Research on sustainability transitions has expanded rapidly in the last ten years, diversified in terms of topics and geographical applications, and deepened with respect to theories and methods. This article provides an extensive review and an updated research agenda for the field, classified into nine main themes: understanding transitions; power, agency and politics; governing transitions; civil society, culture and social movements; businesses and industries; transitions in practice and everyday life; geography of transitions; ethical aspects; and methodologies. The review shows that the scope of sustainability transitions research has broadened and connections to established disciplines have grown stronger. At the same time, we see that the grand challenges related to sustainability remain unsolved, calling for continued efforts and an acceleration of ongoing transitions. Transition studies can play a key role in this regard by creating new perspectives, approaches and understanding and helping to move society in the direction of sustainability.
Für die Energiewende in Deutschland ist zeitnah ein nennenswerter Ausbau der Stromnetze auf Transport- und Verteilnetzebene erforderlich. Mittel- bis langfristig werden für die Umstellung der Strom- und Energieversorgung auf erneuerbaren Energien (EE) zusätzlich große Speicherkapazitäten benötigt. Dabei sind kostengünstige und mit minimalen Energieverlusten verbundene Speicher- und Erzeugungstechnologien anzustreben. Lösungsansätze dafür werden bisher überwiegend auf der Stromseite diskutiert. Chancen, die sich aus der Kopplung von Strom- und Gasnetzen ergeben, werden kaum wahrgenommen. Das erhebliche Lösungspotential der vorhandenen Gasinfrastruktur und -Anwendungstechnologien mittels Power-to-Gas sowie die damit verbundenen Auswirkungen auf eine nachhaltige Gestaltung der Energiewende finden zu wenig Beachtung.
Vor diesem Hintergrund hatte das Forschungsvorhaben "Integration fluktuierender erneuerbarer Energien durch konvergente Nutzung von Strom und Gasnetzen - Konvergenz Strom- und Gasnetze" zum Ziel, unter Berücksichtigung der Kopplung von Strom- und Gasnetzen, (1) die Potenziale zur Aufnahme, Speicherung und Verteilung von EE zu bestimmen, (2) die dynamischen Energieströme aus Angebot und Nachfrage in der gesamten Energieversorgungsstruktur zu modellieren, (3) die Kopplung volkswirtschaftlich zu analysieren und (4) Handlungsempfehlungen für den Ausbau der Netzinfrastrukturen und die Entwicklung eines zukünftigen Energiemarktes abzuleiten.
"Energiewende", which roughly translates as the transformation of the German energy sector in accordance with the imperatives of climate change, may soon become a byword for the corresponding processes most other developed countries are at various stages of undergoing. Germany's notable progress in this area offers valuable insights that other states can draw on in implementing their own transitions. The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is making its own contribution to achieving the Energiewende's ambitious objectives: in addition to funding an array of "clean and green" projects, the Virtual Institute Power to Gas and Heat was established as a consortium of seven scientific and technical organizations whose aim is to inscribe a future, renewable-based German energy system with adequate flexibility. Thus, it is tasked with conceiving of and evaluating suitable energy path options. This paper outlines one of the most promising of these pathways, which is predicated on the use of electrolytically-produced hydrogen as an energy storage medium, as well as the replacement of hydrocarbon-based fuel for most road vehicles. We describe and evaluate this path and place it in a systemic context, outlining a case study from which other countries and federated jurisdictions therein may draw inspiration.
The CO2 utilisation is discussed as one of the future low-carbon technologies in order to accomplish a full decarbonisation in the energy intensive industry. CO2 is separated from the flue gas stream of power plants or industrial plants and is prepared for further processing as raw material. CO2 containing gas streams from industrial processes exhibit a higher concentration of CO2 than flue gases from power plants; consequentially, industrial CO2 sources are used as raw material for the chemical industry and for the synthesis of fuel on the output side. Additionally, fossil resources can be replaced by substitutes of reused CO2 on the input side. If set up in a right way, this step into a CO2-based circular flow economy could make a contribution to the decarbonisation of the industrial sector and according to the adjusted potential, even rudimentarily to the energy sector.
In this study, the authors analyse potential CO2 sources, the potential demand and the range of applications of CO2. In the last chapter of the final report, they give recommendations for research, development, politics and economics for an appropriate future designing of CO2 utilisation options based upon their previous analysis.