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Die Entscheidung für ein von volatilen Erzeugungsquellen dominiertes Stromsystem stellt an die Stabilisierung des Systems neue Anforderungen. Zugleich bieten sich neue Optionen. Die bisherige Asymmetrie, nach der für die Stabilisierung die Kraftwerksseite verantwortlich sei, ist überkommene Praxis, deswegen auch heute habituell naheliegend, aber vermutlich nicht länger effizient. Die im Titel genannten nachfrageseitigen Ausgleichsoptionen (SE & DSM) bieten sich an. Im Beitrag wird deren Potential abgeschätzt. In vier Gestaltungsfeldern wird zudem gefragt, ob die bislang von der Politik gegebenen rechtlichen Mandate konsequent SE & DSM als Option berücksichtigen. Das Ergebnis ist viermal (weitgehende) Fehlanzeige.
In this project, an overview and prioritization of relevant technologies of the German energy transition are presented in a consolidated form. Many of the relevant technologies have already been developed and deployed to the market. However, in various sectors like system integration or sector coupling, innovation needs remain, as well as in-depth research on further possibilities and potentials for cost degression and technology optimization for all technologies.
Der Endbericht stellt die Ergebnisse des Projekts "Energiesuffizienz - Strategien und Instrumente für eine technische, systemische und kulturelle Transformation zur nachhaltigen Begrenzung des Energiebedarfs im Konsumfeld Bauen/Wohnen" dar. In dem Projekt wurde untersucht, wie energiesuffiziente Alltagsroutinen, soziale Praktiken und Lebensstilaspekte mit den sozialen und ökologischen Anforderungen an eine nachhaltige Entwicklung in Einklang gebracht werden können und wie die strukturellen und politischen Rahmenbedingungen gestaltet werden müssen, so dass Energiesuffizienz im Alltag akzeptabler und praktikabler wird. Für die drei prinzipiellen Energiesuffizienz-Ansätze Reduktion, Substitution und Anpassung wurden Reduktionspotenziale für den Haushaltsstromverbrauch quantifiziert. Für ausgewählte Anwendungsfelder wurden die Ergebnisse in Form von Suffizienzspektren dargestellt. Anschließend wurden Politikansätze zur Unterstützung von Energiesuffizienz in Privathaushalten analysiert und Vorschläge für ein integriertes Paket von Politikinstrumenten für Energieeffizienz und -suffizienz entwickelt. Die Erkenntnisse des Projektes sind unter anderem in einen internetbasierten Haushalts-Strom-Check, in ein Handbuch zur nachhaltigen Produktgestaltung für die Geräteindustrie und in die Entwicklung von Vorschlägen für nationale und EU-Instrumente zur Reduktion des Stromverbrauchs und zur Förderung des kommunalen Klimaschutzes eingeflossen.
Der Abschlussbericht des dritten Arbeitspakets im Projekt "Energiesuffizienz" entwickelt aufbauend auf den Erkenntnissen der vorhergehenden Projektarbeiten Empfehlungen für ein integriertes Paket von Energiesuffizienzpolitiken im Feld Bauen/Wohnen. Der Fokus liegt auf dem Stromverbrauch in Haushalten. Dafür werden zunächst Leitlinien für die Governance von Energiesuffizienz und eine Methodik für die analytische Herleitung einer Energiesuffizienzpolitik entwickelt. Diese Analyse betrachtet Mikro- (Individuum) und Mesoebene (Haushalts-/Versorgungsökonomie). In sieben Schritten wird ein integriertes Politikpaket für Energieeffizienz und Energiesuffizienz entwickelt und eine juristische Kurzeinschätzung gegeben. Das Paket umfasst unter anderem eine Weiterentwicklung von Ökodesign und EU-Energielabel, eine integrierte Energieberatung sowie Förderprogramme für Geräte, die einen suffizienten Gebrauch ermöglichen, und für ressourceneffiziente Dienstleistungen, die Geräte im Haushalt ersetzen können. Zudem werden als Teil des Politikpakets auch übergreifende Politikansätze (Stromkundenkonto, Politikinstrumente zur Begrenzung des Wachstums der Pro-Kopf-Wohnflächen) analysiert.
Energy sufficiency has recently gained increasing attention as a way to limit and reduce total energy consumption of households and overall. This paper presents selected results of a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research that examined the potentials and barriers for energy sufficiency with a focus on electricity in households, how household members perceive sufficiency practices, and how policymakers could support and encourage these. Bottom-up calculations for an average 2-person household in Germany yielded a total electricity savings potential from energy efficiency and sufficiency combined of theoretically up to 75 %.
The continuous growth of per capita living space was identified as one important driver for additional energy consumption both for heat and electricity. The paper will present findings of a representative survey of 600 persons responsible for the housework. It revealed that a part of the households is already practicing sufficiency options or are open towards these. Up to 30 % of these households can imagine, given the right conditions and policy support, to move to a smaller dwelling or to share an apartment with others when they are older.
