans of six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and compares their current and projected future CO2 levels across sectors, and their stated targets in the context of their economic and demographic situations. This comparison reveals wide variations in the types of targets, with the "ambition" level changing as the perspective changes from total CO2 to CO2/capita and per unit gross domestic product (GDP). We also review national plans as stated in NDCs and find that while there are many types of policies listed, few are quantified and no attempts are made to score individual or groups of policies for their likelihood in achieving stated targets. We conclude that more analysis is needed to better understand the possible impacts of current policies and plans on CO2 emissions, and whether current plans are adequate to hit targets. Considerations on better aligning targets are also provided.
Contemporary combined heat and power (CHP) systems are often based on fossil fuels, such as natural gas or heating oil. Thereby, small-scale cogeneration systems are intended to replace or complement traditional heating equipment in residential buildings. In addition to space heating or domestic hot water supply, electricity is generated for the own consumption of the building or to be sold to the electric power grid.
The adaptation of CHP-systems to renewable energy sources, such as solid biomass applications is challenging, because of feedstock composition and heat integration. Nevertheless, in particular smallscale CHP technologies based on biomass gasification and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) offer significant potentials, also regarding important co-benefits, such as security of energy supply as well as emission reductions in terms of greenhouse gases or air pollutants. Besides emission or air quality regulations, the development of CHP technologies for clean on-site small-scale power generation is also strongly incentivised by energy efficiency policies for residential appliances, such as e.g. Ecodesign and Energy Labelling in the European Union (EU). Furthermore, solid residual biomass as renewable local energy source is best suited for decentralised operations such as micro-grids, also to reduce long-haul fuel transports. By this means such distributed energy resource technology can become an essential part of a forward-looking strategy for net zero energy or even smart plus energy buildings.
In this context, this paper presents preliminary impact assessment results and most recent environmental considerations from the EU Horizon 2020 project "FlexiFuel-SOFC" (Grant Agreement no. 641229), which aims at the development of a novel CHP system, consisting of a fuel flexible smallscale fixed-bed updraft gasifier technology, a compact gas cleaning concept and an SOFC for electricity generation. Besides sole system efficiencies, in particular resource and emission aspects of solid fuel combustion and net electricity effects need to be considered. The latter means that vastly less emission intensive gasifier-fuel cell CHP technologies cause significant less fuel related emissions than traditional heating systems, an effect which is further strengthened by avoided emissions from more emission intensive traditional grid electricity generation. As promising result, operation "net" emissions of such on-site generation installations may be virtually zero or even negative. Additionally, this paper scopes central regulatory instruments for small-scale CHP systems in the EU to discuss ways to improve the framework for system deployment.