TY - JOUR A1 - Süsser, Diana A1 - Martin, Nick A1 - Stavrakas, Vassilis A1 - Gaschnig, Hannes A1 - Talens-Peiró, Laura A1 - Flamos, Alexandros A1 - Madrid-López, Cristina A1 - Lilliestam, Johan T1 - Why energy models should integrate social and environmental factors BT - assessing user needs, omission impacts, and real-word accuracy in the European Union JF - Energy research & social science N2 - Energy models are used to inform and support decisions within the transition to climate neutrality. In recent years, such models have been criticised for being overly techno-centred and ignoring environmental and social factors of the energy transition. Here, we explore and illustrate the impact of ignoring such factors by comparing model results to model user needs and real-world observations. We firstly identify concrete user needs for better representation of environmental and social factors in energy modelling via interviews, a survey and a workshop. Secondly, we explore and illustrate the effects of omitting non-techno-economic factors in modelling by contrasting policy-targeted scenarios with reality in four EU case study examples. We show that by neglecting environmental and social factors, models risk generating overly optimistic and potentially misleading results, for example by suggesting transition speeds far exceeding any speeds observed, or pathways facing hard-to-overcome resource constraints. As such, modelled energy transition pathways that ignore such factors may be neither desirable nor feasible from an environmental and social perspective, and scenarios may be irrelevant in practice. Finally, we discuss a sample of recent energy modelling innovations and call for continued and increased efforts for improved approaches that better represent environmental and social factors in energy modelling and increase the relevance of energy models for informing policymaking. KW - energy modelling KW - energy planning KW - energy policy KW - ecological crisis KW - social acceptance KW - environmental impacts Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102775 SN - 2214-6296 VL - 92 SP - 102775 EP - 102775 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lilliestam, Johan A1 - Ollier, Lana A1 - Labordena Mir, Mercè A1 - Pfenninger, Stefan A1 - Thonig, Richard T1 - The near- to mid-term outlook for concentrating solar power BT - mostly cloudy, chance of sun JF - Energy sources. B, Economics, planning and policy N2 - The history of concentrating solar power (CSP) is characterized by a boom-bust pattern caused by policy support changes. Following the 2014-2016 bust phase, the combination of Chinese support and several low-cost projects triggered a new boom phase. We investigate the near- to mid-term cost, industry, market and policy outlook for the global CSP sector and show that CSP costs have decreased strongly and approach cost-competitiveness with new conventional generation. Industry has been strengthened through the entry of numerous new companies. However, the project pipeline is thin: no project broke ground in 2019 and only four projects are under construction in 2020. The only remaining large support scheme, in China, has been canceled. Without additional support soon creating a new market, the value chain may collapse and recent cost and technological advances may be undone. If policy support is renewed, however, the global CSP sector is prepared for a bright future. KW - concentrating solar power KW - technological learning KW - value chain analysis KW - energy policy KW - industry development Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/15567249.2020.1773580 SN - 1556-7249 SN - 1556-7257 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 23 EP - 41 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Merfort, Leon A1 - Bauer, Nico A1 - Humpenöder, Florian A1 - Klein, David A1 - Strefler, Jessica A1 - Popp, Alexander A1 - Luderer, Gunnar A1 - Kriegler, Elmar T1 - State of global land regulation inadequate to control biofuel land-use-change emissions JF - Nature climate change N2 - Under current land-use regulation, carbon dioxide emissions from biofuel production exceed those from fossil diesel combustion. Therefore, international agreements need to ensure the effective and globally comprehensive protection of natural land before modern bioenergy can effectively contribute to achieving carbon neutrality. KW - agriculture KW - climate-change mitigation KW - energy policy KW - energy supply and demand KW - environmental economics Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01711-7 SN - 1758-678X SN - 1758-6798 VL - 13 IS - 7 SP - 610 EP - 612 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kleanthis, Nikos A1 - Stavrakas, Vassilis A1 - Ceglarz, Andrzej A1 - Süsser, Diana A1 - Schibline, Amanda A1 - Lilliestam, Johan A1 - Flamos, Alexandros T1 - Eliciting knowledge from stakeholders to identify critical issues of the transition to climate neutrality in Greece, the Nordic Region, and the European Union