Results of a first comprehensive analysis of an energy sufficiency policy to encourage and support households to sufficiency practices form the second part of the paper, with a focus on the feasibility and potential effectiveness of instruments for limiting the growth in average living space per person. This includes a case study on fostering communal housing projects as a measure to reduce living space. Further, the feasibility of a cap scheme for the total electricity sales of a supplier to its customers was examined. Instruments supporting energy-efficient and sufficient purchase and use of equipment complete the integrated energy sufficiency and efficiency policy package.
The paper will finally present the project's conclusions on an integrated energy sufficiency policy package resulting from this analysis.
Sustainable energy
(2017)
The economic assessment of low-carbon energy options is the primary step towards the design of policy portfolios to foster the green energy economy. However, today these assessments often fall short of including important determinants of the overall cost-benefit balance of such options by not including indirect costs and benefits, even though these can be game-changing. This is often due to the lack of adequate methodologies.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive account of the key methodological challenges to the assessment of the multiple impacts of energy options, and an initial menu of potential solutions to address these challenges.
The paper first provides evidence for the importance of the multiple impacts of energy actions in the assessment of low-carbon options.
The paper identifies a few key challenges to the evaluation of the co-impacts of low-carbon options and demonstrates that these are more complex for co-impacts than for the direct ones. Such challenges include several layers of additionality, high context dependency, and accounting for distributional effects.
The paper continues by identifying the key challenges to the aggregation of multiple impacts including the risks of overcounting while taking into account the multitude of interactions among the various co-impacts. The paper proposes an analytical framework that can help address these and frame a systematic assessment of the multiple impacts.
Eine Analyse der deutschen Energie- und Klimapolitik hat ergeben:
Nur im Maßnahmenfeld "Ausbau der Erneuerbaren Energien im Strombereich" wird voraussichtlich das Ziel ereicht. Dagegen wird in allen anderen Maßnahmenfeldern das Ziel verfehlt oder es bestehen Wirkungsdefizite der eingesetzten Politikinstrumente. Das betrifft insbesondere die Energieeffizienz auf der Nachfrageseite, aber auch die Kraft-Wärme-Kopplung und Erneuerbare Energien-Wärme. Für die Maßnahmenfelder "Fluorierte Treibhausgase", "Industrieprozesse" und "Landwirtschaft" müssen überhaupt erst verbindliche Reduktionsziele festgelegt und Politikinstrumente eingeführt werden.
Staatliche Regulierung ist verpönt. Häufig läuft es dann auf den Appell hinaus: Jeder einzelne Bürger habe es selbst in der Hand. Doch die Alltagsroutinen sind in der Regel mächtiger als das Umweltbewusstsein. Beim Marmor für das Badezimmer spielen Amortisationszeiten keine Rolle. Die solare Warmwasseranlage ist dagegen oftmals "zu teuer". Gesetzliche Standards hingegen verselbstständigen Energieeffizienz und den Ausbau erneuerbarer Energien. Sie machen "Öko zur Routine". Dieser Artikel beschreibt die Notwendigkeit für das Schaffen neuer Routinen und zeigt wie dies durch Standards, Limits und faire Umsetzungsbedingungen sowie attraktive Alternativangebote zum gegenwärtigen, häufig nicht nachhaltigen Verhalten auch möglich ist.
Concretely defined targets are guiding policy efforts and the measures required to achieve national energy and low-carbon transformations in order to reach the maximum 2 degree climate change mitigation target agreed at the COP in Paris in 2015. Reducing energy consumption by harnessing the potential of energy efficiency, expanding the use of renewable energy resources, and transforming all sectors into low-energy and low-carbon structures is crucial. Among the G20 states, most states have set targets for renewable energies, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Yet, it seems that starting points and target units differ a lot between the G20, and hence comparability is difficult. This topical paper presents a synopsis on the current targets within the G20. The relative lack of energy efficiency targets shows that this pillar needs much greater efforts in current and future energy policy.
Energy efficiency has multiple benefits. It usually is a win-win option for all aspects of sustainability - environment, social objectives, and economy. We need to evaluate and communicate these multiple benefits - to citizens, companies, and policy-makers. Due to strong market barriers, effective governance and policy packages for energy efficiency are needed. Evaluation shows effective policy can achieve around 2% per year of additional energy savings.
In diesem Gutachten wurde untersucht, welche Optionen zur Gestaltung eines marktbasierten haushaltsunabhängigen Verpflichtungsansatzes zur CO2-Minderung im deutschen Gebäudebestand bestehen. Die Analyse erfolgte technologieoffen und berücksichtigte neben Sanierungsmaßnahmen zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz auch einen verstärkten Einsatz CO2-armer/erneuerbarer Energien. Das Verpflichtungssystem soll in der Lage sein, die bestehenden Treibhausgas (THG)-Minderungsziele im Gebäudebestand möglichst kostengünstig auf kurz- und langfristig sinnvolle Weise zu erreichen und sich gut in das bestehende Förderinstrumentarium integrieren lassen.
The electric utility sector in Australia, Germany and the U.S. are all going through major changes driven by declining sales, increasing use of distributed energy sources and policy responses to global climate change. This paper discusses efforts in each of these countries to reform their electric industries, address climate change and promote energy efficiency. Going forward, we see a role for government, utilities and private market energy efficiency efforts in all three countries, although the emphasis will vary by country and will evolve over time. Where all three parties can work together with a common vision, reform efforts are likely to be more successful and more sustained. In all three countries the future is uncertain. In the face of this uncertainty, energy efficiency supporters need to keep abreast of these changes, and find more flexible and nimble policy strategies for energy efficiency to prosper, as the future is likely to unfold in unexpected ways.
Energy sufficiency policy : an evolution of energy efficiency policy or radically new approaches?
(2015)
In the last four decades, energy efficiency increased significantly in OECD countries. However, only during the most recent years, total energy consumption started to decrease a little, and much more slowly than energy efficiency potentials would suggest. Energy sufficiency has therefore gained new attention as a way to limit and reduce total energy consumption of a household or a country overall.
The project "Energiesuffizienz" funded by the German ministry for research has examined what energy sufficiency actually is, and what householders, household members but also manufacturers and local authorities could do to make electricity use in the home more sufficient. The focus of this paper is the policy part of the project - the first comprehensive analysis of an energy sufficiency policy.
The objective is to find out how policy can support market actors in using the energy sufficiency options identified. As for energy efficiency policy, it starts with the gathering of potential sufficiency actions and the analysis of the relevant barriers all market actors face, to derive recommendations for which policy instruments need to be combined to an effective policy package, and which other pre-conditions have to be met. Energy efficiency and energy sufficiency should not be seen as opposed to each other but work in the same direction - saving energy. Therefore, some instruments of the energy sufficiency policy package may be the same as for energy efficiency - such as energy taxation, and linear or progressive energy prices. Some may simply adapt technology-specific energy efficiency policy instruments. Examples are progressive appliance efficiency standards, standards based on absolute consumption, or providing energy advice. However, sufficiency may also require radical new approaches particularly to mitigate the drivers of non-sufficiency. They may range from promotion of completely different services for food and clothes cleaning, to instruments for limiting average dwelling floor area per person, or to a cap-and-trade system for the total electricity sales of a supplier to its customers, instead of an energy efficiency obligation. The paper presents these and other elements of an integrated energy sufficiency policy package resulting from this analysis.
The efficiency strategy to exploit the potential for energy savings in buildings still is applied rather slowly in most countries. In addition, there are indications that energy savings are partly compensated particularly by wealth but also rebound effects, the "empty nest" (persistence of elderly people and couples in family homes), and cohort effects (e.g. vintages of people or buildings). In Germany, as in other European countries, the existing trend in housing is a continuously growing floor space per capita. Over the last decades it expanded from about 20 m2 in 1960 to currently 45 m2 per person. Forecasts expect a further increase to more than 50 m2 per person. Obviously, more floor space needs more energy for space heating and cooling, ventilation, and lighting, but it also allows the household to operate more and or bigger appliances, all of which increase energy consumption.
On the other hand, housing projects emerge offering relatively small private living spaces in combination with various shared spaces to use. Many of them are based on private initiatives. But what is the motivation behind it? And is there a higher need for new living concepts in the future?
The proposed paper presents main drivers of increasing floor space per capita in Germany and discusses the question if more space is necessary for higher comfort. It presents different examples of housing concepts that strive to achieve good living with less space and suggests a "building typology of sufficiency".
Finally, the paper discusses qualitatively to which extent these housing concepts can lead to less energy use and emissions. In this way sufficiency could be best friend with efficiency and tackle wealth, rebound, and other effects that counter-act efficiency progress. But therefore, as the paper concludes, politics and policies should recognise sufficiency as a field of action instead of referring to individual decisions and lifestyles.
Energy efficiency of a range of domestic appliances covered by the labelling and ecodesign directives has improved significantly over the last 15 years. However, the power consumption of the German residential sector has remained relatively constant over this period. Besides other factors, such as decreasing average household size, the main reasons for this development were the increases of the types, features, size, equipment stock and usage times of appliances and devices in private households.
The project "Energy Sufficiency - strategies and instruments for a technical, systemic and cultural transformation towards sustainable restriction of energy demand in the field of construction and everyday life" investigates how the complementation of energy efficiency with energy sufficiency could lead to more user adequate domestic products and product-service systems and thereby result in an absolute reduction of power consumption.
In this project, energy sufficiency is defined as a strategy to reduce energy consumption by three approaches:
1. Quantitative reduction of sizes, features, usage times of devices etc.
2. Substitution of technical equipment in households by e.g.urban services.
3. Adjustment of technical services delivered by appliances toutility needed and desired by users.
The energy saving effects of an application of these approaches were modelled for different types of households and the energy saving potentials of energy sufficiency quantified. Innovative approaches for user adequate products and services were developed in open innovation workshops by the Design Thinking method. The paper summarizes some of the intermediate results of theoretical and transdisciplinary investigations of the project that runs until May 31, 2016. Furthermore, a first set of design criteria for user adequate appliances enabling energy sufficiency are developed based on these results. The paper concludes with suggestions for the future development of energy labelling and ecodesign derived from the design criteria and supplemented by examples of existing requirements according to the voluntary environmental label "Blauer Engel".
The paper presents the results of an ex-ante evaluation of the economy-wide benefits that may be achieved through the implementation of the 20-year Energy Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP) in Thailand. The objective of the EEAP is to reduce energy intensity by 25 % in 2030 compared to 2010. This is to be reached by reducing the projected energy consumption by 20 % or 38 Mtoe until 2030. We have specified an analytical framework, which allows for a calculation of the overall energy cost savings, energy import cost reductions and reduced CO2 emissions. Moreover, we calculated the induced energy efficiency investments, employment effects and impacts on governmental budget. The evaluation shows that an effective implementation of the plan may lead to a reduction in energy expenditure of 37.7 billion EUR by 2030. Moreover, the EEAP-induced energy savings will significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions as well as Thailand’s energy import costs and generate private investment in energy efficiency of about 5 billion EUR annually in 2030, which in turn may lead to about 300,000 new jobs. The size of the net impact of the plan on Thailand’s governmental budget is uncertain due to positive and negative effects on corporate and income tax revenues, expenses for unemployment benefits, governmental energy consumption, expenses for energy subsidies and energy tax income.
Die Energiewende in Deutschland ist ein seit Jahren viel diskutiertes Thema. Neben dem Wandel der Energieerzeugungssysteme hin zu regenerativen Energiequellen muss auch eine Steigerung der Energieeffizienz stattfinden. Nur durch Adaption beider Seiten der Erzeugung als auch des Verbrauchs, lassen sich die Herausforderungen meistern.
Energieeffizienz weltweit : energieeffiziente Gebäude als Schlüssel für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung
(2015)
Rund ein Drittel der weltweiten energiebezogenen CO2-Emissionen sind auf den Verbrauch durch Gebäude zurückzuführen. Ohne eine sogenannte Gebäudewende sind die notwendigen CO2-Einsparungen nicht zu ereichen. Eine Internetplattform bündelt das weit verstreute Wissen zu diesem Thema und bietet Orientierung.
Estimating the sufficiency potential in buildings : the space between underdimensioned and oversized
(2019)
The emission reduction potential of energy efficiency and energy supply in buildings is estimated in various energy and climate action plans, scenarios, and potential analyses. But the third pillar of sustainability - sufficiency - is neglected in most studies.The increasing demand of space per person in the residential sector is a trend in most European countries. Its implication on energy use, demand for resources like land, building material, equipment, and waste production is enormous. Next to the ecological impact, the distribution of space has social and societal effects. Thus, sufficiency policies in the building sector complementing efficiency and energy policy are needed for a sustainable development of the European building stock.
But how can a sufficiency potential in the building sector be estimated? How much space and equipment is needed for a decent living and how much is too much? The paper proposes four areas of sufficiency in buildings: space, design and construction, equipment, and use. It presents a set of indicators, a quantitative estimate of energy savings from reduced per capita floor area, and visualises the sufficiency potential in European countries in an experimental approach. The final discussion focuses on the question: What does this mean for policy making?
In spite of differences in energy policies and supply, Japan and Germany have to master similar challenges: To reorganize the energy supply system towards - in the long term - being reliable, affordable, low in risks and resource use, and climate-neutral. At the same time, the ecological modernization should maintain or even strengthen international competitiveness. To better address these challenges, a bi-national expert council has been established between the two high-tech countries in 2016 - the GJETC.
The aim of the GJETC is to show that despite different starting points, a national energy transition can be more successful, if both countries learn from their strengths and also weaknesses, to avoid the latter. If the implementation of an energy transition in the two countries is socially and economically sound and advances technology innovation and deployment, it may not only double success, but can also serve as blue prints for other countries, especially due to learning from similarities and differences. For example: Why is per capita energy consumption higher in transport in Germany, but energy intensity higher in Japan's building sector? How can variable renewable energies be integrated in an efficient energy system at lowest costs?
The Council meets twice a year, holds stakeholder dialogues and outreach events, and prepares policy papers on strategic topics of mutual interest. Four comprehensive studies, each in cooperation of a German and a Japanese research institute, have been the basis for 15 joint key recommendations during the 1st phase. The 2nd phase to 2020 will study the role of hydrogen and digitalisation for the energy transition, as well as other topics. The paper presents the findings and recommendations of the GJETC of the first phase 2016-18 as well as first results of the second phase. It also reviews the setup of the GJETC and the way it works, to assess if and how it can serve as a role model of bilateral cooperation on the energy transition.
Dieses Wuppertal Paper dient dazu, a) die mögliche Klimaschutzwirkung eines CO2-Preises zu analysieren, allein und im Gesamtpaket von Instrumenten zum Klimaschutz, b) die Möglichkeiten der Mittelverwendung zu analysieren und zu bewerten, c) dadurch den Dschungel der Argumente und Motivationen in den bestehenden Vorschlägen zu lichten und d) aus der Analyse ein Modell zu skizzieren, das den Anforderungen von Klimaschutz und sozialer Gerechtigkeit sowie Erhalt der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit am besten gerecht wird und damit der Bundesregierung als Anregung bei der Entscheidung über Einführung und Ausgestaltung eines CO2-Preises dienen kann.
In dem Papier werden diese Fragen anhand von neun Thesen mit einem abschließenden Fazit ergründet. Daraus wird deutlich:
Ein CO2-Preis kann sektorale Ziele und Instrumente nicht ersetzen. Seine volle Wirkung kann er nur entfalten, wenn er komplementär zu sektorspezifischen Klimaschutzinstrumenten eingeführt wird. Nur wenn für diese Instrumente ein guter Teil der Einnahmen aus der CO2-Steuer eingesetzt wird, sind die Klimaziele erreichbar. Die Ziele werden dadurch mit weitaus geringerem CO2-Preis bei gleichzeitig höheren Kostenentlastungen für Verbraucherinnen und Verbraucher, Unternehmen und sogar die öffentlichen Haushalte erreichbar, als wenn die Politik allein auf einen CO2-Preis setzen würde.
Die Wirtschaftsleistung von Deutschland ist durch die Corona-Pandemie stark beeinträchtigt. Um die Wirtschaft zu beleben, einigten sich die Regierungsparteien am 3. Juni 2020 in ihrem Koalitionsausschuss auf ein "Konjunktur- und Krisenbewältigungspaket" sowie ein "Zukunftspaket" in Höhe von insgesamt 130 Milliarden Euro. Für 2020 und 2021 sind fast 60 Maßnahmen vorgesehen, die von steuerlichen Vergünstigungen bei der Mehrwertsteuer bis hin zu konkreten Investitionen in Zukunftstechnologien reichen. Mit Blick auf den Klimaschutz beinhaltet das Maßnahmenpaket der Großen Koalition zwar gute Ansätze und viele wichtige Impulse, die allerdings zu verpuffen drohen, wenn sie nicht durch eine konsequente und nachhaltig ausgerichtete Klimapolitik flankiert werden. Zudem fehlen für den Klimaschutz wichtige Bereiche, wie Investitionen in die Kreislaufwirtschaft. Außerdem werden Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz nur unzureichend berücksichtigt. Gerade in diesen Bereichen hätten sich konjunkturbelebende Effekte und Klimaschutz in idealer Form ergänzen können, kritisiert das Wuppertal Institut. Dieses Diskussionspapier reagiert auf die vorliegenden Vorschläge und fasst zusammen, welche Maßnahmen im Rahmen der jetzt anstehenden Umsetzungsphase nachgebessert werden sollten und wo Ergänzungen notwendig sind.
The COMBI project aimed at quantifying the multiple non-energy benefits of energy efficiency in the EU-28 area and incorporate those multiple impacts into decision-support frameworks for policy-making. Therefore, all multiple impacts of energy efficiency are analysed from an overall societal view in the project. The COMBI policy recommendations resulting from the evaluation outcomes are presented in this report.
COMBI draws on a reference scenario until the year 2030 including existing policies. By modelling 21 sets of "energy efficiency improvement" (EEI) actions, a second efficiency scenario was modelled amounting to additional energy savings of around 8% p.a. in 2030, and that is comparable to the EUCO+33 to EUCO+35 scenario. All figures quantified by COMBI relate to additional values, i.e. additional impacts resulting from additional EEI actions beyond the reference scenario as a consequence of additional policies. The project quantified in total 31 individual impact indicators with appropriate state-of-the-art models.
Ein CO2-Preis ist ein zentrales Instrument, um eine umfassende Dekarbonisierung der Wirtschaft zu ermöglichen und zu erleichtern. Sie kann durch verschiedene Instrumente umgesetzt werden, insbesondere in Form einer CO2-Steuer. Es ist jedoch wichtig, dass ein CO2-Preis allein - aufgrund der vielfältigen Hindernisse (einschließlich nicht ökonomischer Hemmnisse) - die sektoralen Ziele und Instrumente nicht ersetzen kann. Vielmehr muss er komplementär zu sektorspezifischen Klimaschutzinstrumenten eingeführt werden. Der Artikel gibt Auskunft darüber, wie ein CO2-Preis konkret und angemessen ausgestaltet werden kann.
Energy Efficiency First (EEF) is an established principle for European Union (EU) energy policy design. It highlights the exploitation of demand-side resources and prioritizes cost-effective options from the demand-side over other options from a societal cost-benefit perspective. However, the involvement of multiple decision-makers makes it difficult to implement. Therefore, we propose a flexible decision-tree framework for applying the EEF principle based on a review of relevant areas and examples. In summary, this paper contributes to applying the EEF principle by defining and distinguishing different types of cases - (1) policy-making, and (2) system planning and investment - identifying the most common elements, and proposing a decision-tree framework that can be flexibly constructed based on the elements for different cases. Finally, we exemplify the application of this framework with two example cases: (1) planning for demand-response in the power sector, and (2) planning for a district heating system.
In Germany, the number of renewable energy prosumers has increased rapidly since 2000. However, the development of prosumers has faced and will continue to face various economic, social, and technological challenges, which have triggered the emergence of a number of innovative business models (BM). This paper enriches the empirical basis for prosumer-oriented BMs by investigating two BM innovations in Germany (P2P electricity trading and aggregation of small-size prosumers) drawing on business model and socio-technical transition theories. A mix of qualitative data collection methods, including document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews, was applied. We found that while both BMs can potentially address the challenges associated with renewable energy prosumer development in Germany, small-scale prosumers’ participation in both BMs has been limited so far. We identified various internal and external drivers and barriers for scaling up these BMs for prosumer development in Germany. Despite these barriers, both aggregation and centralized P2P targeting prosumers may potentially be also taken up by incumbent market actors such as utilities. Decentralized P2P on the other hand still faces significant internal and external barriers for upscaling. Based on the analysis, the paper provides policy recommendations with respect to the identified drivers and barriers. From a theoretical perspective, our findings provide further evidence to challenge the dichotomous understanding of niche actors and incumbents, the latter of which are often theorized to be resistant to radical innovations.
To achieve the EU's energy efficiency targets, both the rate of building energy renovation and its depth, i.e., the amount of energy savings post renovation need to be improved. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are key to make energy efficiency measures transparent for the building market and to promote the energy efficiency of buildings through renovation. The revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is seen as a pre-condition to meet the Renovation Wave objectives and to reach a highly energy efficient and decarbonized building stock by 2050. One focus of the current revision of the EPBD is therefore the improvement of EPCs. QualDeEPC - High-quality Energy Performance Assessment and Certification in Europe Accelerating Deep Energy Renovation, funded under the EU's Horizon 2020 programme, is a project that aims to improve EPCs. Following an EU-wide review of existing EPC schemes, and extensive stakeholder discussions in the seven partner countries, QualDeEPC found that EPCs and EPC schemes need to enhance particularly in the following three ways:
1. Establish a close link between EPCs and deep energy renovation
2. Improve the quality of EPC schemes, i.e., both the EPCs and their data, and the processes of assessment, certification, verification
3. Improve cross-EU convergence of EPC schemes.
Das vorliegende Papier zeigt, welche Weichen die Politik stellen muss, um den Gebäudebestand bis 2045 klimaneutral zu machen. Im Fokus stehen höhere Effizienzanforderungen für Bestands- und Neubauten, ein schnellerer Ausstieg aus Gas- und Ölheizungen, gleichzeitig aber auch höhere Anreize und bessere Unterstützung für Gebäudebesitzende sowie warmmietenneutrale Sanierungen, um Mietende vor einer Überlastung zu schützen.
Dabei müssen bestehende Gebäude so renoviert werden, dass sie ähnlich wie Neubauten kaum noch Energie verbrauchen. Gleichzeitig müssen Heizenergie und Stromversorgung komplett auf erneuerbare Energien umgestellt werden. Zudem muss durch intelligentere Nutzungskonzepte der Anstieg der Gebäudeflächen gebremst werden. Die kommende Legislaturperiode ist somit entscheidend, damit Klimaneutralität im Gebäudesektor bis spätestens 2045 erreicht werden kann.
Dieser Zukunftsimpuls schlägt daher ein 14 Maßnahmen umfassendes und konsistentes Politikpaket vor. Neben den oben genannten Maßnahmen des Förderns und Forderns gehören dazu insbesondere klare Vorgaben für eine bessere energetische Sanierung und ein deutliches Ziel für den Ausstieg aus fossilen Gas- und Ölheizungen, die allen Beteiligten Sicherheit geben. Individuelle Sanierungsfahrpläne für alle heute noch nicht effizienten Gebäude bis spätestens 2028 und kommunale Wärmepläne helfen den Gebäudebesitzenden bei der technischen Entwicklung ihrer Gebäude und der Investitionsplanung. Häufig sind es die nicht-monetären Hemmnisse, die maßgeblich für die geringe Sanierungsrate sind. One-Stop-Shops verringern die Hemmschwelle Maßnahmen umzusetzen. Darüber hinaus wirkt Quartiersmanagement unterstützend und hilft Kräfte zu bündeln.
An important instrument to enhance the market uptake of energy-efficient new buildings and the energy-efficient renovation of existing buildings in the European Union (EU) are the Energy Performance Certificates (EPC). However, their implementation and use has varied between EU Member States. The European Commission has therefore provided funding to a number of Horizon2020 projects to develop next-generation EPC schemes.
One of these is the QualDeEPC project, aiming to both improve quality and cross-EU convergence of EPC schemes, and particularly the link between EPCs and deep renovation. The objective of the project is to improve the practical implementation of the assessment, issuance, design, and use of EPCs as well as their renovation recommendations, in the participating countries and beyond.
This paper presents the policy proposals and concepts for tools that the QualDeEPC project has developed as priorities for enhanced EPC schemes:
- Improving the recommendations for renovation, which are provided on the EPCs, towards deep energy renovation
- An online tool for comparing EPC recommendations to deep energy renovation recommendations
- Creating Deep Renovation Network Platforms (One-stop Shops plus networking and joint communication of supply-side actors)
- Regular mandatory EPC assessor training (on assessment and renovation recommendations) required for certification/accreditation and registry
- Achieving a high user-friendliness of the EPC
- Voluntary/mandatory advertising guidelines for EPCs
- Improving compliance with the mandatory use of EPCs in real estate advertisements
The paper will focus on the aspects related to improving the impact of EPCs for stimulating deep renovation. It will also present lessons learnt from the discussion with stakeholders at national and European workshops and from the testing of the proposals and tools in around 100 buildings, as well as from the first steps of their country-specific adaptation.
Die Dekarbonisierung der Mietwohnungsbestände ist zwingende Voraussetzung für die Einhaltung deutscher Klimaschutzziele. Hierzu ist eine schnelle und deutliche Verbesserung der Energieeffizienz unabdinglich. Aber: funktioniert der Markt für Energieeffizienz bei Mietwohnungen? Eine empirische Untersuchung auf dem Wuppertaler Mietwohnungsmarkt gibt Antworten darauf. Um die Sanierungsrate signifikant zu steigern, etwa durch eine höhere Zahlungsbereitschaft für Energieeffizienz, braucht es sowohl für Vermieter als auch für Mieter verbesserte Rahmenbedingungen.
Um einen angemessenen Beitrag zu einer Begrenzung des weltweiten Temperaturanstiegs auf 1,5 Grad Celsius zu leisten, müsste Deutschland und damit auch der Gebäudesektor schon bis 2035 treibhausgasneutral sein. Greenpeace hat daher das Wuppertal Institut beauftragt, ein Sechs-Punkte-Sofortprogramm für erneuerbare Wärme und effiziente Gebäude zu erarbeiten, mit dem dieses Ziel erreichbar wird. Das Sofortprogramm sieht vor, dass in drei zentralen Bereichen jeweils eine ordnungsrechtliche Maßnahme mit einer spezifischen, dazu passenden finanziellen Fördermaßnahme kombiniert wird:
1) Ausstiegsgesetz für fossile Heizungen und Förderung für elektrische Wärmepumpen und Solarthermie. 2) Pflicht und Förderung für die energetische Sanierung ineffizienter Gebäude mit ökologischen Kriterien. 3) Gesetz mit Zielen sowie förderlichen Bestimmungen und dazu passende Förderung für Erneuerbare-Wärmenetze: Ausbau und Umstieg auf grüne Wärmeerzeugung.
So erhöht das Sofortprogramm die energetische Sanierungsrate auf drei bis vier Prozent pro Jahr und führt dazu, dass schon 2035 fast zwei Drittel der Gebäude mit Wärmepumpen und etwa ein Viertel mit Nah- und Fernwärme aus erneuerbaren Energien beheizt werden und ein Drittel zusätzlich mit thermischen Solaranlagen ausgestattet wird.
The German-Japanese Energy Transition Council (GJETC) was established in 2016 by experts from research institutions, energy policy think tanks, and practitioners in Germany and Japan.
The objectives and main activities of the Council and the supporting secretariats are to identify and analyze current and future issues regarding policy frameworks, markets, infrastructure, and technological developments in the energy transition, and to hold Council meetings to exchange ideas and propose better policies and strategies. In its second project phase (2018-2020), the GJETC had six members from academia on the Japanese side, and eight members on the German side, with one Co-Chair from each country.
From October 2018 to March 2020, the GJETC worked on and debated six topics:
1) Digitalization and the energy transition. 2) Hydrogen society. 3) Review of German and Japanese long-term energy scenarios and their evaluation mechanism. 4) Buildings, energy efficiency, heating/cooling. 5) Integration costs of renewable energies. 6) Transport and sector coupling.
The outputs and the recommendations of the second phase of the GJETC are summarized in this report.
The challenges and also potentials of the energy transition are tremendous in Germany, as well as in Japan. Sometimes, structures of the old energy world need "creative destruction" to clear the way for innovations for a decarbonized, low-risk energy system. In these times of disruptive changes, a constructive and sometimes controversial dialog within leading industrial nation as Japan and Germany over the energy transition is even more important. The German-Japanese Energy Transition Council (GJETC) released a summarizing report for the first project phase 2016-2018. It includes jointly formulated recommendations for politics as well as a controversial dialogue part.
The Council jointly states and recommends that:
Ambitious long-term targets and strategies for a low-carbon energy system must be defined and ambitiously implemented; Germany and Japan as high technology countries need to take the leadership.
Both countries will have to restructure their energy systems substantially until 2050 while maintaining their competitiveness and securing energy supply.
Highest priority is given to the forced implementation of efficiency technologies and renewable energies, despite different views on nuclear energy.
In both countries all relevant stakeholders - but above all the decision-makers on all levels of energy policy - need to increase their efforts for a successful implementation of the energy transition.
Design of the electricity market needs more incentives for flexibility options and for the extensive expansion of variable power generation, alongside with strategies for cost reduction for electricity from photovoltaic and wind energy.
The implementation gap of the energy efficiency needs to be closed by an innovative energy policy package to promote the principle of "Energy Efficiency First".
Synergies and co-benefits of an enhanced energy and resource efficiency policy need to be realized.
Co-existence of central infrastructure and the growing diversity of the activities for decentralization (citizens funding, energy cooperatives, establishment of public utility companies) should be supported.
Scientific cooperation can be intensified by a joint working group for scenarios and by the establishment of an academic exchange program.
Strengthening global climate governance and international cooperation for energy‐efficient buildings
(2023)
Buildings constitute one of the main GHG emitting sectors, and energy efficiency is a key lever to reduce emissions in the sector. Global climate policy has so far mostly focused on economy-wide emissions. However, emission reduction actions are ultimately sectoral, and opportunities and barriers to achieving emission reductions vary strongly among sectors. This article therefore seeks to analyse to what extent more targeted global governance may help to leverage mitigation enablers and overcome barriers to energy efficiency in buildings. To this end, the article first synthesises existing literature on mitigation enablers and barriers as well as existing literature on how global governance may help address these barriers ("governance potential"). On this basis, the article analyses to what extent this governance potential has already been activated by existing activities of international institutions. Finally, the article discusses how identified governance gaps could be closed. The analysis finds that despite the local characteristics of the sector, global governance has a number of levers at its disposal that could be used to promote emission reductions via energy efficiency. In practice, however, lacking attention to energy efficiency in buildings at national level is mirrored at the international level. Recently, though, a number of coalitions demanding stronger action have emerged. Such frontrunners could work through like-minded coalitions and at the same time try to improve conditions for cooperation in the climate regime and other existing institutions.
The QualDeEPC project is aiming to both improve quality and cross-EU convergence of Energy Performance Certificate schemes, and the link between EPCs and deep renovation: High-quality Energy Performance Assessment and Certification in Europe Accelerating Deep Energy Renovation. The objective of the project is to improve the practical implementation of the assessment, issuance, design, and use of EPCs as well as their renovation recommendations, in the participating countries and beyond.
This report serves as a compilation of the project's proposal for an enhanced and converging EPC assessment and certification scheme. It aims to provide a detailed description on the set of practical concepts, policy proposals, and tools for an enhanced EPC scheme towards deep renovation, developed by the QualDeEPC project. The project's substantial proposals both on EU and national level are presented in a comprehensive and rational way, guiding the relevant stakeholders, in particular the policy makers and competed bodies, on which steps need to be followed so as the proposals to be adapted and how the specific values can be determined in MSs. Furthermore, this report includes the project's proposal for defining "Deep Energy Renovation" based on a modified nZEB-based approach.
The project's priorities A) to G) addressed are presented in the following order in this document, reflecting the importance of the enhanced EPC template form and the training of EPC assessors in such schemes:
A) Improving the recommendations for renovation, which are provided on the EPCs, towards deep energy renovation;
E) High user-friendliness of the EPC, by way of an enhanced EPC template form, including an introduction of the proposed "Energy Rating" indicator;
D) Regular mandatory EPC assessor training or examination on assessment and renovation recommendations, required for certification/accreditation and registry;
B) Online tool for comparing EPC recommendations to deep energy renovation recommendations;
C) Creating Deep Renovation Network Platforms (DRNPs);
F) & G) Voluntary/mandatory advertising guidelines for EPCs and Improving compliance with the mandatory use of EPCs in real estate advertisement.
Studies show that people can tolerate elevated temperatures in the presence of appreciable air movement (e.g., from using ceiling fans). This minimises the use of air-conditioners and extends their set-point temperature (Tset), resulting in energy savings in space cooling. However, there is little empirical evidence on the energy savings from using ceiling fans with Room Air-Conditioners (RACs). To address this gap, we analysed the energy performance of RACs with both fixed-speed compressors and inverter technology at different set-point temperatures and ceiling fan speed settings in 15 residential Mixed-Mode Buildings (MMBs) in India. Thermal comfort conditions (as predicted by the Indian Model for Adaptive Comfort-Residential (IMAC-R)) with minimum energy consumption were maintained at a set-point temperature (𝑇set) of 28 and 30 C and a fan speed setting of one. Compared with a Tset of 24 °C, a 𝑇set of 28 and 30 °C resulted in energy savings of 44 and 67%, respectively. With the use of RACs, a configuration with a minimum fan speed was satisfactory for an optimal use of energy and for maintaining the conditions of thermal comfort. In addition, RACs with inverter technology used 34-68% less energy than fixed-speed compressors. With the rising use of RACs, particularly in tropical regions, the study's outcomes offer a significant potential for reducing space-cooling energy consumption and the resultant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.