JF - Energy research & social ccience N2 - There are considerable differences in the pace and underlying motivations of the energy transition in the different geographical contexts across Europe. The European Union's commitment to climate neutrality by 2050 requires a better understanding of the energy transition in different contexts and scales to improve cooperation of involved actors. In this article, we identify critical issues and challenges of the European energy transition as perceived by stakeholders and investigate how these perceptions vary across geographical contexts. To do so, we couple a policy document analysis with research based on stakeholder engagement activities in three different scales, national (Greece), regional (Nordic Region) and continental scale (European Union). Our findings show that stakeholder perspectives on the energy transition depend on contextual factors underlying the need for policies sensitive to the different transition issues and challenges in European regions. They also reveal cross-cutting issues and challenges among the three case studies, which could lead to further improvement of the cross-country collaboration to foster the European energy transition. KW - challenges KW - case studies KW - energy policy KW - energy transition KW - climate neutrality KW - stakeholder engagement Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102836 SN - 2214-6296 VL - 93 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thonig, Richard A1 - Del Rio, Pablo A1 - Kiefer, Christoph A1 - Lazaro Touza, Lara A1 - Escribano, Gonzalo A1 - Lechon, Yolanda A1 - Spaeth, Leonhard A1 - Wolf, Ingo A1 - Lilliestam, Johan T1 - Does ideology influence the ambition level of climate and renewable energy policy? BT - Insights from four European countries JF - Energy sources, part B: economics, planning, and policy N2 - We investigate whether political ideology has an observable effect on decarbonization ambition, renewable power aims, and preferences for power system balancing technologies in four European countries. Based on the Energy Logics framework, we identify ideologically different transition strategies (state-centered, market-centered, grassroots-centered) contained in government policies and opposition party programs valid in 2019. We compare these policies and programs with citizen poll data. We find that ideology has a small effect: governments and political parties across the spectrum have similar, and relatively ambitious, decarbonization and renewables targets. This mirrors citizens' strong support for ambitious action regardless of their ideological self-description. However, whereas political positions on phasing out fossil fuel power are clear across the policy space, positions on phasing in new flexibility options to balance intermittent renewables are vague or non-existent. As parties and citizens agree on strong climate and renewable power aims, the policy ambition is likely to remain high, even if governments change. KW - political ideology KW - climate policy KW - energy policy KW - europe KW - european KW - Union KW - renewable energy KW - flexibility Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/15567249.2020.1811806 SN - 1556-7249 SN - 1556-7257 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 4 EP - 22 PB - Taylor & Francis Group CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Merfort, Leon A1 - Bauer, Nico A1 - Humpenöder, Florian A1 - Klein, David A1 - Strefler, Jessica A1 - Popp, Alexander A1 - Luderer, Gunnar A1 - Kriegler, Elmar T1 - Bioenergy-induced land-use-change emissions with sectorally fragmented policies JF - Nature climate change N2 - Controlling bioenergy-induced land-use-change emissions is key to exploiting bioenergy for climate change mitigation. However, the effect of different land-use and energy sector policies on specific bioenergy emissions has not been studied so far. Using the global integrated assessment model REMIND-MAgPIE, we derive a biofuel emission factor (EF) for different policy frameworks. We find that a uniform price on emissions from both sectors keeps biofuel emissions at 12 kg CO2 GJ−1. However, without land-use regulation, the EF increases substantially (64 kg CO2 GJ−1 over 80 years, 92 kg CO2 GJ−1 over 30 years). We also find that comprehensive coverage (>90%) of carbon-rich land areas worldwide is key to containing land-use emissions. Pricing emissions indirectly on the level of bioenergy consumption reduces total emissions by cutting bioenergy demand but fails to reduce the average EF. In the absence of comprehensive and timely land-use regulation, bioenergy thus may contribute less to climate change mitigation than assumed previously. KW - agriculture KW - climate-change mitigation KW - energy policy KW - energy supply and demand KW - environmental economics Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01697-2 SN - 1758-678X SN - 1758-6798 VL - 13 IS - 7 SP - 685 EP - 692 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER -